Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 21, 2026

Tipam

Tipam was an early regional polity and later a province of the Ahom kingdom. Before the arrival of Ahoms, the region was inhabited by Moran people. The Buranjis record that Sukaphaa stayed at Tipam for three laknis, or annual cycles. When the locality was flooded by the Buri Dihing River, he appointed an officer named Kanngan to take charge of the country and proceeded to Abhoipur. The appointment of an officer, together with later references to Tipamia chiefs and princes, indicates that Tipam was an inhabited and politically organised territory rather than merely a temporary encampment. In the later Ahom administrative system, the region around Joypur on the right bank of the Burhi Dihing was governed by a royal prince styled the Tipam Raja, who ranked after the Charing Raja in the order of succession.

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Tipam (located around present-day Joypur and Dehing-Patkai region) was an early regional polity and later a province of the Ahom kingdom. Before the arrival of Ahoms, the region was inhabited by Moran people.a The Buranjis record that Sukaphaa stayed at Tipam for three laknis, or annual cycles. When the locality was flooded by the Buri Dihing River, he appointed an officer named Kanngan to take charge of the country and proceeded to Abhoipur.4 The appointment of an officer, together with later references to Tipamia chiefs and princes, indicates that Tipam was an inhabited and politically organised territory rather than merely a temporary encampment. In the later Ahom administrative system, the region around Joypur on the right bank of the Burhi Dihing was governed by a royal prince styled the Tipam Raja, who ranked after the Charing Raja in the order of succession.5

The place is recorded in the Chinese chronicle Ming Shilu and is referred to as 底板 or Di-banb, an early 15th-century polity ruled by the chief Kan-jia-li-mei.c The Ming Shilu describes Di-ban as one of the three Ahom polities annexed in 1408 by Podi-nalang (last name Narayan)9 of Da Gu-la, an unidentified polity located somewhere in Assam, in the year 1408 AD.10 According to the chronicle, Podi-nalang attacked the three Ahom polities of Di-ban, Ba-jia-ta (identified with Bakata11), and Meng-lun, occupied their territories, and carried off their chiefs Kan-jie-li-mei, Dao-Qing-Han, and Dao-Han-Tid respectively.14 The subsequent imperial order described the three polities as “isolated and weak, without ready assistance”, and instructed Podi-nalang to return their territories, officials, people, livestock and property.15

The Ahom chronicles independently describe Tipam as a distinct tributary country ruled by its own chiefs during approximately the same period. During the reign of Sudangphaa, the king was informed that the Tipamias had conspired to seize and kill him. He invited their leaders to a feast, killed many of them and subsequently married Chao Nangsheng, the daughter of the Tipamia Gohain.16 A Tipamia prince named Chao Tao-Shulai later fled to the ruler of Mogaung and sought military assistance against Sudangphaa. An army sent from Mogaung advanced to Kuhiarbari in Tipam but was defeated by the Ahom king.1617 The chronicle further states that Tipam, Khamjang and Aiton withheld tribute for eight years, after which the ruler of Mogaung instructed “Bhai Tipam” to pay tribute to the Ahom king.16 The Chinese and Ahom accounts thus both portray early fifteenth-century Tipam as a separately governed but relatively small polity situated between larger neighbouring powers.

Tipam was eventually incorporated into the Ahom kingdom. A Tipam princess became the mother of Susenphaa, indicating the integration of the Tipamia ruling family into the Ahom royal genealogy.18 In later centuries, the earlier local chiefship was replaced by the office of the Tipam Raja, which was conferred upon a prince or close relative of the reigning Ahom monarch. The latter Tipam Raja should therefore be distinguished from the independently attested Tipamia chiefs of the formative period. Tipam remained vulnerable to attacks from the frontier even after its full incorporation into the Ahom kingdom. In 1563, the Chutias revolted and plundered the Ahom settlements of Namrup and Kheram (near Namrup). The king sent Tipam Raja (Chaolung Tipam) with his men to fight the rebels, and a battle was fought. In the battle, the elephant of the Tipam raja was injured, and thus he retreated, crossing the Dihing river. The rebellion was later crushed.192021

References

References

  1. Saikia, Sayeeda Yasmin (1997). In the Meadows of Gold: Telling Tales of the Swargadeos at the Crossroads of Assam. Guwahati: Spectrum Publications. pp. 42–43. In Tipam, the Bura Gohain met a Moran woman and was attracted to her. He decided to stay there. He put his hengdan away in a bird's nest. The Moran woman gave birth to two sons. When the Bura Gohain fell ill, he called his sons and told them that formerly he was the minister of the king. He advised them, "To the king when you are thirty-five and fourteen years, respectively. Show him the hengdan which will testify to your noble birth". The Bura Gohain died soon after. At that time, when the king was still in the hills, the Morans came to pay their tribute. One day, seeing one of them, the king asked who he was. The boys replied that they were the sons of the Bura Gohain. They narrated the story their father had told them and also showed the hengdan. Being assured of their heritage, the king invited them inside and later presented them with suitable titles befitting their parentage.
  2. Saikia, Yasmin (2004). Fragmented Memories: Struggling to be Tai-Ahom in India. Durham: Duke University Press. p. 136. When Sukapha came to Tipam, he met a Moran family. The Moran was named Khingkhing. His son was called Khimrat. In the reign of Sukhampha Khura Raja, Khimrat's grandson became Sitpatar. His family joined the Buragohain's faid, and they were designated as Tingkhamiya Hatisarat. They became Aaham.
  3. Saikia, Sayeeda Yasmin (1997). In the Meadows of Gold: Telling Tales of the Swargadeos at the Crossroads of Assam. Guwahati: Spectrum Publications. p. 91. When Sukapha halted at Tipam, a Moran presented him with some brinjals.
  4. Barua, Golap Chandra (1930). Ahom-Buranji: From the Earliest Time to the End of Ahom Rule. Calcutta: Baptist Mission Press. p. 46.
  5. Gait, Edward Albert (1926). A History of Assam (2nd ed.). Calcutta and Simla: Thacker, Spink & Co. p. 234.
  6. "Di-ban: Very likely Mung Tipam, a polity subordinate to the Ahom.(Wade 1994, p. 252)
  7. Sun, Laichen (2000). Ming–Southeast Asian Overland Interactions, 1368–1644 (PhD thesis). University of Michigan. p. 78. Diban as Tipam
  8. Wade, Geoff. "Yong-le: Year 4, Month 6, Day 24 (9 July 1406)". Southeast Asia in the Ming Shi-lu. Asia Research Institute and Singapore E-Press, National University of Singapore. Retrieved 11 July 2026. (9th July 1406): The envoy Xuan-ma-sa and others who had been sent by the native ruler Po-di-na-lang of Da Gu-la and other places, advised: "In our region there are seven territories, namely Da Gu-la, Xiao Gu-la, Di-ma-sa, Cha-shan, Di-ban, Meng-lun and Ba-jia-ta. They are all in the extreme South-west and since ancient times there had been no contact with China. Now that the Heavenly Court has sent officials to promulgate orders of grace, all the people want to be within the Empire, and they request that offices be established to administer them. They also request that the nearby people who have not attached themselves be pacified and instructed." This was approved. As the regions of Da Gu-la and Di-ma-sa were broad, pacification superintendencies were established there, while in Xiao Gu-la, Cha-shan, Di-ban, Meng-lun and Ba-jia-ta, Chief's Offices were established. Po-di-na-lang was appointed as Da Gu-la Pacification Superintendent, and La-wang-pa was appointed as Di-ma-sa Pacification Superintendent, while Bai-zhang, Zao Zhang, Kan-jia-li-mei, Dao Han-ti and Dao Qing-han were appointed as the Chiefs of the Xiao Gu-la and other chief's offices.
  9. Southeast Asia in the Ming Shilu: An open access, “as the name of the Da Gu-la ruler recorded in the MSL -- Po-di-na-lang-- suggests "....narayan"”
  10. "The MSL refers to Ba-jia-ta as a polity subordinate to Da Gu-la. Given the likelihood that Da Gu-la indicates the Ahom (or other Assam) polity, there seems little doubt that Ba-jia-ta is the Chinese name for Bakata, which became the Ahom capital, located in today's Assam."(Wade 1994, p. 243)
  11. Wade, Geoff (1994). The Ming Shi-lu (Veritable Records of the Ming Dynasty) as a Source for Southeast Asian History, 14th to 17th Centuries (PhD thesis). University of Hong Kong. doi:10.5353/th_b3123394. Ba-jia-ta ... undoubtedly refers to Bakata in Assam
  12. Evans, Grant (2014). "The Ai-Lao and Nan Chao/Tali Kingdom: A Re-orientation" (PDF). Journal of the Siam Society. 102: 231. Still today, many pa-yi chiefs have the Chinese surname Tao 刀 because chief is "tao" in pa-yi. The Chinese have made a family name out of a title. Thao is an honorific in Lao, and other Tai languages.
  13. Daniels, Christian (2023). "When did the Ahom Migrate to Assam?". Indian Journal of Tai Studies. 23: 39. The Mongol-Yuan appointed the Baiyi leader of Mengguang, Daihan (Tai: Tai Kham), as a native official.
  14. Southeast Asia in the Ming Shilu: An open access,"(21st August 1408): An envoy was sent to take orders with which to instruct Po-di-na-lang, the Da Gu-la Pacification Superintendent. At this time, the Supervising Secretary Zhou Rang and others had returned from Gu-la and said that, without authority, Po-di-na-lang had dispatched troops to attack the Di-ban, Meng-lun and Ba-jia-ta Chief's Offices, occupied their land and carried off the native official Jia-li-mei and others."
  15. Wade, Geoff. "Yong-le: Year 6, Month 8, Day 1 (21 August 1408)". Southeast Asia in the Ming Shi-lu. Asia Research Institute and Singapore E-Press, National University of Singapore. Retrieved 7 July 2026. Di-ban, Meng-lun and Ba-jia-ta are isolated and weak, without ready assistance.
  16. Barua, Golap Chandra (1930). Ahom-Buranji: From the Earliest Time to the End of Ahom Rule. Calcutta: Baptist Mission Press. pp. 50–52.
  17. Gait, Edward Albert (1926). A History of Assam (2nd ed.). Calcutta and Simla: Thacker, Spink & Co. pp. 80–81.
  18. Gait, Edward Albert (1926). A History of Assam (2nd ed.). Calcutta and Simla: Thacker, Spink & Co. p. 82.
  19. Gait, Edward Albert (1926). A History of Assam (2nd ed.). Calcutta and Simla: Thacker, Spink & Co. pp. 101–102. In 1563 the Chutiyas made a raid into Namrup and Tipam, and the Tipam Raja fled, after his elephant had been wounded by arrows in three places.
  20. (Khanikar 2003:97)
  21. (Barua 1939:89)
Notes

Notes

  1. Chronicle and genealogical traditions also place Moran inhabitants at Tipam during Sukaphaa's settlement. The Satsari Assam Buranji relates that the Burhagohain remained at Tipam after forming a union with a Moran woman, whose two sons were later recognised by the king.1 Other traditions trace the Tingkhamiya Hatisarat and Lanmakhru lineages to Moran families encountered at Tipam: the former descended from the family of Khingkhing and his son Khimrat, while the latter originated from a Moran who assisted the Ahom settlers in fighting the Nagas.23
  2. Geoff Wade identifies Di-ban as Tipam and describes it as a polity associated with the early Ahom sphere.6 Laichen Sun likewise identifies Di-ban with Tipam, placing it among the early fifteenth-century polities situated between the Brahmaputra valley and northern Myanmar.7
  3. On 9 July 1406, envoys sent by Po-di-na-lang, ruler of Da Gu-la, informed the Ming court that their region contained seven territories—Da Gu-la, Xiao Gu-la, Di-ma-sa, Cha-shan, Di-ban, Meng-lun and Ba-jia-ta—situated in the “extreme South-west”. The Ming court established Pacification Superintendencies in the larger territories of Da Gu-la and Di-ma-sa and Chief's Offices in the other five. The rulers Bai-zhang, Zao Zhang, Kan-jia-li-mei, Dao Han-ti and Dao Qing-han were appointed chiefs of Xiao Gu-la, Cha-shan, Di-ban, Meng-lun and Ba-jia-ta respectively, making Kan-jia-li-mei the ruler recognised by the Ming court as chief of Di-ban.8
  4. The Ming name 刀罕替 (Dao Hanti) may be a Chinese rendering of the Tai name Tao/Thao Khamti. Evans notes that the Chinese character 刀 was used for the Tai chiefly title tao/thao12, while Daniels identifies the Chinese name Daihan with Tai Tai Kham, indicating that 罕 (han) could transcribe Tai kham.13 The resulting form closely resembles the name of the Ahom ruler Tao Khamti.
Bibliography

Bibliography