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If the sun is once eclipsed, does it not make its appearance again? Was
the motto of the legendary ahoms who ruled assam for almost six centuries.
The ahoms, a tribe from upper burma, crossed the patkai range in 1228 A.D.
and settled at charaideo, near presentday sibsagar. They gradually
expanded their power and empire, conquered their main rivals, the
kacharis, in 1540 A.D. and established political and administrative
authority over a vast region. The modern history of assam, which has taken
its name from ahom, is often referred as commencing with the advent of
ahom power.
Though the ahoms were worshippers of tribal gods, in course of time, they
assimilated hindu beliefs, as well as the local language and script. Their
early coins conveyed their devotion to tribal gods who were later
identified with hindu gods, and still later, devotion is expressed
directly to hindu gods. Further, their initial coins bore ahom legends in
ahom script which gradually made way for sanskrit legends in the assamese
script with the year of issue quoted in saka era as prevalent on
contemporary hindu coinage. However, most importantly, their coinage
traces the steady growth and development of their economy from a barter to
a money economy.
The early ahom economy, based on agriculture and barter, was
characteristic of a non-monetized economy. The ahom kings gave incentives
to farmers and soldiers and surplus grain was exchanged for foreign goods.
The king owned al land under his jurisdiction and made land grants, which
were generally accompanied with the grant of paiks, men between 15-50, who
were to serve the state. Four paiks formed a unit and paiks of the same
units were to serve the state by rotation for constructing roads, tanks,
maidans, temples as well as fighting wars while the others of his unit
cultivated his field keeping his and his family supplied with food and
other necessities. As cloth was woven at home. Fruit obtained from
forests, and fish from the rivers, there was little scope for money
economy.
But over time, responding to the limitations of barter transactions, the
ahom ruler started issuing coins to facilitate indirect exchange. Though
there are early references to coins being issued by rulers in obeisance to
deities as well as later references to the minting of coins on the
accession to the throne of ahom princes or religious grants, the earliest
discovered rupee coins are of jayadhawaja simha issued in 1648 A.D. other
coins are of subsequent rulers who gradually issued smaller denominations
along with an increase in the overall volume of coined money. This
increasing monetization of the economy indicated its increasing economic
development, and by the early 19th century, the ahom economy emerged as a
money economy.
The striking features of ahom coins - made predominantly of silver - was
their octagonal shape. The uniqueness of the shape has invited numerous
explanations. A historical manuscript mentions that coins were octagonal
to indicate the eight kingdoms subjugated by the ahoms while another
states that they were so shaped because the ahom kingdom was described as
being eight-sided. A third explanation states that coins of the sultans of
bengal bore their legend in an enclosure surrounded by eight ornamental
arcs and that it is this octagonal border that influenced the ahom
coinage. The fourth explanation links the shape to tantricism (very
popular in assam at the time), which involved the worship of diagrams. It
is also suggested that as the people had never seen such a large kingdom
as under the ahoms, they expressed the ahom domain as that stretched int
eh eight directions off earth and space conceived by the Hindus.
Conflicts with the mughals during the 17th century probably made the ahoms
more conscious of the necessity to mint coins as evidentf from the several
and different types of coins issued by gadadhar simha. Rudra simha issued
the half rupees or ad-taka. He encouraged commercial exchanges with bengal
and tibet, which possibly necessitated the issue of coins. The coins of
king siva simha. Consecutively bore the names of his three queens, which
interestingly were issued in assamese and persian, the latter in a style
similar to that of the powerful mughal empress nur jahan. These were round
and square in shape and bore the legend in persian script. During the
reign of siva simha, coins of one-fourth denomination called siki were
issued, and his successor pramata simha issued coins of one eighth rupee
and one sixteenth rupee, which indicated the increasing use of coined
money in lower value transactions.
Thus by the second half of the 18th century, coins of different
denominations were in circulation within the ahom kingdom. Gold coins were
rarely used for transactions, which were mostly carried out in silver
coins, and for small transactions, cowries were used. By the end of the
18th century, the government of bengal under warren hastings substituted
copper coins for cowries, which substituted copper coins for cowries,
which decreased the inflow of cowries into bengal. This in turn, affected
the inflow of cowries to the ahom kingdom. To redeem the situations
gaurinath simha issued coins of a particular denomination.
With internal dissensions brewing in the kingdom, gaurinath simha turned
towards the british, who sent a contigent of troops to assam in 1792. As
normalcy returned, a commercial treaty was signed between gaurinath simha
and the east india company in 1793, which included clauses for commercial
relations between bengal and assam. The treaty also decreed that the ahom
king defray the expenses incurred on the maintenance of the company's
troops to be stationed in assam a his request. This treaty perhaps
reflected and stimulated a growth in the money suppoy.
Brajanath simha, who briefly gained control of the region in 1818-19,
struck copper coins, for the first time in the numismatic history of
assam, which are believed to represent the 128th and 64th part of athe
rupee. 1824, the british stepped in to stem the burmese attempts at
gaining power in assam. By the treaty of Yandabo in February 1826, the
Burmese king gave up claims on assam.
When attempts to reinstate an ahom ruler failed, assam was integrated into
british india and no further ahom coins were issued.
The fascinating history of ahom coinage has attracted many researchers. As
more coins are unearthed and researched, new information and explanations
have been presented much to the interest of the numismatist and lay person
alike.