The Ahom or Tai-Ahom of Assam belong to the great
Tai ethnic and linguistic family of South-East Asia. The
original YUNUM of Southern China. They come to Assam
and establish a tiny Kingdom in 1228 A.D in the
easternmost part of India with CHARAIDEO as its capital
in the district of SIVASAGAR.
A Shan Prince of Mong Mao has came to
Assam after crossing the PATKAI Mountains and
reached the Brahmaputra valley of Assam and the local people who joined them over
the course of history.
The Ahom dynasty ruled the Ahom Kingdom in present-day Assam,
India for nearly 598 years. The dynasty was established by
CHAOLUNG SUKAPHAA, the frst Ahom King in medieval Assam, was
the founder of Ahom Kingdom. He entered the Brahmaputra valley,
crossing the rugged Patkai mountain range. He was accompanied by
his three queens, two sons, several nobles and offcials and their
families, and soldiers total more than nine thousand persons. The
prince, Sukaphaa, defeated the Nagas on the way and fnally reached
and stayed in a place called Namruk (now know as Namrup).
In the nearly 600 years 39 Swargadeo dynastic history, there are three progenitor
kings. They are Sukaphaa, who established the kingdom, Suhungmung, who
made the greatest territorial and political expansion of kingdom, and Supaathaa,
who established the house of Tungkhugia kings that reigned the kingdom during
its political and cultural zenith, as well as the period of decay and end.
The king could be appointed only with the concurrence of the patra mantris
(council of ministers- Burhagohain, Borgohain and Borpatrogohain). During
three periods in 14th century, the kingdom had no kings when acceptable
candidates were not found. In 17th century a power struggle and the increasing
number of claimants to the throne resulted in kings being deposed in quick
succession, all of whom were executed after the new king was instated.
The Ahom kingdom was based on the PAIK System, (it was a
type of corvee labor system on which the economy of the Ahom
kingdom of medieval Assam depended). The frst coins were
introduced by Suklenmung in 16th century, though the system
of personal seraice under the Paik system persisted. In the 17th
century when the Ahom kingdom expanded to include erstwhile
Koch and Mughal areas, it came into contant with their reaenue
systems and adapted accordingly.
The Ahom king was called SWARGADEO and had DANGARIAS
(also called gohains). The Ahom kingdom grew very rapidly and
as such the process of Ahomization of the people joining it
could not keep up. Infact it grew so fast, they had to create a
third Gohain to oversee a new regions, Borpatrogohain, apart
from the already present two great Gohains (Burahgohain and
Borgohain). Over the time, many local tribes joined the
kingdom become a multi ethnic and inclusive one. Hindu
influences and sanskritization were welcome too and as a
result, the Assamese language entered the Ahom kingdom.
The Ahom Army had various confrontation, the most signifcant ones were
against the west, from Bengal Sultans and the Mughal Empire. It won decisive
Victories against the forces let by Turbak in 1532, the Mughal Empire in the
Battle of Saraighat in 1671, and the Final battle of Itakhuli in 1682.
Spanning there rule for over 600 years the Ahom dynasty,
is well known for successfully resisting Mughal expansion. It
also successfully maintained independent from British rule.
The rule of this dynasty ended with the Burmese invasion of
Assam and the subsequent annexation by the British East
India Company following the treaty of Yandabo in 1826.
The Ahom played a vital role in the incarnation of our history which is still not known to many .
This article was to proach their contributions in our culture to certain levels.
SUBMITTED BY - Rajashri Tamuli.
Photo credit - Rajashri Tamuli
Department of Mass communication , journalism and media studies .
Cotton University.