Sukapha

Subject: History

Context:

Assam state government has ordered the arrest of political commentator who had described Chaolung Sukapha as a “Chinese invader”

Concept:

• Sukapha was a 13th-century ruler who founded the Ahom kingdom that ruled Assam for six centuries. Contemporary scholars trace his roots to Burma.
• The founders of the Ahom kingdom had their own language and followed their own religion. Over the centuries, the Ahoms accepted the Hindu religion and the Assamese language.
• Sukapha’s significance lies in his successful efforts towards assimilation of different communities and tribes. He is widely referred to as the architect of “BorAsom” or “greater Assam”.
• To commemorate Sukapha and his rule, Assam celebrates “Asom Divas” on December 2 every year.

Ahom Kingdom

• The Ahom kingdom was established in 1228 when Sukaphaa entered the Brahmaputra valley. Sukaphaa did not battle any established kingdom and seem to have occupied a depopulated region on the south bank with the Burhidihing river in the north, the Dikhauriver in the south and the Patkai mountains in the east.
• The Ahomsbrought with them the technology of wet rice cultivation that they shared with other groups.
• The kingdom came under attack from Turkic and Afghan rulers of Bengal, but it withstood them.
• On one occasion, the Ahoms under TankhamBorgohain pursued the invaders and reached the Karatoyariver, and the Ahoms began to see themselves as the rightful heir of the erstwhile Kamarupa Kingdom.
• The kingdom came under repeated Mughal attacks in the 17th century, and on one occasion in 1662, the Mughals under Mir Jumla occupied the capital, Garhgaon.
• The Mughals were unable to keep it, and in at the end of the Battle of Saraighat, the Ahoms not only fended off a major Mughal invasion, but extended their boundaries west, up to the Manas river.
• The later phase of the rule was also marked by increasing social conflicts, leading to the Moamoria rebellion.
• The rebels were able to capture and maintain power at the capital Rangpur for some years, but were finally removed with the help of the British under Captain Welsh.
• A much weakened kingdom fell to repeated Burmese attacks and finally after the Treaty of Yandabo in 1826, the control of the kingdom passed into British hands.