Borpatragohain

Borpatragohain (Ahom: Chao Sheng Lung) was the third of the three great Gohains (counsellors) in the Ahom kingdom. This position was created by Suhungmung Dihingia Raja in the year 1527 when Konsheng was made the first Borpatrogohain.^[1] The designation was borrowed from Vrihat-patra, the Habung dependent of the Chutiya king.^[2]

The other two counselors of the Ahom kingdom, the Burhagohain and the Borgohain, strongly opposed the creation of this office, but the king successfully instituted this by claiming that three ministers are now required to stabilize the kingdom. Suhungmung claimed that Konsheng, a formidable warrior was his half-brother who grew up in a Naga chieftain's house.^[3] Since the other two counselors refused to transfer part of the militia (hatimur) they commanded to the new office, Suhungmung transferred non-Ahom militia under himself to the Borpatragohain and part of the Ahom militia from the other two counselors to himself. To placate the aggrieved two counselors, Suhungmung created two additional frontier Gohain positions that were exclusive to the two lineages, and ruled that the Borpatragohain's family could not have any marital relationship with the king's lineage.^[4]

In later times, people from non-Ahoms families, like those of Garhgayan Patar and Maran Patar were also made Borpatragohain in later times.^[5] and administered the region from the Daphla Hills to the Brahmaputra, and between the Gerelua and Pichalua rivers.

List of Borpatragohains

Kon-Sheng
Klan-Jang
Ban Jangi
Laku Borpatragohain
Banchangia Borpatragohain
Lai Borpatragohain
Chereli Borpatragohain
Bhaga Borpatragohain
Achuk Borpatragohain
Kenduguria Sengkong Borpatragohain
Paramananda Borpatragohain
Kalugayan Harinath Borpatragohain
Kenduguria Mrittunjay Borpatragohain
Redeshwar Borpatragohain
Maran Borpatragohain
Kenduguria Rudresvar Borpatragohain

Notes

^ (Barua 1939:61) "Thaomung-mungteu Konsheng was made Chao-sheng-lung (Borpatrogohain) in Lakni Rungrao 1527."
^ (Guha 1983:20) "It appears that the novel designation of Barpatragohain was borrowed from the civil list of Habung where the local ruler, a dependent of the Chutiya king, had the title of Vrhat-Patra."
^ (Guha 1983:20) "The third counsellor so appointed, was publicly claimed by the king to be his own half-brother, posthumously born to a banished queen in a Naga chief's house."
^ (Guha 1983:20)
^ (Barua 1993:26)

Bibliography

Gait, Edward (1905) History of Assam, Calcutta
Barua, Swarna Lata (1993). Last Days of Ahom Monarchy: A History of Assam from 1769-1826. New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers. ISBN 978-81-215-0462-1.
Guha, Amalendu (December 1983), "The Ahom Political System: An Enquiry into the State Formation Process in Medieval Assam (1228-1714)", Social Scientist, 11 (12): 3–34, doi:10.2307/3516963, JSTOR 3516963
Barua, G.C. (1939). Ahom Buranji.
Bhuyan, Surya Kumar (1962). Deodhai Asam Buranji: with several shorter chronicles of Assam (compiled from old Assamese buranjis) (in Assamese).

[1] (Barua 1939:61) "Thaomung-mungteu Konsheng was made Chao-sheng-lung (Borpatrogohain) in Lakni Rungrao 1527."

[2] (Guha 1983:20) "It appears that the novel designation of Barpatragohain was borrowed from the civil list of Habung where the local ruler, a dependent of the Chutiya king, had the title of Vrhat-Patra."

[3] (Guha 1983:20) "The third counsellor so appointed, was publicly claimed by the king to be his own half-brother, posthumously born to a banished queen in a Naga chief's house."

[4] (Guha 1983:20)

[5] (Barua 1993:26)

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