De (1974) believes that Cajanus species, together with the closely related Atylosia were first established in Northern India and on the Deccan Plateau more than 3,500 years ago. Of these claims, historians agree that the true origin of pigeonpea is India particularly in the Eastern Ghats (Vavilov 1951, De 1974, Royes 1976, van der Maesen 1980, 1991). Excavations in the Maharashtra State in India turned up pigeonpea seeds dating back from the 2nd century BC to the 3rd century BC (Kajale 1974). Furthermore, the early Asiatic name of the species Cajanus cajanifolius ‘kayan’, which is believed to be of Indian origin (Vavilov 1951) all the more convinced historians that pigeonpea indeed originated in India.