Page 30 - Mann Ki Baat - English
P. 30
WORLD CONSERVATION OF RICH
CULTURAL HERITAGE
of worship for various Tai-Ahom
gods and deities. On his death,
his body was entombed in a
Maidam—a unique earthen
mound burial—at Charaideo.
Since then, most of the 39 Ahom
kings, their queens and other
members of the royalty were
given Maidam at Charaideo,
making it the most sacred
place of the Ahoms. While some
Dr. Samudra Gupta Kashyap Maidams of a few kings and other
nobles exist in other places too, it
Chancellor, Nagaland University
is the cluster of royal Maidams at
Charaideo, which was recently
recognized as a World Heritage
The Ahoms, an important Site by UNESCO.
constituent of the Assamese The Ahoms ruled for 600
community, are an offshoot of years until the Burmese occupied
the great Tai race, which is widely the country in 1817, followed by
spread across South-East Asia. the British in 1826.
Their counterparts include the The Ahoms played a
Thai people of Thailand, Lao of very distinct role in shaping
Laos, Shan in Myanmar, Tay-Thai the Assamese identity,
in Vietnam and Dai in China. language, and culture. They
It was in 1228 CE that Siu- adopted the local language,
ka-pha, a Tai prince, arrived in intermixed with and married
the Brahmaputra Valley from into the local communities,
Mong-Mao in Yunnan, now part and brought several kingdoms
of southern China, and founded and communities under one
a kingdom, with his lineage umbrella. They also introduced
coming to be known as the Ahom wet-rice cultivation in Assam with
dynasty. The word ‘Ahom’ is said the use of a single bull/buffalo.
to have been derived from Rham, Ahom words, expressions, ideas,
as the Tai people were called customs and festivals thus found
in Upper Burma, while natives easy access to Assamese life.
began to refer to them as ‘Asam’, The Ahom kings promoted art
from which the country too came and culture, patronised religious
to be known as ‘Asam’ (Assam in and educational institutions,
English). and introduced a system where
Siu-ka-pha named his every family could remain self-
capital city Charaideo, meaning sufficient by producing the
Dazzling City on the Hills, where basic requirements including
he also built a number of places foodgrain and cloth. They were
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