Ahom kingdom

Kingdom in the Brahmaputra Valley in Assam, India

The Ahom kingdom ('/ɑ://h//ɔː//m///, 1228–1826) kingdom in the Brahmaputra Valley (present day Assam) that retained its independence for nearly 600 years despite encountering Mughal expansion in Northeast India. Established by Sukaphaa, a Tai prince from Mong Mao (present day Yunnan Province, China), it began as a mong in the upper reaches of the Brahmaputra based on wet rice agriculture. It expanded suddenly under Suhungmung in the 16th century and became multi ethnic in character, casting a profound effect on the political and social life of the entire Brahmaputra valley. The kingdom became weaker with the rise of the Moamoria rebellion, and subsequently fell to repeated Burmese invasions of Assam. With the defeat of the Burmese after the First Anglo Burmese War and the Treaty of Yandabo in 1826, control of the kingdom passed into East India Company hands. Though it came to be called the Ahom kingdom in the colonial and subsequent times, it was largely multi ethnic, with the ethnic Tai Ahom people constituting less than 10% of the population toward the end. People from different ethnic groups became a part of the Ahom population due to the process known as Ahomisation. The identity of the Ahom people in this kingdom was fluid, with the king controlling who belonged to it and who did not. The Ahoms initially called their kingdom Mong Dun Shun Kham till 1401 (; ), but adopted Assam in later times. The British controlled province after 1838 and later the Indian state of Assam came to be known by this name. The kingdom maintained close political ties with other Tai states especially with Mong Kwang (Nara) till the end of its rule in the 19th century.

The Ahom kingdom was established in 1228 when Sukaphaa, a Tai prince, entered the Brahmaputra valley having crossed the rugged Patkai mountain range from Mong Mao. Sukaphaa probably started his journey from his homeland with a small number, but he was supported and joined by other Tai chiefs and common followers along the way and entered Assam with approximately 9,000 persons. His destiny was Upper Assam, earlier the domain of the Kamarupa kingdom but which had since lapsed into deteriorating conditions, and his intention was not to conquer and raid but to permanently settle in fallow land and practice agriculture—and the Ahoms were primarily responsible for converting the undulating alluvial forest and marshy plains in upper Assam to flat rice fields able to hold plain water for rice cultivation via a network of embankments. The Tai Shans had with them the basic political structures for state building, surplus producing technologies such as sedentary wet rice cultivation and hydrology, a patriarchal social organisation based on chiefs, and a literary form of their language. Whereas the earlier state formations (Kamarupa) borrowed political structures from North India that led to Indo Aryan domination, the Ahom state formation provided an alternate model built on Southeast Asian political structures, and which provided the space for the development of a distinct political, social and cultural identity. Though Brahminical myth making was a common feature that all ancient and medieval kingdoms—such as Chutia and Kachari kingdoms—in Assam utilised for legitimacy to various degrees, the Ahoms were able to use their alternate Lengdon based legitimacy to establish their rule and effectively negotiate with the indigenous people; nevertheless the later Tungkhungia kings veered towards Saktism and the persecution of the shudra Mahantas and their laity that began during the reign of Siva Singha led to the Moamoria rebellion and ultimately to the eclipse of the kingdom.

Sukaphaa (1228–1268) spent a couple of decades moving from place to place establishing colonies and finally settled down in Charaideo in 1253. He established the offices of the Dangarias— the Burhagohain (Chao Frongmung) and the Borgohain (Chao Thaonmung). In the 1280s, these two offices were given independent regions of control; partly hereditary and partly elected, the king and the two counsellors held each other in check and balance. Sukaphaa had instructed that events during his rule be chronicled, a practice sustained by his successors; and there emerged the institution of Buranji writing, a practice of historiography rare in India. In the late medieval era, the Ahom kingdom was known to be a kaghazi raj (a kingdom with records) just as the Mughal Empire was. At the time of their advent, the Ahoms came with advanced technologies of rice cultivation, and it was their belief that they were divinely ordained to turn fallow land to agriculture and also to absorb stateless and shifting agriculturists to their own ways. The shifting people were called kha and many such kha people were ceremonially adopted into different Ahom clans, a process called Ahomisation. Sukaphaa befriended those among the Morans and Barahi who were amenable to join him and put to the sword those who opposed him, and in due course, many others were incorporated into Ahom clans. The Ahoms were acutely aware of their smaller numbers, and adroitly avoided confrontations with larger groups. The additions via Ahomisation enhanced the Ahom numbers significantly. This process of Ahomization was particularly significant till the 16th century when under Suhungmung, the kingdom made large territorial expansions at the cost of the Chutiya and the Kachari kingdoms. At this initial stage the kingdom was still not fully sovereign. Sukaphaa sent his word of allegiance and tributes to Mong Mao, a practice that was continued by some of his successors till about the early 14th century when the power of Mong Mao faded to be replaced the power of Mong Kwang, at which point the Ahoms stopped the tributes. The Ahoms began to call their domain Mong Dun Sun Kham ("a country of golden gardens"). Though Sukaphaa had avoided the Namdang region mindful of the numerically small Ahom contingent, but his son Suteuphaa made the Kacharis withdraw on their own via a stratagem and the Ahoms expanded into it; but no further expansions of the Ahom domain occurred for the next two hundred years. The Ahom kingdom, for most of its history, had been closed and population movement closely monitored—nevertheless, there were two significant contacts. One was a friendly encounter with Chutia kingdom that turned into a conflict, and the other was a marriage alliance with the Kamata kingdom. At the end of the 14th century, the nascent Ahom polity faced crises of succession, two regicides, and three quick interregnum periods when the kingdom was without a king.

Sudangphaa Bamuni Konwar , born and raised in a Brahmin household in Habung, was identified as a descendant of a past king and installed on the throne by the Burhaohain and Borgohain to end the period of crisis. He established Brahmin officers, advisors and communities near the capital and the Brahmin influence, though negligible, was felt for the first time. A number of rebellions erupted purportedly against this influence but Sudangphaa was able to suppress them and solidify his rule. One of the rebels invited a military expedition from Mong Kwang (called Nara in the Buranjis, the successor state of Mong Mao to which the early Ahom kings used to send tribute) resulting in a clash in 1401—but Sudangphaa defeated the expedition and concluded the conflict with a treaty that fixed the boundary between the two polities at Patkai. This event was significant since it moved the Ahom polity from implicit subordination to explicit sovereignty, and this was accompanied by the transition of the name of the polity from Mong Dun Sun Kham to "Assam", Sudangphaa established a new capital at Charagua, broke the clan allegiances that held the Ahom polity together earlier replacing it with political authority of the king, and introduced the tradition of the singarigharutha ceremony, the state coronation of the Ahom kings that symbolised royal Ahom sovereignty, authority and legitimacy. Sudangphaa settled Habung brahmins close his capital, settled the sons of his adopted Brahmin family in frontier areas, dismantled the tribal allegiances that held the polity together earlier and brought the Ahom kingdom very close to a full fledged state. The next hundred years saw the kingdom mostly suppressing rebellious Naga groups, but a conflict with the Dimasa kingdom in 1490 saw the Ahoms, not strong enough to take them on frontally, suing for peace. The Ahom royalty continuously improved their relationship with the Brahmans which enabled them to gain goodwill with the Indo Aryanized tribal groups and consolidate power.

The Ahom kingdom transitioned into a full state rather dramatically in a short period during the reign of Suhungmung Dihingia Raja It began first with a consolidation of the militia in 1510, followed by an expansion into the Bhuyan region at Habung in 1512 (probably with the help of the descendants of the Habungia Brahmans settled during Sudangpha's time). The Indo Aryan Bhuyans were relocated to the capital and absorbed into the lower echelons of the growing state as scribes and warriors. They in turn helped in the elimination of the royalty of the advanced Chutia kingdom in 1523; and that kingdom's nobility, commanders, professional classes, warriors and technologies were absorbed into the Ahom kingdom. It was this formation of the Ahom kingdom that met the aggression from Bengal under Turbak in 1532 and it was able to eliminate the aggressive leadership (with significant loss to itself) and pursue the retreating invaders to the Karatoya river. In 1536, after the series of contacts with the Kachari kingdom, the Ahom rule extended up to the Kolong river in Nagaon; and by the end of Suhungmung's reign, the size of the kingdom had effectively doubled. These expansions created significant changes in the kingdom—the Assamese speaking Hinduized subjects outnumbered the Ahoms themselves; and the absorption of the Chutia kingdom meant a wide range of artisan skills became available to it increasing the scope for division of labour. To provide legitimacy to the rule of the Ahom kings among the new subjects Suhungmung assumed the title Swarganarayana (Swargadeo), though nothing like the Rajputisation process occurred with the Ahoms. The nature of the kings institutional relationship to the ministers changed with the creation of a new position, the Borpatrogohain, named after a Chutia office; and the creation of the offices of Sadiyakhowa Gohain (territories acquired from the Chutia kingdom) and the Marangikhowa Gohain (territories acquired from the Kachari kingdom), The traditional nobles (Chao) now aligned with the Brahmin literati and an expanded ruling class developed. And when the Ahoms under Ton Kham Borgohain pursued the invaders and reached the Karatoya river they began to see themselves as the rightful heir of the erstwhile Kamarupa kingdom.

The Ahom kingdom became more broad based and took many features of its mature form under Pratap Singha , primarily to meet the sustained attacks from the Mughals. The Paik system was reorganized in 1609 under the professional khel system, replacing the kinship based phoid system; and paiks could be permanently alienated to non royal institutions via royal grants. Under the same king, the offices of the Borphukan (viceroy of territories acquired from the Koches and the Mughals), and the Borbarua (the "secretary" of the royal government) were established to increase the number of Patra Mantris to five, along with other smaller offices. the Ahom kings adopting a Hindu name in addition to their Ahom names, and patronising Hindu establishments began with Pratap Singha, though formal initiation of the Ahom kings into Hinduism did not occur till 1648. The Assamese language entered the Ahoms court for the first time and briefly coexisted and eventually replaced the Ahom language. No more major restructuring of the state structure was attempted until the end of the kingdom.

After the division of the Koch kingdom between two branches of the Koch dynasty in 1581, the Ahoms allied with their immediate western neighbor, the Koch Hajo branch, from 1603 to prop them as a buffer against the Mughals who had extended their rule to Bengal by 1576. The collapse of the Koch Hajo power in 1614 resulted in the Mughals coming to power up to the Barnadi river. The Mughals attempted further ingress to the east in 1616 with the Battle of Samdhara which marked the beginning of the Ahom–Mughal conflicts which lasted the till 1682 in the Battle of Itakhuli, when the Ahoms were able to push the Mughals back to the west of the Manas river permanently.

In 1657, owing to the 'War of succession' among the sons of Shah Jahan. Ahom king Jayadhwaj Singha extended his authority, occupied Kamrup, preventing the other rebellious Koch king Pran Narayan from securing his footing. He speedily extended his authority over whole of western Assam. He brought under his domain the whole Brahmaputra Valley, from Sadiya in the east and Sherpur on the south. Thus, the Ahom state attained the greatest territorial zenith. In 1662, Aurangzeb to bring the lost tracts and to punish the rebels elements in that quarter, launched an invasion under his chief lieutenant Mir Jumla II, in this invasion the Ahoms could not resist up well, and the Mughals occupied the capital, Garhgaon. Unable to keep it, and in at the end of the Battle of Saraighat, the Ahoms not only fended off a major Mughal invasion but extended their boundaries west, up to the Manas river. The western border was fixed at Manas river after the Battle of Itakhuli, which remained the same till the annexation by the British. Following the Battle of Saraighat, the kingdom fell straight under ten years of political disorder. During this period the nobles exercised immense power, and seven kings were put on the throne and deposed. In the meantime, Kamrup went back in the hands of Mughals for a few years.

Gadadhar Singha established the 'Tungkhungia rule' in Assam, which continued to remain in power till the end of the kingdom. In 1682, the Mughals were defeated in the Battle of Itakhul, and Manas river was fixed as the western boundary. Gadadhar Singha came in conflict with the Vaisnava Satras who began commencing immense power and influence over the state and people, and started a wide–spread persecution of the Vaisnavites. The rule of Tungkhungia Ahom kings was marked by achievements in the Arts and engineering constructions, the Tungkhungia reigme witnessed a relative time of peace and stability till the Moamoria rebellion, also festering internal conflicts that tore the kingdom asunder. According to Guha (1986) Ahom Assam continued to flourish till 1770. The Tungkhungia regime witnessed a relative time of peace till first half of the 18th century, where the population increased, trade expanded, Coinage and monetization made headway. New arts and crafts, new crops and even new style of dress were introduced. Rudra Singha alias Sukhrungphaa , under whom the Kingdom attained its zeinth. He subdued the kingdoms of Dimasa and Jaintia. He had made extensive preparations to extend the boundary west–towards, attempted to make a confederacy of Hindu kings of eastern India against Mughals. But he died right before he could execute his plans in 1714. Rudra Singha had re–instated the Vaisnava Satras, he himself had taken initiation of the Auniati Gosain (the most influential Brahmana Sattradhikar) but later in his life he got inclined towards Shaktism, considering it to be more suitable for a monarch, he invited a famous Sakta Brahmana from Bengal–Krishnaram Bhattacharya alias Pravatiya Gosain. From his death bed he expressed his will that, all his five sons to be kings in a executive manner and advised them to take initiation of Parvatiya Gosain

Siva Singha alias Sutanphaa , he dropped his father's plan to invade Benagal. He took the initiation of Parvatiya Gosain and established him 'Nilachal mountain' with extensive land grants and paiks. Siva Singha was very much under the influence of Brahmanas and astrologers, 1722 it was predicted by the astrologers that his reign would soon come to a end owing to the evil influence of Chatra–bhanga–yoga. Therefore, he transferred the royal umbrella and throne to his wife Phuleshwari who was given the title of 'Bar–Raja' on the advice of Pravatiya Gosain. Phuleswari melded too much with the religious affairs, she had caused the insult of the Shudra–Mahantas. Pramatta Singha alias Sunenphaa , nothing of importance is recorded during his reign. He had erected the Rang Ghar with mansory and built the Sukreswar and Rudreswar temples in Noth–Guwahati. During his reign, Kirti Chandra Borbarua gained much of his political influence. In 1744, he received an ambassador from the king of Twipra. He died in 1751. Rajeswar Singha alias Supremphaa , he was put on the throne by Kirti Chandra Borbarua by setting aside the claims of seniority of his elder brother Barjana Gohain. Rajeswar Singha had erected the most number of temples among the Ahom Kings, he was an orthodox Hindu and took initiation of Nati–Gosian (a relative of Pravatiya Gosain). In 1765, he sent an expedition to Manipur whose king Jay Singha made an appeal to the Ahom king to recover his country from the Burmese occupation. The first expeditionary force had to be routed off, which was sent through 'Naga Hills', in 1767 another force was despatched through the old Raha route. The second expedition was successful and achieved its objective in recovering Manipur. Kirti Chandra Borbarua who was the most influential noble in the Ahom court, had caused the burning of Buranjis. Rajeswar Singha's reign marked the end of Ahom supremacy and glory, the signs were decay was already visible during his reign. He was succeeded by his younger brother Lakshmi Singha alias Sunyeophaa .

The Ahom kingdom by the mid 18th century was indeed an over burdened hierarchical structure, supported by a weak institutional base and meagre economic surplus. The Paik system which in the 17th century had helped the kingdom to repulse the repeated Mughal invasions, had become extremely outdated. The later phase of the rule was also marked by increasing social conflicts, leading to the Moamoria rebellion were able to capture and maintain power at the capital Rangpur for some years but were finally removed with the help of the British under Captain Welsh. The following repression led to a large depopulation due to emigration as well as execution, but the conflicts were never resolved. A much weakened kingdom fell to repeated Burmese attacks and finally after the Treaty of Yandabo in 1826, the control of the kingdom passed into British hands.

The Ahom kingdom was based on the Paik system, a type of corvee labor that is neither feudal nor Asiatic. The first coins were introduced by Jayadhwaj Singha in the 17th century, though the system of personal service under the Paik system persisted. In the 17th century when the Ahom kingdom expanded to include erstwhile Koch and Mughal areas, it came into contact with their revenue systems and adapted accordingly.

Trade was carried on usually through barter and use of circulation of money was limited. According to Shihabududdin Tailash, currency in the Ahom kingdom consisted of cawries, rupees and gold coins. With the increase of external trade since the reign of Rudra Singha, there was a corresponding increase in the circuation of money. Inscriptions dating from the reign of Siva Singha, gives the price of number of commodities like rice, ghee, oil, pulses, goat, pegion in connection with worship in different temples of the kingdom. This concludes that the barter economey was in the process of being replaced by the money economy, which was the outcome of Assam's developing economic ties both with feudal India and the neighbouring countries of the north east.

Due to trade with Tibet, a coin of Jayadhwaj Singha carries a single Chinese character on each side reading Zang Bao. This had been translated as 'treasury of your honour'. Nicholas Rodhes read the inscription as 'Currency of Tibet', Also these two characters were used by the Chinese in Lhasa between 1792 and 1836 with the meaning 'Tibetan currency. Furthermore, there was a significant contact between China and tibet in the mid seventeen century, so it is not unlikely that the Assamese would have thought have thought that a Chinese character was an appropriate for Assamese Tibetan trade coin. This piece evidently was an attempt by Jayadhwaj Singha to facilitate trade with Chinese knowing person coming from the direction of Tibet. Rudra Singha is also said to have established an extensive trade with Tibet and to have encouraged intercourse with other nations although he strictly limited the extent to which foreigners were allowed into the country. Presumably, some of the coins of his reign were struck with the silver earned from these trading activities. Another point by which we can understand the trade relation of Ahoms with other nations is through the use of Silver coins. It is to be noted that there are no silver mines in the northeast or in the rest of India, so the metal entered as a result of trade.

In extent the kingdom's length was about 500 miles (800 km) and with an average breadth of 60 miles (96 km). The kingdom can be divided into three major regions: the north bank (Uttarkul), the south bank (Dakhinkul), and the island of Majuli. The north bank (Uttarkul) was more populated and fertile but the Ahom kings set up their capital on the south bank (Dakinkul) because it had more inaccessible strongholds and defensible central places.

There were towns, but only a small percentage of the population lived in such towns. Some important towns of Ahom time were Rangpur, Garhgoan, Guwahati and Hajo. The capital city of Rangpur, was found to be 20 miles (32.18 km) in extent and thickly populated by Capt. Welsh in 1794. The population, however, never exceeded 10 thousand souls.

The Ahom kingdom was ruled by a king, called Swargadeo (Ahom language: Chao Pha), who had to be a descendant of the first king Sukaphaa. Succession was generally by primogeniture but occasionally the great Gohains (Dangarias) could elect another descendant of Sukaphaa from a different line or even depose an enthroned one. Dangarias: Sukaphaa had two great Gohains to aid him in administration: Burhagohain and the Borgohain. In the 1280s, they were given independent territories, they were veritable sovereigns in their given territories called bilat or rajya. The Burhagohain's territory was between Sadiya and Gerelua river in the north bank of the Brahmaputra river and the Borgohain's territory was to the west up to the Burai river. They were given total command over the paiks that they controlled. These positions were generally filled from specific families. Princes who were eligible for the position of Swargadeo were not considered for these positions and vice versa. In the 1527, Suhungmung added a third Gohain, Borpatrogohain. The Borpatrogohain's territory was located between the territories of the other two Gohains. Royal officers: Pratap Singha added two offices, Borbarua and Borphukan, that were directly under the king. The Borbarua, who acted as the military as well as the judicial head, was in command of the region east of Kaliabor not under the command of the Dangarias. He could use only a section of the paiks at his command for his personal use (as opposed to the Dangariyas), the rest rendering service to the Ahom state. The Borphukan was in military and civil command over the region west of Kaliabor, and acted as the Swargadeo's viceroy in the west. Borbaruas were mostly from different Moran, Kachari, Chiring and Khamti communities, while the Borphukan of lower Assam was appointed from the Chutia community. The Borbarua and Borphukan offices were not hereditary and thus could be chosen from any families. Patra Mantris: The five positions constituted the Patra Mantris (Council of Ministers). From the time of Supimphaa (1492–1497), one of the Patra Mantris was made the Rajmantri (Prime Minister, also Borpatro; Ahom language: Shenglung) who enjoyed additional powers and the service of a thousand additional paiks from the Jakaichuk village.

The Borbarua and the Borphukan had military and judicial responsibilities, and they were aided by two separate councils (sora) of Phukans. The Borphukan's sora sat at Guwahati and the Borbarua's sora at the capital. Six of them formed the council of the Borbarua with each having his separate duties. The Naubaicha Phukan, who had an allotment of thousand men managed the royal boats, the Bhitarual Phukan, the Na Phukan, the Dihingia Phukan, the Deka Phukan, and the Neog Phukan formed the council of Phukan. The Borphukan also had a similar council of six subordinate Phukans whom he was bound to consult in all matters of importance. This council included Pani Phukan, who commanded six thousand paiks, Deka Phukan who commanded four thousand paiks, the Dihingia Phukan, Nek Phukan and two Chutiya Phukans. The superintending officers were called Baruas. The Baruas of whom there were twenty or more included Bhandari Barua or treasurer; the Duliya Barua, who was in charge of the royal palanquins; the Chaudang Barua who superintended executions; Khanikar Barua was the chief artificer; Sonadar Barua was the mint master and chief jeweler; the Bez Barua was the physician to the royal family, Hati Barua, Ghora Barua, etc. Other officials included twelve Rajkhowas, and a number of Katakis, Kakatis, and Dolais. The Rajkhowas were governors of given territories and commanders of three thousand paiks. They were the arbitrator who settled local disputes and supervised public works. The Katakis were envoys who dealt with foreign countries and hill tribes. The Kakatis were writers of official documents. The Dolais expounded astrology and determined auspicious time and dates for any important event and undertaking.

The Ahom kingdom was dependent on the Paik system, a form of corvee labor, reorganized in 1608 by Momai Tamuli Barbarua. Every common subject was a paik, and four paiks formed a got. At any time of the year, one of the paiks in the got rendered direct service to the king, as the others in his got tended to his fields. The Paik system was administered by the Paik officials: A Bora was in charge of 20 paiks, a Saikia of 100 and a Hazarika of 1000. A Rajkhowa commanded three thousand and a Phukan commanded six thousand paiks.

Subinphaa (1281–1293), the third Ahom king, delineated the Satgharia Ahom ("Ahom of the seven houses") aristocracy: the Chaophaa, the Burhagohain and the Borgohain families, and four priestly lineages—the Deodhai, the Mohan, the Bailung and the Chiring Phukan These lines maintained exogamous marital relationships. The number of lineages increased in later times as either other lineages were incorporated, or existing lineages divided. The king could belong to only the first family whereas the Burhagohain and the Borgohain only to the second and the third families. Most of the Borphukans belonged to the Chutia ethnic group, whereas the Borbaruas belonged to the Morans, Chiring and Khamti groups. The extended nobility consisted of the landed aristocracy and the spiritual class that did not pay any form of tax. The apaikan chamua was the gentry that was freed from the khels and paid only money tax. The paikan chamua consisted of artisans, the literati and skilled people that did non manual work and rendered service as a tax. The kanri paik rendered manual labor. The lowest were the licchous, bandi beti and other serfs and bondsmen. There was some degree of movement between the classes. Momai Tamuli Borborua rose from a bondsman through the ranks to become the first Borbarua under Pratap Singha.

The metropolis at Rangpur contains the Talatal Ghar, Rang Ghar, Gola Ghar and in Garhgoan, Kareng Ghar.

A large number of temple constructions in the late medieval Assam are credited to the Ahom kings. Notable temples from the Ahom period includes– Sivasagar group of temples, Jaysagar group of temples, Gaurisagar group of temples, Rudrasagar temple, Negheriting shiva temple, Rangnath temple, Manikarneswar temple, Dirgheshwari temple, Hatimura temple, Kedar temple, Basistha temple, Sukreswar temple, Umananda temple, Rudreswar temple etc including many others.

Numerous large and small tanks were excavated to necessitate the problem of water shortage and for religious purposes. Their grandeur was enhanced by the construction of temples in their bank. Notable tanks from the Ahom period includes– Sivasagar tank, Jaysagar tank, Gaurisagar tank, Lakshmisagar tank and Vishusagar tank or Rajmao pukhuri etc. The number of other tanks excavated by the Ahom rulers is estimated to be approximately 200.

The culture of music and dance was widespread and popular and received the patronage of royalty, the Ahom kings also held high regard for Mughal music and sent musicians to Delhi to learn it. Certain officers such as 'Gayan Barua' were appointed to promote music.

The royal insignia of the kingdom is known as Ngi ngao kham which is a mythical winged lion dragon.