Thread on Goddess Durga - myths and truths
William Dalrymple claimed that the origin of Durga is in ancient Persian goddess Anahita. He isn't the only one, this claim has been going on for a while. Let's see if it's true.
First, let's look at the iconography of Durga. For the purpose of this post, let's focus on Mahishasuramardini - the slayer of Mahish asura.
Generally, Mahishasuramardini is dashabhuja (10 -armed), trinetri (3 -eyed), has jatamukuta (crowned by matted hair), is adorned with chandrakala (crescent) on Her head. She is pinonnatapayodhara (plump and high breasted) and should be in tribhanga position (three bends on Her body). She is usually depicted with various weapons in Her hands, such as Trishula (Shiva's trident), Sudarshana Chakra (Vishnu's discus), Vajra (Indra's thunderbolt), Shankha (Varuna's conch) Khadga /Kukri /Taravar (curved blade sacrificial sword or short or a long sword), Dhanus, Ishu (Vayu's bow and arrow), Shula/Shakti/Bharji (Agni's spear or javelin), Gada (Hanuman's mace), Pasha (noose), Ankusha (elephant goad), Parashu (Vishwakarma's axe), Naga (snake), Khetaka (Brahma's shield), and Padma or Kamandala (Brahma's lotus or water pot). The weapons or items or the mudra Durga holds may vary slightly, depending on the tradition of the shilpin (craftsman). Her vahana (divine mount) lion or tiger should be at her feet and the severed body of Mahisha (buffalo) should also be there, with the Asura coming out of the slain buffalo. All the weapons and the vahana too are extensions of the deity. There are also other forms of Durga, but this dashabhuja form of goddess, standing on buffalo and riding a feline is the most common form of Durga today.
Did this really come from Persia though? No, it didn't. The claim that the Persian goddess (which Dalrymple mistakenly identifies as Anahita, when, actually, the Persian lion riding goddess is Nana) influenced the iconography of Durga comes from the assumption that Durga's iconography started emerging after the Kushana empire period. Kushana empire encompassed the areas of modern day Afghanistan, eastern Iran, Pakistan, parts of Nepal, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and India. It was a multicultural empire where the main religions were Hinduism, Buddhism, and Zoroastrianism, with some Hellenic influence. This empire ruled from the 1st century BCE to 4th century CE. Their administrative languages were Greek, the eastern Iranian Bactrian language, and Sanskrit, while the commoners conversed largely in the Gandhari Prakrit. The Kushana empire fell after the Iranian Sasanian empire conquered it from the west, the Guptas conquered it from the east and the Huns from the north. It is true that the Eastern Iranian goddess Nana was usually 4-armed and rode a lion, and that buffaloes were sacrificed to her.
The first image depicts a four-armed goddess Nana from Panjakent, Tajikistan, holding the celestial bodies and riding a lion (from around 600 CE). The second image is of goddess Nana holding the sun, moon and a sceptre and mounted on a lion, from Kafir-kala, Uzbekistan (yes, that's right, Kafir-kala means the "fortress of the kafirs, and I suspect it was one of the last bastions of the ancient peoples before the Muhammedans came and killed them, destroyed their temples and forcibly converted the remaining to Islam).
Take a look at this image below. This is from Nagar, Rajasthan, from the Shunga empire period, which ruled from 185 BCE to 73 BCE. This terracotta plaque is dated to 100 BCE. This is one of the earliest surviving depictions of a lion riding, buffalo killing goddess. It is a proof of the rudimentary form of Mahishasuramardini from pre-Gupta and even pre-Kushana era. Obviously, the iconography of Mahishasuramardini becomes more complex and widespread in the Gupta empire, because that is also the time when the Devi Mahatmya part of the Markandeya Purana was written down, and that was when Ancient India amassed considerable wealth and power. 
Also, Atharvaveda kanda 6 sukta 038, Ambika is associated with simha (lion) vyaghra (tiger), and even hasti (elephant) and dvipin (leopard), and Atharvaveda is estimated to have been composed in 1200 BCE.
The Goddess mounted on a lion -trope was quite common in ancient civilisations, for example the Mesopotamian Inanna / Ishtar / Ashtart, Greek Rhea-Cybele, Arabic Al-Lat, Hepat, and of course the Iranian Nana were all mounted on lions. Ancient civilisations we're probably more connected than we can ever think, and the ancient peoples probably saw similarities between their deities. Nevertheless, to claim that "Anahita (correction, Nana) later became known as Durga" has no basis. Also, goddess Anahita is the Persian equivalent of Saraswati because Anahita was the goddess of waters.
Take a look at this image. Another very popular claim is that Durga was "a tribal goddess of the "Sabara, Barbara and Pulinda" tribes inhabiting around the Vindhya mountains, which was "adopted by the Aryans". It is true that the fully developed idea of Durga can be found in the Puranas (Markandeya Purana, as mentioned above), but in no way did "Aryans adopt" Durga. The sentence "as can be discerned from her characteristics" makes no sense. Even in the Vedas, Ambika was associated with forests, wilderness (Aranyani, the predecessor of Vanadurga). The notion propagated in academia that the Vedic peoples were less connected to nature is false. How can people claim that the religion that has hymns for sun, dawn, night, forest, waters and fire is not nature worshipping? There's a constant attempt to disconnect Vedas from India.
I'll conclude this with Jai Mata Di
