Origin of Ahoms Part-1

The Tai-Ahoms of Assam are a small community of the great Tai race. The Tai is the most ancient and generic name denoting a great branch of the mongoloid people of Asia.  The original homeland of the great Tai race was in the upper reaches of the Huang-Ho (Yellow river) of china, covering the coast of the Po-Hai Bay (Gulf of Chilli) into which the river Huang-Ho originally had flowed.

The Tai are the descendants of the early Imperial dynasty of the kings and emperors of ancient china and constituted the highest aristocracy in ancient china, more than sixteen hundred years before the birth of the chin state in Kan-Su and more than two thousand three hundred years before the first appearance of the Chinese with Imperial dignity in 249 B.C

From Huang-Ti (the first Tai emperor of china), all the early emperors ruled a state called Chou-Kuo-Tien in the basin of Yung-Si-Kian river, which is a part of South china now. The phrase “Chou-Kuo-Tien” means God the creator and mother Goddess , i.e. the place where God and Goddess first created man and earth. The Tai-Ahoms of Assam have their deep cultural relations with this historic place.

Huang-Ti (2697-2596 B.C) ruled for 101 years and was succeeded by seven other successors. They were: Tse-0-How (2596-2513 B.C), Tu-An-Yak (2513-2434 B.C), Tikok (2434-2365 B.C), Tse (2365-2355 B.C), Yao (2355-2255 B.C) and Tsun (2255-2206 B.C).

After emperor Tsun seventeen other emperors belonging to the Hsia clan ruled the Tai empire in China from 2205- 1766 B.C i.e. 499 years. Tseng Tang of the Tsiang clan and his successors ruled the empire from 1766 to 1155 B.C.  Chou-Tsiu was the last emperor of this Tsiang clan and after his death emperors of the Chou clan ruled the Tai empire till 249 B.C.

Shih-Wang-Ti (249-210 B.C) of the Tsin clan and the founder of the Chinese empire initiated the pressure on the Tai’s and there came a disaster to the Tai’s. Thus they looked upon the Chinese as their hereditary enemy.

The fall of the Chou kingdom resulted in the migration of the Tai race to Sze-Tsuan and Yun-nan. Subsequently some of them migrated towards the south to Mekong and Northern Burma in the 6^th century. These Tai people came to be known as Mao-Shans locally in Burma.

According to the Tai-Ahom chronicles and Burmese sources there was a vast migration of the great Tai race (Mao-Shans) in the sixth century from the south-west china to Burma and came to be known as Yun-shans locally.

According to Mao-Shans, Burmese and Tai-Ahom chronicles the first remarkable development of the Tai power in the valley of Mekong and Upper Burma took place in the 6^th century with the descent of two heavenly princes “Khun-Long” and “Khun-Lai.  “Khun-Long” and “Khun-Lai” were grandsons of Lengdon and sons of Hten-Hkam (Nephew of Lengdon).  Hten-Hkam was the son of Chaodahkom, king of Mon-lai and the former was the youngest son of Hpohsiphsangdeng. Hten-Hkam became king in Mong-Htin, the Shan province of Yun-nan.

Lengdon was the supreme ruler of heaven (Chinese Tien). This heaven was no other region than Yun-nan called Tien in early periods. It is to be mentioned here that Lengdon was in no way related to Lord Indra as depicted by Hindu and Brahmin scripts. Among the trusted counsellors of Lengdon the most trusted were Ja-Hsing-Hpa (Goddess of learning), Queen mother Laokhri (the senior politician) and Hten-Hkam the most powerful ally and nephew of Lengdon.

Lengdon wanted princes of his house to rule over the territories in the lower countries once governed by heavenly princes, but now suffering from disorder and misrule. So Lengdon called in Ja-Hsing-Hpa, Laokhri and Hten-Hkam for consultation. After due deliberation they finally decided and agreed to send “Khun-Long” and “Khun-Lai” as the rulers of those countries.

The two brothers “Khun-Long” and “Khun-Lai” were called in and invested with princely authority. Lengdon gave them a sword (Hengdang) with magical powers as a royal authority to be justly wielded against enemies and criminals. The sword (Hengdang) was to be placed in the middle of the council hall and was to be greeted seven times by the princes and kneeling before it as homage to Lengdon. Lengdon also gave them an image deity Chum-Phra or Chum-Seng exclusively for the ruling princes of his line for worshiping; a pair of drums to be used only in war and ceremonial occassions; a tusked elephant and a pair of heavenly cocks called Kai-Cheng-Mong whose heads and wings should be eaten by the ruling princes alone and the legs and thigh bones were to be used for divination. “Khun-Long” being the elder was to be the king and “Khun-Lai” the younger his chief counsellor.

After receiving the necessary instructions from Lengdon “Khun-Long” and “Khun-Lai”  then proceeded down to the lower plains from the land of the gods by a Golden ladder (Or rather a gilded iron ladder) in the year 568 A.D.  Finally they reached a country called Mung-Ri-Mung-Ram, where the Tai’s dwelt  without a king.

Chaolung Syukapha (First Ahom King)

Syu Ka Pha is said to have left Maulung in 1215 A.D. with a following of 8 nobles, and 9,000 men, women and children, it may be surmised, that the great majority of his followers were adult males. He had with him 2 elephants, and 300 horses. For 13 years, he wandered about the hilly country of the Patkai, making occassional raids of Naga villages, and in 1228 A.D., he arrived in Khamjang.

He crossed a river called the Khamnamjang in rafts, and came to the Nongnyang lake. Some Nagas attempted to resist his advance, but he defeated them and the other Nagas made their submission. Leaving one of his nobles to rule the conquered country, Syu Ka Pha proceeded to Dangkaorang, Khamhangpung and Namrup. He bridged the Sessa river and ascended the Dihing, but finding the place unsuitable, he retraced his step and proceeding downstream, reached Tipam. Thence he went, in 1236 A.D., to Mungklang Chekhru(Abhaypur), where he stayed for several years. In 1240, this tract of country became flooded during the rainy seasons, so he left it and descended the Brahmaputra to Habung, where he spent 2 years, while here, the Ahoms lived by cultivation. But this place also was liable to inundation, and in 1244 a heavy flood necessitated another move. Sukapha, therefore, continued his journey down the Brahmaputra till he reached the mouth of the Dikhu. Thence he went to Ligirigaon. In 1246, he proceeded to Simaluguri, leaving a detachment at Ligirigaon. He stayed here for some years. It is said that he contemplated an attack on the people inhabiting the valley of the Namdang (a tributory of Dikhu), but gave up the idea on finding how numerous they were. In 1253, Simaluguri was abandoned in favour of Charaideo, where a city was built amid general rejoicings. To celebrate the occasion two horses were sacrificed to the Gods, and prayers were offered by the Deodhais under a mulberry tree.

Syu Ka Pha was an enterprising and brave prince and his treatment of the conquered Morans and Borahis was most judicious. The memory of his wanderings along the valley of the Dihing river is still preserved in various local names and traditions. Sukapha appointed 2 great officers of State, known as the Bor Gohain and the Burha Gohain, who exercised powers second only to those of the king himself. Syu Ka Pha made friend with his brother rulers in his ancestral home, and sent them presents of gold and silver. He died in 1268 A.D.