Rangpur (pron: ˈræŋpʊə or ˈræŋgpʊə), 4th capital of the Ahom kingdom, was established by Swargadeo Rudra Singha in 'Meteka' in 1707 after shifting the capital from

Garhgaon Gargaon (Pron:/gɑ:ˈgɑ̃ʊ/) is a town in Assam, India and was the capital of the Ahom kingdom for many years. It was built by the Ahom king Suklenmung (Gargoyaan Rojaa) in 1540. It is said that the capital was built at the suggestion of ...

. It is currently a part of Sibsagar town. The place holds many monuments build by the Ahom dynasty, the most notable of which are the Talatal Ghar and the Rang Ghar. The architectural plan of Rangpur spread over almost a thousand bighas of land. Ghanasyam, an architect from Koch Bihar, was deputed by Rudra Singha. Rangpur means the' city of delight' and in Ahom language it is called Che-mun

Capital

Capital city

The city of Rangpur was laid in 1698 A.D. by Rudra Singha in Meteka area. It had three gates Borduar (i.e. main entrance), Na-duar and Paniduar besides an underground tunnel connected with the Dikhow river on the north. Rudra Singha's successors did much for the enhancement of splendour and expansion of the city of Rangpur. Ruchinath Kandali, a court poet of Rudra Singha, in his Markendaya Chandi states: ''that king Rudra singha who founded the city of Rangpur brought many learned Brahmans from various places to his capital and established them there by giving jobs and land.''

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 Nagaland () is a landlocked States and union territories of India, state in the northeast India, north ...

on the north of the town. On south a fort (Garh) near Namdang river, Baangarh on the east and Dikhow-Namdang on the west. Rudra Singha at first established the capital of his Kingdom at Tengabari of Meteka area, and excavated the famous

Joysagar Tank Joysagar Tank, also known as Joysagar Borpukhuri is a large tank located at Sivasagar district, Assam, India. The lake is 5 km from the center of the Sivasagar town. The lake has historical significance. History The lake was made during th ...

. And there after he respectively had constructed the Talatal Ghar,

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 way from the Joysagar tank to the Talatal Ghar. Large numbers of devotees continue to visit a ...

, Fakuwa dol, and the

Temples A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

on the bank of Joysagar tanks.

Siva Singha Sutanphaa also Siva Singha was a king of Assam who reigned from 1714 to 1744 A.D. He was the eldest son of Rudra Singha. Siva Singha was with his dying father at Guwahati, who then proceeded to the capital Rangpur where he ascended to the ...

built five royal buildings. Pramatta Singha later built the Rang Ghar with bricks on the west of Talatal Ghar.

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

later also enlarged and re-constructed the Talatal Ghar with bricks.

Lakshmi Singha Sunyeophaa also Lakshmi Singha (1769–1780), previously known as Kalsiliya Gohain, was an Ahom king. After Rajeswar Singha's death, he married Queen Kuranganayani and became the king of the Ahom kingdom. Shortly after he was installed he bec ...

made a flower garden in which he built the temple of Ekaneswar (siva) with a tank. It remained as dual capital of the Ahoms along with Garhgaon until the internal disturbances occured in 1787 A.D. In the reign of Sulikphaa (Ratnadhwaj Singha), he had temporarily established the capital at Meteka, and named it Rajnagar.

Roads and Communications

The main road of the capital was Borali, starting from Dergaon to Joysagar. Some other significant roads of around Rangpur were Meteka ali, Duboroni ali, Borpatra ali and etc. The royal families and the officials used to reside in the - Jerenga pothar, Rupohi pothar etc.

Decline

Rangpur remained the capital during the most glorious period of the Ahom kingdom. The capital fell twice to rebels of the Moamoria rebellion for which it made it deserted. In the first instance, the rebels occupied the capital from November, 1769 to April, 1770, when the Swargadeo,

(Sunyeophaa), was kept in captivity in Joy dol till the rebels were defeated by the royalist. In the second instance, the rebels occupied the capital in 1788 during the reign of Gaurinath Singha and held on to it till 1792, when Thomas Welsh of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Sout ...

removed them.

Kamaleswar Singha Suklingphaa (ruled 1795–1811), or Kamaleswar Singha, was a 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 Purnanada Burhago ...

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

Photo gallery

File:Joysagar Tank.jpg,

biggest artificial tank of India. File:Gola ghar.jpg, Arms and ammunition store File:Devidoul, Jaysagar, Sivasagar 03.jpg, Shiva dol, Joysagar File:Vishnudol joysagar.jpg, Joy dol File:Rang Ghar at Sibsagar Town, Assam.jpg, Rang 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, Talatal Ghar

Notes and references