A History of Assam c11.141

c11.141

From Sukāphā to the accession of Khorā Raja, alias Sukhāmphā, in 1552 A.D. there is complete agreement in the matter of dates between the *Buranji*s and the printed accounts of Kāsināth, Robinson and Gunābhirām. From the death of Jayadhvaj Singh in 1663 they again agree, but the dates of the intermediate kings differ by several years in each case. According to Kāsināth, from whom Robinson and Gunābhirām apparently drew their information, Sukhāmphā died after a reign of fifty-nine years, and was succeeded in 1611 by Pratāp Singh, who was followed by Bhagā Raja in 1649, Nariya Raja in 1652 and Jayadhvaj Singh in 1654. The *Buranji*s, on the other hand, agree in ascribing to Sukhāmphā a reign of fifty-one years only, and place his death and Pratāp Singh’s accession in 1603, the accession of Bhagā Raja in 1641, that of Naria Raja in 1644, and that of Jayadhvaj Singh in 1648. I prefer to accept the dates given in the *Buranji*s because they are the original records, and are all in complete accord.∗ It is much more likely that Kāsināth made a mistake than that he should have had access to records (all of which have now disappeared) which proved that the dates given in all the surviving *Buranjis* are wrong. Again, the *Buranjis* are very accurate in all the dates which can be tested by reference to Muhammadan histories, *e.g.*, the Muhammadan wars of 1615, 1637 and 1662, and their correctness in respect of other dates may therefore be relied on. It may be added that some of them are very detailed; some event or other is narrated in almost every year of each reign, and the month and day of the month is also frequently stated. If the dates of accession were incorrect, all these dependent dates would also have to be rejected. Lastly, if Sukhāmphā did not die till 1611, he must have reigned for fifty-nine years, which would be an extraordinarily long period, being about four times the average duration of an Ahom king's reign.