Nagas: The Tribe and The Cult

Nagas, the snake-worshiping communities of Ancient Indian occupy an important place in Indian history. To a student of Indian history and the common man alike, it appears as if there lay a complete veneer of belief in the divinity of the Nagas and of the Naga racial blood over the length and breadth of Indian. From Kashmir, Tibet, or Nepal to the Malabar coast in the South; from Gujarat to Bengal and Assam; from Sri Lanka to Java, Sumatra and Cambodia, there are very few places indeed where we do not meet frequently with individual or local names of which the word Naga forms a part, or where the ruling dynasty is not believed sometimes to have been associated with Naga clan. The subject is interesting, for, on deeper investigation, it is found that intricacies associated with the Naga problem in Indian History, particularly as a tribe and as a cult, are too many. A critical history of the Nagas based on reliable evidences and presented in a chronological order is the need of the hour and the present book is an attempt to fulfill this need. All efforts have been made to draw attention on each controversial issue with a view to enable the reader to form his own opinion. The work is limited within the time frame of the earliest times to c 15th century AD.