History of Sivasagar : Land and people

It was in the middle ages that king Rudra Singha (1669AD-1714AD), the 30th Ahom ruler got the fourth capital town
constructed at Meteka and christened it is ‘Che-mon”. The construction of the new capital ‘Che-mon’ or Rongpur was
started in 1699 and after completion was inaugurated in 1707 AD. However, the existing capital at Gargaon continued
to  function  as  the  centre  of  administration  whereas  the  new  capital  town  at  Rongpur  was  initially  used  as  an  army
cantonment, centre of amusement, secretariat and court of law.
The  new  capital  town  of  Rongpur  was  bounded  on  the  east  by  Banhgarh  (Bamboo  rampart),  the  rivers  Dikhow  and
Namdang on the west, whereas these two rivers, again, bounded the city on the north and the south respectively. Two
main entrances to the capital town were the Singhaduar at Banhghar on the east and the Namdang Stone Bridge on
the west and these two entrances were connected by the Bor Ali.
The  Raj  Kareng  or  Royal  palace  in  the  new  capital  complex  is  situated  in  between  26 57'39''  Latitude  North  and
94 37'11''  Longitude  East.  To  its  south  stands  the  Fakua-Dol  (Pa-kua  meaning  eight  symbols  or  octagonal  in  shape
according to Taoist cosmology) built by King Rudra Singha in 1703-04 AD for religious purpose, while the Rangghar,
known  to  be  the  first  sports  pavilion  in  Asia  and  built  in  its  present  shape  by  king  Pramatta  Singha  in  1746  AD  still
proudly  stands  on  the  west.  This  Rangghar  besides  being  used  for  enjoyment  of  indigenous  traditional  sports
activities by the royal people and lords, served the king to hold conference with foreign ambassadors and dignitaries.
The present Sivasagar district is comprised of three sub-divisions namely Sivasagar, Nazira and Charaideo. Out of the
five  capital  towns  of  the  Ahom  Rule,  as  many  as  four,  viz.  Charaideo,  Saragua,  Gfargaon  and  Rongpur  were  within
Sivasagar district leaving only Jorhat, the last one in the adjacent district by the same name.
The  Rongpur  capital  town  was  to  the  south  of  Dikhow  river.  The  part  on  the  northern  bank  was  known  earlier  as
Shivpur,  later  Sibsagar  and  now  Sivasagar.  Thus  in  the  past  Sivasagar  and  Rangpur  were  two  different  areas  being
separated by Dikhow river, which in those days used to flow through the middle part of the present Sivasagar town, a
stretch of the Mori Dikhow still existing by the side of the Sankardev Samaj Namghar and Seujia Sangeet Vidyalaya.
The  river  took  the  present  course  only  later.  Earlier  the  Sivasagar  town  was  bounded  by  Cherekapar  on  the  east,
Kathpar on the west, Joyarapar  in the north and Dhuliapar on the south. The nomenclature of river Dikhow owes its
origin to Bodo language : ‘Di’ meaning water or river and ‘khow’ high steep and thus Dikhow implies a river with high
steep. This river in earlier times was also known as ‘Klong’ or ‘Klongso’, and the northern bank of Dikhow came to be
known as ‘Kolongsupar’ or ‘Kolongsopar’ and a bit later still, as Doikolong. Till the fag end of the Ahom rule, the name
Shivpur persisted only after the Treaty of Yandaboo in 1826 AD when the East India Company and for that matter, the
British Government came to hold power, Sivapur along with Rongpur came to be known as Sibsagar. As per historical
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records  Sir  Newville  in  1818  AD  shifted  the  administrative  head  quarter  from  Rongpur  to  Jorhat  where  form  it  was
reverted  to  Rongpur  by  Mr.  Scott  twenty  years  later  and  then  shifted  to  Sibsagar  tank  side  by  Captain  Broody  in  the
same  year.  During  the  British  rule,  the  Sibsagar  district  comprised  of  three  rule  divisions  Sibsagar,  Jorhat  and
Golaghat.  In  1912  AD  the  district  headquater  was  again  shifted  to  Jorhat  leaving  Sibsagar  only  as  a  sub-divisional
headquater. It remained so till 1983 when on 31st July that year the Sibsagar and Golaghat sub-divisions of undivided
Sibsagar  district  were  declared  as  two  new  districts  by  the  Government  of  Assam.  The  newly  formed/constituted
Sibsagar district is having three sub divisions viz. Sibsagar, Nazira and Charaideo.
Whether Sivasagar was a part of ancient Pragjyotishpur or Kamrup is still date remains to be finally ascertained. So
accurate and reliable sources regarding different tribes inhabiting this part of the country prior to medieval times are
readily  available.  Likewise  controversy  and  contradictions  prevail  among  anthropologists  and  historians  about  the
tribes living in the area covered by the present Sibsagar district in pre-historic time. However, there is little doubt about
people  belonging  to  Indo-Chinese  and  Tibets-Burmese  groups’  inhabiting  this  part  of  the  country  in  those  good  old
days.  Those  were  in  short,  Mongoloid  people  turned  as  ‘Kirat’  in  ancient  Indian  literature.  The  term  inculeds  such
ethnic  groups  as  Koch,  Kachari,  Moran,  Motock,  Barahi,  Chutia,  Rabha,  Hajong,  Lalung,  Mech  etc.,  all  of  whom  were
supposed  to  have  entered  Assam  form  the  north  east  direction.  Then  in  1228  AD  a  Tai-Shan  prince  named  Hso-Ka-Hpa  (better  known  as  Soukapha)  along  with  a  huge  caravan  comprising  of  around  one  thousand  people,  both  male
and  female  came  across  the  Patkai  Hills.  They  came  from  Mong  Mao-Lung,  a  province  in  the  southern  china
boardering northern Burma (now Myanmar). By that time Barahi and Moran people were inhabiting the areas around
Charaideo. Chutias had their Kingdom near adiya whereas Kacharis occupied the western areas bordering Naga Hills.
The Bara Bhuyans came to settle near Ramkha Peeth in Dikhowmukh area. During the reign of Suhungmung, better
known as Dihingia Raja (1497 AD – 1539 AD) a section of Chutia population from Sadiya were made to migrate over
to Nagaon and Darang districts enroute, some got settled in parts of Sivasagar district. Then again, taking advantage
of the friendly relation with the Koch king, particularly after 1567 AD when Yuvaraj Chilarai fell a prisoner of Gour Raja,
the  Ahom  ruler  brought  a  host  of  skilled  artisans  and  craftsman,  technical  persons  to  Assam  an  settled  them  at
Bhatiapar  (‘Bhatia’  meaning  people  from  west  and  ‘par’  meaning  abode  or  settlement”,  only  four  km  away  from
Rangpur. At That time, the Miris (Also known as Misings) served as mediators between the Ahoms and the Abars in
matters  relating  to  trade  and  commerce.  During  king  Pratap  Singhs  (1603  AD  –  1641  AD)  rule,  Miris  form  both  hills
and plains who used to take part in ‘Posha’ (game of archery) and ‘knari-khle’ were given settlement in riverine areas
like Dikhowmukh, Desangmukh and Dehingmukh.
King  Gadadhar  Singha  is  said  to  have  offered  a  great  part  to  his  subjects  barring  only  those  belonging  to  Brahmin,
Khyatriyas, Daivagya, Brahmin, Kalitas etc. it definitely implies the presence of the debarred races in the state. In the
mid  18th  Century,  the  king  of  Manipur  gave  his  daughter  Kuranganayani  in  marriage  to  King  Rajeswar  Singha  to
strengthen the bond of friendship with the Ahoms. A band of assistants and attendants were also sent along with the
princess, and the Ahom king habilitated most of them in Barkala, Hanchara and Dikhowmukh aras in Sibsagar District
and only the rest were given settlement at Moglowkhat in Jorhat. Following and unrest from Khetis, Tai Pakhes and
Tai Khamyang tribes living in Sadiya and its suburbs minister Purnananda Buragohain brought many of them over to
Sibsagar and settled them at different locations. People form Naga tribes also came and settled in Ligiri Gaon, Kuwari
Gaon and Naga Gaon along the Haripora Ali near Hachara in Sibsagar.
During  the  historic  six-century  long  Ahom  rul,  the  Mughals  and  the  turks  attached  Assam  several  times.  More
particularly form 1527 AD onwards till 1682 AD – that is form the first battle between Mughals and Ahoms during the
reign  of  king  Suhungmung  to  the  last  battle  at  Itakhuli  in  Gadadhar  Singhas  time  -  there  were  as  many  as  17  to  18
attacks,  and  each  time  a  host  of  was  prisoners  stayed  back  in  Assam.  They  in  course  of  time  established  material
relations with the natives and got domiciled. And a sizeable portion of those muslims populations were settled in the
district of Sibsagar. Later in the days of king Pratap Singha (1603-1641 AD), a muslim pilgrim used to stay at Sunpura
and  later  in  his  name  came  up  the  Ajan  Pir  Dargah  at  Dikhowmukh  Saraguri.  Still  later,  king  Rudra  Singha  brought,
Ghanashyam Khanikor and many other skilled artisians and architects to construct the capital town at Rangpur. Thus
there  happened  to  be  a  continuous  flow  of  Muslim  population  to  Sibsagar  as  well  as  Assam  since  the  later  part  of
16th Century.
One thing needs to be noted here that the Ahom rulers, secular in outlook as they were, always welcomed the learned
and wise form every fold, and gave them proper placement in society according to their capability and talent. So, even
the Aryans did not feel hesitant to respond positively as and when the Ahom rulers sent for them.
In 1823 AD tea was discovered in Assam and the British took the advantage of establishing a booming industry over
vast tracts of land. To meet the labor problem, laborers were brought from outside Assam mostly form Orissa, Andhra
Pradesh,  Bihar  and  parts  of  Bengal.  Through  contract  system  at  the  initial  stage  (1859-1915AD),  through  Sardari
System (1870 AD) and later under girmitiya (1882-1915 AD) and Arkadia (1915 AD) agreement, laborers were brought
by  navigable  route.  Disangmukh  and  Dikhowmukh  were  the  two  ghats  for  loading  and  unloading  the  tea  garden
laborers. Thus a tea tribe with enormous population grew up in Sibsagar.
Then on 28th May, 1841 AD, Barker Cyrus, a Christian Missionary, stepped in and stayed near Sibsagar tank. That very
year,  a  little  later  came  Nathan  Brown  and  Oliver  Cutter  came  for  propagation  of  Christianity  here.  Many  more
missionaries came and started their work in full swing. Many people of the native stock also got converted; a sizeable
section  of  the  tea  tribes  embraced  the  new  faith.  Thus  over  the  countries,  people  from  various  ethnic  origin  coming
from different directions – the Negritos, the Austro Asiatic - the Davidians, the Mongolodies and the Aryans – all met
here to create a composite society through assimilation and with a spirit of religious tolerance.
(Paranan Konwar, Assistant Professor, Sonari College)