Land of the Eastern Light written by Nabaarun Barooah - Book Review

The Historylogy Podcast · Oct 9, 2026 · 7m

Ask most people when Assam’s history begins and they say 1228, when Sukaphaa crossed the Patkai hills. Nabaarun Barooah’s Land of the Eastern Light: Assam Before the Ahoms (HarperCollins India, foreword by Vikram Sampath) argues that this answer erases well over a thousand years of kings, grants, trade and ritual power. In this episode we walk through the book’s arc, from the Naraka and Bhagadatta myths through Bhaskaravarman and Xuanzang’s Kamarupa, the Salastambha and Pala dynasties, Kamakhya and Tantra, and Prithu’s stand against the Turkic invasion. We also look at what its sources can…