Sivasagar or Sibsagar in Assam and the Ahom Kingdom
Sivasagar or Sibsagar in Assam: Today’s story is Assam’s forgotten story about a place and an empire that suddenly disappeared after ruling for 600 years. This is the story of Ahoms. Assam is the best tea-producing part of India. In today’s article, we’ll explore the Ahom Dynasty and travel around Upper Assam. I’ll tell you about some of the region’s hidden gems in this, so let’s get started!
How many kilometers from Guwahati to Sibsagar?
- Distance From Guwahati Is Approx. 359Km Via NH-27 & NH-715
- Google Map: Sibsagar
Assam and the Ahom Kingdom
I’ll tell you about Assam and the Ahom Dynasty which you may not know much about because we didn’t study them in the history books let’s talk about the Ahom Dynasty. It’s believed that the Ahoms came from the Yunan region of South China. In the 13th century they crossed over from Thailand, and Myanmar and reached the Brahmaputra valley and when they arrived, they saw this amazing fertile land and decided to settle down here. And start their dynasty here. This dynasty was such that it ruled over this region for almost 600 years. After this, they ruled from many other regions, like Sibsagar and Jorhat, which was also their last capital.
In the 19th century, the British came, and after a treaty with them, the Ahom dynasty ended. Their first capital Charaideo is the oldest and most interesting place. Something is interesting in Charaideo that I’m pretty sure you do not know about the pyramids of India locally known as ‘Maidams of Charaideo‘. The octagonal pyramids were used to bury the Ahom Royals. They were buried with all their favourite belongings, including their favourite food.
In the 17th century, a Mughal general came and dug and took away precious gems and Jewelery. The British did the same later in these Maidams you’ll see a hole in the ceiling and you would know these were used for stealing. Some of the Maidams have been excavated. When the Ahom kings ruled for over 600 years they did a lot of development work. And they built a lot of bridges and three of those stone bridges still survive. This is one of them. Let’s walk around.
Garhgaon
Garhgaon which was the third capital of the Ahoms. There’s no fort now, but the palace of the royal family survives. The second capital of the Ahom kings was Sibsagar or Sivasagar which is famous for the Ahom style of architecture. The Royal Palace is called Talatal Ghar – which means a building with many levels. This has seven levels – four on top and three below. It’s a huge palace and the biggest of all the complexes.
Sivadol or Shiva temple
Let me next take you to a temple which is known as the best built by the Ahom dynasty. The temple is known as Sivadol or Shiva temple and this was commissioned by a queen known as Ambika Devi. It’s a huge temple with a height of 40m, The architecture is also unique – the bottom part is stone and the top part is made with bricks that’s quite interesting!
Another very interesting thing is the Shivling here is shaped like a hollow depression in the ground. The temple also follows the typical Hindu temple architecture style Garbhagraha, Antarala, and Mandapam which are in all Hindu temples. There are three temples – Sivadol in the center, and Vishnu and Shaktidol on the sides. All of them together!
Jorhat
Jorhat was the last capital of the Ahom Dynasty And when the British came here, along came British culture like Tea and Golf. Tea and Assam are synonymous – you can’t talk about Assam without talking about the tea here. Upper Assam is the region where most tea in India is grown let me tell you a little more about tea in Assam. Assam is famous for its black teas, But one thing that you may not know is that the tea here is indigenous and not from China.
It was just cultivated and developed by the British when they came and settled here. Typically all the tea estates have a bungalow and the Plant Manager lives there and takes care of the estate and then there are lots of workers. There are different seasons and different things happen in different seasons. This is not the ‘picking season’ so you can’t see people picking tea leaves, Because things are getting prepared for the actual season. I learned one more thing in Jorhat – India’s second oldest golf course is in Gymkhana Club.
It was made in the year 1876. I really hope you enjoyed today’s article from Sibsagar. If you liked the post, do like it here, leave a comment, and subscribe to the YouTube channel. Goodbye, and see you in the next article.
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