Sukhrungphaa

Joysagar Lake in Sibsagar

Sukhrungphaa (reign 1696-1714), or Rudra Singha, was a Tungkhungia king of the Ahom kingdom under whom the kingdom reached its zenith of power and glory. Rudra Singha, known as Lai before he became the king, was the son of the previous Ahom king Gadadhar Singha. An illiterate (probably dyslexic), he is best known for building a coalition of rulers in the region and raising a vast composite army against the Mughal Empire. He died on the eve of his march west from Guwahati.

His father had to escape persecution by the previous Ahom king and his mother, Sati Joymati, was killed in royal custody. He established his capital at Rangpur.


Reign

Though he was an illiterate himself, he had an expansive and progressive political vision, just as Akbar had. Rudra Singha subjugated the Dimasa (1706) and the Jaintia kingdoms. His father had removed the last vestiges of the Mughal rule in Assam, and he planned to extend his kingdom up to the Karatoya river, the traditional western boundary of the erstwhile Kamarupa kingdom. He began forming an alliance with different kingdoms and positioned himself at Guwahati for the expedition with a large army and fleet, along with the troops from the Dimasa-Kacharis (14,000), the Jaintiyas (10,000) and the Daflas (600), when he died. The later kings did not follow up on his plans.

Rudra Singha reversed the persecution of the Vaishnava xatras during Gadadhar Singha's reign and reinstated the xatra preceptors, including Chaturbhujdeva the satradhikari of Mayamara xatra, in their former seatsBut he forbade the sudra satradhikars from initiating brahmins and brahmins from vising sudra monasteries, under the influence of the gosain of Auniati xatra who was the royal perceptor.


Administrative works

He encouraged exchanges with other kingdoms and sent ambassadors to other royal houses in various parts of India. He created khels or official positions for specifically for diplomacy, like Khaund, Kotoki, Bairagi, Doloi, Kakoti. He sent men to Delhi to learn music and Brahman boys to Gurukuls for Vedic and Sanskrit studies. He brought architects from outside for constructing the palace and other buildings in the new capital city, Rangpur. He introduced Mughal style dresses in the Ahom court. He encouraged the culture of local folk music and dance and appointed officers called Gayan Baruas. It is said that he was first Ahom king to have the Bihu celebrated in the courtyard of the palace and gave royal patronage to Bihu.

As he grew older, he felt more and more drawn towards Saktism and decided to become a sakta. However, he died before his initiation could be completed. He instructed his sons to invite the Bengali priest Krishna Ram Bhattacharyya and accept him as their religious guide.
Joysagar Lake in Sibsagar

Civil works

In the honour of the memory of his mother Sati Joymati, he dug the Joysagar tank the world largest man made tank covering comprising an area of 318 acres (1.29 km2) of land including its four banks. In 1703 he built the Rangnath (Shiva) Temple near the Borduar or main gate way on way from the Joysagar tank to the Talatal Ghar to offer prayer to Lord Shiva. In front of Rangnath Dol a pyramid shaped temple was constructed in 1703 - 04, in order to perpetuate the memory of his mother Sati Joymati, which was actually the maidam of Joymati. There are numerous other architectural monuments and structures credited to him including the Kareng Ghar (The royal palace at Rangpur) about 4 km west of Sibsagar town, the Namdang stone bridge of Gaurisagar, the Kharikatia Ali (ali means road in Assamese) the road leading from Kharikatia to Titabor, Metaka Ali, etc. The Namdang bridge, a stone bridge 60 m long , 6.5 m wide and 1.7 m thick was built over the Namdang river in 1703, is one of the best example of workmanship and engineering skill of the Ahom era. This bridge is on the National Highway no.37 and has been proudly providing service for the last 300 years.