Anga
gigatos | June 1, 2022
Summary
Anga was a kingdom that flourished in the eastern Indian subcontinent around the 6th century B.C. until it was invaded by Magadha in the same century.
In the Buddhist text Angutara-nikaia it was counted among the “sixteen great nations” (sholásh majayanapadas) and in the Yaina text Viagña-pragñapti it is mentioned in the list of ancient yanapadas (”nations”).
In later times the Angas are mentioned as people of “mixed” origin.
Also read, biographies – Edward the Elder
Two etymologies
According to the Majabhárata (1.104.53-54) – an epic-religious text of the 3rd century BC – the name Anga originated as an eponym of the name of Prince Anga, the founder of the kingdom, who was a barbarian (someone not born in northern India).According to the Matsia-purana (48.19) he was the son of Danava Risabha (”leader of the demons”).
According to some scriptures -the Majabhárata and some Puranas-, the king Bali Vaióchana, son of Sutapa, could not have children. Then he asked the sage Dirghatamas, who blessed him with children. The sage told him that he would have five children in his wife, the queen Sudesna.the children received the names of Anga, Vanga, Kalinga, Sumha and Pundra.later these princes founded kingdoms to which they put their own names. Prince Vanga founded the kingdom of Vanga (in the region of present-day Bangladesh and part of the Indian state of West Bengal). Prince Kalinga founded the kingdom of Kalinga, in the region of the present-day Indian state of Orissa and including the northern Sircars.
Instead the Ramaiana (1.23.14) narrates the origin of the name Anga as the place where the beautiful Kamadeva was burned alive and quartered by the wrathful god Shiva. His remains (anga means ”limbs”) were scattered all over the region.
The first mention of an Anga people occurs in the Atharva-veda (5.22.14)-which is one of the oldest Indian texts, dating from the beginning of the 1st millennium BC-where they are apparently mentioned as a despised people along with the Magadhas, Gandharis and Mujavatas.
In the Garuda-purana (55.12), the Markandeia-purana (56.16-18) and the Visnu-dharmottara (1.9. 4) divide the former Yanapada countries into nine regions, and place the Angas, the Kalingas, the Vangas, the Pundras (now part of East Bijar, West Bengal and Bangladesh), the Vidarbhas and the Vindia-vasis (inhabitants of the Vindhia mountains) in the Purva-Dakshina division.
Some Puranas also list several early Anga kings. The Maja-govinda-sutanta mentions the Anga king Dhatarata. The Yainas texts refer to Dadhi-Vajana, as ruler of the Angas. The Puranas and the Jari-vamsha represent him as the son and immediate successor of Anga, the eponymous founder of the kingdom. Yainas traditions place him at the beginning of the 6th century B.C.
Between the Vatsas and the kingdom of Anga lived the Magadhas, who were at first a comparatively weak people. A great struggle continued between the Angas and their eastern neighbors. The Vidura-pandita-yataka describes Rayagrija (the capital of the Magadha region) as the city of Anga. The Majabhárata also refers to a sacrifice performed by the king of Anga on Mount Visnupada (in the city of Gaia). This indicates that Anga had initially succeeded in annexing the Magadhas, and thus its borders extended to the Matsia region.
This success of Angas did not last long. In the middle of the 6th century BC, Bimbisara, the crown prince of Magadha, killed Brahma Datta, the last independent king of Anga and seized Champa. Bimbisara made it his capital and ruled as his father”s viceroy. Thereafter, Anga became an integral part of the growing Magadha empire.
Based on the text of the Majabhárata, the kingdom of the Angas roughly corresponded to the districts of Bhagalpur, Banka, Purnia, Munguer, Katijar and Yamui (in the present-day state of Bijar and the districts of Deoghar, Godda and Sajebgansh (in the state of Yarkand). It was later extended to include Malda and Uttar Dinashpur (in the state of Bengal). The Champa River (now called Chandan) formed the boundaries between Magadha (in the west) and Anga (in the east). Anga was bounded by the Koshi River in the north. According to the Majabhárata, the wicked king Duriódhan appointed his commoner archer friend Karna as king of Anga.
The “Sabha-parva” – the ”meeting hall chapter” – of the Majabhárata (2.44.9) mentions Anga and Vanga as one country. The Katha-sarit-sagara also attests that the Anga city of Vitankapur was situated on the seashore. Therefore the boundaries of Anga could have extended as far as the Indian Ocean in the east.
The capital of Anga was Champa. According to the Majabhárata and the Jari-vamsa, Champa was formerly known as Malini and was situated on the right bank of the Ganges River, near its confluence with the Champa River. It was a very flourishing city and – according to the Digha-nikaia – was one of the six major cities of ancient India. In the Indian state of Bijar, the region of Bhagalpur – generally identified as the site where Champa was located – still has two villages called Champa Nagara (Champa village) and Champa Pura (Champa town).
Champa was characterized by its wealth. It was a great center of trade, and its merchants regularly sailed to distant Suvarna Bhumi (”the land of gold”) for business purposes. During his pilgrimage there in the late 4th century, the Chinese monk Faxan took note of the numerous Buddhist temples that still existed in the city, and transliterated the word Champa into the Chinese language.By that time the kingdom of Anga had long since ceased to exist. In Chinese it had been known as Yāngjiā (鴦伽).
The Champa kingdom (in present-day Vietnam) was thought to have originated from the Indian Champa, although anthropological evidence indicates that its inhabitants came from Borneo, on the other side of the Indochina peninsula.
Other important cities of Anga were Assapur and Bhádrika.
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