Suhungmung

Suhungmung , or Dihingia Roja was one of the most prominent Ahom Kings who ruled at the cusp of Assam's medieval history. His reign broke from the early Ahom rule and established a multi-ethnic polity in his kingdom. Under him the Ahom Kingdom expanded greatly for the first time since Sukaphaa, at the cost of the Chutia and the Dimasa kingdoms. He also successfully defended his kingdom against Muslim invasions, first by a general called Bar Ujjir and another by Turbak Khan. During his time, the Khen dynasty collapsed and the Koch dynasty ascended in the Kamata kingdom. His general, Ton-kham, pursued the Muslims up to the Karatoya river, the western boundary of the erstwhile Kamarupa Kingdom, the farthest west an Ahom military force had ventured in its entire history.

He was the first Ahom king to adopt a Hindu title, Swarganarayana, indicating a move towards an inclusive polity; and Ahom kings came to be known as the Swargadeo (literal meaning: Lord of the Heavens) which is the Assamese translation of Ahom word Chao-Pha. He is also called the Dihingia Raja, because he made Bakata on the Dihing River his capital. Suhungmung was the last progenitor Ahom king (all subsequent kings were his descendants).

Expansion Under Suhungmung the Ahom Kingdom acquired a vision of an extended polity and consolidated rule. He began by suppressing the revolt of the Aitonia Nagas in 1504 and making them accept Ahom overlordship. As he embarked on military expeditions he organized the first recorded survey of the adult population in 1510 to consolidate and reorganize the militia. He annexed Habung, a Chutia dependency in 1512 and later in 1523-24, the rest of the Chutia Kingdom.

Against Chutia Kingdom As Suhungmung had annexed Panbari of Habung (previously a Chutia principality) in 1512, the Chutia king Dhirnarayan attacked the Ahoms at Dikhoumukh the next year, but was unsuccessful. The Chutias again attacked the Ahoms in 1520 and occupied the areas up to Namdang and Mungkhrang. In 1522, the Ahoms fought back, re-occupied their lost territories and invaded the Chutia kingdom by errecting a fort at the mouth of Dibru/Tiphao (Dibrugarh). Although, Nitipal tried to attack the fort the following year, he was unsuccessful. Suhungmung then extended the Ahom Kingdom to the mouth of the Tiphao River and further marched towards Sadiya. The Chutias fortified Sadiya, but they were soon defeated. They were pursued further to the hill forts of Chandangiri and Doithang in Arunachal Pradesh and their king and prince were killed in battle.

Scholars describe the defeat of the Chutias as a turning point in the political evolution of the Tai-Ahoms in Assam. Saikia (1997) argues that the conquest transformed the Ahom polity from “a colony of struggling agriculturalists with pretensions to divine rulership” into a kingdom possessing a more fully developed royal ceremonial order, including royal paraphernalia appropriated from the defeated Chutias. She characterises the Chutia conquest as a decisive moment in the remaking of Ahom kingship. She states that the Tai-Ahom Tyao “promoted himself” as Swargadeo, and interprets the ceremony as an announcement of a newly constructed sovereignty. In a royal ceremony after the Chutia conquest, the Dihingia Raja worshipped at a temple in the foothills and, possessing Chutia royal symbols including a golden spectre, a cat and an umbrella, entered his domain ceremonially to the sound of drums, declared himself Swargadeo of the entire region and occupied the royal chair. He subsequently presented hengdans to three ministers, appointed chair-bearers, and declared that no person other than the overlord could sit on the special chair.

The incorporation of the Chutia territories was followed by administrative reorganisation. Upon annexing the Chutia territories, the Ahoms came in contact with hill tribes like Miris, Abors, Mishmis and Daflas. Suhungmung stationed Phrasenmung Borgohain to look after the newly acquired Sadiya region. Later, the office of Thao-mung Bo-ngen (later known as Sadiyakhowa Gohain) was established in Sadiya and Kinglun Buragohain was put in-charge. The rest of the newly acquired territories were divided among the Buragohain and Borgohain, while new offices were created to administer the country more efficiently. These included Thao-mung Mung-teu (Bhatialia Gohain) with headquarters at Habung (located in present-day Lakhimpur), Thao-mung Ban-lung (Banlungia Gohain) at Banlung (Dhemaji), Thao-mung Mung-klang (Dihingia gohain) at Dihing (Dibrugarh and northern Sibsagar) and Chaolung Shulung at Tiphao (northern Dibrugarh). In 1527, a new ministerial position named Borpatrogohain was created and Kangsheng (who was previously Bhatialia Gohain) was given charge. Though this was not the end of the conflict it brought to an end the first major expansion of the Ahom Kingdom.

The conquest also altered the social and administrative basis of the Ahom state. Amalendu Guha notes that the absorption of the Chutia kingdom brought a substantial non-Ahom population and a wider range of specialised artisan skills within Ahom rule, while the expanded polity required new offices and forms of political legitimation. In this context, Suhungmung’s adoption of the Sanskritic royal style Swarganarayan and the public use of the title Swargadeo may be understood as part of the political incorporation of the newly conquered populations, rather than as a merely personal change of title.

Against Baro-Bhuyans

After annexing the Chutia kingdom, the Ahoms under Suhungmung crossed the Bharali river, subjugated the Baro-Bhuyans, who were petty chiefs ruling in the Central Assam regions of Rowta-Temoni (today's Darrang and Nagaon), and relocated them to the north bank of Upper Assam.

Against Kachari Kingdom In 1526, Suhungmung marched against the Kachari Kingdom. In 1531 Khunkhara, the Kachari king, sent forces under his brother Detcha to drive the Ahoms away from Marangi but the Kachari army was defeated and their commander killed. The Kacharis were pursued up to the capital Dimapur and Khunkhara had to flee. Suhungmung established a Kachari prince, Detsung, as the Kachari king. But Detsung rose in revolt in a few years, and the Ahoms pursued him till Jangmarang where he was killed. The Kachari Kingdom abandoned Dimapur permanently and established their new capital at Maibong. Unlike the Chutia Kingdom, Suhungming did not take direct possession of the Kachari Kingdom.

Muslim invasions The first Muslim invasion of the Ahom Kingdom occurred in 1527, but it was defeated and pushed back to the Burai River. A few years later, there was another attempt when a commander advanced up the Brahmaputra in fifty vessels. This too was defeated. In yet another expedition, the Borpatragohain slain the commander, Bit Malik, and captured cannons and guns. The most successful among these initial raids on the Ahom Kingdom was the one led by Turbak.

Turbak, a Gaur commander, advanced against the Ahom Kingdom in April 1532 with a large force. He first faced Suklen, Suhungmung's son, at Singri. In this battle Suklen was defeated and wounded and the Ahoms retreated to Sala. The Ahoms again faced reverses at Sala and some other expeditions thereafter, but won the first significant victory in March 1533 when a naval force was defeated with heavy losses to Turbak's forces. This led to a period of stalemate with the two armies encamped on opposite banks of the Dikrai River.

The Ahoms finally attacked the invaders and defeated them in a number of battles. Nang Mula was also martyred in this battle. In the final battle fought near the Bharali River, Turbak and another Muslim general Hussain Khan who had come to reinforce him were killed and his army was pursued till the Karatoya river in present-day North Bengal.

Suhungmong Suklenmung (Tipam Raja) Sukhaamphaa (Khora Raja) Susenghphaa (Pratap Singha) Namrupiya raja Tailai Sujinphaa (Sur Singha/ Arjun konwar) Suramphaa (Bhoga Raja) Sutingphaa (Noriya Raja) Sutamla (Jayadhwaj Singha) Suleng (Deoraja) (Charing) ?? Supangmung, Chakradwaj Singha Sunyatphaa, Udayaditya Singha Suklamphaa, Ramdhwaj Singha Suteng (Namrup) Saranga Gohain Gobar Roja Gadadhar Singha Rudra Singha Siva Singha Pramatta Singha Mohanmala Maladev Gohain Rajeswar Singha Ratneswar Bijoy Bormura Brajanath Purandar Singha Lakshmi Singha Gaurinath Singha Lechai Ayusut Kadamdighala Suklingphaa (Kamaleshwar Singha) Chandrakanta Singha Jambor Gohain Charing Raja Sriram Langal Pirika Baga Konwar Tipam Raja Jogeswar Singha ?? Sudoiphaa (Tej Singha) Sukhring (none)

New offices Suhungmung established new Ahom positions.

Borpatrogohain is the third of the great Gohains (the others being Burhagohain and Borgohain, instituted by Sukaphaa). The first Barpatra Gohain was an Ahom prince brought up by a Naga chief. Sadiakhowa Gohain looked after the Sadia region taken from the Chutias in 1524. Marangikhowa Gohain looked after the lower Dhansiri river valley taken from the Kacharis.