According to Dr V Anamali and Dr Clyde Winters, the Ethiopian Origins of the Indian Nagas can be explained by the period of Ancient Ethiopia (Punt) rule in Ancient India.
Ethiopian Origin Of Indian Nagas
According to Ethiopian tradition, the first Ethiopian Empire was founded by Za Besi Angabo, of the Arwe line beginning in 1370 B.C.
The traditions of this dynasty are recorded in the Kebra Nagast, (“Glory of the Kings”), a 14th Century Ancient Ethiopian Historical and Mythical Text whose central theme is the visit of the Queen of Sheba (Makeda) to Solomon and the birth of a son, Menelik.
According to the Kebra Nagast, Menelik ruled an empire that extended from the rivers of Egypt (Blue Nile) to Eastern India when he ascended the Ethiopian Throne in 995 BC.
Thus the Ethiopian origin of the Indian Nagas can be found in the word “Naga/Nagash” which was the title ‘King’ used by the Ancient Ethiopians who established the Ancient Ethiopian Kingdom of Punt.
The Ethiopians of Punt who ruled India used the Ethiopian title “Naga” because they venerated the Ethiopian Serpent Deity of Arwe.
According to Dr Clyde Winters, the Kebra Nagast identification of an Eastern Indian empire ruled by the Naga, corresponds to the Naga colonies in the Dekkan, and on the East coast between the Kaviri and Vaigai rivers.
Furthermore, a reading of Ancient Indian literature dating back to 500 BC also gives us considerable information on the Naga.
The earliest mention of the Naga appears in Ancient Indian Texts such as the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.
In the Mahabharata we discover that the Naga had the capital city in the Dekkan, and other cities spread between the Jumna and Ganges as early as 1300 BC.
In the Dravidian classic, the Cilappatik?ram, it is clear that the first great kingdom of India was Naganadu.
Based on the above Ancient Indian and Ethiopian traditions, it has been suggested that the Indian Nagas originated in Ethiopia.
Conclusion
The Kebra Nagast, Ramayana and Mahabharata may be evidence of an African presence in Ancient India that explains the Ethiopian origins of the Nagas of India.
In particular, we can see that based on such African and Ancient Indian sources, the origins of the Nagas of India can be traced to the era of Ethiopian rule under the Arwe Dynasty during a time when Ethiopian (Puntite) rule extended from the Blue Nile into India.
Secondly, the fact that the Nagas of India are associated with the Serpent can also be explained by the fact that the Ethiopian Rulers of Ancient India venerated the Arwe Serpent Deity as part of their own African Religion.
For this reason, Serpent veneration became established in Ancient India with the Nagas of Ancient India being identified with the same Serpent symbolism as the Ethiopian rulers who venerated the Arwe Serpent Deity.
The veneration of Serpent symbolism in Ancient India can for this reason also be seen as evidence for the Ethiopian origins of the Naga of India.
