A History of Assam c11.5

c11.5

The story of the creation as told in Ahom traditions is crude and fantastic, but a brief outline of it may not be altogether devoid of interest.* In the beginning, it is said, there were neither gods nor men, animals nor any living thing. There was no earth, no air, no sun, no moon, no stars, but water only. There was a Supreme Being called Phā, from whom a great light emanated, but he had no corporeal existence and remained suspended in the sky, “like a swarm of bees in a hive.” He first assumed shape himself, and then created from his own body a being named Khun-thiw-khām, whose appearance was that of a huge crab, and who lay floating in the waters with his face upwards. A tortoise was next created and a large serpent with eight hoods, also a large white elephant with long tusks. A mountain was made in the north, and a pillar, to which a rope was affixed, was placed on the top of it. Then two large gold-tinted spiders were brought into existence, and from their excrement the earth gradually formed above the waters. They made the heavens with their webs, passing quickly backwards and forwards like a woman working her loom. In due course Phā created a female counterpart of himself, who laid four eggs, from which were hatched after many years four sons. Three of them were appointed to rule the earth, the serpent and the thunder, respectively, while the fourth remained to assist his father in the subsequent acts of creation. The eldest son, the lord of the earth, contravened his father’s orders, and although he did so inadvertently, he had to suffer death, and became a spirit. His son, who succeeded him as ruler of the earth, died in his turn, and became a household deity who looks after the welfare of families. Another spirit, whose origin is not explained, took up his abode in a *pipal* tree. Seeing that the world was not going on properly, God created a poet.