Ahom people

The Ahoms, who ruled Assam for six centuries are the descendants of ethnic Tai people who accompanied the Tai prince Sukaphaa into Assam. And for this reason people of this community call themselves the Tai-Ahom. Sukaphaa established the Ahom kingdom (1228-1826) and the Ahom dynasty ruled and expanded the kingdom for about 600 years. Many of those who accompanied Sukaphaa were unaccompanied males who married into the local communities. Some ethnic communities, like the Tibeto-Burman speaking Borahi people, were completely subsumed into the Ahom community. Members of other communities, based on their allegiance to the Ahom kingdom and their talents, were accepted as Ahoms. The kingdom the Ahom people established gave Assam its name.

History of Ahom kingdom

See: Ahom kingdom

Beginnings

In early 13th century, Sukaphaa, a Shan (Mong Mao) prince began his journey with about 9000 _{(Edward Gait)} followers, mostly men. He crossed the Patkai hills and reached the Brahmaputra valley in 1228. He moved from place to place, searching for a seat. He decided not to attack the Morans and Borahis but befriend them instead. His followers, much depleted from the original 9000, married into the Borahi and the Moran ethnic groups. The Borahis, a Tibeto-Burman people, were subsumed into the Ahom fold, though the Moran maintained their independent ethnicity. Sukaphaa finally established his capital at Charaideo near present-day Sivasagar in 1253 and began the task of state formation.

The Ahoms brought the dispersed tribal groups and regions to under one roof. They are considered the architects of modern Assam.

Expansion

The Ahom kingdom then consolidated its powers for the next 300 years or so. The first major expansion was at the cost of the Sutiya kingdom, which was annexed in 1522 under Suhungmung. The expansion was not just a success of Ahom military prowess, but also a result of changes in the Ahom social and political outlook. For example, Suhungmung was the first Ahom king to adopt a Hindu name: Swarga Narayan. The Sutiya region was placed under the Sadiyakhowa Gohain a new position that was created. In 1536 the Kacharis were uprooted from their capital at Dimapur. Thus by the middle of the 16th century, the Ahoms were in control over eastern Assam. In 17th century, after the Battle of Itakhuli in 1682 that marked the end of the Ahom-Mughal conflicts, much of the control of Koch Hajo fell into the hands of the Ahoms.

Funerary rites

One of the important customs among the Ahoms is that the dead body is not burnt but kept in a box. This is called “Maidam”. It is mentioned in history that Swargadeo Rajeswar Singha who was influenced by Hinduism gave the direction that the dead bodies should be cremated and not buried. He also ordered that the death ceremony should be done in the Brahmanical style by calling in a Brahmin priest and the traditional Deodhai priest.

Ancestor Worship

The Tai Ahoms worship their deceased forefathers as they are the guardian deities of the house holders, who keeps eye on their descendents. They believe that their ancestors must be duly worshipped or propitiated so that they being satisfied keep them safe. There is a saying among them that “Neither the wall nor the roof, no other gods can protect the house holders, if the god of the household do not. Neither the serpent bites, nor the tiger eats, even the god of death is afraid when the household deads protect,”

The Tai Ahoms worship their ancestors individually by the family as well as community. The Tai Ahom priestly families worship their dead ancestors in the occasion of marriage, festivals like Bihu, before and after harvesting, feast of new paddy, birth and death ceremonies etc.

The Tai Ahoms believe that after death a person becomes a Dam>Phi or god who goes to reside in the heaven in the same way as he was in his earthly life. He is worshipped and propitiated as a god with the offerings made by the descendants but not as a revengeful ghost.

The Tai Ahoms offer every new first seasonal crops, vegetables and fruits to the ancestors and they could take these only after offering these to their ancestor gods. Blood sacrifice and home made rice beer are the necessary requirements to worship the ancestors. It should be noted here that the priestly families worship their ancestors in a very clear way making different grades to each kind of Dam. These are Ghai Dam, Chi Ren Dam, Na Dam and Jokorua Dam.

Ghai Dam: ‘Ghai’ means ‘main’ and ‘Dam’ means ‘Dead’, hence Ghai Dam means dead grand-parents of the living house holder.

Chi Ren Dam: ‘Chi’ means ‘four’, ‘ren’ means a ‘house’. Thus ‘Chi Ren Dam’ means the fourth generation of the dead parents of the dead grand-father of the living house holders.

Jokorua Dam : The word ‘Jokorua’ is used in a collective sense to mean all the dead ones who died without having a male child, who died in childhood, who died without getting married and also who died with physical and mental abnormality. This kind of Dam is propitiated in the house of the elder one of the living generation.

Na Dam: ‘Na’ means ‘new’. The recent dead in the household, whether the head of the family or his wife or his parents, is called Na Dam.

All these kinds of Dams are altogether called Griha Dam. But the Jokorua Dam is not included in the Griha Dam. On the other Tai Ahom people worship their dead ancestors annually.

Me-Dam-me-Phi

Me-Dam-Me-Phi is a traditional religious ceremony of the Tai-Ahoms. In this ceremony the Chao Phi or the natural forefathers (presiding gods) and Dam Chao are worshipped. They are: 1. Khao Kham 2. Ai lengdin 3. Ja Ching Pha 4. Jan Sai Hung 5. Leng Don 6. Chit-Lam-Cham 7. Mut-Kum Tai-Kum 8. Dam Chao Phi or Chao Phi Dam “forefather above thirteen generations of living family” 9. Ra-Khim 10. Ba-Khin

In Me-Dam-me-Phi the worship is offered through an octagonal Ho-Phi, constructed temporarily by bamboo sticks and thatch. Me-Dam-me-Phi while observed publicly it becomes a socio-religious festival than to a ritual.

End of Ahom rule

Their power declined in latter half of the 18th century. The capital city was taken for a short period during the Moamoria rebellion. In the first part of the 19th century, the Burmese army invaded their kingdom, uprooted their capital and set up a puppet Ahom king. The Burmese were defeated by the British in the First Anglo-Burmese War resulting in the Treaty of Yandaboo in 1826, which paved the way for the British to convert the Ahom kingdom into a principality and which marked the end of the Ahom rule.

The Ahom people

The Tai Ahoms who came into Assam followed their traditional religion and spoke the Tai language. They were a very small group numerically and after the first generation, the group was a mixture of the Tai and the local population. Over time the Ahom state adopted the Assamese language and kings and other high officials converted to Hinduism. Except for some special offices (the king and the raj mantris), other positions are open to members of all tribes and religion. They kept good records, and are known for their chronicles, called Buranjis.

One of its greatest achievements was the stemming of Mughal expansionism. In the celebrated battle of Saraighat, the Ahom general Lachit Borphukan defeated the Mughal forces on the outskirts of present day Guwahati in 1671.

The Ahom Rule

Notes on the history of Ahoms by Sri Chinmoy Sumon Dutta, St. Joseph's School, Sonari, Class-VI B.

The Ahoms established their kingdom in Assam under King Sukaphaa in 1228. They ruled till 1826. Sukaphaa was very humble and he befriended with the local tribes Moranis and the Borahis. The Ahoms were a Tai–Mongoloid people who migrated to Assam from Yunan province of China. His followers originally later married into the Morani and Borahi peoples. King Suhungmung adopted the Hindu name 'Swarga Narayan' and later all the Ahom kings were called Swargadeo (lord of the heavens) in the Assamese language. The Ahom kings were called Chao-pha in the Tai language. The Ahoms prevented Mughal expansion in Assam. The Ahom power came nearly to an end because of the civil wars led their resources to an end. The Burmese then invaded Assam and forced the King to leave the Kingdom and set up a Puppet King. The Burmese were then defeated by the British in the first Anglo-Burmese war. And this is how Assam came under the British Domination. The Ahom people are now in the Assamese society.

Ahom people today

The Tai-Ahom were historically seen as "Assamese" people. However, the term "ethnic Assamese" is now associated by the Indian government at Delhi with the Assamese-speaking Indo-Aryans of the Brahmaputra valley (see Assamese people).^[1][1][2][3]

Further reading

• Saikia, Yasmin. "Fragment Histories: Struggling to be Tai-Ahom". Duke University Press.2004
• Gogoi, N. K. (2006). Continuity and change among the Ahom. New Delhi: Concept Pub. Co. ISBN 8180692817
• Phukon, G. (1998). State of Tai culture among the Ahoms. [Assam, India?]: G. Phukon.

See also

• Ahom Dynasty
• Burmese invasion of Assam
• Ahom history
• Battle of Saraighat

External links

• The Tai-Ahom connection by Yasmin Saikia in Gateway to the East, June 2005.
• Polities mentioned in the Chinese Ming Shi-lu, several references are made to a Tai Ahom kingdom in this translation of an important Ming dynasty historical source
• The Tai Ahom International website by J. Borgohain launched on June 26, 2009.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Yasmin Saikia (2004). Fragmented Memories. ISBN 9780822333739. http://books.google.com/?id=p9PkFF3uq_8C&pg=PA5. 
2. ^ "ST status to Assam groups only from a national perspective". http://indiaedunews.net/Assam/ST_status_to_Assam_groups_only_from_a_national_perspective_2813/. Retrieved 11/03/2009. 
3. ^ "Separatist strains". The Hindu. http://www.hindu.com/fline/fl2410/stories/20070601001709200.htm. Retrieved 11/03/2009.