“The Nagas occupy a very prominent position in connection with Indian astronomy, and this is not likely to have been assigned to them, by their Brahmanical rivals, without good reason. Probably this and other branches of science were brought, by the Asuras, from their ancient home in the countries between the Kaspian and the Persian Gulf.
“The close relationship between the Indian and the Chaldean astronomical systems has been frequently noticed.
“The sun-worship of the Asuras; their holding sacred the Naga or hooded serpent, sometimes represented with many heads; their deification of kings and ancestors; their veneration of the cedar; their religious dances; their sacrificial rights; their communication with the deities through the medium of inspired prophets; their occasional tendency towards democratic institutions; their use of tribal emblems or totems—and many of their social customs; seem to connect them with that very early civilization—Turanian or otherwise—which we find amongst so many of the peoples of extreme antiquity. They had, in fact, much in common with the early inhabitants of Babylonia; and, perhaps, even more with those of Elam and the neighbouring countries.
“We shall see later that the Asuras and the Dravidians were, apparently, the same people.”
“Not only were the Asuras or Nagas a civilized people, but they were a maritime power. Holding both banks of the great river Indus, they must have had access to the sea from a very early period. Their kinship, too, with the serpent-worshipping people of ancient Media, and the neighbouring countries, which has already been referred to, must have led to a very early development of trade with the Persian Gulf.
“The Asuras were actively engaged in ‘The Churning of the Ocean’ (Mahabharata, Adi, Astika, p. xviii.), which is but an allegorical description of sea-borne commerce in its early days” (op. cit., p. 58).
“In the Mahabharata, the ocean is described as the habitation of the Nagas and the residence of the Asuras; it is also said to be the refuge of the defeated Asuras (Mahabharata, Adi, Astika, p. xxii.). This was no doubt because marauding bands of this people retreated to their ships after an unsuccessful raid. Thus we find that on the death of Vrita, his followers took refuge in the sea (Mahabharata, Vana, Tirthayatra, p. ciii.). So also did the Asura Panchajana, who lived in Patala, when he was pursued by Krishna (Vishnu Parana, v., xxi., 526). And so did the Danavas when defeated by the Devas at the churning of the ocean (Mahabharata, Adi, Astika, p. xix.).”
“An ancient legend, given in the Mahabharata, relates how Kadru, mother of the serpents, compelled Garuda to convey her sons across the sea into a beautiful country in a distant region, which was inhabited by Nagas. After encountering a violent storm and great heat, the sons of Karur were landed in the country of Ramaniaka, on the Malabar coast.”
“This territory had been occupied previously by a fierce Asura named Lavana (Mahabharata, Adi, Astika, p. xxvii.). So there had been a still earlier colonization by the same race.”
“Naga chiefs are frequently mentioned as ruling countries in or under the sea” (p. 61).