A History of Assam c15.s1.20

c15.s1.20

Explanation of titles of Ahom kings and nobles. The tribal names of the Ahom kings usually commenced with *Su*, meaning "tiger" (cf. *Singh*, lion), and ended with *phā*, meaning "heaven." Thus Sukāphā, "a tiger coming from heaven" (*kā*, come); Sunenphā, "a beautiful tiger of heaven" (*nen*, beautiful); Supātphā, "a lace-like tiger of heaven" (*pāt*, lace); and Sukhrungphā, "a furious tiger of heaven" (*khrung*, furious). In a few cases the final syllable was not *phā*, as in the case of Suhungmung, "the tiger of a renowned country," (*hung*, renowned and *mung*, country).