MAHIRANGA, the first ruler of the legendary Danava dynasty.
It was at that time, when ‘pragjyotispur or pragjyotisha ‘rose to the throne of being one of the most powerful kingdom in the world. Even much before then Mohenjodaro & Harrapa. Kamrupa was not even formed by then.
It was at that time, when the entire Brahmaputra valley of Assam was covered with water on all sides. Not by the Brahmaputra river, but a much bigger one, which was known as ‘Luit Sagar’ or ‘ Luit Sea’. The sea engulfed the entire land area of Assam. Only the hills stood tall and surrounded the sea in total, to give its shape, that further forces it to flow towards the west where it meets the Ganga Sagar and falls in the Bengal sea.
The meeting point of Ganga and Luit is known as the sagar sangam(exists even today).
This sea later disintegrated to form the mighty “luit river” or popularly known as the Brahmaputra. And the only the land, that held the reigns of the entire northeastern region was pragjyotispur, today’s Guwahati
Pragjyotispur, was originally formed by the kiratas,
Mahiranga, belongs to the legendary tribe of Kirata. These are the people who dwelled among the mountainous terrains of Himalayas and the forests of Assam,.
These people were the lords of the forest, the hills and the sea
Excellent huntsman, strong physical appearance and a dialect that was believed to be the language of Gods. They feared none. Nature was their home and survived by extensive hunting.
They worshipped mother nature and the cosmos. Appearance of these people were completely different from the people of the mainland India. Accustomed to the harsh conditions of the region, they looked fearsome and bulky physical appearance, people from other regions feared them to be real demons, from which the name Danava came
History believes that these people, gathered to form one of the foremost and legendary dynasties ever to have walked on the face of earth. During this time when the danavas were ruling , human civillisations were just at the verge of dawn in the west.
In the Danava language “mai” means paddy and “rang” means to remove the husks, this language is popularly known today as the Bodo- kachari language.
Mahirang , young and strong. One of the most feared and respected kirata chief.
The kirata group comprised people from today’s bodo, kachari, gurkha, mech and other indigenous groups. But at that time, there was no such divisions, and survival was the only form of religion, and they were experts survivalists.
Rice cultivation was one of the most important aspect of the danava dynasty, and they mastered the art of agriculture and cultivation.
Pragjyotispur was a beautiful landscape, the land was surrounded by the hills on the east , west and southern part of the nagari. And towards the north, the mighty luit sagar flew seamlessly , providing water and food to the entire population of danava.
Then comes the Bhauma dynasty which is the second legendary dynasty of Pragjyotispur, after the Danava’s
the dynasty was established by Naraka or Narakasur, by removing the Kirata chief Ghataka, the last of the Danava dynasty.
This is where the legendary character of Narakausra comes into play. Mentions of which, is clearly given in Kalika puran, Mahabharatta and Ramayana.
Narakasura is known as the son of the land( bhumi- putra). People believe that, Narakasura was an austral demon, with many mythical powers, who lived and oversaw the entire area of the of the northeastern region.
But the fate of Narakasura was decided by the Devas, and soon Krishna, the human form of Vishnu meets Narakasura.
(P.S- Now, here there is something that we need to understand first, that in the protohistoric time, The word danava is different from asuras. Although both these types have similar physical appearance but the major consensus differed, we will later see the differences .)
# GuardianShiva
