Sukaphaa
Encyclopedia
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 the region that left a deep impact on the region. In reverence to his position in Assam's history the honorific
Chaolung is generally associated with his name (Chao: lord; Lung: great).
Since 1996 December 2 has been celebrated in Assam
as the Sukaphaa Divas, or Asom Divas (Assam Day), to commemorate the advent of the first king of the Ahom kingdom in Assam after his journey over the Patkai
Hills.
state of Mong Mao
(also called Mao-Lung, with the capital at Kieng Sen), close to present-day Ruili
in Yunan
, China
. Chao Chang Nyeu was a prince from Mong-Ri Mong-Ram, who had traveled to Mong Mao possibly on an expedition. Mong Mao was then ruled by Chao Tai Pung. Chao Chang Nyeu was befriended by Pao Meo Pung, the son of the ruler, who gave his sister Blak Kham Sen in marriage. Sukaphaa was born of this union not later than 1189 and was brought up by his maternal grandparents. Pao Meo Pung, who eventually ruled Mong Mao, had no male heir and Sukaphaa, his nephew, was nominated to succeed him. A son born late to Pao Meo Pung's queen ended Sukaphaa's claim to the throne of Mong Mao.
Siu-Ka-Pha left King-Sen Mao-Lung, the capital of Mong Mao kingdom in 1215 A.D. He was accompanied by his three queens, two sons, several nobles and their families, other officials and families, and soldiers totaling more than nine thousand persons. He also took with him two elephants and three hundred Yunnanese pack mules.
The party followed an ancient route that passed through Myit-kyiena, Mogaung, Hukwang in the Upper Irrawady basin to reach the Patkai hill range in 1227. The slow movement took him 13 years on the route. In the Patkai region he founded a province called Kham-jang where he placed a governor called Thao-mong Kham-jang. Kham-jang thus formed an integral part of the Ahom kingdom and it remained so for the next 600 hundred years. (Kham-jang is now within the Sagaing Division of Burma)
From the Patkai he came to the Upper Buri-Dihing region where he founded another province and placed a governor. He then followed the Buri-Dihing called Nam Jin by the Tai by raft and came to Tipam near Naharkatiya where he stayed for several years and appointed a governor there. Thereafter he moved downstream the Buri-Dihing and after reaching the mouth of the Buri-Sihing he came to Habung. At Habung he stayed three years and did cultivation.
Thereafter he moved downstream the Brahmaputra (called Nam Ti-lao by the Tai) and came to the mouth of the Dikhow called Nam-Sao by the Ahom. From there he traveled upstream that river and came to the mouth of the Disang (called Nam Khun) where he weighted the water of that river and found it heavier than that of the Dikhow. He therefore went upstream the Dikhow and came to Simaluguri where stayed for several years. From there he went to Santak.
He finally moved to Charaideo where he found the soil most suitable for habitation and wet-rice cultivation. After making survey of the area he founded his capital at Charaideo in about 1253 A.D. Charaideo is called Che-rai-doi or Che-tam-doi, or Che Kham-run. From Charaideo Siu-ka-pha sent messengers with presents to the Mao King informing his safe arrival in Mong Pa-kam.
He remained there till his death in 1268 A.D.
Charaideo thus became the capital of the new Ahom kingdom and remained so for the next 145 years. At first Siu-ka-pha’s kingdom was bounded by the Brahmaputra, the Buri-Dihing, the Dikhow and the Hills on the south now called Naga Hills. Later it was expanded to cover the whole of the Brahmaputra valley.
(Based on original Ahom chronicles written in Ahom language)
Prof.(Dr)J.N.Phukan
(also called Mong Mao Lung—great Mong Mao) in 1215. He was accompanied by three queens, two sons and a daughter; chiefs from five other dependent Mongs; members of the priestly class and soldiers—a total contingent of 9,000. Some commoners too joined this core group on the way. He had with him 300 horses fitted with saddles and bridles and two elephants. Heavy arms were transported along a different route. Sukaphaa followed an older known route from Yunan to Assam that passed through Myitkyina
, Mogaung
and the upper Irrawaddy river valley. On his way he stopped at various places and crossed the Khamjang river to reach the Nangyang lake
in 1227. Here he subjugated the Nagas very ferociously and established a Mong. He left one Kan-Khrang-Mong there to guard the passage back, and proceeded to cross the Patkai
hills at the Pangsau pass
and reached Namrup
(in the Brahmaputra valley) in December 1228. The journey, from Mong Mao to Namrup thus took him about 13 years and the year he reached Namrup is considered as the year the Ahom kingdom
was established.
Having reached Namrup, Sukaphaa bridged the Sessa river, and went upstream along the Burhi Dihing river looking to establish a colony for wet rice cultivation. He did not find the region conducive to cultivation and returned downstream to Tipam. In 1236, he left Tipam for Abhaypur. A flood made him move again in 1240 down the Brahmaputra to Habung (present-day Dhakuakhana). Another flood and he moved again in 1244, down the Brahmaputra to the Dikhowmukh, and then up the Dikhow river to Ligirigaon. Leaving a detachment at Ligirigaon, he moved again in 1246 to Simaluguri. In 1253, he abandoned Simaluguri for Charaideo, his final capital, where he finally died in 1268.
Even though Sukaphaa treated the people of the Patkai hills very severely on his way to the Brahmaputra valley, his approach to the population in Assam was conciliatory and non-confrontational. He married the daughters of Badaucha, the Matak Chief and Thakumatha, the Barahi chief and established cordial relations with them. As he began establishing his domain, he avoided regions that were heavily populated. He encouraged his soldiers as well as members of the Ahom elite to marry locally. A process of Ahomization (whereby locals who adopted Ahom methods of wet rice cultivation and statecraft were accepted into the Ahom fold) bolstered the process of integration. The Barahi and the Moran, speakers of Tibeto-Burman languages, called Sukaphaa's people "Ha-Cham", that later on developed into "Assam" (see Etymology of Assam
), the name of the kingdom; and "Ahom", the name of the people.
(Dhemaji). In 1244 he went further down to Ligirigaon (Song-Tak), a few miles from present-day Nazira, and in 1246 to Simaluguri (Tun Nyeu), a place downstream from the present-day Simaluguri. Sukaphaa then remained in Demow for six years. Finally in 1253 he built himself his capital city at Charaideo
near present-day Sibsagar
town. The capital of the Ahom kingdom changed many times after this, but Charaideo remained the symbolic center of Ahom rule.
In 1268 Sukaphaa died. At the time of his death, his kingdom was bounded by the Brahmaputra river
in the west, the Burhidihing river ( 27.324195°N 95.119629°W)in the north, the Dikhow river (26.970732°N 94.636745°W) in the south and the Naga hills in the east.
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...
king
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...
in medieval Assam
Assam
Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...
, was the founder of 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...
. A Tai prince originally from Mong Mao
Mong Mao
Mong Mao or Mao kingdom was an ethnically Dai state that controlled several smaller Tai states or chieftainships along the frontier of what is now Myanmar and China in the Dehong region of Yunnan with a capital near the modern-day border town of Ruili...
, 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 the region that left a deep impact on the region. In reverence to his position in Assam's history the honorific
Honorific
An honorific is a word or expression with connotations conveying esteem or respect when used in addressing or referring to a person. Sometimes, the term is used not quite correctly to refer to an honorary title...
Chaolung is generally associated with his name (Chao: lord; Lung: great).
Since 1996 December 2 has been celebrated in Assam
Assam
Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...
as the Sukaphaa Divas, or Asom Divas (Assam Day), to commemorate the advent of the first king of the Ahom kingdom in Assam after his journey over the Patkai
Patkai
The Pat-kai meaning to Cut Chicken in Tai Ahom language are the hills on India's North Eastern border with Burma. They were created by the same tectonic processes that resulted in the formation of the Himalayain the Mesozoic . They are not as rugged as the Himalayas and its peaks are much lower...
Hills.
Beginnings in Mong Mao
The details of Sukaphaa's life and origins before his entry into Assam, available from different chronicles, both Ahom and non-Ahom, are full of contradictions. According to who has tried to hold up a consistent account, Sukaphaa was born to Chao Chang-Nyeu (alias Phu-Chang-Khang) and Nang-Mong Blak-Kham-Sen in the TaiTai 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...
state of Mong Mao
Mong Mao
Mong Mao or Mao kingdom was an ethnically Dai state that controlled several smaller Tai states or chieftainships along the frontier of what is now Myanmar and China in the Dehong region of Yunnan with a capital near the modern-day border town of Ruili...
(also called Mao-Lung, with the capital at Kieng Sen), close to present-day Ruili
Ruili
Ruili City is a county-level city in Dehong Prefecture, Yunnan province, southwest China.It is a major border crossing between China and Myanmar, with Muse town located across the border.- Name :...
in Yunan
Yunan
Yunan may refer to:in fictional characters* King Yunan, a character in One Thousand and One Nights, a collection of Middle Eastern and South Asian stories and folk talesin places...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. Chao Chang Nyeu was a prince from Mong-Ri Mong-Ram, who had traveled to Mong Mao possibly on an expedition. Mong Mao was then ruled by Chao Tai Pung. Chao Chang Nyeu was befriended by Pao Meo Pung, the son of the ruler, who gave his sister Blak Kham Sen in marriage. Sukaphaa was born of this union not later than 1189 and was brought up by his maternal grandparents. Pao Meo Pung, who eventually ruled Mong Mao, had no male heir and Sukaphaa, his nephew, was nominated to succeed him. A son born late to Pao Meo Pung's queen ended Sukaphaa's claim to the throne of Mong Mao.
A Brief Life-Sketch
Siu-Ka-Pha, or Chao-lung Siu-Ka-Pha (Siu-ka-pha the Great Prince) was the son of Chao Chang-ngyeo, a direct descendant of Khun-lung, the legendary king. His mother Nang Mong Blok Kham Seng was a princess of the Mong Mao royal family. He was born in 1191 AD and brought up at Mong Mao to succeed his uncle (mother’s elder brother) King Pa-meo-pung who had no issue. But after a long time a son was born to Pa-meo-pung’s queen who succeeded to the Mong Mao throne at an early age. In the meantime Siu-ka-pha’s father died and his uncle too died. Siu-ka-pha did not go back to his father’s kingdom rather decided to march towards west to rule a western state called Mong Pa-kam now identified with the eastern part of Kamarupa.Siu-Ka-Pha left King-Sen Mao-Lung, the capital of Mong Mao kingdom in 1215 A.D. He was accompanied by his three queens, two sons, several nobles and their families, other officials and families, and soldiers totaling more than nine thousand persons. He also took with him two elephants and three hundred Yunnanese pack mules.
The party followed an ancient route that passed through Myit-kyiena, Mogaung, Hukwang in the Upper Irrawady basin to reach the Patkai hill range in 1227. The slow movement took him 13 years on the route. In the Patkai region he founded a province called Kham-jang where he placed a governor called Thao-mong Kham-jang. Kham-jang thus formed an integral part of the Ahom kingdom and it remained so for the next 600 hundred years. (Kham-jang is now within the Sagaing Division of Burma)
From the Patkai he came to the Upper Buri-Dihing region where he founded another province and placed a governor. He then followed the Buri-Dihing called Nam Jin by the Tai by raft and came to Tipam near Naharkatiya where he stayed for several years and appointed a governor there. Thereafter he moved downstream the Buri-Dihing and after reaching the mouth of the Buri-Sihing he came to Habung. At Habung he stayed three years and did cultivation.
Thereafter he moved downstream the Brahmaputra (called Nam Ti-lao by the Tai) and came to the mouth of the Dikhow called Nam-Sao by the Ahom. From there he traveled upstream that river and came to the mouth of the Disang (called Nam Khun) where he weighted the water of that river and found it heavier than that of the Dikhow. He therefore went upstream the Dikhow and came to Simaluguri where stayed for several years. From there he went to Santak.
He finally moved to Charaideo where he found the soil most suitable for habitation and wet-rice cultivation. After making survey of the area he founded his capital at Charaideo in about 1253 A.D. Charaideo is called Che-rai-doi or Che-tam-doi, or Che Kham-run. From Charaideo Siu-ka-pha sent messengers with presents to the Mao King informing his safe arrival in Mong Pa-kam.
He remained there till his death in 1268 A.D.
Charaideo thus became the capital of the new Ahom kingdom and remained so for the next 145 years. At first Siu-ka-pha’s kingdom was bounded by the Brahmaputra, the Buri-Dihing, the Dikhow and the Hills on the south now called Naga Hills. Later it was expanded to cover the whole of the Brahmaputra valley.
(Based on original Ahom chronicles written in Ahom language)
Prof.(Dr)J.N.Phukan
Journey into Assam
Sukaphaa left Mong MaoMong Mao
Mong Mao or Mao kingdom was an ethnically Dai state that controlled several smaller Tai states or chieftainships along the frontier of what is now Myanmar and China in the Dehong region of Yunnan with a capital near the modern-day border town of Ruili...
(also called Mong Mao Lung—great Mong Mao) in 1215. He was accompanied by three queens, two sons and a daughter; chiefs from five other dependent Mongs; members of the priestly class and soldiers—a total contingent of 9,000. Some commoners too joined this core group on the way. He had with him 300 horses fitted with saddles and bridles and two elephants. Heavy arms were transported along a different route. Sukaphaa followed an older known route from Yunan to Assam that passed through Myitkyina
Myitkyina
Myitkyina is the capital city of Kachin State in Myanmar , located from Yangon, and from Mandalay. In Burmese it means "near the big river", and in fact "Myitkyina" lies on the west bank of the Ayeyarwady River, just below from Myit-son of its two headstreams...
, Mogaung
Mogaung
Mogaung is a town in Kachin State, Myanmar. It is situated on the Mandalay-Myitkyina railway line.-External links:* Falling Rain Genomics, Inc.* Maplandia.com...
and the upper Irrawaddy river valley. On his way he stopped at various places and crossed the Khamjang river to reach the Nangyang lake
Lake of No Return
Lake of No Return is a small body of water lying south of Pangsau village, the first habitation in Burma on the Ledo Road , 2 km...
in 1227. Here he subjugated the Nagas very ferociously and established a Mong. He left one Kan-Khrang-Mong there to guard the passage back, and proceeded to cross the Patkai
Patkai
The Pat-kai meaning to Cut Chicken in Tai Ahom language are the hills on India's North Eastern border with Burma. They were created by the same tectonic processes that resulted in the formation of the Himalayain the Mesozoic . They are not as rugged as the Himalayas and its peaks are much lower...
hills at the Pangsau pass
Pangsau pass
Pangsau Pass, in altitude, lies on the crest of the Patkai Hills on the India-Burma border. The reputed route of the 13th century invasion of Assam in India by the Ahoms, a Shan tribe, the pass offers one of the easiest routes into Burma from the Assam plains...
and reached Namrup
Namrup
Namrup is a small beautiful town situated close to the foothills of the great Patkai Mountain Range in the extreme northeastern part of Assam Arunachal, India. The river Dilih or Disang flows through it. Namrup is situated in a picturesque location amidst wet-paddy fields, Assamese villages,...
(in the Brahmaputra valley) in December 1228. The journey, from Mong Mao to Namrup thus took him about 13 years and the year he reached Namrup is considered as the year 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...
was established.
| State/Territory | North | South | East | West |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sutiya kingdom | Mountain | Buridihing river | Brahmakunda | Sissi river |
| Maran territories | Buridihing river | Disang river | Suffry river | Brahmaputra river Brahmaputra River The Brahmaputra , also called Tsangpo-Brahmaputra, is a trans-boundary river and one of the major rivers of Asia. It is the only Indian river that is attributed the masculine gender and thus referred to as a in Indo-Aryan languages and languages with Indo-Aryan influence... |
| Barahi territories | Disang river | Dikhau river | Nagahat | Barahi Fika |
| Kachari kingdom Kachari Kingdom The Kachari Kingdom was a powerful kingdom in medieval Assam. The rulers belonged to the Dimasa people, part of the greater Bodo-Kachari ethnic group... |
Dikhau river | Patkai Hills | Patkai Hills | Dhansiri river |
| Bara Bhuyan territories | Mountain | Brahmaputra river | Sissi river | Gangbihali river |
| Dafla (Sungi) territories | Mountain | Brahmaputra river | Gangbihali river | Bhairabi river |
| Darrang kingdom | Mountain | Brahmaputra river | Bhairabi river | Manas river |
Having reached Namrup, Sukaphaa bridged the Sessa river, and went upstream along the Burhi Dihing river looking to establish a colony for wet rice cultivation. He did not find the region conducive to cultivation and returned downstream to Tipam. In 1236, he left Tipam for Abhaypur. A flood made him move again in 1240 down the Brahmaputra to Habung (present-day Dhakuakhana). Another flood and he moved again in 1244, down the Brahmaputra to the Dikhowmukh, and then up the Dikhow river to Ligirigaon. Leaving a detachment at Ligirigaon, he moved again in 1246 to Simaluguri. In 1253, he abandoned Simaluguri for Charaideo, his final capital, where he finally died in 1268.
Even though Sukaphaa treated the people of the Patkai hills very severely on his way to the Brahmaputra valley, his approach to the population in Assam was conciliatory and non-confrontational. He married the daughters of Badaucha, the Matak Chief and Thakumatha, the Barahi chief and established cordial relations with them. As he began establishing his domain, he avoided regions that were heavily populated. He encouraged his soldiers as well as members of the Ahom elite to marry locally. A process of Ahomization (whereby locals who adopted Ahom methods of wet rice cultivation and statecraft were accepted into the Ahom fold) bolstered the process of integration. The Barahi and the Moran, speakers of Tibeto-Burman languages, called Sukaphaa's people "Ha-Cham", that later on developed into "Assam" (see Etymology of Assam
Etymology of Assam
The Etymology of Assam is an issue that often comes up for debate in the Indian state of Assam. In the latest instance, the Government of Assam under the Indian National Congress has sought to change the name of the state from Assam to Asom...
), the name of the kingdom; and "Ahom", the name of the people.
Search for a capital
Over the next few years, he moved from place to place searching for the right capital, leaving behind his representative at each stage to rule the colonized land. Then he went up the Burhidihing river and established a province at Lakhen Telsa. Then he came back down the river and established his rule at Tipam. In 1236 he moved to Mungklang (Abhoipur), and in 1240 down the Brahmaputra to HabungHabung
-History:The earliest reference to Habung comes in the 10th century copper plate grant of Ratnapala of the Pala dynasty, when it was a principality of the Kamarupa Kingdom ruled by brahmins. After the downfall of the Kamarupa Kingdom it became a dependency of the Sutiya kingdom...
(Dhemaji). In 1244 he went further down to Ligirigaon (Song-Tak), a few miles from present-day Nazira, and in 1246 to Simaluguri (Tun Nyeu), a place downstream from the present-day Simaluguri. Sukaphaa then remained in Demow for six years. Finally in 1253 he built himself his capital city at Charaideo
Charaideo
Charaideo was the first capital of the Ahom kingdom established by the first Ahom king Chao Lung Siu-Ka-Pha in 1228. It is about 30 km from Sibsagar town off the Sibsagar-Simaluguri road.Though the capital of the Ahom kingdom moved many times, Charaideo remained the symbolic center...
near present-day Sibsagar
Sibsagar
Sivasagar is a town in the Sibsagar district in the state of Assam in India, about north east of Guwahati....
town. The capital of the Ahom kingdom changed many times after this, but Charaideo remained the symbolic center of Ahom rule.
In 1268 Sukaphaa died. At the time of his death, his kingdom was bounded by the Brahmaputra river
Brahmaputra River
The Brahmaputra , also called Tsangpo-Brahmaputra, is a trans-boundary river and one of the major rivers of Asia. It is the only Indian river that is attributed the masculine gender and thus referred to as a in Indo-Aryan languages and languages with Indo-Aryan influence...
in the west, the Burhidihing river ( 27.324195°N 95.119629°W)in the north, the Dikhow river (26.970732°N 94.636745°W) in the south and the Naga hills in the east.
External links
- Siu-Ka-Pha – a great visionary An article by Babul Tamuli published in The Assam Tribune on the occasion of Siu-Ka-Pha Divas.
- Siukapha–an epitome of harmony An article by Dr Sikhamoni Konwar published in The Assam Tribune on the occasion of Siu-Ka-Pha/Assam Divas on 2 December 2008.