Introduction
The Ahom people lives mainly in Brahmaputra valley in Assam State in northeast India. They were originally ethnic Tai people but have adopted the Assamese language which is an Indo-Aryan (Indian) language.In this article, we will explore their original homeland, migration path and their original language.
Ahom kingdom
Prince Sukapha established the Ahom kingdom in Brahmaputra valley in 1228 AD. The original name for the kingdom is 'Meng Dun Sun Kham' which means a 'Country of golden garden'.His dynasty ruled for 600 years until the British conquered the region in 1826 AD. Its capital was in modern-day Sivasagar aka Sibsagar city in modern-day eastern Assam State.
The native Bodo people called this kingdom Ha-Siam. 'Ha' means land in the Bodo people's language and 'Siam' or 'Shan' is what outsiders call the Tai people. The word Assam is a corruption of this word Hasiam.
Homeland
The homeland of the Ahom is in Dehong (德宏) Prefecture, Yunnan province in China. |
| Dehong Prefecture (purple) in Yunnan |
The old name for Ruili (瑞麗) city in Dehong Prefecture is called Məng Mao. Məng is a Tai word meaning city and Mao is the Tai name for the Shweli River which flows through western Yunnan province into northeastern Myanmar.
Migration into Assam
Prince Sukapha was an ethnic Tai prince of Mong Mao aka Məng Mao kingdom centered around Dehong Prefecture in modern day Yunnan province. |
| Prince Sukapha |
In 1215 AD, the prince started migrating with 9000 of his followers, crossing the Patkai mountains into eastern part of Brahmaputra valley.
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| Migration into Assam |
Original language
The original Ahom people are closely related to the Tai Neua (ᥖᥭᥰᥖᥬᥳᥑᥨᥒᥰ) people in Dehong prefecture in western Yunnan. |
| Tai Neua dance |
They speak the Tai Neua language which is the Ahom's original language and which is also different from the Tai Lue language spoken in Xishuangbanna Dai prefecture in southern Yunnan.
The video below shows Dehong Tai people speaking conversational Tai Neua language and also shows the Tai culture of providing free drinking water to passersby.
Conclusion
The Ahom people were originally ethnic Tai people who came from Yunnan province in China.After their migration to Assam, they intermarried with the native Bodo-Garo people, part of Sino-Tibetan people, in Brahmaputra valley to form a mixed race. They have since lost their original language and have adopted the Assamese language which is an Indo-Aryan language.
Assam has been part of India ever since the British conquered Ahom kingdom in 1826 AD.
Related links
Main ethnicities in North East Indiahttp://eastasiaorigin.blogspot.com/2018/03/main-ethnicities-in-north-east-india.html
Ethnic origin of Thai
http://eastasiaorigin.blogspot.com/2017/06/ethnic-origin-of-thai.html
Ethnic origin of northwestern Tai in Myanmar
http://eastasiaorigin.blogspot.com/2020/09/ethnic-origin-of-tai-yai.html
Sources
- Buranji history book.
- History of Yunnan and southwestern tribes. By Prof Fang Guo Yu 方國瑜.
- Morey, Stephen (2014), "Ahom and Tangsa: Case studies of language maintenance and loss in North East India", in Cardoso, Hugo C. (ed.), Language Endangerment and Preservation in South Asia, Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, pp. 46–77
- https://kknews.cc/zh-hk/history/5leejk2.html
Last updated: 27 Apr 2020
Copyright © eastasiaorigin.blogspot 2019-2020. All rights reserved.
Copyright © eastasiaorigin.blogspot 2019-2020. All rights reserved.
very informative
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ReplyDeletesir could u please provide me more info about northwestern tai kadai in which tai nua and tai ahom both falls. u wrote an article on southwestern tai. but i wanna know when we tai ahom , tai nua, shans and noras who falls in NW TAI separated frm zhuang brothers. Our chronicles speak 568 ad khunlung and khunlai founded mongmaolung empire in dehong dai which place us earlier than SW TAIS migrating to their habitats. Can u enlight me with more facts?
Thank you.
The Northwestern Tai is already published on September 2020.
DeleteBorahi exist as one of sub tribe of Chutiya called Chutiya-Borahi. Assimilation did occur but Borahi as a separate ethnicity still exists.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the additional information that they were not totally assimilated.
DeleteAwesome could you please tell us about why Chinese Shan and Myanmar Shan are pretty different and did Tai Ahoms only married to Bodo-Garo tribe peoples? Or did they married another people too like I wanna know if we are mixed with Bodo-Garo
ReplyDelete1. You can watch the video 'Origin of Northwestern Tai' on Youtube created by this blog for more details of Chinese Shan and Myanmar Shan. Chinese Shan was influenced by both Chinese & Burmese whereas Myanmar Shan was influenced by the Burmese.
Delete2. Please read this article again, Tai Ahom men did marry some Borahi and Moran girls who are Boro-Garo people. It is impossible to know how many married the Boro-Garo people without doing a genetic study for at least 1 million people.
How can I know if I mixed with Moran,Borahi etc people? Is there any way to find out without any dna test? Like Ahoms married local people so I wanted to know cause I am also Ahom.Did Tai Ahoms only married these peoples that you mentioned? Did they married only Sino-Tibetan or did they married Tibeto-Burman people too?
ReplyDeleteThe Moran and Borahi are the Boro-Garo branch of Sino-Tibetan who are the natives of Brahmaputra River basin. Please read the 'Ethnic origin of Boro' in this blog.
DeleteThere's no way to know if you are mixed with Boro-Garo people without doing DNA testing.
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