Assyria, From the Rise of The Empire to The Fall of Nineveh

In Assyria, Asur was the supreme god, and as such many emperors employed the word Asur as a prefix to their name. A few examples are Asur Idil-illi, Asur Banipal, Asur Akhi-iddin, Asur Nazirpal, Asur Ubalitt etc. In Assyria the Indian puranic story of Vaman Avatar (the fifth incarnation of Vishnu) and Asur King Bali is depicted on a Hittite rock sculpture at Ilbriz in Cilcia. (See front cover illustration.) Cilcia is an ancient country in south-east Asia Minor, north- west of Kurdistan,

The Asurs living in Assyria had a strong maritime empire. Their vessels used to sail western and eastern coastal areas of the Indian Peninsula. In the absence of any central authority they started creating trouble by harming and harassing the local people.

The small Aryan kingdoms were helpless in front of their might. Mention of this is made in Rigveda "Aryan king Tugra despatched his naval force led by his son Bhujyu to crush the kingdom of Asurs, which was situated in a far off sandy land, but the Asurs inflicted a crushing defeat on Bhujyu. It was due to the strong Monsoon winds (Aswin Kumars) that he could reach his native land and save his dear life." (Rigveda 1/116/2,3,4,5,6,7; 7/68/7; 10/143/5) - Pt. Paad Damodar Satvalhekar, 1941.

In the oldest part of Rigveda, 'Asur' is used to denote "Supreme Spirit", like in the land of Assyrians. Later, Asurs stood for enemies of Sura (gods). Self confessed descendants of Asurs may still be seen in Alipurduar's Asur Line, near Jalpaiguri, West Bengal

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