Summary
Suklenmung(1539–1552) was a king of the Ahom kingdom in medieval Assam. Since he established his capital at Garhgaon (which would remain the capital of the Ahom kingdom till the establishment of the Tungkhungia kings), he is also called the Garhgaiya roja in the Buranjis. It was during his reign that Madhabdev and Sankardeva's son-in-law Hari were captured and Hari executed,[1] which precipitated the departure of Sankardeva from the Ahom kingdom.
| Suklenmung | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chaopha Swargadeo of Ahom Kingdom | |||||
| Ahom King | |||||
| Reign | 1539 CE to 1552 CE | ||||
| Predecessor | Suhungmung | ||||
| Successor | Sukhaamphaa | ||||
| Born | Ahom Kingdom | ||||
| Died | 1552 Ahom Kingdom | ||||
| Issue | Sukhaamphaa | ||||
| |||||
| Dynasty | Ahom dynasty | ||||
| Father | Suhungmung | ||||
| Religion | Ahom religion | ||||
It is frequently said that the first coins were struck during the reign of Garhgayan Raja, but is merely due to misreading of the Ahom legend on the coins of Chakradhwaj Singha (1663-1669). The first coins of the Ahom kingdom were struck during the Jayadhwaj Singha reign (1648-1663)[2]
Ascension edit
Suklenmung became the king after Suhungmung, his father and the erstwhile king, was assassinated by one of his servants, Ratiman, in January 1539. Some Buranjis suspect that Suklenmung was behind the plot[3] even though Suklenmung tried to dispel the rumors by having the brothers of Ratiman, the assassin, executed.[4] During the middle of the 16th century, Suklenmung intervened against the Burmese aggression on Mong Kwang, a Shan state in Upper Burma. In return Mong Kwang ruler Chao Siu-Kwei offered his daughter, Nang Sao Seng to the Ahom king.[5]
During his father's reign Suklen (as he was then known) offered the first defense against the Bengal invader Turbak in 1532, which he lost and in which he suffered personal injury grievous enough that he had to be replaced by the Borpatrogohain as the commander of the army.[6]
Territory edit
Suklenmung consolidated the kingdom's command over the regions captured from the Kachari kingdom, by moving the Baro-Bhuyan in the Kopili river valley closer to the capital. In 1546, the kingdom was invaded by the Koch commander, Chilarai, who advanced along a road constructed in secret by his half-brother, Gohain Kamal (and thus called Gohain Kamal Ali), along the north bank of the Brahmaputra river to establish a camp at Narayanpur in present-day North Lakhimpur district. Suklenmung was able to remove the Koch army from the northbank.[7]
Administration edit
Suklenmung had the Garhgaon tank excavated, the Naga Ali constructed.
Notes edit
- ^ That this incident must have happened during Suklenmung has been worked out by Maheswar Neog (Neog 1980, p. 62). Some historical chronicles record that this happened during Suhungmung's reign.
- ^ Standard Catalog of World coins: 1601-1700
- ^ (Gait 1906:94)
- ^ (Gait 1906:95)
- ^ Phukan 1991, p. 891.
- ^ (Gait 1906:90)
- ^ (Gait 1906:96)
References edit
- Gait, Edward A (1906), A History of Assam, Calcutta, ISBN 9780404168193
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Neog, Maheswar (1980), Early history of the Vaisnava faith and movement in Assam, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass
- Phukan, J. N. (1991). "Relations of the Ahom kings of Assam with those of Mong Mao (in Yunnan, China) and of Mong Kwang (Mogaung in Myanmar)". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 52: 888–893. ISSN 2249-1937. JSTOR 44142722.