AHOMLANGTJAGECONS OF ASSAM

by John ,S. DeyeLL, I,tadison, I ' l isconsin, NI #12L9

One o f . the most cha l leng ing co in ser ies in South As ian numismat icsmust undoubtedly be the ceremonial or accessional i -ssues of the Ahomru-lers of Assarn. The Ahoms formed. part of a migration of Tai orShan peoples into the upper Brahroaputra basiu of Northeast fnd. ia,r+hich by their own accorurts startecl in the th i r teenth century A.D,By the sixteenth century the Ahoms governed much of Assam, althoughthel' would" appear to have been a minority of the population. Theirlanguage, and the scr ipt in which i t r {as record.ed , was re}ated. toarchaic forms of the Tai vhich was spoken rvith many variationsthroughor"rt Southeast Asia.

The Ahon ru-l-ing classes very grad.ually became assimilated- into thegreater fnd ian cu l tu re , v i th Brahmanica l re l ig ious r i tes d isp lac ingthe ind.igenous animist vorship, and. the Assamese language written inBengal i scr ipt succeed- ing the Ahom. As in most societ ies , hovever,the ancient, usages vere held. to be more appropriate for sol-emn cere-monial occasions such as the instal lat ion of a new king, when theporrer of t rad. i t ion was invoked. to enphasize the conmon interests ofthe rul ing el i te and. to secure i ts loyal ty to the new sovereign.

This phenonenon is wel l demonstrated. by the Ahom language coins ofthe Assarnese kingdorn. Dur ing the ear ly per iod. of Ahom rule, thecurrency of Assa:n largefy consisted. of s i lver tankas of the BengalSultans. The first Ahom coinage vas struck by Shuklengoung in f)+2/151+3 A"D. to the rupee veight stand-ard in i t iated in North fndia byhis contemporary, Sher Shah Sur i . The clesign, wi t l i ' legend surror.rnd.ed.by a bcrder of dots, perhaps der ives sty l is t ical ly and- in the matterof p lanehet s ize f rom the tankas of the Bengal k ings i {usrat andF i roz ( ] -a tes t da tes l -532 A"D. ) " The co in was d is t inc t i ve in i t soctagonal shape, and. notable for i ts careful vorkmanship: the d. iematched. the f l -an so that the fu l l legend was vis ib le, unl ike mosthar.rmered coinages of the per iod. in fnd. ia. The i r rscr ipt ion was wrj- t -ten in the Ahom scr ip t . Subsequent i ssues o f th is co in type werestruck by succeed. ing k ings in both gold and si lver ' , From the factth:r t a1l- the dates on these Ahom language coins were the Jrears ofaccess ion o f the k ings (w i th the so le except ion o f the f i rs t i ssue,that of Shuklengmung), i t is presumed. that the coins had. a cere-monial ro le in the assumption of po.wer of each nev ki-ng, I f so,the sovereign r ight of the k ing to ut ter coinage had the sarne signi f -icance in Ahom society as i t had elsewhere, The circulat ing med. iumof Assarn eventual ly carne to consist of rupees and mohurs usingBengal i /Assamese scr ipt ; but long af ter the d.emise of Ahom as acourtly language, the Ahom coins continuc'd. to mark the change ofregime in the trad.it ional manner .

The Ahon coins present two irnned,iate d iff icr:l-t ies to the numismatistat tempt ing to c lassi fy unid.ent i f ied. specirnens: the legend is recordedin an obsolete scr ipt for which there are fev guid.es avai lable, andthe dat ing system is a s ixty year eycle expressed- in wr i t ten word.srather than numerals. Further, the scr ipt as read. on the coinsbears a poor resemblance to the typescr ipt let ter forms in Ahorn lex-icons. As a resul t some at t r ibut ions seem to have been nrade on thebasis of ornamentat ion rather than actual read. ing of 1egend.s. Fromthe frequency of misattr ibuted. specinrens in pr ivate col- lect ions andthe tend.ency of catalogue plates to shov the coins s id.evays or upsid.e-d.own, i t is apparent that much of the id.ent i f icat ion process hasbeen cond.uc ted v i th f ingers c rossed. . Th is i s un for tunate , s incethere i.s only one coin of the series vhich is knorv-n in r.roderatenumbers. The remaind.er are qui te rare; in fact only seven separateissues have been publ ished to d.ate. f t is not unl ikely that soneof the rarer specinens are ly ing unrecognized in col lect iotr .s.

The Ahom coins fotlow a set pattern, r, i i th the kingr s name and d.ateof issue on the obverse, and. an invocat ion to a patron clei ty on thereverse. I t is not necessary to master the ehronological system tod.ate the coins; only one year is named for-each reign vhether thecoins cont inued, to be issued. in subsequent years or not. The trans-l i terat ion system used. below is a s imple Engl ish equivalent of AhomIetters, s ince convent ional ized. Roman and- Bengal i both fa i l to cor-rectly inclicate the Tai sound.s in Ahom. Phn i s p-ha , not fa , andcha is as in chat "

Reverses

Only three reverse types have been found. on the Ahom coins.

1. Tara. L i teral ly, the Evi l -eyed One. Even-tually incorporated into Hindulsm as a Tan-tric war god.d.es s and the form of Durga embod.y-ing lust "

Legend. i-n four lines corrrmencing upper l-eft

t-n 6 b t,6ft Cr1: cg': Frt r{.FI<ao boi pha ta ra heu chu

?tI of fer prayer in the nane of d iv ine Tara, r r

2 . Phatuch ing" I , i te ra l l y , H ighes t Be ing , i .e .Supreme Sod. Ident i f ied wi th ei ther Sivaor Vishnu as the major dei ty of the l l indupantheon.

Legend. in three l ines:

h6 6 uq dd'& 7.kao boi pha tu chi ng

!t' h{6heu ehu

t t I of fer prayer in the narne of Phatuchirg. t t

Note : The reverse of Shunyatpha t s coins add the phrase ttthe mostgloriousrr, Ub \

^ t i before the words heu ehu.

phk')a ng hurh

t

ps,\0 \

Ef,.e,

3 . Lengd an . Literally , Sole Thund.er . As soc-iated vith the Brahmanical fndra as thel-ord. of heaven.

Legend. in four l ines:

Fn|6 b wL hgkao boi pha Le -

kNCI

ttf of fer prayer in the n.rme of

t.^. rc{6heu chu

divine Lengd.an. t t

t l -n

Fn

dda

Obvers es

Seven obverse types are known on -r ,he Ahom coins. The kingrs nane isusual ly preced.ed by the t i t le chao, t tgreatt t , t tgodtt

r or t tk ingt t r or

eheo p4a, ttkingtt. Ivlost of tht-- kings t names follow the formu]a

shu (spec ia l sy l l -ab le ) - phq, t t (oa jec t ive) t iger o f f r . . r . . i i , o r

shu ( special sy]-lable ) - wffig, tt ( u.aj ective ) t iger of the co,..rt"ytt .Thus shu and e:-tlner pha ot' tmmg bracket the unique identif ier ofeach king I s nalne. Likewise the d.ate always follows t5e phrase Lakni,t t year t t o r t t in

the year t t . Th is i s a lways the las t express ion o f theobverse legend. , loca ted a t the bo t tom. P i i s somet imes used fo r Lakn i .

1. Shuklengmung. Li teral ly, Tiger of theFlower Country. Al ias: Garhgaya Raja.1539 1551 A.D.

AV Mohurlegend in

t-o/ochaoFot

chao

became k ing in

nAaspna snu RLeril F\ q, |st

and AR Rupee . No.I reverse. Obversef i v e l i n e s : a

ngSt t \e.tTTu ng pL

nkok ngL

ttKi,ng Shukl en groung

La k ni ple

the year f i f teen 15 \3 A .D . ) . "

2. Shunyatpha Li teral ly, Bud- l ike Tiger of' Heaven. A t ias : Udayad i tya . f66g- ie fZ A. D.

( =

AV Mohur and AR Rupee.legend. in four l ines:

td.6 trk) 6i yfrshu nl1a t pharco \9F tJcharh pi ka - p

I i l o .2 reverse . Obverse

rcochao

\9 tr,p i nutt C

sh.a n

t tshunyatpha becarne king f 'om the year t l^renty-one (= t16g A.D. ) . r t

3, Shuhr ing. Li teral ly, Renor.rned. Tiger, Al ias :D i h i n g i a R a j a . f 6 T 5 A . D . ( r e i g n e d Z I d a y s ) .

AR Obv. legend. in four l ines:

nnY\98h u n q p i nq n"'6eni khu t ni

R u p e e . N o , 2 r e v ,L.o6 uft ulfL6

chao pha shur-d E: \, fikhunLak

fl,,ffisF&'nfo,

ffiH@6

t tryirtg shuhung became ruler in the year twenty-seven (= 16T j A.D. ). t t

AR Rupee ' No-3 rev- obverse legend in four l ines :rc5 ft..c \, G y^ \g 6ehao shu pa t ^ pha pi n

"q.q yfi {-6 F/ ikhu n La k it i"t

"ho n

ttKing Shupatpha became ruler in the year th i r ty- three (= f d$f A. D. ) , t t

5 . Shunengpha . Lit erally , Beaut i fu-t_ Ti ger ofHeaven " Af ias: pramatta Simha" ]-7\[_l7ri A.D.

AR Rupee. No"3 rev. obverse legend in four l ines:roo >foo f la rst \g f

ehao shu ne ftg^ pha pi n

n"{ F, h f hv l F{-khunLakn i ka t keo

ttKing Shunengpha becanne ru ler in the year th i r ty-s ix (= 17)+)+ A.D. ) . t t

Shurempha. Literally, EnclosingHeaven " Al_ias : Raj esvara Sinha "

Mohur, No.3 rev, Obverse legend in

19Ardlpvn

errai

T " Shuhitpengpha. Literally, Tramplingof Heaven. Al ias: Gaurinatha Simha,

rTgt+ A.D.

AV Mohur. No.3 rev. Obverse legend in-oo ,ft" th q, E, rr\chao shu hit pe - ng pha

.qK'hcryh*ekhu n nAeu La k ni rai

the great ru_l_er, ir the year thirteen ( =

)+ . Shupatpha" Li teral ly, Gem Tiger of Heaven.Al ias : Gad,adhara Simha. 168l _ $gj A. D.

6,

AV

Tiger o fIT5T IT59.

four l ines:

Tiger17BT

f o u r l i n e s :

A . D . ) . t t

loo ttl" d' Uchao shu Te mtA- f L , h PkhunLakn i

P in

fshL

L'-ngct

ttKing Shurempha became ruler in the year forty-three (= ;_T5;. A.D. ) . rt

<\H

cheu

f781

There is no reason to assume that the above are the sole Ahom lan-guage eoins in existence- rt seems reasonable to expect that givennorual eonditions r many more of the Assamese kings had caused.aecessional issues to be struck: rnd.eed", ve know of the coins ofJayadhvaj simha (r:Fo saka , \648 A.D. ) ""a

ci."r.""dhvaj simha (r:Brsaka, l563 A;D. ) , expressed in sanskr i t in the Bengal i /Assamesescript ' The discovery of hitherto rrnknown Ahom coins depends on

ttKing Shuhitpengpha

*W

ffeH

a combina t ion o f serend ip i ty and ab i l - i t y to c l -ass i fy the co ins .Whi le the former is beyond. our control , i t is possible to assistthe l -a t te r by p red . ic t ing the legends o f po ten t ia l access iona] i ssuesof the remaining Ahom kings. With tire help of the A7rcn Buranjisor chronic les, f have compi led a l is t of Ahorn regnal names andaccessional year names for the k ings af ter Shuklengmung who are notinclud.ed. above.

Ahom Name of_ Xirrg Ahont Year o f Access ion

Shukhampha

A l i a s :

Shushengpha

A l - i a s :

r-40 lstkhak pVn

R q i q

hR. I .gLshe ng phaSirnha.

I..oLpha

\sLpha

v 1,ftng pha

roLpha

r n r l n g L - r . r r H l -r r r ' a r6 t \ u u \ / , \ . ,

tml ngf a - t

" ! , ' Z l , n T \\ b a K e = r + ( 4 , A . u .

oshu

Khora

''tf,oshu

Pratap

F{-

keu= 1552)

. o - o ^Shurampha ?to 6

shu rahAl ias: Bhaga Raja.

- f ) - A -

Shuchinspha lP[o hbL E,shu chi - nq

Al ias : Nar iya Ra ja .

r O - Oshutamla vt Lo o-l

shu tunA1las : Jayadhvaj Simha.

shupungmung bfS \9 E dtshu pu ng mu

Al ias: Chakradhvaj Simha.

shuklanpha "fe

%F t ,s lshu kla n pha

Al ias: Ranadhvajr\ a-

shuj inpha 5{.C trg q"

shu jL nNo Sanskr i t narne.

l O - . ^shudaipha m6 h UCL

shu dni phaAf ias : Parva t ia S imha.

shulikpha t'rto F19 Fshu Li k

Al ias : La ra Ra ja .

Shukhmnspha {O q"

shu khruAl- ias : Rudra Simha.

shutanpha bt.o qb qshu ta n

Al ias : S iva S imha.

lJf,Lphe

dap mao

( s.ku. =

ka keu

( s.ko =

plek ngi

( sat<a =

kat plao

( saku. =

tao ch i

(sata =

kap shinga Fl ilkap

( S.ka = l5O1,

plek shinga $t n td tr --

pf,e k shi nga( Su.ku. = r56 j , A .D. = 151+3 )

r-{-keuA. D. = 161+8 )

6€k ngiA .D . = 1663 )

amungkeu U V H

mu ng keu(sara = Ir9\ , A.D. = 1672)

L'-rpLao

A . D . = t 6 l \ )

r-€chi

A .D . = T6TT)fr

1^/ K(shi nga

A . D . = t 6 T 9 )

rftpha

\tt

rbudep

L552 ,

6r,1ao

A . D . = f 6 l + O )

E,ng

munsprao U b f

(s.k" = {#t,, "X,.r. l l lZorl

h -..

ka15TO,

ts,pLe

l -585 ,

h t r r lka t

r so6" / / " )

brttao

r r9g ,

khut mit t\ fi O gl

khu tm i t(saka - t6 tT , A.D. = r69 j )

The cycl ic year given in thechron ic les fo r th is k ing is bad lyout of phase vith the known d,abe.

Shunyeupha

A l i a s :

Shukl ingpha

Al ias :* n . b .

Shud.enpha

A l - i a s :

fo*C !- l:

ka keu159c , A .D . = t 76B)

F - !0 - r t fke t plao

]716, A. D. = r79 l i )naJne has also beennarne Shuhengpha.

6L, *Ada p chett

l TSz , A .D . = r8 io )

ka keu

( saku. =

rdLphashu n7eu

Lakshni Sirnha.

$fo "{

E tdt kat plaoshu *kli ng pha

Kamalesvara Simha. (Sal<a =

The second sy I lab le o f th is k . ing tsread. as heng, vhich vouJ-C make the

do f. q ut\ dap cheushu de n pTu

Chand.ra Kanta Simha. (Saka =

The Ahon d.ates given above are taken verbatim from the chronj-cles;the Chr ist ian dates are calculated. f rom the cycl ic system using thettyear elapsed.r t method,. The Saka samvat d.ates are s imple conversionsfron the Chr ist ian dates ancl d.o not represent the ear: l iest l - ,nowndates o f the Sanskr i t - legend. co in ser ies o f each ru le r ( thu Sakaand Christ ian d.ates are incl .ud.ed for convenience only and. are sub-ject to error due to the non-congruence of their" respect ive newyears ) "

9ibl iography

For those who wish rnore detailed. information on the Ahorn language,calenclar and" history, the fo l lowing works are essent ia l :

Barua, B. and N.N. Deod.hai Pirukan" Ahom Len'tcons. Gauhati , l -96h.

Barua, Golap Chandra " Ahom-Bw,anji. (Atrorn Chronicles ). Calcutta, 1930"

Gait, Edvard." A Hi.stony o! Asson Calcutta o l-926 and reprinted often.

orr N.N. Acharyya. The History of MedieuaL Assun. Gauhati , 1966.

The coinage is covered. in the foJ-lowing works:

Al1an, John. t tThe Coinage of Assam" , I lumismatie Chr.onicLe, Series IV,vol. rx ( r9o9 ) , pp. 3oo-331 .

Botham, A.W. t tThe Ahom Coins of A.D. 15\Btt , JournalSocie-ty of Bengal, Numismatic Sryplement No.pp . )+ ,T -\rB -

Ghose, Aj i t . t tA Unique Ahom Gold Coin of Gaur inathaof the Numismatie Society of fndia, Vol- " XVf

of the Asi-aticXXIV (Dec. 1911+ ) ,

Simhatt , .TouuvtaL( rg> I r ) , pp .260-z f i "

Snrith, Vincent A" Catalogue of Coi,ns in the fndian I'luseum, Calctftta,VoL, f (Anei,ent Indid, Section XX, t tThe North-Eastern Fron'bierKingdoms : Assam and Minor Statestt, pp " 291+-307.

Stapleton, H.E. t tThe Coinage of Assam in i ts Relat ion to the Historyof Assa.:n as Given in the tBuranj is|t t

" Jourrtal of the Asiat ic

Society of Bengal, N. S. Vol . Vf , No.1l (oec . 1910 ) , pp. 619-51+8.