Side by side, from the sources
Angra Mainyu vs The Asuras
These two are identified with one another in the record, which is not the same as being the same figure. The daeva/deva and ahura/asura inversion between Iran and India.
Deity · Persian · c. 1000 BCE
Angra Mainyu
also called Ahriman, The Destructive Spirit, Arimanius, 𐬀𐬢𐬭𐬀⸱𐬨𐬀𐬌𐬥𐬌𐬌𐬎
The hostile principle, with his own army of daevas — the first fully developed adversary in the record, and the likely structural template for Satan.
- Alignment
- Infernal
- Rank
- The Destructive Spirit
- First attested
- The Avesta · c. 1000-400 BCE
- Named there as
- Angra Mainyu
- Texts naming it
- 3
- Powers attributed
- 4
66attestedZoroastrian
Deity · Vedic · c. 1400 BCE
The Asuras
also called Asura
In the earliest Rigveda a title of honour for the highest gods; by the later Vedic period, the demonic opponents of the devas. The same word, inverted within one tradition.
- Alignment
- Disputed
- Rank
- Class of Beings
- First attested
- Rigveda · c. 1500-1200 BCE
- Named there as
- Asura
- Texts naming it
- 3
- Powers attributed
- 3
Where do they actually overlap?
Texts naming both
Powers credited to both
Common questions
Are Angra Mainyu and The Asuras the same figure?
These two are identified with one another in the record, which is not the same as being the same figure. The daeva/deva and ahura/asura inversion between Iran and India. ColossiansOne records the link rather than asserting the identity: where texts disagree about whether two names denote one figure, the disagreement is what gets shown.
Which is older, Angra Mainyu or The Asuras?
The Asuras is the older name: first attested around c. 1400 BCE, against c. 1000 BCE for Angra Mainyu. Where the two dates are far apart, that gap is the whole reason the pair is worth comparing.
Do any texts name both Angra Mainyu and The Asuras?
Yes — 1 text names both. A single text naming both figures is the strongest evidence available here that its author treated them as distinct, whatever later writers did with the pair.