Gangaridai - Interpretations

Interpretations

The name "Gangaridai" has been spelled differently by different Greek/Roman accounts: Gangaridae, Gandaridai, Gangaritai, Gangaridum. However the stem of the term "Gangaridai" as "Ganga" has been interpreted by different historians as: Ganga-Hrd (Land with Ganges in its heart), Ganga-Rashtra (State of the Ganges), Gandaridai.

Rakhaldas Bandyopadhyay, the famous Bengali historian says: "During Chandragupta Maurya's rule Gangaridai was independent like the Andhra kingdom and Gangaridai was joined with Kalinga." ("Bangalar Itihash" v-I, p. 23). It is interesting that the description of the armed forces of Gangaridae and Calingae during the reign of Chandragupta Maurya as given by Megasthenes are identical (both possessed army of 60,000 foot-soldiers, 1,000 horsemen and 700 elephants).

According to Dr. N.K. Sahu's opinion, the illustrious Ganga Dynasty of Orissa (and also Karnataka, Madras) were the descendants of the Gangaridai people who migrated to South India from Tamluk (Midnapur) in South Bengal. He further implies that the Gangaridai people inhabited the entire eastern coast of India stretching from Bengal to Kalinga and Madras.

The area of Gangaridai is noted c. 450 BC:

"The Nandas who ruled in the 4th century BCE originated from Bengal and they defeated the Shishunaga dynasty around 450 BCE and joined the crowns of Gangaridai (Bengal) and Prasii (Magadha). Agrammes or Dhana Nanda was the king of this empire during the invasion of Alexander the Great." –Bangladesher Itihash, p. 22.

This theory supports Diodorus' opinion that "Gangaridai was the greatest empire in India" and that, "This region is separated from farther India by the greatest river in those parts,... but it adjoins the rest of India which Alexander had conquered" (see quote further above).

The relation with the Prasii kingdom is not clear. It is plausible that Gangaridae formed a confederacy with Prasii to face the threat of Alexander's invasion. Dr. Hemchandra Ray Chowdhury writes: "It may reasonably be inferred from the statements of the Greek and Latin writers that about the time of Alexander's invasion, the Gangaridai were a very powerful nation, and either formed a dual monarchy with the Pasioi, or were closely associated with them on equal terms in a common cause against the foreign invader." –Chowdhury, The History of Bengal, v-I, p. 44.

The city of Gange had not been located. Recent excavations of Chandraketugarh, Deganga and Wari-Bateshwar ruins prove that these cities are strong contenders to be the city of Gange. According to the historian Paresh Chandra Dasgupta, Gange most probably was the port town of Chandraketugarh, a fact that is corroborated by the large number of ship seals found during excavation of the site. The reference of Gange to be the producer of the finest sort of muslin points to the Brahmaputra-Padma region which was definitely the home for muslin. For trade, the people of Gangaridai used some kind of gold coin called "Caltis".