History

I saw the Hindu deity/monster word “naga” and thought I wonder if that’s related to a proto Indo-European word for snake

This is apparently contested, with more etymologists considering it NOT to be cognate, although sarpa (Sanskrit) and serpent are cognate

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Jasmine Crockett

The speculation is that there was some mix of fear (primates show fear/identification of snakes more than other animals, across primate species and before learning socially instilled fears) and reverence for snakes especially in this region which made “snake gods” especially common, with some variation of “naga” eventually meaning chief or leader in one language

The interesting thing then is that “naga” meaning snake goes back further to pre Indo-European languages from the Indus Valley, and a lot of south East Asian languages have similar words with this root.