Chaolung Sukaphaa (reign 1228–1268), also Siu-Ka-Pha, the first Ahom king in medieval Assam, was the founder of the Ahom kingdom. A Tai prince originally from Mong Mao, (which is now included within the Dehong-Dai Singhpho Autonomous Prefecture of Yunnan in Peoples Republic of China), 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 Assams history the honorific Chaolung is generally associated with his name (Chao: lord; Lung: great). Legendary : According to S.L. Baruah, A Comprehensive History of Assam, p. 227 : According to Ahom tradition, Sukaphaa was a descendant of the god Khunlung, who had come down from the heavens and had ruled Mong-Ri-Mong-Ram. During the reign of Suhungmung, which saw the composition of the first Assamese chronicles and increased Hindu influence, Sukaphaas origin was traced to the union of god Indra (identified with Khunlung) and Syama (a low-caste woman), and he was declared the progenitor of the Indravamsa kshatriyas, a lineage created for the Ahoms by the Hindu Brahmins. Prince of Mong Mao : According to the Buranji by Kashinath Tamuli Phukan, Sukaphaa was born to Chao Chang-Nyeu (alias Phu-Chang-Khang) and Nang-Mong Blak-Kham-Sen in the Tai state of Mong Mao (also called Mao-Lung, with the capital at Kieng Sen), close to present-day Ruili in Yunnan, China. Chao Chang Nyeu was a prince from Mong-Ri Mong-Ram, who had traveled to Mong Mao possibly on an expedition.Mong Mao was then ruled by Chao Tai Pung. Chao Chang Nyeu was later befriended by Pao Meo Pung, the son of the ruler, who gave his sister Blak Kham Sen in marriage. Sukaphaa was born of this union not later than 1189 and was brought up by his maternal grandparents.Pao Meo Pung, who eventually ruled Mong Mao, had no male heir and Sukaphaa, his nephew, was nominated to succeed him. A son born late to Pao Meo Pungs queen ended Sukaphaas claim to the throne of Mong Mao. The search for a Kingdom After his 19 years as crown prince came to an end Sukaphaa decided to leave Mong Mao. According to tradition, his grandmother advised him thus - no two tigers live in the same jungle, no two kings sit on the same throne. Accordingly Sukaphaa is said to have left Chieng-Sen the capital of Mong Mao in the year 1215 AD. Journey into Assam Sukaphaa left Mong Mao in 1215.He was accompanied by three queens, two sons and a daughter; chiefs from five other dependent Mongs; members of the priestly class and soldiers—a total contingent of 9,000. Some commoners are recorded as having joined this core group on the way. Sukaphaa had with him 300 horses fitted with saddles and bridles and two elephants. Heavy arms were transported along a different route. Sukaphaa followed an older known route from Yunnan to Assam that passed through Myitkyina, Mogaung and the upper Irrawaddy river valley. On his way he stopped at various places and crossed the Khamjang river to reach the Nangyang lake in 1227. Here he subjugated the Nagas very ferociously and established a Mong. He left one Kan-Khrang-Mong there to guard the passage back, and proceeded to cross the Patkai hills at the Pangsau pass and reached Namrup (in the Brahmaputra valley) in December 1228. The journey, from Mong Mao to Namrup thus took Sukaphaa about thirteen years and the year he reached Namrup is considered as the year the Ahom kingdom was established. Having reached Namrup, Sukaphaa bridged the Sessa river, and went upstream along the Burhi Dihing river looking to establish a colony for wet rice cultivation. He did not find the region conducive to cultivation and returned downstream to Tipam. In 1236, he left Tipam for Abhaypur. A flood made him move again in 1240 down the Brahmaputra to Habung (present-day Dhakuakhana). Another flood and he moved again in 1244, down the Brahmaputra to the Dikhowmukh, and then up the Dikhow river to Ligirigaon. Leaving a detachment at Ligirigaon, he moved again in 1246 to Simaluguri. In 1253, he abandoned Simaluguri for Charaideo, his final capital, where he finally died in 1268. Even though Sukaphaa treated the people of the Patkai hills very severely on his way to the Brahmaputra valley, his approach to the population in Assam was conciliatory and non-confrontational. He married the daughters of Badaucha, the Matak Chief and Thakumatha, the Barahi chief and established cordial relations with them. As he began establishing his domain, he avoided regions that were heavily populated. He encouraged his soldiers as well as members of the Ahom elite to marry locally. A process of Ahomization (whereby locals who adopted Ahom methods of wet rice cultivation and statecraft were accepted into the Ahom fold) bolstered the process of integration. The Barahi and the Moran, speakers of Tibeto-Burman languages, called Sukaphaas people Ha-Cham, that later on developed into Assam (as per Etymology of Assam), the name of the kingdom; and Ahom, the name of the people. Search for a capital Over the next few years, he moved from place to place searching for the right capital, leaving behind his representative at each stage to rule the colonized land. Then he went up the Burhidihing river and established a province at Lakhen Telsa. Then he came back down the river and established his rule at Tipam. In 1236 he moved to Mungklang (Abhoipur), and in 1240 down the Brahmaputra to Habung (Dhemaji). In 1244 he went further down to Ligirigaon (Song-Tak), a few miles from present-day Nazira, and in 1246 to Simaluguri (Tun Nyeu), a place downstream from the present-day Simaluguri. Sukaphaa then remained in Demow for six years. Finally in 1253 he built himself his capital city at Charaideo near present-day Sibsagar town. The capital of the Ahom kingdom changed many times after this, but Charaideo remained the symbolic center of Ahom rule. With the help of local recruits, he established three large farms for sali rice cultivation, called Barakhowakhat, Engerakhat and Gachikalakhat. In 1268 Sukaphaa died. At the time of his death, his kingdom was bounded by the Brahmaputra river in the west, the Burhidihing river (27.324195°N 95.119629°E) in the north, the Dikhow river (26.970732°N 94.636745°E) in the south and the Naga hills in the east. Buranjis are a class of historical chronicles, written initially in the Ahom and afterwards in Western Assamese dialect. The first such Buranji was written on the instructions of the first Ahom king Sukaphaa who established the Ahom kingdom in 1228. There were two kinds of Buranjis: one maintained by the state (official) and the other maintained by families. Many such manuscripts were written by scribes under the office of the Likhakar Barua, which are based on state papers, diplomatic correspondences, judicial proceedings, etc. Others were written by nobles or by people under their supervision, very often their identities are not revealed. Not only do these documents reveal the chronology of events, but they reflect the language, culture, society and the inner workings of the state machinery of the kingdom. They were written in simple, lucid and unambiguous but expressive language with utmost brevity and least exaggeration. The tradition of writing Buranjis survived more than six hundred years well into the British period, till a few decades after the demise of the Ahom kingdom. Literally, Buranji means a store that teaches the ignorant (in the Ahom language: bu ignorant person; ran teach; ji store). The Buranjis not only describe the Ahom kingdom, but also the neighbors (Kachari, Sutiya, and Tripura Buranjis) and those with whom the Ahom kingdom had diplomatic and military contacts (Padshah Buranji). They were written on the barks of the Sanchi tree or aloe wood. Though many such Buranjis have been collected, compiled and published, an unknown number of Buranjis are still in private hands. Mainly the Mohan(Mohung),Deodhai(Changbun)and Bailung(Moplong),the ahom people who are even today not Hindus and follow their own religion i.e. FRA-LUNG try to preserve their buranjis to retain their ethnic identities and hesitate to hand these over to research scholars in the fear of misuse. During the reign of Rajeswar Singha, Kirti Chandra Borbarua had many Buranjis destroyed.
Posted on: Tue, 02 Dec 2014 08:58:09 +0000
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