The bright sides of Ahom Rule in Assam . With the treaty of Yandabo coming into force on the 24th February 1826, the sun of the 600 year old rule of the Ahoms set and Assam lost its sovereignty. Along with a few other north eastern states Assam went under British rule up to the 15th August 1947, the day India got liberated. Yet the rule of the Ahoms in Assam for long 600 years with varying power is a historical wonder. What caused fall of the kingdom was severe infighting among the nobles of the state in later part of their rule. Secondly in later pars of its rule, clash with the Satras (religious centers spreading Vaisnavism in Assam) gave rise to civil up surges in the kingdom in the shape of Moamorian Rebellion which weakened both the political power and the socio-economical structure of the state rendering total incapability to the Ahom force to resist foreign aggressions particularly the aggressions of the Burmese (Maan) which broke the backbone of the Ahom monarchy. The style and functions of the Ahom rule in Assam was not purely a monarchy system but an aristocrat government formed by the nobles namely (Borhagohain, Borgohain, Barpatragohain, Borbauah and Borphukan), and the king was more or less a nominal head of the state. The Borhagohain was the prime minister of the state and he was responsible for guiding the king(Swagadeo) in the matter of ruling the kingdom forming both internal and foreign policies of the state. Though theoretically an aristocrat government is a very good form of government can be called a semi-democratic form of government in those days, that system in Ahom kingdom is observed to fail measurably in later parts of its rule because of power crisis among the Gohains. The swagadeos were accepted as divine representatives but the power of selecting the kings rested with the ministry of the nobles----a liberalized form of monarchy system. The ministry could even dethrone a king at its sweet will. So there remained a scope for corruption by the ministry, and it so happened during the middle and later part of the Ahom regime. Evil minded and power crazy ministers and nobles like Lalukhola Buragohain, Badan Barphookon, Kirti Chandra Barbaruah, through their misdeeds, were directly responsible for decay of the monarchy. The Ahom rule was again single feudal system where the land owned to the crown only; the nobles and the subjects were simply user of the lands. The economy in the state was purely agricultural based. This mono feudal system facilitate a widespread control of the monarchy over the subjects. On the other hand as the land distribution was almost uniform and no other feudal in between, the subjects in those days were less exploited. Introduction of Paik system in the kingdom can be termed as a systematic exploitation of Ahom rule. However in the middle part of the Ahom rule, there were land allocations to the Satras and other religious shrines of Assam in the shape of Devottor lands. As individual paik system could be organized by the satras, this land allocation empowered enough the Satras even to conflict with the king and even to organize a revolt. Chao-Lung Hso-Ka-Hpa, the founder king and the father of the Assamese nation In the year 1228, Hso-Ka-Hpa ntered into Saumar(the then eastern part of present Assam) with some 9000 followers comprising of nobles, scholars, chiefs and soldiers. He founded his first permanent capital at Charaideo (the Che-Rai-Dei). He was a man of outstanding personality and man with vision to build a big nation in Assam valley uniting all the local tribes here under the banner of the Ahom kingdom. He paved the way for national unity and solidarity for greater Assam and a greater Assamese society. He did not adopt hostility but diplomatic means to win over the local tribes like Barahi, Moran, etc. excepting the Nagas with whom he, of course, had to fight with extreme hostility. He accepted brides from Barahi and Moran tribe and extended brotherhood and friendship to all the tribes subjugated by him. As there was no caste system and untouchability in the Ahom social system, incorporating of these local tribes into the Ahom social fold was very easy. He even appointed the Changmais (the royal cooks) from the Barahi communities. As the Ahom were a very few in number at that time and their Tai language was very tough to be learnt by common people, Hso-Ka-Hpa developed a common dialect of the Borahi and the Moran tribe to a language or lingua- franca to be used in the royal court and in communicating to the subjects. Thus the Assamese language was born in the Brahmaputra valley. Hso-Ka-Hpa also set the foundation of the base of the greater Assamese culture through assimilation of the local tribes without disturbing their originality and without imposing any Tai culture on them. But in spite of that there was a free flow of Tai culture and customs into the main streams of Assamese culture, and Tai culture is seen to form the main core of the Assamese culture. As all the subjugated local tribes were taken into royal confidence, their governance was not disturbed and their religion and cultures were not interfered by the Ahom monarchy, Hso-Ka-Hpa could earn immense popularity as a king and leader of the great nation. Social and religious tolerance was the key of success for Hso-Ka-Hpa, the great. It is seen that till the Ahom monarchy maintained this spirit and philosophy of Hso-Ka-Hpa its days were golden, and the moment it deviated from this liberalized royal principle under the influence of Hinduism which got introduced in the royal house sometimes in the middle part of their regime, there started decay of the monarchy, and finally Assam lost sovereignty. Warring Technique As population at that time in Ahom kingdom was not enough, sufficient manpower was never got for serving as soldiers in the battles fought against enemies invading the land. The Ahoms, therefore, adopted some improvised warring techniques to fight the enemies. They raised ramparts to resist movement enemy cavalries. The Ahom soldiers were expert in river battles. So by erecting ramparts they used to call the invaders to river battles so that the enemies were controlled and defeated easily. They were even known to have use under water ramparts to resist movement of enemy boats by suspending big blocks of stones from catenaries made of canes, etc. The Ahoms adopted mostly guerilla warfare techniques in fighting the enemies. In most of the battles, fought against the Mughal forces, the Ahoms could organize supports from the local tribes. The weapons used in those days were Hendang( a typical Ahom sword), spears, bows and arrows, Bortoops (Ahom canons),etc. The Ahoms could not maintain a regular army. The same paik who is basically a cultivator had to fight in the battle field when there was any foreign aggression on the land. This was a serious drawback in Ahom military set up. When a large section of the paiks joined the Moamoria Rebellion, it is seen that Monarchy failed to arrange a force with sufficient number of soldiers to resist the revolt. So was the case during the Maan attacks.The bright sides of Ahom Rule in Assam . With the treaty of Yandabo coming into force on the 24th February 1826, the sun of the 600 year old rule of the Ahoms set and Assam lost its sovereignty. Along with a few other north eastern states Assam went under British rule up to the 15th August 1947, the day India got liberated. Yet the rule of the Ahoms in Assam for long 600 years with varying power is a historical wonder. What caused fall of the kingdom was severe infighting among the nobles of the state in later part of their rule. Secondly in later pars of its rule, clash with the Satras (religious centers spreading Vaisnavism in Assam) gave rise to civil up surges in the kingdom in the shape of Moamorian Rebellion which weakened both the political power and the socio-economical structure of the state rendering total incapability to the Ahom force to resist foreign aggressions particularly the aggressions of the Burmese (Maan) which broke the backbone of the Ahom monarchy. The style and functions of the Ahom rule in Assam was not purely a monarchy system but an aristocrat government formed by the nobles namely (Borhagohain, Borgohain, Barpatragohain, Borbauah and Borphukan), and the king was more or less a nominal head of the state. The Borhagohain was the prime minister of the state and he was responsible for guiding the king(Swagadeo) in the matter of ruling the kingdom forming both internal and foreign policies of the state. Though theoretically an aristocrat government is a very good form of government can be called a semi-democratic form of government in those days, that system in Ahom kingdom is observed to fail measurably in later parts of its rule because of power crisis among the Gohains. The swagadeos were accepted as divine representatives but the power of selecting the kings rested with the ministry of the nobles----a liberalized form of monarchy system. The ministry could even dethrone a king at its sweet will. So there remained a scope for corruption by the ministry, and it so happened during the middle and later part of the Ahom regime. Evil minded and power crazy ministers and nobles like Lalukhola Buragohain, Badan Barphookon, Kirti Chandra Barbaruah, through their misdeeds, were directly responsible for decay of the monarchy. The Ahom rule was again single feudal system where the land owned to the crown only; the nobles and the subjects were simply user of the lands. The economy in the state was purely agricultural based. This mono feudal system facilitate a widespread control of the monarchy over the subjects. On the other hand as the land distribution was almost uniform and no other feudal in between, the subjects in those days were less exploited. Introduction of Paik system in the kingdom can be termed as a systematic exploitation of Ahom rule. However in the middle part of the Ahom rule, there were land allocations to the Satras and other religious shrines of Assam in the shape of Devottor lands. As individual paik system could be organized by the satras, this land allocation empowered enough the Satras even to conflict with the king and even to organize a revolt. Chao-Lung Hso-Ka-Hpa, the founder king and the father of the Assamese nation In the year 1228, Hso-Ka-Hpa ntered into Saumar(the then eastern part of present Assam) with some 9000 followers comprising of nobles, scholars, chiefs and soldiers. He founded his first permanent capital at Charaideo (the Che-Rai-Dei). He was a man of outstanding personality and man with vision to build a big nation in Assam valley uniting all the local tribes here under the banner of the Ahom kingdom. He paved the way for national unity and solidarity for greater Assam and a greater Assamese society. He did not adopt hostility but diplomatic means to win over the local tribes like Barahi, Moran, etc. excepting the Nagas with whom he, of course, had to fight with extreme hostility. He accepted brides from Barahi and Moran tribe and extended brotherhood and friendship to all the tribes subjugated by him. As there was no caste system and untouchability in the Ahom social system, incorporating of these local tribes into the Ahom social fold was very easy. He even appointed the Changmais (the royal cooks) from the Barahi communities. As the Ahom were a very few in number at that time and their Tai language was very tough to be learnt by common people, Hso-Ka-Hpa developed a common dialect of the Borahi and the Moran tribe to a language or lingua- franca to be used in the royal court and in communicating to the subjects. Thus the Assamese language was born in the Brahmaputra valley. Hso-Ka-Hpa also set the foundation of the base of the greater Assamese culture through assimilation of the local tribes without disturbing their originality and without imposing any Tai culture on them. But in spite of that there was a free flow of Tai culture and customs into the main streams of Assamese culture, and Tai culture is seen to form the main core of the Assamese culture. As all the subjugated local tribes were taken into royal confidence, their governance was not disturbed and their religion and cultures were not interfered by the Ahom monarchy, Hso-Ka-Hpa could earn immense popularity as a king and leader of the great nation. Social and religious tolerance was the key of success for Hso-Ka-Hpa, the great. It is seen that till the Ahom monarchy maintained this spirit and philosophy of Hso-Ka-Hpa its days were golden, and the moment it deviated from this liberalized royal principle under the influence of Hinduism which got introduced in the royal house sometimes in the middle part of their regime, there started decay of the monarchy, and finally Assam lost sovereignty. Warring Technique As population at that time in Ahom kingdom was not enough, sufficient manpower was never got for serving as soldiers in the battles fought against enemies invading the land. The Ahoms, therefore, adopted some improvised warring techniques to fight the enemies. They raised ramparts to resist movement enemy cavalries. The Ahom soldiers were expert in river battles. So by erecting ramparts they used to call the invaders to river battles so that the enemies were controlled and defeated easily. They were even known to have use under water ramparts to resist movement of enemy boats by suspending big blocks of stones from catenaries made of canes, etc. The Ahoms adopted mostly guerilla warfare techniques in fighting the enemies. In most of the battles, fought against the Mughal forces, the Ahoms could organize supports from the local tribes. The weapons used in those days were Hendang( a typical Ahom sword), spears, bows and arrows, Bortoops (Ahom canons),etc. The Ahoms could not maintain a regular army. The same paik who is basically a cultivator had to fight in the battle field when there was any foreign aggression on the land. This was a serious drawback in Ahom military set up. When a large section of the paiks joined the Moamoria Rebellion, it is seen that Monarchy failed to arrange a force with sufficient number of soldiers to resist the revolt. So was the case during the Maan attacks.
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