he Ahom Kingdom (Assamese: আহোম ৰাজ্য) (1228-1826, called Kingdom of Assam in medieval times) was a medieval Hindu kingdom in the Brahmaputra valley in Assam, Indiathat maintained its sovereignty for nearly 600 years and successfully resisted Mughal expansion in North-East India. It was able to establish its suzerainty over the Brahmaputra valleyand had a profound effect on the political and social life in the region. The kingdom was established by Sukaphaa, a Tai prince from Mong Mao, in the upper reaches of theBrahmaputra river between the extant Sutiya kingdom in the north and the Kachari kingdom in the south. The kingdom expanded north, south and the west in succession and evolved into a multi-ethnic polity, beginning especially under Suhungmung Dihingia Raja in the 16th century. It made major advances under Susenghphaa Pratap Singha, under whom the administration was revamped and the first military and diplomatic contact with the Mughals were made. Mughal influence was completely removed from much of the Brahmaputra valley under Gadadhar Singha and the Ahom kingdom reached its zenith under his son, Rudra Singha. The kingdom became weaker with the rise of the Moamoria rebellion, and subsequently fell to a succession of Burmese invasions. With the defeat of the Burmese after the First Anglo-Burmese War and the Treaty of Yandabo in 1826, control of the kingdom passed into British (East India Company) hands.
Though it came to be called the Ahom kingdom in the colonial and subsequent times, it was largely multi-ethnic, with the ethnic Ahom people constituting less than 10% of the population toward the end.[1] The Ahoms called their kingdom Mong Dun Shun Kham, (Assamese: xunor-xophura; English: casket of gold) while others called it Assam. The British-controlled province after 1838 and later the Indian state of Assam came to be known by this name.
