Case file · Folklore / legend
Agartha, the kingdom inside the Earth
An occult legend of a hidden subterranean kingdom ruled by masters of wisdom, first sketched by Louis Jacolliot (1873) and placed underground by Saint-Yves d'Alveydre in 'Mission de l'Inde en Europe' (1886).
1886 CE · 48.86, 2.35 · status: legend
The account
Jacolliot claimed to have read ancient Indian manuscripts about a city called Asgartha. Saint-Yves turned it into a living kingdom under the earth, reachable by astral travel. Ferdynand Ossendowski's 1922 'Beasts, Men and Gods' popularised the idea, which was later blended with Shambhala, Hollow Earth theories and, in some versions, Nazi-era mysticism.
The sceptical view
There is no Indian or Tibetan source for Agartha; it was invented by 19th-century French writers and has changed with each retelling.
Connections in the atlas
- Bulwer-Lytton's 'The Coming Race' and Vril
- The Shaver Mystery: deros in the caves
- 'The Smoky God': Olaf Jansen's inner world
- Symmes's hollow-earth circular
- Raymond Bernard's 'The Hollow Earth' and the Byrd myth