Sukaphaa

Sukaphaa, also Siu-Ka-Pha, was a Tai ruler traditionally credited with founding the Ahom kingdom in medieval Assam. He is identified as a Tai prince from Möng Mao, and conventional chronologies date his entry into the Brahmaputra valley to 1228 CE. The chronology of his migration, reign and early settlement, however, is disputed: Buranji accounts preserve conflicting dates, while later reconstructions have proposed several alternative dates, generally placing the migration in the mid-14th century. The kingdom associated with his foundation existed until 1826 and came to incorporate large parts of modern Assam. In reverence to his position in Assam's history, the honorific Chaolung is associated with his name (Chao: lord; Lung: great). In 1996, the Assam Government decreed his annual remembrance on 2 December as Sukaphaa Divas, or Asom Divas (Assam Day), to commemorate his advent and entry into Assam. The details of Sukaphaa's ancestry and early life, available from different chronicles, both Ahom and non-Ahom, are full of contradictions. According to Phukan (1992), who has tried to hold up a consistent account, Sukaphaa was born to Chao Chang-Nyeu (alias Phu-Chang-Khang) and Nang-Mong Blak-Kham-Sen in the Tai state of Möng Mao (also called Mao-Lung, with the capital at Kieng Sen), close to present-day Ruili in Yunnan, China. Chao Chang Nyeu was a prince from Mong-Ri Mong-Ram, who had travelled to Mong Mao possibly on an expedition. Mong Mao was then ruled by Chao Tai Pung.