Siu-Ka-Pha: The visionary leader who shaped Assam's history

Guwahati, Dec 2: The Ahoms are the members of the Shan branch of the great Tai or Thai family of Southeast Asia. They first migrated to China in around the fifth century AD. They expanded gradually to the entire Hukong Valley in present-day Burma and established a group of states therein. The most powerful of these states was inhabited by the Mau branch of the ethnic group. They called it Mungmas. The Ahoms claim Mungrimungram as their original homeland and state that Khumlai, their younger progenitor, ruled over this kingdom. The third king of Khumlai's family divided the kingdom, Mungrimungram proper and Maulung on the bank of the Sheuli River in upper Burma, between his two sons. It was at Maulung where Siu-ka-Pha, the founder of the Ahom kingdom in the Brahmaputra Valley, was born to Phusang Khang. The meaning of the name Siu-ka-Pha stands: Siu: tiger, ka: to come, Pha-heaven: 'the tiger that descended or arrived from heaven."

In about 1215 AD, Siu-ka-Pha set out to seek his fortune. He was accompanied by a few nobles, a few hundred followers, and had a retinue of two elephants and 300 horses and two hengdangs (the legendary war sword and symbol of royal power) and a statuette of Somdeu, the presiding deity. As he moved towards the Patkais via the Hukong Valley, he reached the Brahmaputra Valley in 1228 AD and stepped on the Soumarpeeth of erstwhile Kamrupa on December 2. Thereafter, he searched for a place for about 15 years till he settled at Charaideo in 1253 AD near Langkuri Hills. The Morans and the Barahis, who dwelt in the region between the Dikhou and Dichang rivers, were the first groups whom Siu-ka-Pha won over to his side by a policy of peace and conciliation. Those among them who challenged Siu-ka-Pha were ruthlessly eliminated.

Thus, he made his supreme authority felt over these two ethnic groups. Siu-ka-Pha then established his permanent headquarters at Charaideo. When he reached the Brahmaputra Valley in 1228, he ordered his chroniclers to keep a record of all events. This was the glorious beginning of history-writing in Assam—a precious contribution to Indian historiography. Buranjis contain reliable source materials of all the activities of the Ahom rulers. Buranji means a 'storehouse of knowledge that enlightens the ignorant.

The conquest of the Tai-Shans changed the very trends in the political history of Northeast India. It marked the beginning of a process leading to the establishment of a new hegemony. The neighbouring areas were at that time under the control of the Morans, ruled by Badaucha and the Barahis, who were ruled by Thakumtha. These two kings accepted the supremacy of Siu-ka-Pha without any bloodshed. Following their acceptance of his authority, Siu-ka-Pha treated them as equals and welded them all into a single nation. In an atmosphere of political stability, the inhabitants of the region subsequently found their new regional identity as the subjects of the kingdom of Assam and developed a new fabric of culture and society that was to become distinctly Assamese. Thus, Siu-ka-Pha founded the Ahom monarchy in Assam.

Siu-ka-Pha died in 1268 AD and was succeeded by his son Suteuphaa. The date of Siu-ka-Pha putting his foot on the land of Assam (then Kamrupa), December 2, is being celebrated as Asom Divas since 1996.

By-

Rashmirekha Hazarika