LACHIT BARPHUKAN

Kingdom

• Founder: Sukaphaa, a Shan prince of Mong Mao who came to Assam after crossing the Patkai Mountains. 
• Establishment: Ahoms migrated to the Brahmaputra valley from present-day Myanmar in the 13^th century.
• Expansion of territory: In the 16th century, under the rule of Suhungmung, Ahom captured territories of the Chutiya and Koch-hajo kingdoms.
• Capital: Charaideo  (east of Guwahati) was the first capital of the Ahom dynasty

Society

• Clan: Ahom society was divided into clans or khels. A khel often controlled several villages. 
  • The peasant was given land by his village community. Even the king could not take it away without the community’s consent.
    • People from heavily populated areas were shifted to less populated areas, thus Ahom clans were broken up.

Political Features

• Suppression of Older Political Systems: Ahom created a new state by suppressing the older political system of the bhuiyans (landlords).
• Forced Labor System – Paiks: Ahom state depended upon forced labourers called Paiks.
  • A census of the population was taken. Each village had to send several paiks by rotation. 

Administration

• Centralized Administration: By first half of seventeenth century administration became quite centralised.
• Council of Ministers
  • The king was assisted by a council of ministers referred to as Patra Mantris.
  • The foremost Patra Mantris were the Great Gohains (the Buragohain, Borgohain and Barpatragohain).
• Important officers: Barbarua (military and judicial head) and Barphukan (military and civil head)
  • The position of Barphukan was similar to that of a Viceroy.

Economy

• Artisans: There were very few castes of artisans. Hence, artisans in the Ahom areas came from the adjoining kingdoms.
• New agricultural practices: The Ahoms also introduced new methods of rice cultivation.

Military Strategy

• Mandatory military services: Almost all adult males served in the army during war.
• Military Tactics
  • Deployment of spies to monitor enemy movements and utilization of guerrilla warfare tactics was also used.
  • A class of officials known as Kataki acted as messengers in the enemy camp.
• Naval Strength: The Navy constituted the most important and powerful force within the Ahom military system.
• Military Divisions: The military division included an elephant cavalry, commanded by an officer named Hatibaruah.

Religion

• Originally, Ahoms worshipped their tribal gods. But, in the reign of Sib Singh (1714-1744), Hinduism became the predominant religion.

Burial System (Charaideo Maidams)

• About: Charaideo Maidams are mounds containing remains of royalty of the Ahom dynasty. Mounds are located along the foothills of the Patkai range.
• Lachit Maidam: It has remains of Lachit Barphukan. It was built in 1772 by Swargadeo Udayaditya Singha at Hoolungapara near Jorhat.
• World recognition
  • Charaideo Maidams are commonly known as the Pyramids of Assam.
  • They are included in the tentative list of UNESCO’s World Heritage. 

Art and Culture

• Artists: Poets and scholars were given land grants. 
• Buranjis: The buranjis are a genre of historical chronicles of Ahom dynasty. 
  • These were initially written in Tai-Ahom language but later were mostly produced in Assamese language, presumably after the Ahoms converted to Hinduism
• Translations of Sanskrit books: Important works of Sanskrit were translated into the local language.

End of rule 

• The rule of this dynasty ended with the Burmese invasion of Assam and the subsequent annexation by the British East India Company following the Treaty of Yandaboo in 1826.