Ep 06: Huge Tombs of Ahom Kings. Sivasagar, Charaideo Maidam - Part 1. Full Tour + English Subtitles

For all those travel junkies who have been to Egypt just to pose in front of the iconic Pyramids, how would it feel to know that India has had its own version of pyramids in Assam? Yes, the Ahom kings were buried inside the mounds with their paraphernalia. However, not many know this fact.

The Ahom dynasty ruled the Ahom Kingdom for nearly 598 years from 1228-1826. It was only after the arrival of the Britishers that the empire fell. The Ahom kingdom lay in the Brahmaputra valley and included present-day Assam and parts of Arunachal. The term Assam originates from ‘Asama’ which is a word for Ahoms in the local language.

There’s a town named Charaideo located at a distance of nearly 400 km from Assam’s capital Guwahati. Charaideo is important in historical context as it served as the first capital of the Ahoms. Another thing that makes the town special apart from its rich history is the man-made burial mounds or maidams that were constructed for the royals. It is one of the most unique ways of burying the royals in India. In 2014, the mounds were named a World Heritage Site. Hence, the world knows about them without the country knowing them.

When Chao Lung Siu-Ka-Pha, a member of the Tai clan entered India in 1228, he settled in Assam and established his dynasty. The people from the dynasty were called Ahoms. The Ahoms went on to rule the region for 600 years and the time was enough to build hundreds of mounds for the royals generation after generation. That is how Charaideo gained the value that it holds today.

The reason why Ahoms got the royals buried in mounds is very similar to why Egyptians had Pyramids. Ahoms too believed in life after death and that is why such structures were created for those who were considered sacred. This included the royals, their consorts and the priests. All the royals and the nobles were buried inside the mounds along with their possessions.

The word maidam originates from Tai word Phrang mai-dam. It translates into burying the spirit of the dead. The only difference between pyramids and maidams is that maidams are hemispherical in shape. Only the royals and the nobles were allowed to be buried inside the mounds, not the common people.

Composition of a maidam or mound: There are three different parts of a maidam. The first one is a vault, the second is the hemispherical mound that covers the chamber. It was made using bricks. The third and final part of the maidam is an octagon-shaped boundary built around the base of the mound with a gateway in the west direction.

When Ahom kings were buried in the maidam, their important possessions like the insignia, clothes, ornaments, weapons and favourite gifts were also buried with them. Some stories also suggest that the attendants of the nobles were also buried along with the royals or the nobles. However, it is not clear if they were buried alive or dead.

There are several stories when external occupational forces including the Mughals attacked the region and destroyed the maidams to steal valuable items. The Britishers did the same in the mid-19th century as well. However, there still are some of the maidams. The archaeological survey of India has unearthed two of them and a walkway has been built to give history-buffs a view of how the maidams used to look from inside.

Historical places of Assam. History of India. Land of Ahoms.

This is the third video of our Ahom Trails Series and a series on Ahom History and Architecture styles.
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