A History of Assam c15.2

c15.2

The form of government amongst the Ahoms was somewhat peculiar. The king was at the head of the administration, but he was assisted by three great councillors of State, called Gohāins. The latter had provinces assigned to them, in which they exercised most of the independent rights of sovereignty, but, so far as the general administration of the State and its relations with other powers were concerned, their functions were merely advisory. They had, in this respect, no independent authority, but, in theory, the king was bound to consult them on all important matters, and was not permitted to issue any general orders, embark on war, or engage in negotiations with other states until he had done so. Neither was he considered to have been legally enthroned unless they had concurred in proclaiming him as king. The extent to which these rules of the constitution were observed varied with the personal influence and character of the king, on the one side, and of the great nobles, on the other. Some kings, such as Pratāp Singh, Gadādhar Singh and Rudra Singh appear to have followed their own wishes without much regard for the opinions of their nobles, while others, like Sudaiphā, Larā Raja and Kamalesvar Singh, were mere puppets in the hands of one or other of the great ministers of State. It has been said that the Gohāins had the right to depose a monarch of proved incapacity, but this is doubtful; and although there are several cases, such as those of Surāmphā and Sutyinphā, where the Gohāins took common action to eject unpopular rulers, there are more where their dethronement or assassination was the work of a single Gohāin or other noble, acting independently, and making no pretence to legality. The probability is that all such acts were equally unconstitutional.