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75-589: Susenghphaa or Pratap Singha ( c.  1545 – 1641), was the 17th and one of the most prominent kings of the Ahom kingdom . As he was advanced in years when he became king, he is also called the burha Raja (Old king). His reign saw an expansion of the Ahom kingdom to the west, the beginning of the Ahom-Mughal conflicts , and a reorganization of the kingdom with an expanded Paik system and reoriented village economy designed by Momai Tamuli Borbarua. His expansion to

150-453: A Hindu name that ended in Singha ( Assamese : Lion): Susengphaa assumed the name Pratap Singha . Buranjis occasionally would refer to a past king by a more informal and colourful name that focused on a specific aspect of the king Pratap Singha was also known as Burha Roja ( Assamese : Old King) because when Pratap Singha became the king, he was quite advanced in age. Subinphaa (1281–1293),

225-702: A Kachari force arrayed along the Dhansiri—the Kacharis were successful initially, but they suffered a massive loss at Marangi, and again an uneasy stalemate prevailed. In 1531 the Ahoms went on the offence and Khunkhara's brother Detcha lost his life attacking the newly erected Ahom fort at Marangi. Both the Ahom king and the commander then attacked the Nenguriya fort, and Khunkhara had to flee with his son. The Ahoms force under Kan-Seng then reached Dimapur following which Detchung,

300-474: A later Ahom Swargadeo removing Mughal influence for ever from Assam. An interim truce ( Treaty of Asurar Ali ) was signed during Susenghphaa's reign. A necessary outcome of the Ahom-Mughal conflicts was cessation of Ahom-Kachari hostilities and restoration of peace, to confront a common enemy. As the Mughal attacks weakened Koch Hajo state powers and Ahom influence spread west, Susenghphaa appointed Langi Panisiya

375-624: A lineage created exclusively for the Ahoms. Suhungmung adopted the title Swarganarayan , and the later kings were called Swargadeo's (literal meaning: Lord of the Heavens ). It was during his reign that the Buranji titled Sri Sri Swarganarayan Maharajor Jonmokotha was written wherein the source and lineage of the Ahom kings was connected to the Hindu God, Indra , Lord of the Heaven. The Swargadeo's coronation

450-600: A mention of Hachengsa, a Boro-Garo name indicated that an appropriate Kshatriya lineage had still not been created by 1520. The first Hindu coin from the Brahmaputra valley, it followed the same weights and measures of the coins from the Muslim Sultans of Bengal and Tripura and indicate influence from them. This kingdom might have been part of ancient Sinitic networks such as the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). Soon after absorbing

525-466: A new rule was introduced during the reign of Sulikphaa Lora Roja—claimants to the throne had to be physically unblemished—which meant that threats to the throne could be removed by merely slitting the ear of an ambitious prince. Rudra Singha , suspecting his brother Lechai's intention, mutilated and banished him. The problem of succession remained, and on his deathbed, he instructed that all his sons were to become kings. One of his sons, Mohanmala Gohain ,

600-550: A new school of art emerged as the 'Garhgaon school'. This school of art broke away from the already existing 'Sattriya school', with much secular influence. Richly illustrated manuscripts such as– Gita Govinda, Dharma Purana, Sankachura Vadh, Hastividyarnava , Ananda Lahiri, Bhagavata Purana VI, Brhamavaivarta Purana, etc., are all products of the royal court. In the nearly 600-years 39-Swargadeo dynastic history, there are three progenitor kings (all subsequent kings are descendants of these kings). They are Sukaphaa , who established

675-544: A place called Mohung (salt springs) losing it to the Nagas and that they were settled near the Dikhou river . This supports a tradition that the eastern boundary of the Kachari domain extended up to Mohong or Namdang river (near Joypur, Assam ) beyond the river Dichang, before the arrival of Ahoms. Given the settlement was large, Sukaphaa decided not to engage with them before settling with

750-620: A representative to the royal assembly called Mel , a powerful institution that could elect a king. The representatives sat in the Mel mandap (Council Hall) according to the status of the Sengphong and which provided a counterfoil to royal powers. Over time, the Sengphongs developed a hierarchical structure with five royal Sengphongs though most of the kings belonged to the Hacengha (Hasnusa) clan. Some of

825-481: A son of the earlier king Khorapha, approached Suhungmung at Nenguriya and submitted his claim to the Dimasa throne. The Ahoms thereafter claimed the Dimasa king as thapita-sanchita (established and preserved), and the Dimasa kingdom provided support to the Ahom kingdom when it was under the attack of Turbak in 1532/1533, a Turko-Afghan commander from Bengal. But when Detchung (also called Dersongpha) tried to throw off

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900-494: Is a corrupted form of the word Kochpur. Gopichandranarayan (r.1745-1757), Harichandra (r.1757-1772) and Laxmichandra (r.1772-1773) were brothers and ruled the kingdom in succession. In 1790, a formal act of conversion took place and Gopichandranarayan and his brother Laxmichandranarayan were proclaimed to be Hindus of the Kshatriya caste. During the reign of Krishnachandra (1790 - 1813), a number of Moamarias rebels took shelter in

975-729: The Ahom kingdom . The last king, Govinda Chandra Hasnu, was restored by the British after the Yandabo Treaty in 1826, but he was unable to subjugate Senapati Tularam who ruled the hilly regions. Senapati Tularam Dimasa domain was Mahur River and the Naga Hills in the south, the Doyang River on the west, the Dhansiri River on the east and Jamuna and Doyang in the north. In 1830, Govinda Chandra Hasnu died. In 1832, Senapoti Tularam Thaosen

1050-494: The Ahoms in 1564, the Koch commander Chilarai advanced on Marangi, subjugated Dimarua and finally advanced on the Dimasa kingdom, then possibly under Durlabh Narayan or his predecessor Nirbhay Narayan and made it into a feudatory of the Koch kingdom . This campaign realigned the relationships and rearranged the territorial controls among the political formations of the time. Dimarua, which

1125-594: The Chutia kingdom in 1523 Suhungmung , the Ahom king, decided to recover the territory the Ahoms had lost in 1490 to the Dimasa kingdom and sent his commander Kan-Seng in 1526 who advanced up to Marangi. In one of these attacks the Dimasa king Khorapha was killed, and Khunkhara, his brother, came to power. The two kingdoms made peace and decided to maintain the Dhansiri river as the boundary. This peace did not hold and fighting broke out between an advancing Ahom force against

1200-605: The Chutiya kingdom supports this tradition of initial unity and then divergence. Linguistic studies too point to a close association between the Dimasa language and the Moran language that was alive till the beginning of the 20th-century, suggesting that the Dimasa kingdom had an eastern Assam presence before the advent of the Ahoms . The eastern Assam origin of the Dimasas is further reinforced by

1275-780: The East India Company took over the administration of Cachar. The origin of the Dimasa Kingdom is not clear. According to tradition, the Dimasa had their domain in Kamarupa and their king belonged to a lineage called Ha-tsung-tsa or Ha-cheng-sa , a name first mentioned in a coin from 1520. Some of them had to leave due to a political turmoil and while crossing the Brahmaputra some of them were swept away —therefore, they are called Dimasa ("Son-of-the-big-river"). The similarity in Dimasa traditions and religious beliefs with those of

1350-588: The Gandharva system and a son was born to princess Hidimbi, named Ghatotkacha. He ruled the Kachari Kingdom for many decades. Thereafter, kings of his lineage ruled over the vast land of the " Dilao " river ( which translates to "long river" in English), now known as Brahmaputra River for centuries until 4th century AD. The Dimasa Kachari kingdom came under Burmese occupation in the late early 19th-century along with

1425-667: The Swargadeo by the ministers Tonkham Borgohain, Chaopet Burhagohain and Banjangi Borpatrogohain. At his coronation he was 58 and he assumed the name Susenghphaa accorded to him by the Tai priests. He accepted an offer of marriage to the Jaintia princess and the subsequent events brought him into conflict with the Kachari kingdom . He also established alliance with the Koch Hajo rulers by marrying Mangaldahi,

1500-457: The Tripura Kingdom , which was taken over by Koch king Chilarai in the 16th century. The region was ruled by a tributary ruler, Kamalnarayana, the brother of king Chilarai. Around 18th century Bhima Singha, the last Koch ruler of Khaspur, didn't have any male heir. His daughter, Kanchani, married Laxmichandra, the Dimasa prince of Maibang kingdom. And once the last Koch king Bhima Singha died

1575-418: The 14th century, the kingdom had no kings when acceptable candidates were not found. The ministers could remove unacceptable kings, and it used to involve executing the erstwhile king. In the 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. To prevent this bloody end,

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1650-491: The Ahom king Suhenphaa (1488–93) created a forward post at Tangsu and when the Dimasas killed the commander and 120 men the Ahoms sued for peace by offering a princess to the Dimasa king along with other presents, but the name of the Dimasa king is not known. The Dimasas thus recovered the region east of the Dikhau river that it had lost in the late 13th century. Ekasarana biographies of Sankardeva written after his death use

1725-505: The Barahi and Moran polities. During the reign of Sukaphaa's successor Suteuphaa ( r.  1268–1281 ) the Ahoms negotiated with this group of the Dimasa, who had been in the region between Dikhou and Namdang for about three generations by then, and the Dimasa group moved to the west of the Dikhou river. These isolated early accounts of the Dimasas suggest that they controlled the region between

1800-583: The Buranjis, even though they are primarily narrations of wars between the Ahom and the Dimasa polities. The historical accounts of the Dimasas begin with mentions in Ahom chronicles: according to an account in a Buranji , the first Ahom king Sukaphaa (r. 1228–1268) encountered a Kachari group in the Tirap region (currently in Arunachal Pradesh ), who informed him that they along with their chief had to leave

1875-588: The Cachar state. The Ahoms blamed the Dimasa for providing refuge to the rebels and this led to a number of small skirmishes between the Ahoms and the Dimasas from 1803 to 1805. The King of Manipur sought the help of Krishna Chandra Dwaja Narayan Hasnu Kachari against the Burmese Army . The King Krishna Chandra defeated Burmese in the war and in lieu was offered the Manipuri Princess Induprabha. As he

1950-615: The Dikhu river in the east and the Kolong river in the west and included the Dhansiri valley and the north Cachar hills from the late 13th century. The Ahom language Buranjis call the Dimasa kings khun timisa , and place them initially in Dimapur , where Timisa is a corruption of Dimasa . The Dimasa kingdom did not record their history, and much of the early information come from other sources. The Ahom Buranjis, for instance, record that in 1490

2025-507: The Dimasa king, installed Jasa Manik on the throne of Jaintia Kingdom , who manipulated events to bring the Dimasa Kacharis into conflict with the Ahoms once again in 1618. Satrudaman, the most Dimasa powerful king, ruled over Dimarua in Nagaon district , North Cachar, Dhansiri valley, plains of Cachar and parts of eastern Sylhet . After his conquest of Sylhet, he struck coins in his name. By

2100-527: The Dimasas migrated to Khaspur, thus merging the two kingdoms into one as Kachari kingdom under the king Gopichandranarayan, as the control of the Khaspur kingdom went to the ruler of the Maibong kingdom as inheritance from the royal marriage and established their capital in Khaspur, near present-day Silchar . The independent rule of the Khaspur's Koch rulers ended in 1745 when it merged with the Kachari kingdom. Khaspur

2175-521: The Kachari people accompanied the rulers from Dimapur to Maibong—and those who remained in the plains developed independently in language and customs. In the hills around Maibong, the Dimasa rulers encountered already established Naga and Kuki peoples, who accepted the Dimasa rule. Khorapha, the earlier king, claimed in the coin issued earlier in 1520 from Dimapur that he had defeated the enemies of Hachengsa without specifying his relationship to him but Nirbhaya Narayana and his successors in Maibong for

2250-655: The King of Jaintia Kingdom, after his imprisonment he sent messengers to the Assam king for help, in response Rudra Singha deputed his generals with over 43,000 troops to invade Jaintia kingdom. The Jaintia king was captured and taken to the court of Rudra Singha where the Jaintia king submitted and the territories of the Dimasa Kingdom and Jaintia kingdom got annexed to the Ahom kingdom . Kacharis had three ruling clans ( semfongs ): Bodosa (an old historical clan), Thaosengsa (the clan to which

2325-488: The Swargadeo were called Chamua Kunworis . Some of the queens were given separate estates that were looked after by state officials (Phukans or Baruas). During the reign of Siva Singha (1714–1744), the king gave his royal umbrella and royal insignia to his queens— Phuleshwari kunwori, Ambika Kunwori and Anadari Kunwori in succession— to rule the kingdom. They were called Bor-Rojaa . Some queens maintained office even after

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2400-576: The Tunkhungiya rulers following Siba Singha was a crucial factor leading to the Moamoria rebellion that greatly depleted the Ahom kingdom. The king was guarded by a six thousand strong household troop under a Bhitarual Phukan . A unit of musketeers consisting of the king's relatives was established by Sukhaamphaa alias Khora Raja that protected the capital (under the Bajua Hilaidari Konwar ) and

2475-557: The art of idol making. The King organised the first such Durga Puja celebration in Bhatiapara near Sibsagar. This was the first time Durga Puja with earthen idols in Assam was held for the masses, in addition to the worship in Durga temples. The conflict between Koch Bihar and Koch Hajo drew the Mughals and finally the Ahoms into the conflict in 1615, which finally ended in 1682 with Supaatphaa

2550-539: The chaos of the late 17th century, Gadadhar Sinha (1681–1696), the first Tungkhungiya king began his rule with a deep distrust of these religious groups. His son and successor Rudra Singha (1696–1714) searched for an alternative state religion, and his son and successor Siva Singha (1714–1744) formally adopted Saktism , the nemesis of the Mahapuruxiya sects. The persecution of the Mahapuruxiya Sattras under

2625-509: The clans provided specialized services to the state ministers, ambassadors, storekeepers, court writers, and other bureaucrats and ultimately developed into professional groups, e.g. Songyasa (king's cooks), Nablaisa (fishermen). By the 17th century, the Dimasa Kachari rule extended into the plains of Cachar. The plains people did not participate in the courts of the Dimasa Kachari king directly. They were organized according to khels , and

2700-462: The court till the reign of Pratap Singha , during whose rule Assamese became dominant. Sutamla (1648–1663) was the first Ahom king to be initiated into the Mahapuruxiya Dharma , and Ahom kings till Sulikphaa lora roja (1679–1681) continued to be disciples of one sattra or the other. Mahapuruxiya pontiffs belonging to different sects began playing a greater role in state politics. After

2775-581: The daughter of Parikshit Narayan, in 1608. According to historian Late Benudhar Sarma, the present form of worship of Durga with earthen idol in Assam was started during the reign of King Susenghphaa or Pratap Sinha. The King heard about the festivity, the pomp and grandeur with which the King Naranarayan of Koch Bihar celebrated Durga Puja from one Sondar Gohain, who was held captive by the Koch Raja. King Pratap Singha sent artisans to Koch Bihar to learn

2850-422: The death or removal of the kings, as happened with Pakhori Gabhoru and Kuranganayani who were queens to multiple kings. One way in which the importance of the queens can be seen is that many of them are named on coins; typically the king's name would be on the obverse of the coin and the queen's on the reverse. Sukaphaa's ruling deity was Chum-Pha and Sheng-mung a pair of non-Hindu, non-Buddhist gods, and he

2925-515: The earliest direct evidence of the historical kingdom. Since no conflict with the Kacharis is mentioned in the Ahom Buranjis it is conjectured that the enemy could have been the nascent Koch kingdom of Biswa Singha . Though issued in a Sanksritised name of the king (Viravijay Narayan, identified with Khorapha) with the mention of a goddess Chandi , there is no mention of the King's lineage but

3000-568: The emergence of a strong military leader able to consolidate power. Subsequently, the Hasengcha Sengfang (clan) emerged and beginning with Khorapha (1520 in Dimapur), the Dimasa kings continued to draw lineage from Hachengcha in Maibong and Khaspur till the 19th century. Given different traditions and legends, the only reliable sources of the early history of the Dimasa kingdom is that given in

3075-464: The first Borphukan as his western viceroy, based at Kajali, and in charge of all Ahom territories west of Kaliabor. The three classes of ministers Burhagohain , Borgohain and Borpatrogohain had their well defined areas to rule and function, and those part of the kingdom which did not fall under their jurisdiction were brought under the control of the Borbarua , a new office that was also created during

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3150-507: The internal disturbances during Moamoria rebellion . Kings who died in office were buried in vaults called Moidam , at Charaideo . Some of the later Maidams , beginning from the reign of Rajeswar Singha (1751–1769) were constructed to bury the ashes of those cremated. On ascent, the king would generally assume an Ahom name decided by the Ahom priests. The name generally ended in Pha ( Tai : Heaven), e.g. Susenghphaa . Later kings also assumed

3225-499: The king provided justice and collected revenue via an official called the Uzir . Though the plains people did not participate in the Dimasa Kachari royal court, the Dharmadhi guru and other Brahmins in the court cast a considerable influence, especially with the beginning of the 18th century. In the medieval era, after the fall of Kamarupa kingdom the region of Khaspur was originally a part of

3300-410: The king whenever he moved out. (iii) Da-dhara or guards holding swords accompanied the king on his side. (iv) Dangdhara or guards carrying baton , moved around the side of the king. The Ahom kings particularly of the tungkhungia house were great patrons of art, they encouraged the art of manuscript painting. Under their patronage, a great number of highly illustrated manuscripts were produced and

3375-572: The kingdom; Suhungmung , who made the greatest territorial and political expansion of the kingdom; and Supaatphaa , 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 (except for Jogeswar Singha , who was a descendant of Supaatphaa's father Gobar , and who was installed as a puppet king by the Burmese). The dynastic history and dates that are accepted today are

3450-415: The kings belonged), and Hasyungsa (to which the kings relatives belonged). The king at Maibang was assisted in his state duties by a council of ministers ( Patra and Bhandari ), led by a chief called Barbhandari . These and other state offices were manned by people of the Dimasa group, who were not necessarily Hinduized. There were about 40 clans called Sengphong of the Dimasa people, each of which sent

3525-516: The last such house, Tungkhungiya , was established by Gadadhar Singha (1681–1696) and his descendants ruled till the end of the Ahom kingdom. Ahom queens ( Kunworis ) played important roles in the matter of state. They were officially designated in a gradation of positions, called the Bor Kuwori (Chief Queen), Parvatia Kuwori , Raidangia Kuwori , Tamuli Kuwori , etc. who were generally daughters of Ahom noblemen and high officials. Lesser wives of

3600-497: The later part of his life in the Koch kingdom where he uses it synonymously with Kirata . Another early mention of the name Kachari comes from Kacharir Niyam ( Rules of the Kacharis ), composed during the reign of Tamradhwaj Narayan ( r.  1697–1708? ), when the Dimasa rulers were still ruling in Maibang. A coin dated 1520 commemorating a decisive victory over enemies is one of

3675-512: The name Kachari for the Dimasa people and the kingdom and record that around 1516 the Baro-Bhuyans at Alipukhuri came into conflict with their Kachari neighbors which escalated into the Dimasa king preparing to attack them. This led Sankardeva and his group to abandon the region for good. One of the earliest mention of Kachari is found in the Bhagavat of Sankardev in the section composed during

3750-411: The next hundred years or so claimed in their coins that they belonged to the family of Hachensa; thereby signalling a change in the mode of legitimacy from deed to birth. On the other hand Dimasa kings from Maibang are recorded as Lord of Heremba from the 16th century by those outside the Dimasa kingdom who practiced sedentary agriculture and who had already experienced Brahminism. After subjugating

3825-473: The observations in 1536 as recorded in the Buranjis, as well as the colonial observations of 1874. The fall of Dimapur in 1536 was followed by a 22-year period of interregnum , and there is no mention of a king in the records. In either 1558 or 1559 a son of Detsung, Madanakumara, assumed the throne with the name Nirbhaya Narayana, and established his capital at Maibang in the North Cachar hills . Not all

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3900-509: The other. The descendants of Sukaphaa were not eligible for ministerial positions—a division of power that was followed till the end of the dynasty and the kingdom. When the nobles asked Atan Burhagohain to become the king, the Tai priests rejected the idea and he desisted from ascending the throne. The king could be appointed only with the concurrence of the patra mantris (council of ministers— Burhagohain , Borgohain , Borpatrogohain , Borbarua and Borphukan ). During three periods in

3975-403: The palace and environs ( Bhitarual Hilaidari Konwar ). The protection of the king was strictly taken into measure. Several classes of highly trusted guards were entrusted with the duty of protecting the king, which were duly supervised by the superior officers. (i) Hendangdhara or persons wielding hengdang were the personal bodyguards of the king. (ii) Chabukdhara , wielding whip , preceded

4050-477: The reign of Birdarpan Narayan (reign around 1644), the Dimasa rule had withdrawn completely from the Dhansiri valley and it reverted to a jungle forming a barrier between the kingdom and the Ahom kingdom . When a successor king, Tamradhwaj, declared independence, the Ahom king Rudra Singha deputed 2 of his generals to invade Maibong with over 71,000 troops, and destroyed its forts in 1706. Tamardhwaj fled to Jaintia Kingdom where he got treacherously imprisoned by

4125-416: The result of a re-examination of Ahom and other documents by a team of Nora astronomers and experts who were commissioned to do so by Gaurinath Singha (1780–1795). Kachari kingdom In the 18th century, a divine Hindu origin was constructed for the rulers of the Kachari kingdom and it was named Hidimba , and the kings as Hidimbesvar. The name Hiḍimbā continued to be used in the official records when

4200-578: The rule of Pratap Singha. Under him Momai Tamuli Borbarua, the first Borbarua , made extensive changes to the Paik system and village economy. He redistributed populations to consolidate his rule. He moved the Bhuyans, the remnant of the Bhuyan chieftains , from the north to the south bank of the Brahmaputra, decreasing their power considerably. He moved eight thousand families to the sparsely populated Marangi area which

4275-400: The subjects of the kingdom called them Chaopha , or Swargadeo (in Assamese ). The office of the Ahom king , was reserved exclusively for the descendants of the first king Sukaphaa (1228–1268) who came to Assam from Mong Mao in 1228. Succession was by agnatic primogeniture . Nevertheless, following Rudra Singha 's deathbed injunction four of his five sons became the king one after

4350-401: The third Ahom king, delineated the Satghariya Ahom , the Ahom aristocracy of the Seven Houses. Of this, the first lineage was that of the king. The next two were the lineages of the Burhagohain and the Borgohain . The last four were priestly lineages. Sukhrangpha (1332–1364) established the position of Charing Raja which came to be reserved for the heir apparent . The first Charing Raja

4425-432: The tradition of the tutelary goddess Kecaikhati whose primary shrine was around Sadiya ; the tribal goddess common to many Kachari peoples : as the Rabhas , Morans , Tiwas , Koch , Chutias , etc. According to legend Hachengsa (or Hasengcha ) was an extraordinary boy brought up by a tiger and a tigress in a forest near Dimapur who replaced the existing king following divine oracles; which likely indicates

4500-407: The west is underlined by the two new offices that he created: that of the Borbarua and the Borphukan . The alliances he formed with the rulers of Koch Hajo resulted in formation that successfully thwarted Mughal expansion. The administrative structure that he created survived until the end of the Ahom kingdom in 1826. After the death of Sukhamphaa in 1603, his son Langi Gohain, was installed as

4575-399: The yoke Suhungmung advanced against Detchung captured and killed him, and then advanced on and occupied Dimapur in 1536. The Dimasas rulers thereafter abandoned Dimapur. The current ruins at Dimapur, the same city that Suhungmung occupied, include a 2 mile long brick wall on three sides, with the Dhansiri river on the fourth with water tanks—indicating a large city. The existing gateway too

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4650-443: Was Sukhramphaa's half-brother, Chao Pulai, the son of the Kamata princess Rajani, but who did not ultimately become the Swargadeo. Suhungmung Dihingia Raja (1497–1539) settled the descendants of past kings in different regions that gave rise to seven royal houses— Saringiya , Tipamiya , Dihingiya , Samuguriya , Tungkhungiya , Parvatiya and Namrupiya —and periods of Ahom rule came to be known after these families. The rule of

4725-430: Was a descendant of Khunlung, the grandson of the king of the heavens Leungdon, who had come down from the heavens and ruled Mong-Ri-Mong-Ram. During the reign of Suhungmung (1497–1539) which saw the composition of the first Assamese Buranji and increased Hindu influence, the Ahom kings were traced to the union of Indra (identified with Lengdon) and Syama (a low-caste woman), and were declared Indravamsa kshatriyas ,

4800-407: Was a feudatory of the Dimasa kingdom, was set up by Chilarai was a buffer against the Jaintia kingdom . The hold of the Ahom kingdom, which was already subjugated, over the Dimasa kingdom weakened. Further, Chilarai defeated and killed the Twipra king, and occupied the Cachar region from him and established Koch administration there at Brahmapur (Khaspur) under his brother Kamal Narayan —this region

4875-458: Was accompanied by classes of priests called Deodhai , Bailung etc. But the Ahom kings let themselves be influenced by the religion and customs of those they ruled over. Sudangphaa Bamuni Konwar (1397–1407) installed a Brahmin of Habung , in whose household he was born and raised, as his adviser, but he himself did not convert to Hinduism. Susenphaa (1439–1488) constructed a temple at Negheriting . Suhungmung Dihingia Rojaa (1497–1539)

4950-413: Was already married to Rani Chandraprabha, he asked the princess to be married to his younger brother Govinda Chandra Hasnu. The fictitious but widely believed legend that was constructed by the Hindu Brahmins at Khaspur goes as follows: During their exile, the Pandavas came to the Kachari Kingdom where Bhima fell in love with Hidimbi (sister of Hidimba ). Bhima married princess Hidimbi according to

5025-417: Was called Singarigharutha , a ceremony that was performed first by Sudangphaa ( Bamuni Konwar ) (1397–1407). The first coins in the new king's name were minted during the reign of Sutamla . Kamaleswar Singha (1795–1811) and Chandrakanta Singha 's (1811–1818) coronations were not performed on the advice of Prime minister Purnananda Burhagohain , due to the financial constraints of State treasury caused by

5100-416: Was distracted by wars with the Kacharis and the Mughals , he was still able to devote much attention to the internal organisation of his kingdom, development of backward tracts and construction of roads, bridges, embankments and tanks. He also built a number of towns Ahom Dynasty The Ahom dynasty (1228–1826) ruled the Ahom Kingdom in present-day Assam, India for nearly 598 years. The dynasty

5175-419: Was established by Sukaphaa , a Shan prince of Mong Mao (present-day Yunnan , China ) who came to Assam after crossing the Patkai mountains. 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. In external medieval chronicles the kings of this dynasty were called Asam Raja , whereas

5250-422: Was in brick and display the Islamic architectural style of Bengal. The ruins include curious carved 12 feet tall pillars of sandstone with hemispherical tops and foliated carvings with representations of animals and birds but no humans that display no Hindu influence. Despite the Sanskrit markings of the 1520 silver coin issued by Viravijay Narayan (Khorapha), the city lacked any sign of Brahminical influence, from

5325-399: Was originally recovered from the Kachari kingdom by Suhungmung . Creation of other posts like Rohiyal Barua , Jagiyal Gohain , Kajalimukhiya Gohain is also credited to him. For his organizational capability, political acumen and his wisdom, he was also known as Buddhi Swarganarayan . Pratap Sinha died in the year 1641 after a long reign of 38 years. Although a great part of his reign

5400-536: Was pensioned off and his region was annexed by the British to ultimately become the North Cachar district; and in 1833, Govinda Chandra's domain was also annexed to become the Cachar district. In The British annexed the Dimasa Kachari Kingdom under the doctrine of lapse . At the time of British annexation, the kingdom consisted of parts of Nagaon and Karbi Anglong ; North Cachar (Dima Hasao), Cachar and

5475-468: Was superseded, who went on to lead a rebel group during the Moamoria rebellion . The later kings and officers exploited the unblemished rule, leading to weak kings being instated. Kamaleswar Singha (2-year-old son of Kadam Dighala) and Purandar Singha (10-year-old son of Brajanath and one of the last kings of this dynasty) came into office because their fathers were mutilated. The Ahom kings were given divine origin. According to Ahom tradition, Sukaphaa

5550-401: Was the first Ahom king to expand the kingdom and the polity, allow Assamese influence in his court and accept a non-Ahom title— Swarganarayan . Sukhaamphaa Khora Rojaa (1552–1603) began consulting Hindu astrologers alongside the traditional Deodhai-Bailung priests, and Pratap Singha (1603–1641) installed 13 Brahmin families as diplomats. Assamese language coexisted with Tai language in

5625-523: Was to form the core of the Dimasa rule in the 18th century. The size of the annual tribute— seventy thousand rupees, one thousand gold mohurs and sixty elephants — testifies to the resourcefulness of the Kachari state. A conflict with the Jaintia Kingdom over the region of Dimarua led to a battle, in which the Jaintias suffered defeat. After the death of Jaintia king Dhan Manik, Satrudaman

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