Opinion | Anga-Banga-Kalinga And The Making Of A New Eastern Political Corridor

Updated: May 11, 2026 16:29 pm IST Published On May 11, 2026 16:28 pm IST Last Updated On May 11, 2026 16:29 pm IST

Published On May 11, 2026 16:28 pm IST

Last Updated On May 11, 2026 16:29 pm IST

The phrase Anga-Banga-Kalinga is much more than a poetic reminder of ancient India. It evokes the memory of a vast civilisational belt that once connected the Gangetic plains, the Bengal delta, and the Bay of Bengal coast through trade, pilgrimage, culture, maritime enterprise, and political imagination. In contemporary geographical terms, this space broadly corresponds to Bihar, West Bengal, and Odisha - three regions that were never marginal to India's history. On the contrary, they were among the most vibrant centres of prosperity, knowledge, spirituality, and outward connectivity.

Anga, located in eastern Bihar, particularly the Champa region around present-day Bhagalpur and Munger, was an important political and commercial zone in ancient India. It was closely linked with the wider Gangetic world and functioned as an inland centre of economic and cultural activity. Banga, or Bengal, carried this eastern world further into the delta and towards the sea. Bengal's rivers were not merely natural features; they were living routes of movement, exchange, and settlement. The ancient port of Tamralipta, identified with present-day Tamluk, was one of eastern India's most significant maritime gateways. Through this port, Bengal was connected to Southeast Asia, China, and even the Roman world.

Kalinga, broadly corresponding to ancient Odisha, gave this eastern belt its strongest maritime character. Kalinga is remembered not only for the famous Kalinga War and Ashoka's moral transformation, but also for its powerful seafaring traditions. The people of Kalinga travelled across the Bay of Bengal and established commercial, religious, and cultural links with Ceylon, Burma, Java, Bali, Sumatra, Borneo, and other parts of Southeast Asia. In that sense, Kalinga represented the oceanic imagination of eastern India.

Taken together, Anga, Banga, and Kalinga formed a connected eastern system. Anga gave the region its inland Gangetic depth; Banga provided the deltaic and riverine gateway; and Kalinga opened the maritime horizon. The prosperity of this zone emerged from the interaction of rivers, ports, agriculture, crafts, pilgrimage routes, Buddhist and Hindu sacred geographies, and long-distance trade. Eastern India, therefore, was never a backward edge of the subcontinent. It was........

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