The Tai Ahom National Council Memo Scheduling

R. Gurdon in Encyclopaedia of Religion & Ethics, Vol. I, edited by James Hastings,
first impression 1908, 4 th impression 1959, New York, p. 235).
Dr. Sathip Nartsupha of the Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, who has undertaken a
major project of social and cultural history of the Tai people in Burma, southern China and
India, says “these findings suggest that the ancient Tai society was an Asiatic type and that
the ancient Tai culture revolved around worship of nature and ancestors” and this is
very much true to the Ahom, and “The Ahom worship of nature and ancestors is a belief
system different from Aryan Hinduism”(Sathip Nartsupha and Ranoo Wichasin, “The
State of Knowledge of Ahom History”, in Tai Culture, International Review on Tai Cultural
Studies, Vol. III, No. 1, June 1998, SEACOM, Berlin, pp. 16-48)
The Ahom Tribal Socio-Cultural Institutions:
The Ahom adhered to their traditional tribal institutions like the primo-genitural exogamous clan
system, marriage by chak-long and the pi-nong system.
The clan is very basic to the Ahom and they maintained their clan system, and clan exogamy in
marriage throughout their ruling history of 600 years and even to this day. “The Ahoms are
divided into a number of exogamous groups called phoids or khels.” (P.R.T. Gurdon,
Encyclopedia of Religion & Ethics, vol. I, p. 235). That is they have been preserving the clan
institution for the last 780 years in Assam.
A person of a family is primarily recognized and enjoys his place at all levels of
social functions in relation to his clan called tun in Ahom (phoid in Assamese). A branch of the
clan is called ruen (ghar in Assamese). It is important to note that in their Buranji or chronicles,
an officer is usually mentioned by his family or clan, and not by his first name. Thus for instance
at page 207 of the Ahom Buranji (op. cit) it says “Then our Luthuri, one Ladam, the son of
Khuntai, one Mandam Lasam Chaodang Barua of Mungkangia Ahom Clan, the Kongar Bara,
one Hu of Lanbakal family and Latum Saikia of Luk-kha-khun family rushed out of the fort to
met the enemies.” In this sentence, the names are qualified by the family names. In many cases
the names are not at all given only the official title and the family name.
The Ahom never allowed the clan to be lost sight of under any circumstances as a man is
primarily identified with reference to his clan or family. If a person is asked who are it does not