The Chutia–Ahom conflicts were a series of military confrontations between the Chutia kingdom and the Ahom kingdom in the upper Brahmaputra Valley, culminating in the Ahom conquest of the Chutia state during the reign of Suhungmung. Although political contacts and an earlier confrontation between the two powers are recorded from the fourteenth century, sustained warfare began with the Ahom advance into Habung in 1512 and the Chutia campaign at Dikhowmukh and Dihingmukh in 1513 and 1520, respectively. The principal theatre of war subsequently shifted eastward, first to Dibrugarh, and finally to Sadiya and the adjoining hill forts located in present-day Arunachal Pradesh.

The war was not a continuous campaign. After an Ahom victory in 1513, the Chutias recovered the important frontier fort of Mungkhrang at Dihingmukh (present-day western Majuli)"About 250 years ago the Dihing (present Burhi-Dihing) flowed westerly through Sivsagar district to meet the Brahmaputra at the extreme western point of Majuli island (Sarma and Goswami, 2007). Over the centuries, the river Dihing has changed its courses many times...We find the earliest historical records of the valley after the coming of the Ahoms as the Buranjis or the Ahom chronicles mention about the conflict between the Ahoms and the Chutiyas on the bank of the river Dihing. The Satsari Asom Buranji refers to the Ahom-Chutiya conflict over the matter of fishing rights in the river Dihing which ultimately led to the annexation of the entire Chutiya territory upto Sadiya by the Ahoms during the reign of Suhungmung (p.56)." in 1520 and killed its Ahom commander. The Ahoms launched a renewed offensive in late 1522 at Dihingmukh, established a forward fort near the Dibru or Tiphao, defeated a Chutia counterattack in 1523, and advanced toward Sadiya. Peace negotiations failed when Suhungmung demanded the surrender of the principal Chutia royal insignia. The subsequent campaign ended with the defeat of the Chutia ruling house in 1523–24.

The annexation did not immediately secure the eastern territories for the Ahoms. Chutia resistance continued, with major uprisings in 1527 and 1529 and further outbreaks during the sixteenth century. The conquest nevertheless marked an important stage in the territorial expansion and administrative transformation of the Ahom state. The office of the Sadiya Khowa Gohain was established for the newly conquered Chutia capital region, while Chutia nobles, military personnel, artisans and specialised occupational groups were incorporated into the expanding Ahom polity.

Sources and chronology The detailed narrative of the conflicts is derived primarily from the Buranji chronicle tradition. Important accounts occur in the Tai-language Ahom Buranji, edited and translated by Golap Chandra Barua, the Deodhai Assam Buranji, the Satsari Assam Buranji, the Assam Buranji associated with the Sukumar Mahanta manuscript, and several other Assamese chronicles.

Early relations Contacts during Sukaphaa's period The Buranjis place contacts between the Chutias and the Ahoms as early as the period of Sukaphaa. Some accounts state that Chutias, together with Morans and Borahis, were encountered and incorporated into Sukaphaa's following during his movement through Upper Assam. The traditions include the origins of several later Ahom families or offices among groups of Chutias who had been taken into the early Ahom settlement."পূৰ্বে চুকাফা মহাৰাজৰ দিনত চুটিয়াৰ গাঁঞো মাৰি এটা মানুহ আনিলে, সি‌ ঝলম বাটিব পাৰে। পাচে মহাৰাজা ঝলম বটা দেখি স্বৰ্গদেৱৰ ঘৰত চয়জৰি বটাকৈ দিলে। চাঙ্গচাই নাম দি আহামৰ লগত থাকিব দিলে।" "বাটত আহোঁতে পূৰ্বে চুকাফা দেৱে "গৰীয়া" বোলা পলৰীয়া মানুহ এঘৰ পাই আনিছিল। তাৰে সতি-সন্ততিক পাই এইজনা(চুবিনফা) ৰজাদেৱে 'চইজৰি বটাকৈ' দিলে, নাম থলে "চেঙ্গচাই"; বেজিৰ কামো কৰিবলৈ দিলে। পাছে সেই ঘৰকে পাছলৈ 'বকতিয়াল' বুলিলে।" At the political level, relations appear to have remained generally peaceful during much of the early Ahom period. The Satsari Assam Buranji states that an alliance or cordial relationship with the Chutia ruler had existed from the time of one of Sukaphaa's sons until the reign of Sutuphaa. Historian Yasmin Saikia notes that, faced with significant political opposition from the Kacharis, the early Tai-Ahoms sought friendship with the Chutias, although an attempt to establish such relations in the mid-fourteenth century was unsuccessful and was followed by a lull of nearly a century.: "Faced with significant political opposition from the Kacharis, the Tai-Ahoms sought the friendship of the Chutias. An early attempt, in the mid-fourteenth century, did not produce positive results and there was a lull for nearly a century." Historian Jae-Eun Shin consequently describes the confrontation under Sutuphaa as the first clearly recorded political conflict between the two states.

Death of Sutuphaa In the late fourteenth century, the Ahom king Sutuphaa was invited by the Chutias to a meeting near the Safrai River. A dispute arose, and Sutuphaa was seized and killed. The chronicles differ over the circumstances of his death. Some traditions state that he was killed by being trampled by a bull, while others describe his murder aboard a boat. The Tai-language Ahom Buranji simply records that the Tiora or Chutias took him away and killed him, without explicitly naming a Chutia king as responsible. Sutuphaa's death was followed by an interregnum in the Ahom kingdom. The Ahom Buranji places the interval at four years. His successor Tyao Khamti subsequently led an expedition against the Chutias to avenge the killing, but was unsuccessful. No sustained war between the kingdoms is recorded for more than a century thereafter.

Background

Territorial situation before the war

On the eve of the sustained conflict, the Chutia kingdom was ruled from Sadiya or Sadhayapura and controlled a broad region of Upper Assam together with adjoining plains and foothills of present-day Arunachal Pradesh. Its principal territory has been reconstructed as extending through the valleys of the Subansiri, Brahmaputra, Lohit and Dihing,"In the main, however, their territory was confined to the river valleys of the Suvansiri, Brahmaputra, Lohit, and the Dihing." while Habung on the north bank formed a Chutia dependency."Before its annexation by Ahoms, Habung was a Chutia dependency." Some scholars place the kingdom's wider reach westwards to the Viswanath region"..the Chutiya kingdom was bound by the Himalayas on the north, river Burhi Dihing on the south, Patkai ranges on the east and Bharali river in the west. Robinson and, following him, N.N.Acharya, are of the opinion that the Chutia kingdom extended up to Viswanath in the present Darrang district of Assam.""Though the geographical extent of these rulers' power is not yet known in detail, according to Neog, the present-day North Lakhimpur district of Assam, which covers the find sites of most inscriptions, perhaps formed a part of their political dominion. If architectural continuity is admitted between the fortifications in the Sadiya region and the Burai river ruin site, it would be possible to believe that the kingdom of these rulers extended as far as the outer limit of Darrang district, to the westernmost extent of which Ahom conquerors settled the vanquished Chutiyas in the early part of the sixteenth century." and northward into present-day Arunachal Pradesh, including the Itanagar area., with the Burhi Dihing flowing south of present-day Majuli identified as its southern limit."..the Chutiya kingdom was bound by the Himalayas on the north, river Burhi Dihing on the south, Patkai ranges on the east and Bharali river in the west" "About 250 years ago the Dihing (present Burhi-Dihing) flowed westerly through Sivsagar district to meet the Brahmaputra at the extreme western point of Majuli island (Sarma and Goswami, 2007). Over the centuries, the river Dihing has changed its courses many times...We find the earliest historical records of the valley after the coming of the Ahoms as the Buranjis or the Ahom chronicles mention about the conflict between the Ahoms and the Chutiyas on the bank of the river Dihing. The Satsari Asom Buranji refers to the Ahom-Chutiya conflict over the matter of fishing rights in the river Dihing which ultimately led to the annexation of the entire Chutiya territory upto Sadiya by the Ahoms during the reign of Suhungmung (p.56). However, it was only in the second decade of the sixteenth century, the area was brought under the control of the Ahoms and before that the whole territory of present-day Dibrugarh was under the Chutiyas."

The Ahom kingdom, by comparison, was concentrated in southeastern Upper Assam before the territorial expansion under Suhungmung. Sukaphaa's original principality was established in the tract between the Dikhow and the Burhi Dihing, while his successor Suteuphaa extended the western boundary to the Namdang River, a tributary of the Dikhow. After this, it remained broadly unchanged for nearly two centuries."Sukapha, the founder of the Ahom kingdom, crossed the Patkai hills and carved out a principality of his own in the south-eastern corner of the present district of Sibsagar, and the eastern corner of the present Tinsukia district between the river Dikhow and the Buri-Dihing... Sukapha was succeeded by his son Suteupha (1268–1281), who extended the western boundary up to the Namdang river by applying diplomacy with the Kacharis. From Subinpha, the third king, to Supimpha (1493–1497) the thirteenth king, the boundary of the Ahom kingdom remained unchanged." Towards the north, the Burhi Dihing formed the frontier. The historical course of the Dihing ran considerably farther west than the modern Burhi Dihing, flowing through the Sivasagar region before joining the Brahmaputra near the western end of Majuli, making the river system an important northern and western limit of early Ahom expansion. On the east, the Patkai range formed the recognised boundary with the Tai polity of Möng Kawng. Following the Mong Kwang invasion during the reign of Sudangphaa, a treaty concluded in 1401 formally fixed the Patkai as the boundary between the two kingdoms."There were no further hostilities, and a formal treaty was concluded in 1401 by which the Pātkāi was fixed as the boundary between the two countries." Thus, immediately before Suhungmung's expansion, the Ahom realm remained a relatively compact polity centred on the Sibsagar-Charaideo–Namrup–Tipam region, bounded broadly by the Burhi Dihing system towards the Chutia territories to the north and west, the Namdang–Dikhow region towards the Kachari territories to the south and south-west, and the Patkai hills to the east.

Suhungmung and the advance into Habung

The balance changed during the reign of Suhungmung (1497–1539), under whom the Ahom kingdom entered a period of rapid territorial expansion. In 1512, the Ahoms advanced into Panbari in Habung (a Chutia dependency)."Before its annexation by Ahoms, Habung was a Chutia dependency""He first annexed Habung in 1512, a Chutiya dependency until then. Thereafter, the whole of the Hinduised Chutiya kingdom." "He annexed the Chutiya dependency of Habung in 1512" There he came across the Brahminfamily which had earlier brought up the Bamunia Konwar. Suhungmung took the Brahmin into his service, presented him with a gold sacred thread, and appointed him an officer responsible for supplying fodder for elephants. The advance was strategically significant because Habung lay on the northern side of the riverine frontier between the two states. Buranji accounts represent the Dihing and its associated channels as an important dividing zone, with Chutia territory to the north and the Ahom domains to the south.

The Dihing fishing dispute