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Chaolung Sukaphaa (reign 1228–1268), also Siu-Ka-Pha, the first Ahom king in medieval Assam, was the founder of the Ahom kingdom. A Tai prince originally from Mong Mao, the kingdom he established in 1228 existed for nearly six hundred years and in the process unified the various tribal and non-tribal peoples of the region that left a deep impact on the region. In reverence to his position in Assam's history the honorific Chaolung is generally associated with his name (Chao: lord; Lung: great).
Since 1996 December 2 has been celebrated in Assam as the Sukaphaa Divas, or Asom Divas (Assam Day), to commemorate the advent of the first king of the Ahom kingdom in Assam after his journey over the Patkai Hills.
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The details of Sukaphaa's life and origins before his entry into Assam, available from different chronicles, both Ahom and non-Ahom, are full of contradictions. According to Phukan (1992) who has tried to hold up a consistent account, Sukaphaa was born to Chao Chang-Nyeu (alias Phu-Chang-Khang) and Nang-Mong Blak-Kham-Sen in the Tai state of Mong Mao (also called Mao-Lung, with the capital at Kieng Sen), close to present-day Ruili in Yunan, China.[1] Chao Chang Nyeu was a prince from Mong-Ri Mong-Ram, who had traveled to Mong Mao possibly on an expedition.[2] Mong Mao was then ruled by Chao Tai Pung. Chao Chang Nyeu was befriended by Pao Meo Pung, the son of the ruler, who gave his sister Blak Kham Sen in marriage. Sukaphaa was born of this union not later than 1189[3] and was brought up by his maternal grandparents. Pao Meo Pung, who eventually ruled Mong Mao, had no male heir and Sukaphaa, his nephew, was nominated to succeed him. A son born late to Pao Meo Pung's queen ended Sukaphaa's claim to the throne of Mong Mao.
Siu-Ka-Pha, or Chao-lung Siu-Ka-Pha (Siu-ka-pha the Great Prince) was the son of Chao Chang-ngyeo, a direct descendant of Khun-lung, the legendary king. His mother Nang Mong Blok Kham Seng was a princess of the Mong Mao royal family. He was born in 1191 AD and brought up at Mong Mao to succeed his uncle (mother’s elder brother) King Pa-meo-pung who had no issue. But after a long time a son was born to Pa-meo-pung’s queen who succeeded to the Mong Mao throne at an early age. In the meantime Siu-ka-pha’s father died and his uncle too died. Siu-ka-pha did not go back to his father’s kingdom rather decided to march towards west to rule a western state called Mong Pa-kam now identified with the eastern part of Kamarupa. Siu-Ka-Pha left King-Sen Mao-Lung, the capital of Mong Mao kingdom in 1215 A.D. He was accompanied by his three queens, two sons, several nobles and their families, other officials and families, and soldiers totaling more than nine thousand persons. He also took with him two elephants and three hundred Yunnanese pack mules. The party followed an ancient route that passed through Myit-kyiena, Mogaung, Hukwang in the Upper Irrawady basin to reach the Patkai hill range in 1227. The slow movement took him 13 years on the route. In the Patkai region he founded a province called Kham-jang where he placed a governor called Thao-mong Kham-jang. Kham-jang thus formed an integral part of the Ahom kingdom and it remained so for the next 600 hundred years. (Kham-jang is now within the Sagaing Division of Burma) From the Patkai he came to the Upper Buri-Dihing region where he founded another province and placed a governor. He then followed the Buri-Dihing called Nam Jin by the Tai by raft and came to Tipam near Naharkatiya where he stayed for several years and appointed a governor there. Thereafter he moved downstream the Buri-Dihing and after reaching the mouth of the Buri-Sihing he came to Habung. At Habung he stayed three years and did cultivation. Thereafter he moved downstream the Brahmaputra (called Nam Ti-lao by the Tai) and came to the mouth of the Dikhow called Nam-Sao by the Ahom. From there he traveled upstream that river and came to the mouth of the Disang (called Nam Khun) where he weighted the water of that river and found it heavier than that of the Dikhow. He therefore went upstream the Dikhow and came to Simaluguri where stayed for several years. From there he went to Santak. He finally moved to Charaideo where he found the soil most suitable for habitation and wet-rice cultivation. After making survey of the area he founded his capital at Charaideo in about 1253 A.D. Charaideo is called Che-rai-doi or Che-tam-doi, or Che Kham-run. From Charaideo Siu-ka-pha sent messengers with presents to the Mao King informing his safe arrival in Mong Pa-kam. He remained there till his death in 1268 A.D. Charaideo thus became the capital of the new Ahom kingdom and remained so for the next 145 years. At first Siu-ka-pha’s kingdom was bounded by the Brahmaputra, the Buri-Dihing, the Dikhow and the Hills on the south now called Naga Hills. Later it was expanded to cover the whole of the Brahmaputra valley. (Based on original Ahom chronicles written in Ahom language) Prof.(Dr)J.N.Phukan
Sukaphaa left Mong Mao (also called Mong Mao Lung—great Mong Mao) in 1215.[4] He was accompanied by three queens, two sons and a daughter; chiefs from five other dependent Mongs;[5] members of the priestly class and soldiers—a total contingent of 9,000. Some commoners too joined this core group on the way. He had with him 300 horses fitted with saddles and bridles and two elephants. Heavy arms were transported along a different route.[6] Sukaphaa followed an older known route from Yunan to Assam that passed through Myitkyina, Mogaung and the upper Irrawaddy river valley. On his way he stopped at various places and crossed the Khamjang river to reach the Nangyang lake in 1227. Here he subjugated the Nagas very ferociously and established a Mong. He left one Kan-Khrang-Mong there to guard the passage back, and proceeded to cross the Patkai hills at the Pangsau pass and reached Namrup (in the Brahmaputra valley) in December 1228. The journey, from Mong Mao to Namrup thus took him about 13 years and the year he reached Namrup is considered as the year the Ahom kingdom was established.
| State/Territory | North | South | East | West |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sutiya kingdom | Mountain | Buridihing river | Brahmakunda | Sissi river |
| Maran territories | Buridihing river | Disang river | Suffry river | Brahmaputra river |
| Barahi territories | Disang river | Dikhau river | Nagahat | Barahi Fika |
| Kachari kingdom | Dikhau river | Patkai Hills | Patkai Hills | Dhansiri river |
| Bara Bhuyan territories | Mountain | Brahmaputra river | Sissi river | Gangbihali river |
| Dafla (Sungi) territories | Mountain | Brahmaputra river | Gangbihali river | Bhairabi river |
| Darrang kingdom | Mountain | Brahmaputra river | Bhairabi river | Manas river |
Having reached Namrup, Sukaphaa bridged the Sessa river, and went upstream along the Burhi Dihing river looking to establish a colony for wet rice cultivation. He did not find the region conducive to cultivation and returned downstream to Tipam. In 1236, he left Tipam for Abhaypur. A flood made him move again in 1240 down the Brahmaputra to Habung (present-day Dhakuakhana). Another flood and he moved again in 1244, down the Brahmaputra to the Dikhowmukh, and then up the Dikhow river to Ligirigaon. Leaving a detachment at Ligirigaon, he moved again in 1246 to Simaluguri. In 1253, he abandoned Simaluguri for Charaideo, his final capital, where he finally died in 1268.
Even though Sukaphaa treated the people of the Patkai hills very severely on his way to the Brahmaputra valley, his approach to the population in Assam was conciliatory and non-confrontational. He married the daughters of Badaucha, the Matak Chief and Thakumatha, the Barahi chief and established cordial relations with them. As he began establishing his domain, he avoided regions that were heavily populated.[8] He encouraged his soldiers as well as members of the Ahom elite to marry locally. A process of Ahomization (whereby locals who adopted Ahom methods of wet rice cultivation and statecraft were accepted into the Ahom fold) bolstered the process of integration.[9] The Barahi and the Moran, speakers of Tibeto-Burman languages, called Sukaphaa's people "Ha-Cham", that later on developed into "Assam" (see Etymology of Assam), the name of the kingdom; and "Ahom", the name of the people.
Over the next few years, he moved from place to place searching for the right capital, leaving behind his representative at each stage to rule the colonized land. Then he went up the Burhidihing river and established a province at Lakhen Telsa.[10] Then he came back down the river and established his rule at Tipam. In 1236 he moved to Mungklang (Abhoipur), and in 1240 down the Brahmaputra to Habung (Dhemaji). In 1244 he went further down to Ligirigaon (Song-Tak), a few miles from present-day Nazira, and in 1246 to Simaluguri (Tun Nyeu), a place downstream from the present-day Simaluguri.[11] Sukaphaa then remained in Demow for six years. Finally in 1253 he built himself his capital city at Charaideo near present-day Sibsagar town. The capital of the Ahom kingdom changed many times after this, but Charaideo remained the symbolic center of Ahom rule.
In 1268 Sukaphaa died. At the time of his death, his kingdom was bounded by the Brahmaputra river in the west, the Burhidihing river ( )in the north, the Dikhow river () in the south and the Naga hills in the east.[11]