Rangpur (

Tai-Ahom The Ahom (Pron: ) or Tai-Ahom (; ) is an ethnic group from the Indian states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. The members of this group are admixed descendants of the Tai people who reached the Brahmaputra valley of Assam in 1228 and the lo ...

:Tsé-Moon; ) is the 4th capital of the Ahom kingdom, was established by

Swargadeo Saopha (), also spelled Sawbwa, was the title used by hereditary rulers of Shan states in Upper Myanmar. Chaopha and Chao Fa were similar titles used by the hereditary Tai rulers in mainland Southeast Asia and the Ahom kingdom in India. Nam ...

Rudra Singha Swargadeo Rudra Singha (– 27 August 1714), with Tai name Sukhrungphaa, was the 30th Ahom king, reigning from 1696 to 1714 A.D . His father Gadadhar Singha freed Assam from the Mughal disturbances and internal conspiracies, thereby Rudra Sin ...

in "Meteka" in 1707 after shifting the capital from

Garhgaon Gargaon ( Tai-Ahom:Tsé-hung;) is a historic city in Assam, India and served as the capital of the Ahom kingdom for many years. It was built by the Ahom king Suklenmung (Gargaiya Roja) in 1540. It lies 13 km east of present-day Sivasa ...

. It is currently a part of

Sibsagar {{Infobox settlement , name = Sivasagar , settlement_type = Metropolis , image_skyline = Sivasagar.jpg , image_alt = {{multiple image , border = infobox , total_width = 270 , image_style ...

town. The place holds many monuments build by the Ahom dynasty, the most notable of which are the

Talatal Ghar The ''Talatal Ghar'' ) is an 18th-century palace and military base located in Rangpur (Ahom capital), Rangpur, from present-day Sivasagar, Assam, India. It is the largest of the monument built during the Ahom dynasty, Ahom era. King Rudra Sin ...

and the

Rang Ghar The Rang Ghar (), (''rong ghor'' meaning "House of Entertainment") is a two-storeyed building which once served as the royal sports-pavilion where Ahom kings and nobles were spectators at games like buffalo fights and other sports at Rupahi Pa ...

. The architectural plan of Rangpur spread over almost a thousand bighas of land. Ghanasyam, an architect from

Koch Bihar Cooch Behar, also known as Koch Bihar, was a princely state in India during the British Raj. The state was placed under the Bengal States Agency, part of the Eastern States Agency of the Bengal Presidency. It was located south of the ...

, was deputed by Rudra Singha to design the city.

Etymology

Rangpur situated near the modern day

Sivasagar {{Infobox settlement , name = Sivasagar , settlement_type = Metropolis , image_skyline = Sivasagar.jpg , image_alt = {{multiple image , border = infobox , total_width = 270 , image_style ...

town, means ''City of delight'' or the ''City of Joy'' as the King here had immensely enjoyed the

falconry Falconry is the hunting of wild animals in their natural state and habitat by means of a trained bird of prey. Small animals are hunted; squirrels and rabbits often fall prey to these birds. Two traditional terms are used to describe a person ...

arranged by the

Borphukan Borphukan (Ahom language: ''Phu-Kan-Lung'') was one of the five (councillors) in the Ahom kingdom, a position that was created by the Ahom king Prataap Singha. The position included both executive and judicial powers, with jurisdiction of th ...

and in

Ahom language Ahom or Tai-Ahom (Ahom:𑜁𑜪𑜨 𑜄𑜩 𑜒𑜑𑜪𑜨 or 𑜁𑜨𑜉𑜫 𑜄𑜩 𑜒𑜑𑜪𑜨; ) is a dormant, Southwestern Tai language formerly spoken by the Ahom people. It's currently undergoing a revival and mainly used in r ...

it is called ''Che-mun''.

History

Capital City

The city of Rangpur was laid in C.E. 1698 by King

at Tengabari of Meteka area. He then excavated the famous Joysagar Tank and there after he respectively had constructed the

Rangnath Dol Rangnath Dol is a Hindu temple dedicated to the god Shiva on the bank of Joysagar Tank. It was built in 1703 by Sukhrungphaa near the main gateway on the way from the Joysagar tank to the Talatal Ghar. Large numbers of devotees continue to vi ...

, Fakuwa dol,

Gola Ghar The Gola Ghar ( Assamese for 'Cannon House') is a historical monument located in Joysagar, 4 km from Sivasagar, Assam. It is an ammunition store house used by the Ahoms and is situated near the Talatal Ghar. The Gola Ghar was built during ...

, and the

Joy dol The Keshavnarayan Vishnu dol, popularly known as Joy dol, was constructed in 1698 by Ahom king Swargadeo Rudra Singha (1696–1714) in honour and memory of his mother Joymoti Konwari, Joymoti . Particularly this temple is dedicated to Hindu go ...

. The city had three gates, namely– Borduar (i.e. main entrance), Na-duar and Paniduar besides an underground tunnel connected with the

Dikhow river The Dikhow River is a left tributary of the Brahmaputra River in the Indian state of Assam. It rises in the Zunheboto district in Nagaland, flows through the Sivasagar district of Assam and joins the Brahmaputra at Dikhowmukh. References

...

on the north. The city was bounded by Dikhow on the north, a fort (Garh) near Namdang river on the south, Bangarh on the east and Dikhow-Namdang on the west. Ananta Acharyya, who received the royal patronage of King

Siva Singha Swargadeo Siva Singha ( – 14 December 1744), with Tai name Sutanphaa, was the 31st king of Assam from the Ahom dynasty who reigned from (1714 to 1744 A.D.) He was the eldest son of King Rudra Singha. Siva Singha was with his dying father at Guw ...

and

Phuleshwari Phuleswari, also known as Pramateswari Devi, was the chief consort of an Ahom king Siva Singha of Ahom kingdom of what is now Assam who ruled the kingdom from 1722 to 1731 A.D. She was the first queen of Ahom kingdom to govern the kingdom dir ...

, gives a beautiful description of Rangpur in his manuscript Ananta Lahari – Successors of

did much for the enhancement of splendour and expansion of the city of Rangpur.

Pramatta Singha Swargadeo Pramatta Singha () with Tai name Sunenphaa, was the king of Ahom Kingdom. He succeeded his elder brother Swargadeo Siva Singha, as the king of Ahom Kingdom. His reign of seven years was peaceful and prosperous. He constructed numero ...

re-constructed the

with bricks in C.E. 1746,

Rajeswar Singha Suremphaa (reign 1751–1769), or Rajeswar Singha, the fourth son of Rudra Singha, became the Ahom Dynasty, king of the Ahom kingdom after the death of his brother King Pramatta Singha. Rudra Singha's third son, Mohanmala Maladev Gohain, Mohanma ...

re-constructed the (present-day)

with bricks, the Hara-Gauri Dol (West of Rangnath) and Nati-Gosain Dol.

Lakshmi Singha Sunyeopha also Lakshmi Singha ( – 13 December 1780), was the 34th Ahom kingdom, Ahom Swargadeo, king, who reigned from 1769 to 1780. After the death of Rajeswar Singha, Suremphaa, he married the Queen Kuranganayani and became the king of the ...

made a flower garden in which he built the temple of Ekaneswar (

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

) with a tank.

Roads and Communications

The main road of the capital was Bor Ali, starting from

Dergaon Dergaon (IPA: ˈdɜːˌgɑ̃ʊ) is a town and a municipality in the Golaghat district of Assam, India. It is 282 km from the state capital Guwahati. ''Bhaxar Oja'' Hemchandra Barua, the compiler of '' Hemkosh'' (the earliest Assamese-En ...

to Joysagar. Some other significant roads of around Rangpur were Meteka Ali, Duboroni Ali, Borpatra Ali etc. The royal families and the officials used to reside in the– Jerenga pothar, Rupohi pothar etc.

Decline

Rangpur was the capital of Ahoms during the most glorious period of the Ahom kingdom. During the

Moamoria rebellion The Moamoria rebellion (1769–1805) was an 18th-century uprising in Ahom kingdom of present-day Assam that began as power struggle between the Moamorias (''Mataks''), the adherents of the Mayamara Sattra, and the Ahom kings. This uprising ...

(1769–1805), it became vulnerable to the rebels and came under their occupation on many occasions; the rebellion left the city ruined.

Kamaleswar Singha Suklingphaa (ruled 1795–1811), or Kamaleswar Singha, was a Ahom Dynasty, king of the Ahom kingdom. He came to power when he was a toddler, and died in his teens during a small pox epidemic. The ''de facto'' ruler during his reign was Purna ...

made some efforts to revive its former glory but Burmese invasions left it a ruined .

Photo gallery

File:Joysagar Tank.jpg, Joysagar Tank biggest artificial tank of India. File:Hara Gauri dol.jpg, Hara Gauri dol File:Gola ghar.jpg,

File:Shiva dol, Jaysagar, Sivasagar 03.jpg, Shiva dol, Joysagar File:Vishnudol joysagar.jpg,

File:Rang Ghar at Sibsagar Town, Assam.jpg,

File:Ranganath dol.jpg,

File:Devi Ghar.jpg, Devi ghar File:Fakuwa doul.jpg, Fakuwa dol File:Ghanashyam's house, Joysagar.jpg, Ghanashyam House File:Kareng Ghar (Talatal Ghar) of the Ahom Kings 29.jpg,

File:Gauri Ballabh dol.jpg, Gauri ballabh dol File:Namdang Sila Saku bridge.jpg, Namdang Stone Bridge

Notes and references

Bibliography

* * * {{Authority control Capitals of Ahom kingdom Former capital cities in India Sivasagar 1707 establishments in India Buildings and structures completed in 1707 Ahom kingdom Buildings and structures in Assam Sivasagar district