History OF THE TAI-AhomS

List of Ahom Kings

(1228-1838 AD)

Chaolung Su-ka-pha

(reign. 1228–1268)

Also known as Su-Ka-Pha, the first Ahom king in medieval Assam, was the founder of the Ahom kingdom. A Tai prince originally from Mong Mao, the kingdom he established in 1228 existed for nearly six hundred years and in the process unified the various tribal and non-tribal peoples of the region that left a deep impact on the region. In reverence to his position in Assam's history the honorific Chaolung is generally associated with his name (Chao: Lord/Great; Lung: Dragon).

Since, 1996 December 2 has been celebrated in Assam as the Sukaphaa Divas, or Asom Divas (Assam Day), to commemorate the advent of the first king of the Ahom kingdom in Assam after his journey over the Patkai Hills.

Brief History: Su-Ka-Pha, or Chao-lung Su-Ka-Pha (Siu-ka-pha the Great Dragon Prince) was the son of Chao Chang-ngyeo, a direct descendant of Khun-lung. His mother Nang Myong Blok Kham Seng was a princess of the Myong Mao royal family. He was born in 1191 AD and brought up at Myong Mao to succeed his uncle (mother’s elder brother) King Pa-meo-pung who had no issue. But after a long time a son was born to Pa-meo-pung’s queen who succeeded to the Myong Mao throne at an early age. In the meantime Siu-ka-pha’s father died and his uncle too died. Su-ka-pha did not go back to his father’s kingdom rather decided to march towards west to rule a western state called Myong Pa-kam now identified with the eastern part of Kamarupa. Su-Ka-Pha left King-Sen Mao-Lung, the capital of Myong Mao kingdom in 1215 A.D. He was accompanied by his three queens, two sons, several nobles and their families, other officials and families, and soldiers totaling more than nine thousand* persons. He also took with him two elephants and three hundred Yunnanese pack mules. The party followed an ancient route that passed through Myit-kyiena, Mogaung, Hukwang in the Upper Irrawady basin to reach the Patkai hill range in 1227. The slow movement took him 13 years on the route. In the Patkai region he founded a province called Kham-jang where he placed a governor called Thao-myong Kham-jang. Kham-jang thus formed an integral part of the Ahom kingdom and it remained so for the next 600 hundred years.(Kham-jang is now within the Sagaing Division of Myanmar) From the Patkai he came to the Upper Buri-Dihing region where he founded another province and placed a governor. He then followed the Buri-Dihing called Nam Jin by the Tai by raft and came to Tipam near Naharkatiya where he stayed for several years and appointed a governor there. Thereafter he moved downstream the Buri-Dihing and after reaching the mouth of the Buri-Sihing he came to Habung. At Habung he stayed three years and did cultivation. Thereafter he moved downstream the Brahmaputra (called Nam Ti-lao by the Tai) and came to the mouth of the Dikhow called Nam-Sao by the Ahom. From there he traveled upstream that river and came to the mouth of the Disang (called Nam Khun) where he weighted the water of that river and found it heavier than that of the Dikhow. He therefore went upstream the Dikhow and came to Simaluguri where stayed for several years. From there he went to Santak. He finally moved to Charaideo where he found the soil most suitable for habitation and wet-rice cultivation. After making survey of the area he founded his capital at Charaideo in about 1253 A.D. Charaideo is called Che-rai-doi or Che-tam-doi, or Che Kham-run. From Charaideo Siu-ka-pha sent messengers with presents to the Mao King informing his safe arrival in Myong Pa-kam. He remained there till his death in 1268 A.D. Charaideo thus became the capital of the new Ahom kingdom and remained so for the next 145 years. At first Siu-ka-pha’s kingdom was bounded by the Brahmaputra, the Buri-Dihing, the Dikhow and the Hills on the south now called Naga Hills. Later it was expanded to cover the whole of the Brahmaputra valley.

(Based on original Ahom chronicles written in Tai-Ahom language) Prof.(Dr) J.N. Phukan.

*Public dishes carried by Su-ka-pha's group was designed for six persons to eat meal in a same time. They had three thousand such dishes & in such case Su-ka-pha at least had a group of eighteen thousand persons.

The Ahom Kingdom

(1228–1826, called Kingdom of Assam in medieval times)

Ahom Kingdom was a medieval kingdom in the Brahmaputra valley in Assam that maintained its sovereignty for nearly 600 years and successfully resisted Mughal expansion in North-East India. It was able to establish its suzerainty over the Brahmaputra valley and had a profound effect on the political and social life in the region. The kingdom was established by Sukaphaa, a Tai prince from Mong Mao, in the upper reaches of the Brahmaputra river between the extant Chutiya kingdomin the north and the Kachari kingdom in the south. The kingdom expanded north, south and the west in succession and evolved into a multi-ethnic polity, beginning especially under Suhungmung Dihingia Raja in the 16th century. It made major advances under Susenghphaa Pratap Singha, under whom the administration was revamped and the first military and diplomatic contact with the Mughals were made. Mughal influence was completely removed from much of the Brahmaputra valley under Gadadhar Singha and the Ahom kingdom reached its zenith under his son, Rudra Singha. The kingdom became weaker with the rise of the Moamoria rebellion, and subsequently fell to a succession of Burmese invasions. 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 British (East India Company) hands.

(The Ahom Kingdom, c1826. The kingdom was founded by Sukaphaa between the Dikhau and the Dihing rivers in the 13th century, and by the end of the 19th century, the western outpost was the Assam Choki, or Hadira Choki, contiguous with British territories. The southern boundaries was defined by Doboka and Dimapur. The eastern portion around Bengmara, the Matak regions, was under the autonomous control of the Barsenapati. Jorhat became the capital of the kingdom after the Moamoria rebellion.)

Though it came to be called the Ahom kingdom in the colonial and subsequent times, it was largely multi-ethnic, with the ethnic Ahom people constituting less than 10% of the population toward the end. The Ahomscalled their kingdom Mong Dun Shun Kham, (Assamese: xunor-xophura; English: casket of gold) while others called it Assam. The British-controlled province after 1838 and later the Indian state of Assam came to be known by this name.

Titles of Tai-Ahoms

Ahom, Arundhara, Bailung, Bakal, Bakatiliya, Bantoo, Baruah, Barukiyal, Bhitaral Phukan, Bora, Borboruah, Borchetia, Borgohain, Borpatragohain, Borphukan, Baruwati, Buragohain, Chabukdhara, Chamua, Changmai, Changmai Baruah, Chaodang, Charaimuriya, Chetia, Chiring, Chiring Phukan, Choraimoria, Choudangbaruah, Chudang, Chuladhara, Dadhora, Deka Phukan, Deudhai, Deughariya, Dhekiyal, Dhekiyal Phukan, Dihingia, Dihingia Phukan, Dolakakhariya, Dowari, Duliya, Duwarah, Gandhiya Phukan, Gayan Baruah, Gharphalia, Ghurabaruah, Gogoi, Handique, Hatibarua, Hatibaruah, Hatimuriya, Hazarika, Henchuwa, Hendang dhara, Hilaidiya, Howkadhora, Jagiyal, Gohain, Japidhara, Kajali Mukhiya Gohain, Khangiyal Phukan, Khanikar, Kharghari Phukan, Konwar, Kukurachuwa baruah, Lachit, Lahon, Lakhutidhara, Lukhurakhonia, Mohan, Moranbaruah, Morngiyakhuwa Gohain, Na Phukan, Naubaisa Phukan, Nauhaliya Phukan, Neog, Phukan, Pakhimariya, Pani phukan, Pator Phukan, Patra, Phukan, Pukhuriparia, Rahiyal Gohain, Rajkhowa, Rajkonwar, Sadiyakhuwa, Gohain, Saikia, Salal Gohain, Sensuwa.

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