Abstract
This article examines two central but controversial themes in the early development of Tantra in South Asia: the relationship between Tantra and kingship and the role of non-Hindu, indigenous traditions in Tantric practice. As its primary focus, the article will examine the relationship between goddess-worship, kingship, and tribal religions in Assam, which has long been regarded by both Sanskrit texts and Western scholars as the symbolic and/ or literal heartland of Tantra. Using Sanskrit texts from the tenth to the seventeenth centuries as well as vernacular histories and archeological evidence, the article will discuss the complex negotiations between Hindu brahmans and the non-Hindu tribal kings who adopted the worship of Kāmākhyā, Kālī, and other Śākta Tantric goddesses. Assamese Tantra, I suggest, represents a complex negotiation between Sanskritic brāhmaṇic traditions and local indigenous rituals, which we see most clearly in the offering of animal and human sacrifice.
Published Version
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