The Ahoms, who ruled Assam for six centuries are the descendants of ethnic Tai people

Tai peoples

The Tai ethnicity refers collectively to the ethnic groups of southern China and Southeast Asia, stretching from Hainan to eastern India and from southern Sichuan to Laos, Thailand, and parts of Vietnam, which speak languages in the Tai family and share similar traditions and festivals, including...

 who accompanied the Tai prince Sukaphaa

Sukaphaa

Chaolung Sukaphaa , also Siu-Ka-Pha, the first Ahom king in medieval Assam, was the founder of the Ahom kingdom. A Tai prince originally from Mong Mao, the kingdom he established in 1228 existed for nearly six hundred years and in the process unified the various tribal and non-tribal peoples of...

 into Assam. And for this reason people of this community call themselves the Tai-Ahom. Sukaphaa established the Ahom kingdom

Ahom kingdom

The Ahom Kingdom was a medieval kingdom in the Brahmaputra valley in Assam that maintained its sovereignty for nearly 600 years and successfully resisted Mughal expansion in North-East India...

 (1228-1826) and the Ahom dynasty

Ahom Dynasty

The Ahom Dynasty ruled the Ahom Kingdom in present-day Assam for nearly 600 years. The dynasty was established by Sukaphaa, a Shan prince of Mong Mao who came to Assam after crossing the Patkai mountains...

 ruled and expanded the kingdom for about 600 years. Many of those who accompanied Sukaphaa were unaccompanied males who married into the local communities.