See also:

• AHOM, or AHAM

AHOM, or AHAM  , a tribe of Shan descent inhabiting the See also:

• ASSAM

Assam valley, and, See also:

• PRIOR (from Lat. prior—former, and hence superior, through O. Fr. priour)
• PRIOR, MATTHEW (1664-1721)

prior to the invasion of the Burmese at the commencement of the 19th See also:

• CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century, the dominant See also:

• RACE

race in that See also:

• COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country . The Ahoms, together with the See also:

• SHANS

Shans of See also:

• BURMA

Burma and Eastern See also:

• CHINA

China and the Siamese, were members of the Tai race . The name is believed to be a corruption of the word " A-sam," the latter See also:

• PART

part of which is identical with " Shan " (properly " Sham ") and with " See also:

• SIAM (known to its inhabitants as Muang Thai)

Siam." Under their See also:

• KING
• KING (O. Eng. cyning, abbreviated into cyng, cing; cf. O. H. G. chun- kuning, chun- kunig, M.H.G. kiinic, kiinec, kiinc, Mod. Ger. Konig, O. Norse konungr, kongr, Swed. konung, kung)
• KING [OF OCKHAM], PETER KING, 1ST BARON (1669-1734)
• KING, CHARLES WILLIAM (1818-1888)
• KING, CLARENCE (1842–1901)
• KING, EDWARD (1612–1637)
• KING, EDWARD (1829–1910)
• KING, HENRY (1591-1669)
• KING, RUFUS (1755–1827)
• KING, THOMAS (1730–1805)
• KING, WILLIAM (1650-1729)
• KING, WILLIAM (1663–1712)

king Su-ka-pha they invaded Assam (q.v.) from the See also:

• EAST
• EAST, ALFRED (1849- )

East in the See also:

• YEAR

year A.D . 1228, giving their name to the country . For a century and a See also:

• HALF

half from 1228 the successors of Su-ka-pha appear to have ruled undisturbed over a small territory in Lakkimpur and See also:

• SIBSAGAR

Sibsagar districts . The See also:

• EXTENSION (Lat. ex, out ; tendere, to stretch)

extension of their See also:

• POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power westward down the valley of the See also:

• BRAHMAPUTRA

Brahmaputra was very See also:

• GRADUAL (Med. Lat. gradualis, of or belonging to steps or degrees; gradus, step)

gradual, and its success was by no means See also:

• UNIFORM

uniform . In the See also:

• TIME (0. Eng. Lima, cf. Icel. timi, Swed. timme, hour, Dan. time; from the root also seen in " tide," properly the time of between the flow and ebb of the sea, cf. O. Eng. getidan, to happen, " even-tide," &c.; it is not directly related to Lat. tempus)
• TIME, MEASUREMENT OF
• TIME, STANDARD

time of See also:

• AURANGZEB (1618-1707)

Aurangzeb the See also:

• AHOM, or AHAM

Ahom See also:

• KINGS, FIRST AND SECOND BOOKS OF

kings held sway over the entire Brahmaputra valley from See also:

• SADIYA

Sadiya to near See also:

• GOALPARA

Goalpara, and from the skirts of the See also:

• SOUTHERN

southern hills to the Bhutia frontier on the See also:

• NORTH
• NORTH, BARONS
• NORTH, MARIANNE (1830—1890)
• NORTH, ROGER (1653-1734)
• NORTH, SIR THOMAS (1535?-16o1?)

north . The See also:

• DYNASTY (Gr. &vvaareta, sovereignty, the position of a hevnori7r, lord, ruler, from SuvaaBay to be able, Suvaµas, power)

dynasty attained the height of its power under See also:

• RUDRA (probably from the root rud, " to howl," hence " the howler ")

Rudra Singh, who is said to have ascended the See also:

• THRONE

throne in 1695 . In the following century the power of the Ahoms began to decay, alike from See also:

• INTERNAL

internal dissensions and the pressure of outside invaders . The Burmese were called in to the assistance of one of the contending factions in 181o . Having once obtained a foothold in the country, they established their power over the entire valley and ruled with merciless barbarity, until they were expelled by the See also:

• BRITISH

British in 1824–1825 . In the See also:

• CENSUS (from Lat. censere, to estimate or assess; connected by some with centum, i.e. a count by hundreds)

census of 1901 the See also:

• TOTAL

total Ahom See also:

• POPULATION (Lat. populus, people; populare, to populate)

population in Assam was returned at 178,049 .

The Ahoms retained the See also:

• FORM (Lat. forma)

form of See also:

• GOVERNMENT
• GOVERNMENT (0. Fr. governement, mod. gouvernement, O. Fr. governer, mod. gouverner, from Lat. gubernare, to steer a ship, guide, rule; cf. Gr. xv(3epvav)

government in Assam See also:

• PECULIAR

peculiar to the Shan tribes, which may be briefly described as an organized See also:

• SYSTEM

system of See also:

• PERSONAL

personal service in lieu of See also:

• TAXATION
• TAXATION (from " tax," derived, through the French, from Lat. taxare, to appraise, which again is connected with the same root as tangere, to touch)

taxation . Their See also:

• RELIGION
• RELIGION, FOLKLORE, CUSTOM

religion was See also:

• PAGAN
• PAGAN (Lat. paganus, of or belonging to a pagus, a canton, county district, village, commune)

pagan, being quite distinct from See also:

• BUDDHISM

Buddhism; but See also:

• AHRENS, FRANZ HEINRICH LUDOLF (1809–1881)

AHRENS 433 in Assam they gradually became Hinduized, and their kings finally adopted See also:

• HINDU

Hindu names and titles . They believed that there were in the beginning no heavenly bodies, See also:

• AIR (from an Indo-European root meaning " breathe," " blow ")
• AIR, or ASBEN

air or See also:

• EARTH
• EARTH (a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Ger. Erde, Dutch aarde, Swed. and Dan. jord; outside Teutonic it appears only in the Gr. 'pq'e, on the ground; it has been connected by some etymologists with the Aryan root ar-, to plough, which is seen in
• EARTH, FIGURE OF
• EARTH, FIGURE OF THE

earth, only See also:

• WATER

water everywhere, over which at first hovered a formless Supreme Being called Pha . He took corporeal shape as a huge crab that See also:

• LAY

lay floating, See also:

• FACE (from Lat. fades, derived either from facere, to make, or from a root fa-, meaning " appear "; cf. Gr. cbatvstv)

face upwards, upon the See also:

• WATERS, TERRITORIAL

waters . In turn other animals took shape, the last being two See also:

• GOLDEN

golden See also:

• SPIDERS

spiders from whose excrement the earth gradually See also:

• ROSE
• ROSE (Rosa)
• ROSE, GEORGE (1744-1818)
• ROSE, HUGH JAMES (1795—1838)
• ROSE, WILLIAM STEWART (1775-1843)

rose above the surrounding ocean . Pha then formed a See also:

• FEMALE

female counterpart of himself, who laid four eggs, from which were hatched four sons . One of these was appointed to See also:

• RULE

rule the earth, but died and became a spirit . His son also died and became the See also:

• NATIONAL

national See also:

• HOUSEHOLD, ROYAL

household deity of the Ahoms . The origin of mankind is connected with a See also:

• FLOOD (in O. Eng. flod, a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. Ger. Flut, Dutch vloed, from the same root as is seen in " flow," " float ")
• FLOOD, HENRY (1732-1791)

flood-See also:

• LEGEND (through the French from the med. Lat. legenda, things to be read, from legere, to read)

legend . The only survivors of the flood, and of the conflagration that followed it, were an old See also:

• MAN
• MAN, ISLE OF (anc. Mona)

man and a See also:

• PUMPKIN

pumpkin-See also:

• SEED (from the root seen in Lat. serere, to sow)

seed . From the latter there See also:

• GREW, NEHEMIAH (1641-1712)

grew a gigantic See also:

• GOURD

gourd . This was split open by a thunderbolt, the old man sacrificing himself to See also:

• SAVE, or SAVA (Ger. Sau; Hungarian Szdva; Lat. Savus)

save the lives of those who were inside, and from it there issued the progenitors of the See also:

• PRESENT

present races of men, beasts, birds, fishes and See also:

• PLANTS

plants .

The kings claimed See also:

• INDEPENDENT

independent divine origin . The religion and See also:

• LANGUAGE (adapted from the Fr. langage, from langue, tongue, Lat. lingua)

language have both died out being only preserved by a few priests of the old cult; but even among them the tradition of the See also:

• PRONUNCIATION (Lat. pronuntiatio, from pronuntiare, proclaim, announce, pronounce)

pronunciation of the language has been lost . The Ahoms had a considerable literature, much of which is still in existence . Their historic sense was very fully See also:

• DEVELOPED

developed, and many priests and nobles maintained lru-ran jis (i.e . " stores of instruction for the ignorant "), or See also:

• CHRONICLES, BOOKS OF

chronicles, which were carefully written up from time to time . A few of these have been translated, but as yet no See also:

• EUROPEAN

European See also:

• SCHOLAR, SCHOLARSHIP

scholar possesses knowledge sufficient to enable him to study these valuable documents at first See also:

• HAND
• HAND (a word common to Teutonic languages; cf. Ger. Hand, Goth. handus)
• HAND, FERDINAND GOTTHELF (1786-185r)

hand . The Ahom language is the See also:

• OLDEST

oldest member of the Tai See also:

• BRANCH (from the Fr. branche, late Lat. branca, an animal's paw)

branch of the Siamese-See also:

• CHINESE, JAPANESE AND

Chinese linguistic See also:

• FAMILY

family of which we have any See also:

• RECORD (Lat. recordari, to recall to mind, from cor, heart or mind)

record . It bears much the same relationship to Siamese and Shan that Latin does to See also:

• ITALIAN

Italian . It is more nearly related to See also:

• MODERN

modern Siamese than to modern Shan, but possesses many See also:

• GROUPS
• GROUPS, THEORY

groups of consonants which have become simplified in both . It is a language of the isolating class, in which every word is a monosyllable, and may be employed either as a noun or as a verb according to its context and its position in a See also:

• SENTENCE (Lat. sententia, a way of thinking, opinion, judgment; vote, sentire, to feel, think)

sentence . In the See also:

• ORDER
• ORDER (through Fr. ordre, for earlier ordene, from Lat. ordo, ordinis, rank, service, arrangement; the ultimate source is generally taken to be the root seen in Lat. oriri, rise, arise, begin; cf. " origin ")
• ORDER, HOLY

order of words, the genitive follows the noun it governs, and, as usual in such cases, the relations of time and See also:

• PALACE (Lat. Palatium, the name given by Augustus to his residence on the Palatine Hill)

palace are indicated by prefixes, not by suffixes . The meanings of the monosyllables were differentiated, as in the other Tai See also:

• LANGUAGES

languages and in Chinese, by a system of tones, but these were rarely indicated in See also:

• WRITING
• WRITING (the verbal noun of " to write," O. Eng. writan, to inscribe)

writing, and the tradition regarding them is lost .

The language had an See also:

• ALPHABET (see also WRITING)

alphabet of its own, which was clearly related to that of Burmese . See E . A . Gait, A See also:

• HISTORY

History of Assam (See also:

• CALCUTTA

Calcutta, 1906) . For the language see The Linguistic Survey of See also:

• INDIA
• INDIA, FRENCH

India, vol. ii . (Calcutta, 1906) (contains See also:

• GRAMMAR (from Lat. grammatica, sc. ars; Gr. ypaµ)

grammar and vocabulary) ; G . A . Grierson, " Notes on Ahom," in the Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenlandischen Gesellschaft, vol. lvi., 1902, pp . 1 if . (contains grammar and vocabulary, with specimens), and " An Ahom See also:

• COSMOGONY (from Gr. K6Qµos, world and yiyvevGay to be born)

Cosmogony, with a See also:

• TRANSLATION

translation and a vocabulary of the Ahom language," in the See also:

• JOURNAL
• JOURNAL (through Fr. from late Lat. diurnalis, daily)

Journal of the Royal See also:

• ASIATIC

Asiatic Society for 1904, pp . 181 if . (G .

A .