Sukaphaa: Difference between revisions
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[[Category:Ahom kings]] |
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Revision as of 19:22, 6 August 2007
Sukaphaa (reign 1228-1268), also Siu-Ka-Pha, the first Ahom king in medieval Assam was the founder of the Ahom kingdom. A Tai colonist, the kingdom he established in 1228 ruled the region for nearly six hundred years and in the process unified the various tribal and non-tribal peoples of the region.
Since 1996 December 2 has been celebrated in Assam as the Sukaphaa Divas, or Asom Divas, to commemorate the first king of the Ahom kingdom.
Biography
The details of Sukaphaa's life and origins before his entry into Assam, available from different chronicles, both Ahom and non-Ahom, are full of contradictions. According to Phukan (1992) who has tried to hold up a consistent account, Sukaphaa was born to Chao Chang-Nyeu and Nang-Mong Blak-Kham-Sen in the Tai state of Mong Mao, close to present-day Ruili in Yunan, China.[1] Chao Chang Nyeu was a prince from Mong-Ri Mong-Ram, who had traveled to Mong Mao possibly on an expedition.[2] Mong Mao was then ruled by Chao Tai Pung. Chao Chang Nyeu was befriended by the son of the ruler, Pao Meo Pung and given his sister Blak Kham Sen in marriage. Sukaphaa was born of this union not later than 1189[3] 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 Pung's queen ended Sukaphaa's claim to the throne of Mong Mao.
Journey into Assam
Sukaphaa left Mong Mao in 1215.[4] He was accompanied by three queens, two sons and a daughter; chiefs from five other dependent Mongs;[5] members of the priestly class and soldiers—a total contingent of 9,000. Some commoners too joined this core group on the way. He had with him 300 horses fitted with saddles and bridles and two elephants. Heavy arms were transported along a different route.[6] Sukaphaa followed an older known route from Yunan to Assam stopping at various places and reached the Patkai hills in thirteen years. When he reached Patkai, he subdued the Nagas very ruthlessly to create a passage back, crossed the Patkai and reached Namruk. He established a Mong at Khamjang under the rule of Kan-Khrang-Mong in 1228, which is considered as the historical date of the beginning of the Ahom Kingdom and Khamjang the eastern most province of the kingdom.
In the Brahmaputra valley, he encountered the Barahi and the Moran peoples, tribes that spoke Tibeto-Burman languages. He did not battle but befriended them. This was facilitated by marriages into these tribes since most of the soldiers in his party came without their women folk. This process of assimilation completely obliterated the Barahi as an independent tribe.
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. At first he went to Dangkaorang, then Khamhangpung, and then to Namrup. Then he went up the Burhidihing river and established a province at Lakhen Telsa.[7] 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. 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.[8] 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.
In 1268 Sukaphaa died. At the time of his death, his kingdom was bounded by the Brahmaputra river in the west, the Burhidihing river [1] in the north, the Dikhow river [2] in the south and the Naga hills in the east.[9]
See also
Notes
- ^ (Phukan 1992, p. 67). According to the Buranji by Kashinath Tamuli Phukan, Chao Tai Pung ruled Mong Mao, and had two sons, Pao Meo Pung (who finally ruled Mong Mao) and Phu Chang Khang (who finally ruled Mong Mit). Sukaphaa was born to Phu Chang Khang. This version is discounted by Phukan (1992).
- ^ (Gogoi 1968)
- ^ (Gogoi 1968, p. 251)
- ^ Most Buranjis attest to this version. Some Tai chronicles from outside Assam record the journey of Sukaphaa from Mong Mit (and not Mong Mao) in 1227 where he was the ruler (Gogoi 1968, p. 253). According to this version, Sukaphaa's father had earlier divided his Mong among his three sons, and Sukaphaa became the ruler of Mong Mit about 1209. The immediate cause of departure was the aggression of Su-Khan-Pha of Mong Mao.
- ^ Mong-Hkang, Mong-Hkru-Dai, Mong-Hka Mong-Pun, Mong-Phu and Mong-Li (Gogoi 1968, pp. 256–257).
- ^ (Phukan 1992, p. 51)
- ^ (Phukan 1992, p. 52)
- ^ (Phukan 1992, p. 53)
- ^ (Phukan 1992, p. 53)
References
- Gait, Edward A. (1906), A History of Assam, Calcutta
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Gogoi, Padmeshwar (1968), The Tai and the Tai Kingdoms, Guwahati: Gauhati University
- Phukan, J. N. (1992), "The Tai-Ahom Power in Assam", in Barpujari, H. K. (ed.), The Comprehensive History of Assam, vol. 2, Guwahati: Assam Publication Board, pp. 49–60