Origins The Tai speaking people came into prominence first in the
Guangxi region, in China, from where they moved to mainland Southeast Asia in the middle of the 11th century after a long and fierce battle with the
Northern Han Chinese. The Tai Ahoms are traced to either
Mong Mao of South China (present-day
Dehong, Yunnan of China) or to the
Hukawng Valley in
Myanmar. They came with a higher technology of wet-rice cultivation then extant and a tradition of writing, record keeping, and state formation. They settled in the region south of the
Brahmaputra River and to the east of the
Dikhow River; the Ahoms today are found concentrated in this region.
Sukaphaa, the leader of the Tai group and his 9,000 followers established the
Ahom kingdom (1228–1826 CE), which controlled much of the Bramhaputra valley until 1826.
Initial formation in Assam In the initial phase, the band of followers of
Sukaphaa moved about for nearly thirty years and mixed with the local population. He moved from place to place, searching for a seat. He made peace with the Borahi and
Moran ethnic groups, and he and his mostly male followers married into them, creating an admixed population identified as Ahoms They were also conscious of their numerical minority. As a result, the Ahom polity initially absorbed
Naga, Borahi and
Moran, and later large sections of the
Chutia and the
Dimasa-Kachari peoples. This process of
Ahomisation went on until the mid-16th century, when the Ahom society itself came under the direct
Hindu influence. That many indigenous peoples were ceremonially adopted into Ahom clans are recorded in the chronicles. Since the Ahoms married liberally outside their own exogamous clans and since their own traditional religion resembled the religious practices of the indigenous peoples the assimilation under Ahomisation had little impediment.
Localisation and Loss In the 16th and 17th centuries, the small Ahom community expanded their rule dramatically toward the west and they successfully saw off challenges from
Mughal and other invaders, gaining them recognition in world history. The rapid expansion resulted in the Ahom people becoming a small minority in their own kingdom, of which they kept control. Eventually, the Ahom court, as well as the Ahom peasants took to
Ekasarana dharma,
Shaktism and
Saivism over the traditional Ahom religion; and adopted
Assamese over the
Ahom language for secular purposes. The modern Ahom people and their culture are a
syncretism of the original
Tai and their culture The loss of religions is also nearly complete, with only a few priestly families practising some aspects of it. While the written language (and ritualistic chants) survive in a vast number of written manuscripts, much of the spoken language is lost because the Ahom script does not mark tone and under-specifies vowel contrasts.
Revivalism Though the first political organisation (All Assam Ahom Association) was created in 1893 it was in 1954 when Ahom connection to other Tai groups in Assam was formally established. ==Society==