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76-566: The Ahom ( / ˈ ɑː h ɒ m / ) ( Ahom : 𑜒𑜑𑜪𑜨, ahüm ), or Tai Ahom ( Ahom : 𑜄𑜩 𑜒𑜑𑜪𑜨, tái ahüm ) is an ethnic group from the Indian states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh . The members of this group are admixed descendants of the Tai people who reached the Brahmaputra valley of Assam in 1228 and the local indigenous people who joined them over the course of history. Sukaphaa ,

152-646: A language from 2000 years ago, in the Kra–Dai family (unrelated to Chinese, but possibly related to the Austronesian languages ), within the (proposed but debated) subgroup of Kam–Tai , although some say that Tai languages are a discrete family, and are not part of Kra–Dai. Ahom is distinct from but closely related to Aiton , which is still spoken in Assam to this day. Ahom has characteristics typical of Tai languages, such as: When speaking and writing Ahom, much

228-751: A meeting of Ahom people at Patsaku, Sibsagar District, the Tai Historical and Cultural Society of Assam was founded. Since the late 1960s, Ahom culture and traditions have witnessed a revival. In 1981 the Eastern Tai Literary Organization has been founded in Dhemaji, which produced language text books and publications in the Ahom script. Schools in Dibrugarh and Sibsagar districts started offering Tai language classes, teaching

304-642: A member of the Tai branch of the Kra–Dai languages is now dead, with its tone system completely lost. Nevertheless, it is being revived by some Tai Ahom organisations. From the latter part of the 20th century through the early 21st century, there has been a resurgence of interest among the Ahoms in their culture and language, resulting in heightened scholarly focus and efforts towards revival. The 1901 census of India enumerated approximately 179,000 people identifying as Ahom. The latest available census records slightly over 2 million Ahom individuals, however, estimates of

380-432: A mix of Tai Ahom, Phakey, Khamti and Central Thai. The scholar Terwiel notes that the view of the Ahom language being a dead language is hotly contested by Ahom priests and spokesmen of the revival movement. According to them, the language did not die out because Ahom priests still use the language for religious purposes. Some even claim that the priestly class speaks Ahom as their mother tongue. Upon further investigation, it

456-477: A movement aiming to rejuvenate the ancient Ahom faith. The Ahom religion started to decline since the days of Jayadhwaj Singha , he was the first Ahom king to adopt Ekasarana Dharma and to take initiation of the Auniati Mahanta. From Jayadhawaj Singha to Rantadhwaj Singha all were followers of Ekasarana Dharma . From Gadadhar Singha onwards the kings veered towards Shaktism . Siva Singha made

532-622: A result, the Ahom polity initially absorbed Naga , Borahi and Moran , and later large sections of the Chutia and the Dimasa-Kachari peoples. This process of Ahomisation went on until the mid-16th century, when the Ahom society itself came under the direct Hindu influence. That many indigenous peoples were ceremonially adopted into Ahom clans are recorded in the chronicles. Since the Ahoms married liberally outside their own exogamous clans and since their own traditional religion resembled

608-616: A scattered fashion within bamboo groves. At one time, the Ahom built their house on stilts called Rwan Huan about two meters above ground level. Food is one of the important variables of the culture of Tai-Ahom. Most Ahoms, particularly in rural areas, are non-vegetarian , still maintaining a traditional cuisine similar to other Tai people . Rice is a staple food. Typical dishes are pork, chicken, duck, slices of beef, frogs, many kinds of fishes, hukoti maas (dry preserved fish mixture), muga lota (cocoon seeds of endi and muga worms), and eggs of red ants. Certain insects are also popular foods for

684-554: A small minority in their own kingdom, of which they kept control. During the 17th century, the Assamese language entered the Ahom court and co-existed with the Tai-Ahom for some time before finally replacing it. Eventually the Ahom peasants too adopted the Assamese language over the Ahom language for secular purposes, while Ahom was restricted to religious use by Ahom priests. The everyday usage of Ahom language ceased completely by

760-659: A tone system, but because the Ahom script did not spell out any tones, the tones are now unknown. The Ahom language has the following pronouns: Ahom uses the proximal demonstrative nai meaning 'this' and the distal demonstrative nan meaning 'that'. Tai-Ahom mainly used an SVO word order, but an SOV word order has also been attested. Classifiers are used when forming plurals, counting entities and when specifically referring to one single entity. Some classifiers are: 'kun' (used for persons), 'tu' (used for animals) and 'an' (general). For example 'khai song tu' means two buffalo, where 'khai' means buffalo, 'song' means two and 'tu'

836-696: A tradition of writing, record keeping, and state formation. They settled in the region south of the Brahmaputra River and to the east of the Dikhow River ; the Ahoms today are found concentrated in this region. Sukaphaa , the leader of the Tai group and his 9,000 followers established the Ahom kingdom (1228–1826 CE), which controlled much of the Bramhaputra valley until 1826. In the initial phase,

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912-502: Is dependent upon context and the audience interpretation. Multiple parts of the sentence can be left out; verb and adjectives will remain, but other parts of speech, especially pronouns, can be dropped. Verbs do not have tenses, and nouns do not have plurals. Time periods can be identified by adverbs, strings of verbs, or auxiliaries placed before the verb. Ahom, like other Tai languages, uses classifiers to identify categories, and repetitions of words to express idiomatic expressions. However,

988-467: Is now associated by the Indian government with the various indigenous Assamese people . According to Anthony Van Nostrand Diller, possibly eight million speakers of Assamese can claim genetic descent from the Ahoms. Historian Yasmin Saikia contends that during pre-colonial eras, the Ahoms didn't constitute an ethnic community; instead, they formed a relatively inclusive social group. Any group entering

1064-473: Is now considered as the Ahom population . Sukaphaa (reign 1228–1268 CE ), was a Tai prince originally from Mong Mao , who along with about nine thousand soldier-agriculturalists arrived in what is now Assam in 1228. After moving between different places, he finally settled in 1253 at Charaideo in eastern Assam and started forming a state. Upon settling in Assam, Sukaphaa established peaceful relations with

1140-401: Is the classifier for animals. The following interrogatives are found: Ahom has the following basic numerals: 0 in Ahom script is "𑜰". Below is a comparative table of Ahom and other Tai languages. Ahomisation Ahomisation was an assimilation process in the former Ahom kingdom of Assam by which the people from different ethnic groups in the region became a part of what

1216-633: Is the main marriage ritual among the twenty marriage rituals of Tai Ahom people. The name Cho Klong is derived from the Tai Ahom language [Cho=to combine, klong=ritual]. The ritual is described in an ancient Tai Ahom script Lai Lit nang Hoon Pha . 101 ban-phai-s (earthen lamps) or lights are lit. The bride offers the groom a heng-dan (sword) to protect her, their children, family, race and country. Sum of twenty rituals are performed in ahom wedding along with cho klong, including: The majority of present-day Ahoms profess Hinduism as their religion, yet there's

1292-404: Is therefore usually regarded as a dead language. It retains cultural significance and is used for religious chants and to read literature. This is complicated however by the fact that the phonology with its tone system has been completely lost, because the Ahom script does not mark tone and under-specifies vowel contrasts, which obscures the meaning of words as tones are important to distinguish

1368-469: The Ahom gentry belonged to clans such as Chaodangs , Gharphalias , Likchows etc. In general, the secular aristocratic clans, the priestly class, and the gentry clans did not intermarry. Some clans admitted people from other ethnic groups as well. For example, Miri-Sandikoi and Moran-Patar were Sandikoi and Patar from the Mising and Moran communities, while the founders of Chetias and Lahons were from

1444-445: The Assamese language in the 17th century. Since the early 18th century, there have been no native speakers of the language, though extensive manuscripts in the language still exist today. The tonal system of the language is entirely lost. The language was only partially known by a small group of traditional priests of the Ahom religion , and it was being used only for ceremonial or ritualistic purposes. There has been efforts to revive

1520-659: The Chutia community. This was true even for the priestly clans: Naga-Bailung, Miri-Bailung and Nara-Bailung. The Ahoms were literate with a writing system based on the Ahom script , which fell into disuse along with the language. The Ahom script evolved from an earlier script of the Tai Nuea language which developed further under the present Chinese Government . There exists today a large corpus of manuscripts in this script on history, society, astrology, rituals, etc. Ahom people used to write their chronicles known as Buranji . The priestly classes (Mo'sam, Mo'hung, Mo'Plong) are

1596-634: The Chutiya kingdom and Dimasa Kingdom , much of the Chutia and the Dimasa-Kachari populace too were absorbed into the Ahom population. Many indigenous people from various ethnic groups were ceremonially adopted into Ahom clans, as recorded in the chronicles known as " Buranji ". Thus the illustrious Ahom family of Miri Sandikai was founded by one Miri ( Mising ), the adopted son of a Burhagohain . King Gadadhar Singha (1681–1696) accepted two Naga princesses as his consorts. The new converts, if capable, were even elevated to important administrative posts. Thus

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1672-857: The Satghariya group was expanded—four additional clans began to be associated with nobility: Dihingia, Sandikoi, Lahon and Duarah. In the 16th-century Suhungmung added another great counselor, the Borpatrogohain and a new clan was established. Over time sub-clans began appearing. Thus during the Suhungmung's reign, the Chao-Pha's clan were divided into seven sub-clans—Saringiya, Tipamiya, Dihingiya, Samuguriya, Tungkhungiya, Parvatiya, and Namrupiya. Similarly, Burhagohain clan were divided into eight, Borgohain sixteen, Deodhai twelve, Mohan seven, and Bailung and Siring eight each. The rest of

1748-539: The Shaktism the state religion, Suremphaa Rajeswar Singha (1751–1769) ordered Sanskritisation . All funerals were to be practised under the Hindu cremation rites, conducted by a Maithil Brahmin priest and a traditional priest. Nevertheless, Me-Dam-Me-Phi is widely celebrated. The Ahoms today use the Assamese language after the traditional language, the Ahom language , fell into complete disuse. The Ahom language,

1824-456: The Tai way of life and polity were incorporated into their fold which came to be known as Ahom as in the process known as Ahomisation . Many local ethnic groups that came in contact with the Tai settlers, including the Borahis who were of Tibeto-Burman origin, were completely subsumed into the Ahom community; while members of other communities, based on their allegiance to the Ahom kingdom or

1900-554: The 'Tai Ahom Yuva Chatra Sanmilan, Assam' (TAYCSA), demanded that the Tai-Ahom language be included in the school curriculum of the state of Assam. They also demanded the creation of a two-year diploma course in Mahdavdeva University. An online dictionary containing nearly 5,000 entries (see External links) has been created by analyzing old manuscripts, especially the Bar Amra. A descriptive grammar of Ahom, based on

1976-466: The 16th century, when the Ahom court, completely adopted the local language of the region, the Assamese language. This process of Ahomisation went on for till the mid-16th century when the mixed Ahom society itself came under the direct Hindu influence. In the contexts of conquest, the general process is the fact that the subjugated groups normally adopt the language and customs of the conquerors, this

2052-501: The Ahom administration, they learnt the local Assamese language . The adoption of Assamese language also changed the language of Chronicle writings, the Buranji(s), where they write their all events. Even though the already mixed group known as 'Ahom' made up a relatively very small portion of the kingdom's population, they still maintained their original Tai-Ahom language alongside Assamese and practised their traditional religion until

2128-440: The Ahom court, as well as the Ahom peasants took to Ekasarana dharma , Shaktism and Saivism over the traditional Ahom religion; and adopted Assamese over the Ahom language for secular purposes. The modern Ahom people and their culture are a syncretism of the original Tai and their culture and local Tibeto-Burman peoples and their cultures they absorbed in Assam. The everyday usage of Ahom language ceased completely by

2204-508: The Ahom fold, though the Moran maintained their independent ethnicity. Sukaphaa established his capital at Charaideo near present-day Sivasagar in 1253 and began the task of state formation. The Ahoms held the belief that they were destined by a divine force to cultivate fallow land using their wet-rice farming methods and to assimilate stateless shifting cultivators into their society. They were also conscious of their numerical minority. As

2280-559: The Ahom fold. Majority of Ahoms of the Chetia clan as well as the Lahon clan originated from the Chutia community. In this manner, numerous ethnic groups hailing from both the plains and the hills across the region were assimilated into the 'Ahom' population. The Tai-Ahoms married liberally outside their own exogamous clans and their own traditional religion resembled the religious practices of

2356-470: The Ahom royal palace during the reign of Sudangphaa also known as Bamuni Kowar (reign: 1397–1407). Sudangphaa also appointed a Brahmana as an advisor in the Ahom Royal court and he was the first Ahom king to adopt the coronation of Singarigharutha . Singarigharutha was the traditional coronation ceremony of an Ahom king. It was believed that even though an Ahom prince became a king, he could not attain

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2432-469: The Ahom still reside today. Tai-Ahom was the exclusive court language of the Ahom kingdom , where it was used to write state-histories or ' Buranjis '. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the small Ahom community expanded their rule dramatically toward the west and they successfully saw off challenges from the Mughal Empire and other invaders. The rapid expansion resulted in the Ahom people becoming

2508-415: The Ahoms assimilated their own culture with them. The Ahom royal also later appointed the some Chutiyas and Bhuyans in their office, inter-married and had relations with them. Thus, the cultural assimilation took place which majorly impacted the social structure, belief and practices in the Ahom society. Gradually, the Ahom royal accepted the influence of Hinduisation, which led to Hindu religion's entry into

2584-459: The Ahoms. Luk-Lao or Nam-Lao (rice beer, undiluted or diluted) are traditional drinks. They consume "Khar" (a form of alkaline liquid extracted from the ashes of burned banana peels/bark), "Betgaaj" (tender cane shoots), and many other naturally grown herbs with medicinal properties. However beef for the general hindus and, pork for the Vaisnavites are avoided During Siva Singha 's reign,

2660-524: The Koch king of Kamata Kingdom that ruled what is now Western Assam , North Bengal and Northern Bangladesh , offered his daughter to the Ahom king to conclude the battle between Koch and Ahom kingdom. This was the first recorded marriage of an Ahom king with a Hindu princess outside of the kingdom and this event of marriage brought in some Hindu elements to the Ahom royal palace. After the annexation of Chutiya kingdom, Kachari Kingdom and Baro-Bhuyans kingdom,

2736-531: The already admixed group Ahom made up a relatively small portion of the kingdom's population, they maintained their original Ahom language and practised their traditional religion till the 17th century, when the Ahom court as well as the commoners adopted the Assamese language . The Tai speaking people came into prominence first in the Guangxi region, in China, from where they moved to mainland Southeast Asia in

2812-489: The band of followers of Sukaphaa moved about for nearly thirty years and mixed with the local population. He moved from place to place, searching for a seat. He made peace with the Borahi and Moran ethnic groups, and he and his mostly male followers married into them, creating an admixed population identified as Ahoms and initiating the process of Ahomisation . The Borahis, a Tibeto-Burman people, were completely subsumed into

2888-451: The beginning of the process called Ahomisation, he and his mostly male followers creating the admixed population known as the Ahoms. The Shan-Tai settlers displayed great assimilative capacity. While the Shan invaders called themselves Tai, they came to be referred to as Āsām, Āsam and Acam by the indigenous peoples of the region. The modern Assamese word Āhom by which the Tai people were known

2964-399: The creation of the first adequate modern dictionary by Nomal Chandra Gogoi in 1987, titled The Assamese-English-Tai Dictionary . This dictionary allowed a reader to find the translation of 9,000 Assamese words into English and Tai. This dictionary filled in missing gaps of the Ahom vocabulary with Aiton and Khamti words and if those were not available, Lanna and Thai words were used. The result

3040-573: The custodians of these manuscripts. The Ahom people used to use a sexagenary cycle known as Lak-Ni Tao-Si-Nga with its origins in the middle kingdoms ( Chung-Kuo ). It has 12 months and an additional leap month with a ten days weekly cycle. The first month is called Duin-Shing which gregorian equivalent is November - December and the new year festival is known as Pi-Mau Tai . It is still in vogue in Chinese and Tai people . The events in Buranji

3116-538: The early 19th century. Although the language is no longer spoken, the exhaustive 1795 Ahom-Assamese lexicon known as the Bar Amra preserves the lexical forms of the language towards the end of the Ahom Kingdom . The language today is used chiefly for liturgical purposes, and is no longer used in daily life. While the written language (and ritualistic chants) survive in a vast number of written manuscripts, Ahom

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3192-425: The early 19th-century. The loss of religions is also nearly complete, with only a few priestly families practising some aspects of it. While the written language (and ritualistic chants) survive in a vast number of written manuscripts, much of the spoken language is lost because the Ahom script does not mark tone and under-specifies vowel contrasts. Though the first political organisation (All Assam Ahom Association)

3268-593: The expressions, classifiers, pronouns, and other sentence particles vary between the Tai languages descended from Proto-Tai, making Tai languages mutually unintelligible. It has its own script, the Ahom script . The Ahom people and their language originated in Yunnan in south-west China . They migrated from the border between northern Vietnam and the Guangxi province of China, to the Hukawng Valley , along

3344-573: The grammar found in old manuscripts, is being worked on. A sketch has been released, titled “A Sketch of Tai Ahom” by Stephen Morey. The Tai Ahom consonants have been reconstructed as the following, by analyzing old texts: The semi-vowel /w/ is missing from the system, however it is an allophone of /b/ that occurs only in the word final position. Consonants found in the word final position are: /p, t, k, m, n, ŋ, j, b [w]/. Vowels can occur in syllable medial and final positions only. The following vowel inventory has been reconstructed: The language had

3420-556: The indigenous peoples. The Borahis, were completely subsumed into the Ahom fold, though the Morans even today maintain their independent ethnicity, thus terms like 'Sutiya-Ahom', 'Kachari-Ahom', 'Moran-Ahom' have been used in the Buranjis (chronicles). During the pre- colonial period of Assam, the Ahoms were not an ethnic community like it is considered as now, but rather Ahoms were a relatively open status group. Any community coming into

3496-642: The insignia Chum Pha Rueng Sheng Mueang . The customs of Cheng Ken are documented in the ancient manuscript Khyek Lai Bet . As stated: Duin ha jao pai ka duin ruk Poi cheng ken ao ma, hu ap nam, khai ap nam...., lit.   ' ‘the month of Duin-ha is over. Poi cheng ken arrives in Duin-ruk. Cows and buffaloes are bathed in water. ' Like the rural Thai people of Thailand , the house rural Ahom families have been made of wood and bamboo, and two roofs are typically thatched. Families' orchards and ploughed fields are situated near their house. Houses are built in

3572-560: The language by following the phonology of existing sister languages, especially Tai-Aiton and Tai-Phake . The Institute of Tai Studies and Research (ITSAR), is a Tai-Ahom language teaching institute in Moran , Sivasagar , Assam , India, established in 2001 and affiliated to Dibrugarh University . It offers a one-year Tai-Ahom language diploma course and a three-month certificate course in spoken Tai-Ahom. Other initiatives have been taken, such as workshops and language classes. In 2019,

3648-404: The language in recent times. A reconstructed version is taught in various educational institutions in Assam by AHSEC and Dibrugarh University . Tai-Ahom is classified in a Northwestern subgrouping of Southwestern Tai owing to close affinities with Shan , Khamti and, more distantly, Thai . The immediate parent language from which Ahom is descended has been reconstructed as Proto-Tai ,

3724-489: The leader of the Tai group and his 9,000 followers established the Ahom kingdom (1228–1826 CE), which controlled much of the Brahmaputra Valley in modern Assam until 1826. The modern Ahom people and their culture are a syncretism of the original Tai and their culture and local Tibeto-Burman people and their cultures they absorbed in Assam. The local people of different ethnic groups of Assam that took to

3800-533: The local ethnic groups, especially from the Borahi and the Moran . He later married the daughters of both Badaucha, the Moran Chief, and Thakumatha, the Borahi chief and established cordial relations with them. As he began establishing his domain, he avoided regions that were heavily populated. He also encouraged all his Tai soldiers as well as the members of the Tai elites to marry with the locals, which led to

3876-404: The meaning of words in tonal languages. Fabricated samples of the Ahom script delayed translation of legitimate Ahom texts. Several publications were created based on the fabricated samples, leading to incorrect grammatical analysis and dictionary resources that acted as a barrier to future researchers. A later translation of Ahom Buranji , a major Ahom script was provided by Golap Chandra Barua,

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3952-574: The middle of the 11th century after a long and fierce battle with the Northern Han Chinese. The Tai-Ahoms are traced to either Mong Mao of South China (present-day Dehong , Yunnan province of China) or to the Hukawng Valley in Myanmar . Sukaphaa , a Tai prince of Mong Mao , and a band of followers reached Assam in 1228 with an intention of settling there. They came with a higher technology of wet-rice cultivation then extant and

4028-537: The official records. The kings who were traditionally known with the title of Chao-Pha were replaced by the title of Swargadeo and since then Ahom kings came to be known as the 'Swargadeo'. The priestly classes of the Ahom like the Mohan, Deodhai and Bailung, mostly remained outside the purview of mainstream Hinduism and continued to express their unwillingness to come into the fold of the Brahmin Hindus. However

4104-646: The people abandoned the free usage of meat and drinks. Ahom food specialties resemble Thai cuisine. Like the Thais, the Ahoms prefer boiled food that have little spices and directly burnt fish, meat and vegetables like brinjal, tomato, etc. Some of them are Thu–dam (black lentil), Khao–Moon (Rice Frumenty), Xandohguri (a powder made from dry roasted rice), ChewaKhao (steamed rice), Chunga Chaul (sticky rice cooked in tender bamboo tubes), Til pitha (sesame rice rolls prepared from sticky rice powder), and Khao-tyek (rice flakes). The process of preparation of this item

4180-471: The religious practices of the indigenous peoples the assimilation under Ahomisation had little impediment. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the small Ahom community expanded their rule dramatically toward the west and they successfully saw off challenges from Mughal and other invaders, gaining them recognition in world history. The rapid expansion resulted in the Ahom people becoming a small minority in their own kingdom, of which they kept control. Eventually,

4256-417: The rules of Tai grammar. It has also changed greatly regarding semantics, literally translating Assamese into Tai words, which leads to sentences which do not make sense to any Tai speaker. Terwiel therefore calls this revived language 'pseudo-Ahom'. Nevertheless, this revived language has been used passionately by revitalists and many neologisms have been created. The demand for translation into Tai-Ahom led to

4332-424: The same man responsible for fabricating samples of translated Ahom script. It was discovered years later, by Professor Prasert na Nagara , that the translation was unreliable. Despite these difficulties, along with the lack of native speakers and specific text, studies in Ahom have prevailed, and certain available scripts have been translated and transliterated, using known words, characters and context. In 1954, at

4408-559: The scholar Morey reported that Ahom priests have resorted to compounding words to differentiate between words that are homophones in the revived language, since Ahom lost its tone system. For example in old Ahom, the word su for tiger and su for shirt would have sounded differently by pronouncing them with a different tone. In revived Ahom, they are now differentiated by compounding them with another word: tu for animal and pha for cloth respectively. Subsequently, tu su and pha su can be differentiated. An effort has been made to revive

4484-432: The second Borphukan became the governor of Lower Assam , who was the son of a Naga of Banferra clan. Queen Phuleswari, who took the regalia to her hand during the reign of king Siva Singha (1714–1744), appointed a Bhutanese youth as her page. Kancheng, the first Barpatra Gohain was born and brought up in a Naga family. Miri-Sandikoi and Moran-Patar were Sandikoi and Patar from the Mising and Moran communities, This

4560-522: The socio-economic fold of the Ahom state could claim the Ahom status with active consent of the king. The modern Ahom people and their culture are a syncretism of the original Tai and their culture and local Tibeto-Burman peoples and their cultures they absorbed in Assam. After the initial contact of the Tai-Ahoms with the local people of the region, the Tai speakers learnt the local language and culture. With better communication and proper running of

4636-413: The socio-economic framework of the Ahom state could acquire Ahom status, subject to the explicit approval of the king. Ahom language The Ahom people established the Ahom kingdom and ruled parts of the Brahmaputra river valley in the present day Indian state of Assam between the 13th and the 18th centuries. The language was the court language of the kingdom, until it began to be replaced by

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4712-436: The status of a full-fledged monarch until his Singarigharutha ceremony was completely performed. Therefore, each Ahom ruler after their accession to the throne tried to organize the ceremony as soon as possible. Suhungmung (reign: 1497–1539) was the first Ahom king to adopt the Hindu title Swarga-Narayan, a Sanskrit equivalent of Tai-Ahom's Chao-Pha. After the reign of Suhungmung the Ahom king prefer to use their Hindu names in

4788-441: The superior technique of wet-rice cultivation, and believed that they were divinely ordained to bring the fallow land under the plow. They adopted many stateless shifting cultivators of the region into their fold, though they were also conscious of their numerical inferiority. As a result, the Tai-Ahom polity initially absorbed people from various ethnic groups of the region such as Borahi, Moran and Naga . Later, after subjugating

4864-476: The time of ingress into Assam, or soon thereafter, there were seven important clans, called Satghariya Ahoms (Ahoms of the Seven Houses). There were Su/Tsu (Tiger) clan to which the Chao-Pha (Sukaphaa) belonged; his two chief counselors Burhagohain ( Chao-Phrung-Mung ) and Borgohain ( Chao-Thao-Mung ); and three priestly clans: Bailung ( Mo-plang ), Deodhai ( Mo-sham ), Mohan ( Mo-hang ) and Siring. Soon

4940-560: The total number of people descended from the original Tai-Ahom settlers are as high as eight million. The Ahom script also finds a place in the Unicode Consortium and the script declared the topmost in the South-East Asia category. Ahom people today are categorised in the other backward classes (OBC) caste category; there is longstanding discussion and demand for Scheduled Tribe status. The term "ethnic Assamese"

5016-658: The upper reaches of the Chindwin river , northern Burma . In the 13th century, they crossed the Patkai Range . and settled in the Brahmaputra River valley, in Northeast India. After increasing their power in Upper Assam, the Ahom people extended their power to the south of the river Brahmaputra and east of the river Dikho, which corresponds to the modern day districts of Dibrugarh and Sibsagar, Assam, where

5092-610: The use of the language and culture of the conquered people in the common level of the totality. So after the subjugation of Chutia territories as in Chutia Kingdom , the process of Ahomisation gave way to the process of Sanskritisation (Hinduisation). The process of Sankritisation increased significantly in the 16th and 17th centuries after the expansion of Ahom kingdom westward which led to absorption of many Hindu subjects. The first Hindu cultural elements came into Ahom royal palace during reign of Sukhaangphaa (1293–1332) when

5168-629: The usefulness of their talents, too were accepted as Ahoms. Currently, they represent the largest Tai group in India, with a population of nearly 4.6 million in Assam. Ahom people are found mostly in Upper Assam in the districts of Golaghat , Jorhat , Sibsagar , Charaideo , Dibrugarh , Tinsukia (south of Brahmaputra River); and in Lakhimpur , Sonitpur , Bishwanath ,and Dhemaji (north) as well as some area of Nagaon , Guwahati . Even though

5244-473: Was a hodgepodge of multiple Tai languages, that was only linked to the Ahom language by the Ahom script in which the dictionary entries were written. The scholar Terwiel recommended in 1992 to base neo-Ahom on the grammar and tones of the very closely related Aiton language, which is still spoken in Assam. Summarizing, the revivalists use a language consisting of a mixture of Tai words from multiple Tai languages, overlaid on an Assamese grammatical base. In 1999,

5320-542: Was counted with Lak-ni . Me-dam-me-phi is the communal ancestor worship festival of Tai-Ahom. It's observed in the month of Duin-Ha (March-April)in the ancient times but now it's celebrated in the 31st January. Poi cheng ken is the traditional spring festival of the Tai-Ahom people, celebrated during the Ahom month of Duin-Ha in the Sexagenary cycle . The festival includes rituals such as washing, particularly bathing household cattle, honoring ancestors, and worshipping

5396-468: Was created in 1893 it was in 1954 when Ahom connection to other Tai groups in Assam was formally established. The Tai-Ahom people's traditional social structure, called Ban-Mong, revolved around agriculture and centered on irrigation methods. The Ban or Ban Na is a unit composed of families that settled by the side of the rivers. While many Bans together forms a Mong which refers state. Ahom clans, called phoid s, formed socio-political entities. At

5472-476: Was derived from Āsām or Āsam. Socially, they fully identified with the multi-ethnic groups of their occupied territory, and the new name Ahom legitimised and recognised their political supremacy and leadership. The conquest of the Moran and Borahi ethnic groups at the initial stage produced the conquest society. The Tai settlers did not exterminate the vanquished population, but instead took them as partners in peace and development. The Tai settlers brought with them

5548-436: Was determined that the priests could decipher the Ahom script and read the words aloud. However, because they did not know any tones, they did not have any idea of the meaning of the words except for the simplest expressions. According to Terwiel, there are great differences between the old Ahom language of the manuscripts, which is easily recognizable as a Tai language, and what the revivalists call Ahom, which does not follow

5624-419: Was quite unknown to population other than the Ahoms and the Thais. Khao (unboiled soft rice prepared from a special variety of sticky rice with a unique technique), Tupula Khao (a kind of rice cooked and packed with a particular kind of plant leaf with good smell called 'tora pat' and preserved bamboo sauce are some of the favourite food items of the Ahoms, which are similar to their traditional diet. Chaklong

5700-462: Was the root of the Ahomisation process. But in Assam even after the process of Ahomisation started in the region, the Ahom kings observed that complete political influence in the country was not possible. And with the expansion of territory of the Ahom kingdom and with the further inclusion of a diverse population a reverse process took place. The conquerors had no other alternative but to sanction

5776-673: Was true even for the priestly clans: Naga-Bailung, Miri-bailung and Nara-Bailung Ahom Chutias formed the major sub-division. They were termed as such as they intermarried with the already mixed Ahoms. Most of them have been absorbed into the Ahom fold over time. They held various position in the Ahom kingdom's administration as seen with Momai Tamuli Borbarua, Langi Panisiya Borphukan, Rupchandra Borbarua, Kirtichandra Borbarua, Lachit Borphukan , Piyoli Borphukan, Badanchandra Borphukan , Thumlung Borgohain, Banrukia Gohain(during Susenpha's reign). Even during Sukapha's reign, many Chutia or Moran families like Som-chiring and Changsai were absorbed into

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