Medieval Assam, also known as Kamarupa, came under the Ahom rulers in the thirteenth century during the reign of Sukapha (c. 1228-1268) when the Ahom people crossed over the Brahmaputra valley and occupied the region centred over Charaideo.
The Ahom kingdom's polity was a mixed one comprising of Tai' language speakers of their homeland and native Assamese who were assimilated in the new kingdom's power structure as well as social system which was essentially Ahomese under the early Ahom Kings from the thirteenth till the sixteenth century including the Tai' language of the Ahoms.
Assamese language entered the court in the sixteenth century and came to dominate the court culture from the seventeenth century along with Hinduisation of the court culture including the use of Saka era to record court events.
Most of the Ahom Kings and queens (their names also featured on Ahomese coins) took Hindu names along with their Ahomese names.
The Ahoms began to issue silver and gold coins essentially to monetize their economy with Tibet and other regions and also to mark the ceremonial customs of the court especially coronations of new rulers. The coronation series had legends in the Ahom-Tai script along with the date in the Ahomese calendar. These coins were supplemented with silver coins featuring Bengali and Nagari script. The earliest coins of Assam were issued by Jayadhvaja Simha (Sutamla) (c. 1648-1663 C.E.) who issued coins with Bengali and Chinese character legends on his coins. His descendants used Ahom-Tai and Bengali/Nagari legends on their coins.
However, later rulers like Rajeswara Simha (1751-1769 C.E.) also issued Persian script coins in accord with the growing influence of the language around.
The other marked feature of Ahom coins was their octagonal shape which was adopted, according to one theory, as it was believed that the land of Kamarupa was octagonal in shape.
The Ahoms looked to the Bengal Sultanate's silver tankas as the chief inspiration for the weight of their coins and thus we have their silver units called Rajamohuri taka or rupas weighing 96 rattis followed by their half (adhuli adhataka), quarter (Siki/Maha), one-eighth (Adamaha), one-sixteenth (Charatiya) and its one thirty-second part (teeni-rattiya 3 rattis).
Later Ahom coins also have the names of Ahom queens reflecting on the importance of the chief queen in the kingdom's power structure in the period.
Most of the coins in Bengali script have religious invocations on one side of the Shaivite or Vaishnavite inclination and the reverse has the king's name and titles along with the date in Shaka era. The fractions do not have any date on them due to the coin's limited space and long titles of the ruler.
The coin featured in this blog post is one of the best examples of an Ahom Bengali script silver coin with legends on one side praising Lord Shiva and the reverse having the titles of the ruler, Rajeshwara Simha.
Historically, Ahom coins represent the long glorious period of North-East History where two cultures of diverse origin met and assimilated in a very organic fashion with mutual respect for each other's customs. Additionally, these coins reflect the high volume of trade in the region which would have compelled the mint to issue these coins. The coins continued issuing in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries is also a reflection of the robust opposition offered by the Ahoms to the Mughals during the latter's attempts to subdue the kingdom and bring it under imperial command.
Ahom power came to an end in the first quarter of the nineteenth century when they came under the Burmese influence and after the defeat of the latter in the First Anglo-Burmese war with East India Company, it passed into the hands of the East India Company in 1826 when the last ruler Chandrakanta Simha reigned under the Company's influence.
The last of the Ahomese coins were issued by the dynasty's penultimate ruler, Jogeshwara Simha (1821-1824 CE)
The Ahom kingdom's polity was a mixed one comprising of Tai' language speakers of their homeland and native Assamese who were assimilated in the new kingdom's power structure as well as social system which was essentially Ahomese under the early Ahom Kings from the thirteenth till the sixteenth century including the Tai' language of the Ahoms.
Assamese language entered the court in the sixteenth century and came to dominate the court culture from the seventeenth century along with Hinduisation of the court culture including the use of Saka era to record court events.
Most of the Ahom Kings and queens (their names also featured on Ahomese coins) took Hindu names along with their Ahomese names.
The Ahoms began to issue silver and gold coins essentially to monetize their economy with Tibet and other regions and also to mark the ceremonial customs of the court especially coronations of new rulers. The coronation series had legends in the Ahom-Tai script along with the date in the Ahomese calendar. These coins were supplemented with silver coins featuring Bengali and Nagari script. The earliest coins of Assam were issued by Jayadhvaja Simha (Sutamla) (c. 1648-1663 C.E.) who issued coins with Bengali and Chinese character legends on his coins. His descendants used Ahom-Tai and Bengali/Nagari legends on their coins.
However, later rulers like Rajeswara Simha (1751-1769 C.E.) also issued Persian script coins in accord with the growing influence of the language around.
The other marked feature of Ahom coins was their octagonal shape which was adopted, according to one theory, as it was believed that the land of Kamarupa was octagonal in shape.
The Ahoms looked to the Bengal Sultanate's silver tankas as the chief inspiration for the weight of their coins and thus we have their silver units called Rajamohuri taka or rupas weighing 96 rattis followed by their half (adhuli adhataka), quarter (Siki/Maha), one-eighth (Adamaha), one-sixteenth (Charatiya) and its one thirty-second part (teeni-rattiya 3 rattis).
Later Ahom coins also have the names of Ahom queens reflecting on the importance of the chief queen in the kingdom's power structure in the period.
Most of the coins in Bengali script have religious invocations on one side of the Shaivite or Vaishnavite inclination and the reverse has the king's name and titles along with the date in Shaka era. The fractions do not have any date on them due to the coin's limited space and long titles of the ruler.
The coin featured in this blog post is one of the best examples of an Ahom Bengali script silver coin with legends on one side praising Lord Shiva and the reverse having the titles of the ruler, Rajeshwara Simha.
Historically, Ahom coins represent the long glorious period of North-East History where two cultures of diverse origin met and assimilated in a very organic fashion with mutual respect for each other's customs. Additionally, these coins reflect the high volume of trade in the region which would have compelled the mint to issue these coins. The coins continued issuing in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries is also a reflection of the robust opposition offered by the Ahoms to the Mughals during the latter's attempts to subdue the kingdom and bring it under imperial command.
Ahom power came to an end in the first quarter of the nineteenth century when they came under the Burmese influence and after the defeat of the latter in the First Anglo-Burmese war with East India Company, it passed into the hands of the East India Company in 1826 when the last ruler Chandrakanta Simha reigned under the Company's influence.
The last of the Ahomese coins were issued by the dynasty's penultimate ruler, Jogeshwara Simha (1821-1824 CE)
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