Ahom Kingdom

The Ahom or Tai-Ahom, are an ethnic group from the Indian states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. Members of this group are mixed descendants of the Tai people who arrived in Brahmaputra’s Assam Valley in 1228, and local indigenous peoples have joined them throughout history. Sukaphaa, leader of the Tai group, and his 9,000 followers founded the kingdom of Ahom (1228–1826 AD), which controlled much of the Brahmaputra valley in modern Assam until 1826.

Map of Ahom Kingdom

Origin of Ahom people

The first Thai speakers emerged in the Guangxi region of China, from where they moved to mainland Southeast Asia in the mid-11th century after a long and fierce war with the Chinese. The Tai-Ahoms are descended from Mong Mao in southern China or from the Hukawng Valley in Myanmar. 

Sukaphaa, a Tai prince of Mong Mao, and a group of followers arrived in Assam in 1228 with the intention of settling there. They came up with higher existing wet-rice farming technology and traditions of writing, record keeping, and state formation. They settled in the area south of the Brahmaputra River and east of the Dikho River; Today the Ahom people are concentrated in this area. Sukaphaa, the leader of the Tai group, and his 9,000 followers founded the kingdom of Ahom (1228-1826 AD), which controlled much of the Brahmaputra valley until 1826.

In the early stages, Sukaphaa’s loyal group moved for nearly thirty years and mingled with the locals. He moved from place to place, looking for a seat. He made peace with the Borahi and Moran ethnic groups, and he and his mostly male followers married them, creating a mixed population group identified as the Ahoms. and start the Ahomization process. The Borahis, a Tibeto-Burmese people, are fully included in the Ahom group, although the Morans have retained their independent ethnicity. Sukapha established his capital at Charaideo near present-day Sivasagar in 1253 and began his quest to establish the state.

Tradition

Food is one of the important variables in Tai Ahom culture. Most Ahoms, especially in rural areas, are non-vegetarians, still maintaining a traditional cuisine similar to that of other Tai. Rice is a staple food Typical dishes are pork, chicken, duck, beef slices, frogs, many kinds of fish, hukoti maas (dried salted fish mix), muga lota (endi worm coconut seeds and muga), and red ant eggs.   Certain insects were also a favourite food of the Ahoms Luk-Lao or Nam-Lao (rice wine, pure or diluted) is the traditional drink. They consumed ‘Khar’ (an alkaline liquid extracted from charred banana peel/bark ash), ‘Betgaaj’ (young shoots of sugarcane), and many other natural plants with medicinal value. However, beef for Hindus in general and pork for Vaisnavites are shunned. Under the reign of Siva Singha, people gave up the gratuitous consumption of meat and drink. 

Ahom’s speciality cuisine is similar to Thai cuisine. Like the Thais, the Ahoms prefer cooked dishes cooked with some spices and prefer to cook fish, meat, and vegetables such as eggplant, tomato, etc. directly.  Some of them are Thu-dam (black lentils), Khao-Moon (Frumenty rice), Xandohguri (a powder made from dry-roasted rice), ChewaKhao (steamed rice), Chunga Chaul ( boiled in soft bamboo sticky rice), Til pitha (sesame rice rolls made from sticky rice flour), and Khao-tyek (rice flakes).  Apart from the Ahoms and the Thais, no one knew anything about the preparation of this project. Khao (raw sweet rice made with special glutinous rice with a unique technique), Tupula Khao (rice cooked and wrapped with a special type of plant leaf which has a good smell, a bamboo soup called “Tora pat” and preserved  are some of the favourite foods of the Ahoms, similar to their traditional diet

Religion

Most Ahom today declare Hinduism as their religion, although efforts are being made to revive the traditional Ahom religion. The Ahom religion has declined since the time of Jayadhwaj Singha, who was the first Ahom king to adopt Ekasarana Dharma and received enlightenment from Auniati Mahanta.

From Jayadhawaj Singha to Rantadhwaj Singha are followers of Ekasarana Dharma. Siva Singha made dynamism the state religion, and Suremphaa Rajeswar Singha (1751-1769) ordered Sanskritization. All funerals will be conducted in accordance with the Hindu cremation ritual, performed by Reverend Maithil Brahmin and traditional priests.  Despite this, Me-Dam-Me-Phi was widely praised.

Language

Today’s Ahoms speak Assamese after the traditional  Ahom language was completely abandoned. The Ahom language, a member of the Tai branch of the Kra-Dai language, is now dead, and its tonal system has completely disappeared. However, some large ahong groups are revived there.  

From the end of the 20th century to the beginning of the 21st century, the Ahoms have seen a resurgence of interest in their culture and language, leading to more research and renewal efforts.  The 1901 Indian census listed about 179,000 people who identified themselves as Ahom The latest census records just over 2 million Ahom people, but the total number of descendants of early Tai-Ahom settlers is estimated at 8 million. The Ahom script also has a place in the Unicode Consortium, and the script was declared a leader in the Southeast Asian category. 

Society

Ban-Mong Social System

The conventional social system of Tai-Ahom human beings turned into referred to as Ban-Mong turned associated with agriculture and was primarily based totally on irrigation.  The Ban or Ban Na is a unit composed of households that settled via way of means of the facet of the rivers. While many Bans collectively paperwork a Mong which refers to the state. 

Ahom clans

Ahom clans, known as phoids, shaped socio-political entities. At the time of ingress into Assam, or quickly thereafter, there have been seven vital clans, known as Satghariya Ahoms (Ahoms of the Seven Houses). There have been Su/Tsu (Tiger) extended family to which the Chao-Pha (Sukaphaa) belonged; his leader counselors Burhagohain (Chao-Phrung-Mung) and Borgohain (Chao-Thao-Mung); and 3 priestly clans: Bailung (Mo-plang), Deodhai (Mo-sham), Mohan (Mo-hang) and Siring. 

Soon the Satghariya organization turned into expanded. Four extra clans started out to be related to nobility: Dihingia, Sandikoi, Lahon, and Duarah.  In the 16th century, Suhungmung introduced every other top-notch counselor, the Borpatrogohain, and a brand new extended family became established. Over time sub-clans started appearing. 

Thus in the course of the Suhungmung’s reign, the Chao-Pha’s extended family have been divided into seven sub-clans—Saringiya, Tipamiya, Dihingiya, Samuguriya, Tungkhungiya, Parvatiya, and Namrupiya. Similarly, Burhagohain’s extended family has been divided into 8, Borgohain sixteen, Deodhai twelve, Mohan seven, and Bailing and Siring 8 each. The relaxation of the Ahom gentry belonged to clans along with Chaodangs, Gharphalias, Likchows, etc. In general, the secular aristocratic clans, the priestly class, and the gentry clans did now no longer intermarry.

Some clans admitted human beings from different ethnic agencies as well. For example, Miri-Sandikoi and Moran-Patar have been Sandikoi and Patar from the Mising and Moran communities, at the same time as the founders of Chetias and Lahons have been from the Chutia community. This turned into proper even for the priestly clans: Naga-Bailung, Miri-Bailung, and Nara-Bailung. 

Economy of Ahom People

The economy of the Ahom kingdom was based on the paik system. In this system, able-bodied adult males called paikes were obliged to serve the state and form a militia in exchange for land. Suklenmung first introduced coins in the 16th century, but the paik system was still in effect. As the Ahom expanded into the Mughal region, the income system was adjusted accordingly.

Administration of the Ahom People

The administrative composition of the Ahom Kingdom is as follows:

1. Swagadeon: The kingdom was ruled by a king named Swargadeo. He must have been of the same lineage as the first king, Skyper. Succession was generally primogeniture, but depending on the circumstances, another descendant of Skypar could be elected to the throne of the great Gohain.
2. Royal Officer: Under Pratapa Singha’s reign, his two royal families were added: Borbaru and Borphukan. Borabar was the head of the military and judiciary, and Borhukan was a military commander who acted like a governor of the western Swargadeo territory. The most famous of the latter was his Lachit Borphukan.
3. Mantri of Patra: The Council of Ministers, also known as the Patra Mantris, consisted of five key positions. They advised the king on matters of national importance. 
4. Paik officials: The common theme of each was a pike, and four pikes formed Gut. In each season, one of the pike’s pike served the king directly, while the others tended his fields.

FAQs on Ahom Dynasty

Question 1: Who was the Ahom?

Answer:

The identity of the Ahom people in this kingdom was fluid, with the king controlling who belonged to whom and who did not Until 1401, the Ahoms originally called their kingdom Mong Dun Shun Kham ( English: chest of gold), but later adopted Assam.  

Question 2: What is the history of the Ahom Kingdom?

Answer:

The Ahoms would have created a new country by suppressing the old political system of the bhuiyans. They annexed the Chhattisgarh and Koch-Hajo kingdoms and conquered many other tribes. In 1662 the Mughals under Mir Jumla attacked the kingdom of Ahom. Their society is divided into tribes or khels. They worship the gods of their tribe. 

Question 3: What is the writing system of the Ahom language? 

Answer:

The Ahoms were literate using a writing system based on the Ahom script, which has since become obsolete along with the language. The Ahom script evolved from the earlier Tai Nuea script, which was developed under the current Chinese government.

Question 4: How did the Ahom build a great nation?

Answer:

They annexed the  Chhatigar and Koch-Hajo kingdoms and conquered many other tribes In 1662 the Mughals under Mir Jumla attacked the Kingdom of Ahom. Their society is divided into tribes or khels. They worship the gods of their tribe. Ahoms built a great state by removing the old political system of bhuiyans (i.e. landowners).