View source for Ahom people

{{short description|Ethnic group from Assam}}
{{Use Indian English|date=October 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{infobox ethnic group
| group            = Tai Ahom
| image            = Ahom boy and girl.jpg
| caption          = Tai-Ahom man and woman in traditional clothing
| population       = 
| region1          = {{Flagcountry|Shan}}
| region2          = &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;[[Assam]]
| pop2             = 1.22 million<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/16189/IN|title=Ahom in India report 2021|access-date=15 June 2021}}</ref>
| region3          = &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;[[Arunachal Pradesh]]
| pop3             = 85,000<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/16189/IN|title=Ahom in India report 2021|access-date=15 June 2021}}</ref>
| langs            = [[Assamese language|Assamese]], [[Ahom language|Ahom]] [[Language revitalization|Reviving Language]]<ref name="Diller">Diller, A. (1993). Tai Languages. In ''International Encyclopedia of Linguistics'' (Vol. 4, pp. 128-131). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.</ref>
| rels             = '''Majority''':<br /> [[Hinduism]]<br />'''Minority''':<br />
[[Ahom religion]], [[Buddhism]], [[Christianity]]
| related          = [[Khamti people|Khamti]], [[Shan people|Shan]], [[Dai people|Dai]], [[Tai people|Tai]], [[Lao people|Lao]], Nung Bouyei, Dong, [[Assamese people|Indigenous Assamese people]], [[Thai people|Thai]]
| native_name      = 
| native_name_lang = 
}}
[[File:Ahom kingdom.jpg|thumb|Sukapha Kshetra]]
{{Culture of Assam}}
The '''Ahom''' or '''Tai-Ahom''' (pronunciation: {{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɑː|h|ɒ|m}}), is a tribal group from the [[India]]n states of [[Assam]] and [[Arunachal Pradesh]]. They are the admixed descendants of the [[Tai people]] who reached the [[Brahmaputra Valley]] of Assam in 1228 and the local indigenous people who joined them over the course of history. [[Sukaphaa]], the leader of the Tai group and his 9,000 followers established the [[Ahom kingdom]] (1228–1826 CE), which controlled much of the Brahmaputra Valley in modern Assam until 1826.

The modern Ahom people and their culture are a [[syncretism]] of the original [[Tai people|Tai]] and their culture<ref name="shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in">http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/8154/10/10_conclusion.pdf</ref> and local [[Tibeto-Burman]] people and their cultures they absorbed in Assam. The local people of different ethnic groups of Assam that took to the [[Tai peoples|Tai]] way of life and polity were incorporated into their fold which came to be known as Ahom as in the process known as [[Ahomisation]]. Many local ethnic groups, including the Borahis who were of Tibeto-Burman origin, were completely subsumed into the Ahom community; while members of other communities, based on their allegiance to the Ahom kingdom or the usefulness of their talents, too were accepted as Ahoms. Currently, they represent the largest Tai group in India, with a population of nearly 1.3 million in Assam. Ahom people are found mostly in [[Upper Assam]] in the districts of [[Golaghat]], [[Jorhat]], [[Sibsagar]], [[Dibrugarh]], [[Tinsukia]] (south of Brahmaputra river); and in [[Lakhimpur district|Lakhimpur]], [[Sonitpur]] and [[Dhemaji]] (north). There is a significant presence in [[Karbi Anglong]] and [[Lohit District]] of Arunachal Pradesh.

Even though the already admixed group<ref name="auto8">" The Ahom kingdom’s establishment, traditionally dated at 1228, was done by a group migrating from the southeast, large numbers of whom were male army members, who would have taken local non-Tai speaking wives." {{harvcol|Morey|2014|pp=51–52}}</ref> Ahom made up a relatively small portion of the kingdom's population, they maintained their original [[Ahom language]] and practised their traditional religion till the 17th-century, when the Ahom court as well as the commoners adopted the [[Assamese language]].

==History==
{{Further|Ahom kingdom}}
[[File:Ahom warriors.JPG|thumb|Statue of Ahom warriors near Sivasagar town, Assam]]

===Origins===
The Tai speaking people came into prominence first in the [[Guangxi]] region, from where they moved to mainland [[Southeast Asia]] in the middle of the 11th century after a long and fierce battle with the Chinese.<ref name="auto">{{harvcol|Terwiel|1996|p=275}}</ref> The Tai-Ahoms are traced to either [[Mong Mao]] of [[South China]]<ref>{{harvcol|Gogoi|2011|p=V}}</ref><ref>"At present [Mong Mao] is known as [[Ruili]] in Chinese maps...  The Mong Mao area is still predominantly Tai, who are called Dai (in Pin Yin), and they, together with the Singhpho, or Jingpho, form a dominant group, hence the whole zone is named as [[Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture|Dehong Dai-Jingpho Autonomous Prefecture]] in [[Yunnan]]." {{harvcol|Phukan|1991|p=889}}</ref> or to the [[Hukawng Valley]] in [[Myanmar]].<ref name="auto"/>

[[Sukaphaa]], a Tai prince of [[Mong Mao]], and a band of followers reached Assam in 1228 with an intention of settling there.<ref>" Sukapha and his band of Ahom migrants entered Upper Assam in 1228 with a view to permanently settling there." {{harvcol|Guha|1983|p=12}}</ref> 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 Dikho river; the Ahoms today are found concentrated in this region.<ref>{{harvcol|Terwiel|1996|p=276}}</ref> [[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<ref name="auto8"/> and initiating the process of [[Ahomisation]]. The Borahis, a Tibeto-Burman people, were completely subsumed into the Ahom fold, though the Moran maintained their independent ethnicity.  [[Sukaphaa]] established his capital at [[Charaideo]] near present-day [[Sivasagar]] in 1253 and began the task of state formation.

===Ahomisation===
The Ahoms believed that they were divinely ordained to bring fallow land under the plow with their techniques of wet-rice cultivation, and to adopt stateless shifting cultivators into their fold.<ref>{{harvcol|Guha|1983|pp=11–12}}</ref> They were also conscious of their numerical minority.<ref>{{harvcol|Baruah|1977|p=251}}</ref> As a result, the Ahom polity initially absorbed [[Naga people|Naga]], Borahi and Moran, and later large sections of the Chutia and the [[Dimasa people|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.<ref name="auto1">{{harvcol|Guha|1983|p=12}}</ref>  That many indigenous peoples were ceremonially adopted into Ahom clans are recorded in the chronicles.<ref>"Thus the illustrious Ahom family of Miri Sandikai was founded by one Miri ([[Mising people|Mising]]), the adopted son of a Burhagohain. (''Purani Asam Buranji'') King Gadadhar Sinha (1681-1696) accepted two Naga princesses as his consorts. (''Tungkhungiya Buranji'') The new converts, if possessed of efficiency, were even recruited to important administrative posts. Thus the second Barphukan, the governor of Lower Assam, was the son of a Naga of Banferra clan. (''Purani Asam Buranji'') Queen Phuleswari, who took the regalia to her hand during the reign of king Siva Singha (1714-1744), appointed a Bhutanese youth as her page. Kancheng, the first Barpatra Gohain was born and brought up in a Naga family. (''Purani Asam Buranji'')" {{harvcol|Baruah|1977|p=251}}</ref>  Since the Ahoms married liberally outside their own exogamous clans and since their own traditional religion resembled the religious practices of the indigenous peoples along with Hindus, the assimilation under Ahomisation had a little impediment.<ref name="auto1"/><ref>{{harvcol|Baruah|1977|pp=251–252}}</ref>

===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 Empire|Mughal]] and other invaders, gaining them recognition in world history.<ref>"During the sixteenth, and more so during the seventeenth century, the Ahom people, in a series of spectacular expansionist moves, gained dominance over virtually the entire Brahmaputra Valley. The story of how Ahom-led armies fought against Muslim invaders has gained them a place in international history." {{harvcol|Terwiel|1996|p=276}}</ref>  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;<ref name="auto2">"Not only at the Ahom court, but also among Ahom farmers, the Indian religion gained adherents: Saivism, Saktism, and Vaisnavism spread and largely replaced the old Tai Ahom religion. {{harvcol|Terwiel|1996|p=276}}</ref> and adopted [[Assamese language|Assamese]] over the [[Ahom language]] for secular purposes.<ref>"The Ahom language and Ahom script were relegated to the religious sphere, where they were used only by some members of the traditional priestly clans, while Assamese speech and writing took over in secular life." {{harvcol|Terwiel|1996|p=276}}</ref> 
The modern Ahom people and their culture are a [[syncretism]] of the original [[Tai people|Tai]] and their culture<ref name="shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in"/> and local [[Tibeto-Burman]] peoples and their cultures they absorbed in Assam. Some local ethnic groups, including the [[Tibeto-Burman]] speaking Borahi, were completely subsumed into the Ahom community while members of other communities, based on their allegiance to the [[Ahom kingdom]] or the use of their talents, were also accepted as Ahoms. Even though the Ahom made up a relatively small portion of the kingdom's population, they maintained their original [[Ahom language]] and practised their traditional religion till the 17th-century, when the Ahom court, as well as the commoners, adopted the [[Assamese language]], and [[Ekasarana dharma]] and [[Saktism]] religions.

The everyday usage of Ahom language ceased completely by early 19th-century.<ref>"It seems that by early in the 19th century, everyday usage of Ahom language had ceased and that Ahom people all spoke Assamese as their mother tongue." {{harvcol|Morey|2014|p=50}}</ref>  The loss of religions is also nearly complete, with only a few priestly families practising some aspects of it.<ref>"Only in a few priestly families was the original Ahom religion not wholly forgotten." {{harvcol|Terwiel|1996|p=280}}</ref>  While the written language (and ritualistic chants) survive in a vast number of written manuscripts,<ref>"Tai Ahom is therefore usually regarded as a dead language, but it survives in three ways: (1) in vast collections of manuscripts, (2) as a ritual language in Ahom religious ceremonies, and (3) as a language undergoing revival." {{harvcol|Morey|2014|p=50}}</ref> much of the spoken language is lost because the Ahom script does not mark tone and under-specifies vowel contrasts.<ref>"While the Ahom script marks all consonants, because it does not mark [[Tone (linguistics)|tone]]s and under specifies vowel contrasts, the same written word can have a large number of meanings." {{harvcol|Morey|2014|p=55}}</ref>

===Revivalism===
Though the first political organisation (All Assam Ahom Association) was created in 1893<ref>{{harvcol|Terwiel|1996|p=278}}</ref> it was in 1954 when Ahom connection to other Tai groups in Assam was formally established.<ref>"In 1954, at a meeting of Ahom people at Patsaku, Sibsagar District, the Tai Historical and Cultural Society of Assam was founded (linking the Ahom with Tai groups that had arrived more recently, such as the Khamti, Khamyang, Phakey, and Aiton)." {{harvcol|Terwiel|1996|p=278}}</ref>

==Society==
=== ''Ban-Mong'' Social system ===
The traditional social system of Tai-Ahom people was known as ''Ban-Mong''  which was related to agriculture and based on irrigation.<ref name="auto3">{{harvcol|Gogoi|1995|p=30}}</ref> The ''Ban'' or ''Ban Na'' is a unit composed of families that settled by the side of the rivers. While many ''Bans'' together forms a ''Mong'' which refers state.<ref name="auto3"/>

===Ahom clans===
Ahom clans, called ''phoid''s, formed socio-political entities.  At the time of ingress into Assam, or soon thereafter, there were seven important clans, called ''Satghariya Ahoms'' (Ahoms of the Seven Houses).  There were Su/Tsu (Tiger) clan to which the Chao-Pha (Sukaphaa) belonged; his two chief counselors [[Burhagohain]] (''Chao-Phrung-Mung'') and [[Borgohain]] (''Chao-Thao-Mung''); and three priestly clans: Bailung (''Mo-plang''), Deodhai (''Mo-sham''), Mohan (''Mo-hang'') and Siring.<ref name="auto4">{{harvcol|Gogoi|2006|p=9}}</ref><ref name="auto5">{{harvcol|Guha|1983|p=13}}</ref><ref name="auto6">{{harvcol|Gogoi|1976|p=15}}</ref> Soon the ''Satghariya'' group was expanded—four additional clans began to be associated with nobility: Dihingia, Sandikoi, Lahon and Duarah.<ref name="auto5"/>  In the 16th-century [[Suhungmung]] added another great counselor, the [[Borpatrogohain]] and a new clan was established.  Over time sub-clans began appearing.  Thus during the Suhungmung's reign, the Chao-Pha's clan were divided into seven sub-clans&mdash;Saringiya, Tipamiya, Dihingiya, Samuguriya, Tungkhungiya, Parvatiya, and Namrupiya.  Similarly, Burhagohain clan were divided into eight, Borgohain sixteen, Deodhai twelve, Mohan seven, and Bailung and Siring eight each.   The rest of the 
Ahom gentry belonged to clans such as ''Chaodangs'', ''Gharphalias'', ''Likchows'' etc.  In general, the secular aristocratic clans, the priestly class, and the gentry clans did not intermarry.

Some clans admitted people from other ethnic groups as well.  For example, Miri-Sandikoi and Moran-Patar were Sandikoi and Patar from the [[Mising people|Mising]] and [[Moran people|Moran]] communities,<ref>"For instance the Miri-Sandikoi and Moran Patar were the offices drawn from the Miris and the Morans"{{harvcol|Gogoi|2006|p=9}}</ref> while the founders of Chetias and Lahons were from the [[Chutia people|Chutia]] community.<ref>"The founders of noted Ahom families, like those of Chetia and Lahon were Chutiyas." {{harvcol|Dutta|1985|p=30}}</ref> This was true even for the priestly clans: Naga-Bailung, Miri-Bailung and Nara-Bailung.<ref name="auto4"/>

==Literature==
The Ahoms were literate with a writing system based on the [[Ahom script]],<ref>{{Harvcol|Gogoi|2011|pages=1.00}}</ref> which fell into disuse along with the language.  The [[Ahom script]] evolved from an earlier script of the [[Tai Nuea language]]<ref>{{Harvcol|Gogoi|2011|pages=V}}</ref> which developed further under the present [[Chinese Government]].<ref>{{Harvcol|Gogoi|2011|pages=10}}</ref> There exists today a large corpus of manuscripts in this script on history, society, astrology, rituals, etc. Ahom people used to write their chronicles known as ''[[Buranji]]''.<ref>{{Harvcol|Gogoi|2011}}</ref> The priestly classes (Mo'sam, Mo'hung, Mo'Plong) are the custodians of these manuscripts.

===Calendar===
The Ahom people used to use a [[lunar calendar]] known as ''Lak-Ni Tao-Si-Nga''<ref>pp.271-278 in ABOURANJIK</ref> with its origins in the middle kingdoms (Chung-Kuo). But is still in vogue in [[China]] and [[South-East Asian]] [[Tai people]].<ref>Phukan, J.N.2006 pp.1</ref>

==Culture==
===Housing===
There is a lot of affinities of a style of the living house. Like the rural [[Thai people]] of [[Thailand]], the house rural Ahom families have been made of wood, bamboo, and two roofs are typically designed by the thatching grasses.<ref name="auto7">{{harvcol|Phukan|2017|p=II}}</ref> Every families orchard and plow land are situated near their house. The houses of the inhabitant have been built in scattered fashion within the bamboo groves.<ref name="auto7"/> At one time, The Ahom built their house on stilts called Rwan Huan<ref name="auto7"/>  with about two meters high above the ground level.

===Food Habit===
The food habit is one of the important variables of the culture of Tai-Ahom. Most of the Ahoms, particularly in the rural areas are mostly [[Non-vegetarian]]<ref name="Harvcol|Gogoi|2011|pages=227">{{Harvcol|Gogoi|2011|pages=227}}</ref> still maintain a traditional menu of their own food like the other [[Tai peoples|Tai Peoples]]. Besides porks, chicken, duck, slices of beef (Buffalo), frogs, many kinds of fishes, hukoti maas (dry preserved fish mixture)  Muga lota (Cocoon seeds of endi and muga worms)  eggs of red ant are their typical items of dishes.<ref name="Harvcol|Gogoi|2011|pages=227"/> Even, some kinds of insects are also good food, for the Ahoms. Rice is the staple food and Lao (homemade rice beer); Luk-Lao or Nam-Lao (rice beer, undiluted or diluted) are traditional drinks.<ref name="auto7"/> They consume "Khar" (a form of alkaline liquid extracted from the ashes of burned banana peels/bark), "Betgaaj" (tender cane shoots)  and many other naturally grown herbs vegetables which possess medicinal properties. Ahom food habits resemble Thai cuisine. Some of them are Thu – dam (black lentil), Khao – Moon (Rice Frumenty) "Xandohguri" (a powder made from dry roasted rice), "ChewaKhao" (steamed rice), "[[Chunga Pitha|Chunga Chaul]]" (sticky rice cooked in tender bamboo tubes),"Til pitha" (sesame rice rolls prepared from sticky rice powder), ''Khao-tyek'' (rice flakes).<ref name="auto7"/> The process of preparation of this item was quite unknown to population other than the Ahoms and the Thais,  Khao (unboiled soft rice prepared from a special variety of sticky rice with a unique technique), Tupula Khao (Kind of rice cooked packing with a particular kind of plant leaf with good smell called, 'tora pat' and preserved bamboo sauce are some of the favourite food<ref name="auto7"/> items of the Ahoms which are almost similar to the traditional diet of the this.  Like the Thais, the Ahoms prefers to take boiled food having little spices and directly burnt fish, meat and vegetable like brinjal, tomato, etc.<ref name="auto7"/>

===Wedding===
[[File:Choklong9.jpg|thumb|Cho-klong]]
''Cho Klong''<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0lmQAgAAQBAJ&q=soklong&pg=PA207|title=The Tai-Kadai Languages|first1=Anthony|last1=Diller|first2=Jerry|last2=Edmondson|first3=Yongxian|last3=Luo|date=30 November 2004|publisher=Routledge|via=Google Books|isbn=9781135791162}}</ref> is the main marriage ritual among the twenty marriage rituals of Tai Ahom people.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.esamskriti.com/essay-chapters.aspx?sectionname=Culture&subsectionname=Ceremonies&topicname=AHOMS-and-CHAK~LONG-THE-UNIQUE-TRADITIONAL-MARRIAGE-SYSTEM&chapter=1|title=AHOMS and CHAK-LONG THE UNIQUE TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE SYSTEM|website=www.esamskriti.com}}</ref> The name Cho Klong is derived from the Tai [[Ahom language]] [Cho=to combine, klong=ritual]. The ritual is described in an ancient Tai Ahom script ''Lai Lit nang Hoon Pha''.<ref>Lailit nang hoon Pha, ancient Tai Ahom script</ref> 101 ban-phai-s (earthen lamps) or lights are lit. The bride offers the groom a ''heng-dan'' (sword)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F9yAAAAAMAAJ&q=Chaklong+sword|title=Journal of the Indian Anthropological Society|date=28 March 1981|publisher=The Society|via=Google Books}}</ref> to protect her, their children, family, race and country. Sum of twenty rituals are performed in ahom wedding along with cho klong, including: 
*Ju-ron 
*Rik-Khwan
*Aap-Tang [Aap=Bath, Tang=devine]<ref name="Gogoi">{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EBJuAAAAMAAJ&q=chaklong|title=Tai of North East India|first=Pushpa|last=Gogoi|date=28 March 1996|publisher=Chumphra Printers and Publishers|via=Google Books}}</ref>
*Chow Ban [worshipping sun]
*Jon-ming [Blessing given by Moloung priests]<ref name="Gogoi"/>

==Religion==
{{main|Ahom religion}}
Most Ahoms today return Hinduism as their religion, although there is an effort to revive the traditional Ahom religion.  Nevertheless, [[Me-Dam-Me-Phi]] is widely celebrated. The Ahom religion declined during the reign of [[Suremphaa]] Rajeswar Singha, who ordered [[Sanskritisation]]. All funerals were to be practised under the Hindu cremation rites, conducted by a [[Maithil]] Brahmin priest and a traditional [https://books.google.com/books?id=WfSmsuO6QugC&pg=PR14&lpg=PR14&dq=deodhai+priest&source=bl&ots=F1ZjRUkxrJ&sig=5j3Iv7tSZ0_qGUvRlIpR1L_tO4k&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjm-POzzMzLAhWIUhQKHRRPBBIQ6AEIODAD#v=onepage&q=deodhai%20priest&f=false Deodhai] priest.

==Language==
{{main|Ahom language}}

The Ahoms today use the [[Assamese language]] after the traditional language, the [[Ahom language]], fell into complete disuse. The Ahom language, a member of the [[Tai languages|Tai]] branch of the [[Kra–Dai languages]] is now dead, with its tone system completely lost.  Nevertheless, it is being revived by some Tai Ahom organisations.<ref>Dipima Buragohain. ''Issues of Language Contact and Shift in Tai Ahom''</ref>

Starting in the late 20th and continuing into the early 21st century, there has been renewed interest among the Ahoms in their culture and language leading to increased study and attempts at revival.<ref>Sikhamoni Gohain Boruah & Ranjit Konwar, ''The Tai Ahom of India and a Study of Their Present Status'' Hiteswar Saikia College and Sri Ranjit Konwar, Assam Forest Department</ref> The 1901 census of India enumerated approximately 179,000 people identifying as Ahom. The latest available census records slightly over 2 million Ahom individuals, however, estimates of the total number of people descended from the original Tai-Ahom settlers are as high as eight million.<ref name=ethno>{{cite web|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/aho|title=Ahom|website=Ethnologue}}</ref> The [[Ahom script]] also finds a place in the Unicode Consortium and the script declared the topmost in the [[South-East Asia]] category.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ahom script finds place in Unicode Consortium |url=https://www.sentinelassam.com/news/ahom-script-finds-place-in-unicode-consortium/ |work=The Sentinel |date=29 June 2018}}</ref>

==Ahom people today==
{{Infobox caste
| caste_name       = Tai-Ahom
| populated_states = [[Assam]], [[Arunachal Pradesh]].
| languages        = [[Assamese language|Assamese]], [[Ahom language|Ahom]] 
| religions        = [[Ahom religion]], [[Hinduism]], [[Theravada Buddhism|Theravda Buddhism]] 
}}
Ahom people today categorised in [[other backward classes]] (OBC) caste category ; also there is discussion and demand for the Schedule Tribe for a long time.<ref>{{cite news |title=AATASU reiterates demand for ST status to six communities |url=https://www.sentinelassam.com/news/aatasu-reiterates-demand-for-st-status-to-six-communities/ |work=The Sentinel |date=28 October 2017}}</ref> The term "ethnic Assamese" is now associated by the [[Indian government]] with the various [[Assamese people|indigenous Assamese people]].<ref name=fragmemory>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p9PkFF3uq_8C&pg=PA5 |title=Fragmented Memories | author = Yasmin Saikia |isbn=978-0-8223-3373-9 |year=2004}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://indiaedunews.net/Assam/ST_status_to_Assam_groups_only_from_a_national_perspective_2813/ |title= ST status to Assam groups only from a national perspective |access-date=11 March 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |work=The Hindu |url=http://www.hindu.com/fline/fl2410/stories/20070601001709200.htm |title=Separatist strains |access-date=11 March 2009}}</ref> According to Anthony Van Nostrand Diller, possibly eight million speakers of [[Assamese language|Assamese]] can claim genetic descent from the Ahoms.<ref name=ethno/>  However, historian Yasmin Saikia argues that in pre-colonial times, the Ahoms were not an ethnic community, but were a relatively open status group. Any community coming into the socio-economic fold of the Ahom state could claim the Ahom status with active consent of the king.<ref name="fragmemory"/>

==See also==
* [[Ahom Dynasty]]
* [[Ahom history]]
* [[All Tai Ahom Students Union]]
* [[Assamese people]]
* [[Battle of Saraighat]]
* [[Burmese invasion of Assam]]
* [[Kingdom of Pong]]
* [[Singarigharutha ceremony|Singarigharutha]]
* [[Tibeto-Burman and Tai peoples of Assam]]

== Notes ==
{{reflist|2}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite thesis |last=Gogoi |first=Shrutashwinee|date=2011 |title=Tai ahom religion a philosophical study |hdl=10603/116167|type=PhD |url=http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/handle/10603/116167 |access-date=31 January 2019}}
* {{Cite journal| last = Baruah| first=S. L.| title = Ahom Policy Towards the Neighbouring Hill Tribes| journal= Proceedings of the Indian History Congress| volume=38 | year=1977| pages= 249–256| jstor=44139078}}
* {{Citation |last=Dutta |first=Sristidhar |title=The Mataks and their Kingdom |publisher=Chugh Publications |place=Allahabad |year=1985}}
* {{Citation| surname=Gogoi | given=Nitul Kumar | title=Continuity and Change among the Ahoms |publisher=Concept Publishing Company, Delhi | year=2006}}
* {{cite thesis |last=Gogoi |first=Nitul Kumar |date=1995 |title=Acculturation in the Brahmaputra Valley: the Ahom Case |hdl=10603/66134 |type=PhD |url=http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/handle/10603/66134 |access-date=29 December 2018}}
* {{citation| last = Gogoi| first = Padmeshwar| title = Tai Ahom Religion and Customs| publisher = Publication Board, Gauhati, Assam | year = 1976| url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.99476 }}
* {{Citation| last = Guha| first = Amalendu| title = The Ahom Political System: An Enquiry into the State Formation Process in Medieval Assam (1228-1714)| journal = Social Scientist| volume = 11 |pages = 3–34| date = December 1983| doi = 10.2307/3516963| issue = 12| jstor = 3516963 | url = http://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/handle/123456789/3259}}
* {{Citation |last=Morey |first=Stephen |contribution=Ahom and Tangsa: Case studies of language maintenance and loss in North East India|editor-last=Cardoso |editor-first=Hugo C. |title=Language Endangerment and Preservation in South Asia |pages=46–77 |publisher= University of Hawai'i Press|place=Honolulu |year=2014}}
* {{Cite journal| last = Phukan| first=J N| title = Relations of the Ahom Kings of Assam with Those of Mong Mao (in Yunnan, China) and of Mong Kwang (Mogaung in Myanmar)| journal= Proceedings of the Indian History Congress| volume=52 | year=1991| pages= 888–893| jstor=44142722}}
* {{Cite journal| last = Terwiel| first=B.J.| title = Recreating the Past: Revivalism in Northeastern India.| journal= Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde| volume=152 |number= 2| year=1996| pages= 275–92| jstor=27864746| doi=10.1163/22134379-90003014| doi-access= free}}
*  {{Citation| last=Phukan | first=Dr. Girin | title=Cultural Linkage of TheAhom with the Tais of Southest Asia: A case study of Ahom— Thai Linkage |publisher=Khwan Mung Magazine| volume = I, II, IV | year=2017 }}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{EB1911 poster|Ahom}}
* Phukon, G. (1998). ''State of Tai culture among the Ahoms''. [Assam, India?]: G. Phukon.
* {{cite book |last=Saikia |first=Yasmin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p9PkFF3uq_8C |title=Fragmented Memories |isbn=978-0-8223-3373-9 |year=2004 |publisher=Duke University}}

==External links==
{{Sister project links|auto=yes}}
* {{cite journal |last= Lambert |first= Eric T.D. |year= 1952 |title= A short account of the Ahom people |journal= [[Journal of the Siam Society]] |volume= JSS Vol.40.1 |issue= digital |page= image |publisher= Siam Society |url= http://www.siamese-heritage.org/jsspdf/1951/JSS_040_1c_Lambert_ShortAccountOfAhomPeople.pdf |access-date= 10 November 2013 |archive-date= 24 September 2015 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150924101747/http://www.siamese-heritage.org/jsspdf/1951/JSS_040_1c_Lambert_ShortAccountOfAhomPeople.pdf |url-status= dead }}
* {{cite journal 
|last       = Terwiel
|first      = Barend Jan
|year       = 1983
|title      = Ahom and the Study of Early Thai Society 	
|journal    = [[Journal of the Siam Society]] 
|volume     = JSS Vol. 71.0 
|issue      = digital |page = image |publisher  = Siam Society 
|url        = http://www.siamese-heritage.org/jsspdf/1981/JSS_071_0g_Terwiel_AhomAndStudyOfEarlyTaiSociety.pdf
|access-date = 10 November 2013
}}
* [http://www.india-seminar.com/2005/550/550%20yasmin%20saikia.htm The Tai-Ahom connection] by Yasmin Saikia in [http://www.india-seminar.com/2005/550.htm Gateway to the East], June 2005.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20050507151023/http://www.epress.nus.edu.sg/msl/polities.html Polities mentioned in the Chinese Ming Shi-lu], several references are made to a Tai Ahom kingdom in this translation of an important [[Ming dynasty]] historical source

{{Tribes of Arunachal Pradesh}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahom People}}
[[Category:Assamese nationalism]]
[[Category:Tai history]]
[[Category:Tai peoples]]
[[Category:Social groups of Assam]]
[[Category:Ahom kingdom]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Northeast India]]
[[Category:Tribes of Assam]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in South Asia]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in India]]