During the medieval period, various kingdoms flourished and one such kingdom was the Ahom kingdom. The ahom was a tribal community that migrated from present-day Myanmar to the north-eastern part near Bhrmaputra valley in the thirteenth century through its south-eastern frontier. Initially, these Ahoms settled with local people by the sixteenth century, they defeated Sadiya kingdom and established the Ahom kingdom. Gradually, by defeating the Dimasa empire of south Assam and the Bhuyar kingdom of west Assam they consolidated their position in that region. They ruled for approximately six hundred years and were finally defeated by the Britishers in the nineteenth century.
The Ahom kingdom was ruled by the Ahom dynasty, which was founded by Sukapha. He infiltrated the Brahmaputra valley in 1228. The prince entered the north-eastern province of India (present-day Assam) via south China’s Yunnan region known as Mong Mao Lung, along with other 9000 ahom companions. This tribe created a new state by suppressing the existing political order of Bhuiyans (a growing landlord class).
Gradually, they consolidated their position in the sixteenth century by annexing other kingdoms of other tribes like Chutiyas in 1523, Koch -Hajo in 1581, and many other preexisting dynasties of the region. Besides this, Ahom adopted an approach of conciliation and friendship in order to establish their suzerainty over some of the local tribes like the Morans and Barahis. This is how they built a large and strong state by using firearms as early as 1530s. The state which was established by them came to be known as ‘Assam’, remained intact under Ahoms till the first quarter of the nineteenth century.
Ahoms were a capable and competent tribal community, which faced consistent challenges from the southwest (mainly from the Delhi Sultanate and the Mughals) during the course of its expansion.
Ahom Palace
Mayurgogoi, CC BY-SA 4.0
As a part of its aggressive imperialism, the Mughals wanted to expand their Empire to the North-eastern part of India along with the political supremacy of Mughals. Even though the Mughals were the indomitable power, they did not succeed in getting their foothold in the north-eastern region due to the existence of Ahoms. It is believed that the Mughals attacked Ahoms seventeen times. In 1662 the Mughals under the command of Mir Jumla invaded the Ahom kingdom. Even after posing a great challenge to the Mughals and showcasing brave defense, Ahoms were defeated but the Mughals could not sustain their rule there for a longer period. Therefore, the region was recaptured by Ahoms.
The Ahom state was based on the system of forced labour, known as the paik system. In this system, a census was carried out of all villages and clans. Then each village had to send a fixed number of paiks (labours) on a rotational basis. In order to run all resources smoothly in the kingdom, they used to evenly distribute the population. They had a centralized system of administration, where the king was the main head figure assisted by several ministers and nobles, known as Buragohain and Borgohain, who solemnly promised not to contest for the monarch's position but were expected to help the king in matters related to the state and the administration. During war times, all male adults had to serve in the army and at other times these males were responsible to engage in works like building dams, irrigation, and other works of public welfare.
The society in the Ahom kingdom was classified into clans, known as khels. Each khel had several villages. And in these villages, the peasant was allotted land by his community, which could not be taken back even by the king without the community’s approval. There was a shortage of artisans in the Ahom kingdom, therefore, they used to call artisans from other kingdoms for any particular work in the state..
The ahoms brought their own tribal religious beliefs and customs. Historians believed that along with their own tribal traditions , ahoms were influenced by Buddhism. However, interaction with the local inhabitants penetrated the Hinduism in their religious beliefs. Kings began to give grants of land to brahmins and temples. And in the reign of Sib Singh, Hinduism began to flourish but at the same time Ahoms adhered to their beliefs even after following Hinduism.
Ahoms valued the skill of art and knowledge by providing land grants to scholars and poets. Furthermore, importance was given to theatre, in fact, the first amphitheatre in Asia was built by them. And the translation of Sanskrit scriptures into local languages also began. Historical records of Ahoms called Buranjis were written in Ahom and Assamese language.
The Ahom kingdom was founded by Chaolung Sukapha from the Mao Mung kingdom of Yunan, shifted to north-eastern part of India and gradually extended its territory to the west and covered almost the entire region near the Brahmaputra valley. During its course of expansion, this kingdom subjugated and unified several pre-existing kingdom of the region. They ruled for almost six hundred years and posed greatest threat to the major imperial powers of the Indian subcontinent like the Mughal Empire. Their rule came to an end in 1826CE with seizure of the area by the British under the terms of Yandaboo treaty between British and the Burmese government.
Q1. What do you understand by forced labour?
Ans. Forced labour denotes to a scenario where a person is coerced to work unwillingly due to a physical threat or a penalty caused by accumulated debt.
Q2. What was Yandaboo treaty?
Ans. The Yandaboo treaty was the peace treaty signed between the British and the Burmese government in 1825 as result of first Anglo- Burmese war. In this treaty Burmese agreed upon to cede Assam. Manipura and the Taninthayi coast south of the Salween River, to the British government.
Q3. Who sent Mir Jumla to invade the Ahom Kingdom? Who was the Ahom king when he invaded Assam?
Ans. Aurangzeb, the sixth Mughal ruler sent Mir Jumal to invade the Ahom kingdom as a part ot Mughal territorial expansion. Mir Jumla invaded Assam during the reign of the Ahom king Sutamla.
Q4. Why were Mughals not able to sustain in Assam for a long time even after capturing it?
Ans. Mir Jumla decided to leave the Ahom kingdom, and move to Bengal due to the geographical and climatic conditions of Assam. On the one hand, the plain areas of Assam valley were surrounded by hills, and on the other hand, weather is such that Assam experiences a monsoon season mos of the time, which made this area flood-prone zone. So, the dense forest area, hills, rivers, and rains made cavalry difficult. On the contrary, The Ahoms made use of this situation by repeatedly leading devastating attacks, especially at night. The Mughal troops found themselves helpless.
Q5. How did Ahoms resist the Mughals invasion ?
Ans. Ahoms managed to resist the Mughal invasion because they were well versed in the use of firearms and guerrilla warfare techniques. Besides, they took advantage of the climatic and geographical features of Assam, which was troubling the Mughal troops.
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