1. Ahom-Bhutan Relations with Specific Reference to Royal Bhutanese Embassy Visiting Ahom Capital in 1801
- Author:
- J. N. Phukan
- Publication Date:
- 09-2015
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Bhutan Studies
- Institution:
- Centre for Bhutan & GNH Studies (CBS)
- Abstract:
- This paper is confined to the period when the Ahom power came into contact with Bhutan. This happened towards the beginning of the seventeenth century when the Ahom kingdom annexed Kamrup and Darrang to the north of which lay the territory of Bhutan. Thereafter, for more than a hundred years the relations with Bhutan were primarily dealt with by the Darrang Raja who was made a tributary Raja by the Ahom king. However, whenever required, the Raja was assisted by Ahom force to deal with situation. Towards the end of the eighteenth century, there were troubles in the Ahom kingdom. Among these were the Moamaria uprising that spread even to lower Assam. The rebellious prince of Darrang Krishna Narayan with his supporters took the help of Burendazes, mercenary soldiers from Bengal. When Capt. Welsh came to Assam to take them back, many of them with Krishna Narayan took shelter in the bordering areas of Bhutan and created troubles there. Bhutanese authorities made appeal to the Barphukan of Guwahati. To ascertain the situation he sent an embassy to Bhutan in 1801. In return, the King of Bhutan sent a royal embassy to the Ahom court that arrived at Jorhat, the Ahom capital in 1802. The envoys were well received by the King and the Prime Minister. They brought many presents that were valuable at that time. The Ahom and the Prime Minister also sent valuable presents to the Bhutan King. In this paper, I have devoted to this embassy in the background of Ahom history.
- Topic:
- Diplomacy, History, and Monarchy
- Political Geography:
- South Asia and Bhutan