A History of Assam c25: Appendix B. The Ahom System of Chronology
A History of Assam c25
- Language
- English
Contents
- c25.s1 Denary Series — 1 part
- c25.s2 Duodenary Series — 4 parts
Appendix B. The Ahom System of Chronology
c25.2
THE Ahoms, like the other Shān tribes, have no era in the ordinary sense of the word, but compute time by means of the larger Jovian cycle of sixty years, which they call a *tāosinga*. The same system is in vogue amongst the Chinese, Japanese, Mongols and other Eastern races; it is known also to Hindu astrologers, who call the cycle *Vrihaspati Chakra*, or the wheel of Jupiter. It may have been invented by the Chinese, who have dates in it as far back as the year 2637 B.C. The Chinese are said to use also the true Jovian cycle of twelve years for reckoning domestic occurrences, but this smaller cycle was not known to the Ahoms.
c25.3
The *lāklis*, or years in the cycle, are named, not numbered, and the names are formed by compounding words of two series, the former containing ten and the latter twelve words. The first word in the *tāosinga* is denoted by the combination of the first word of each series, and the tenth, by that of the tenth word of each; in the eleventh year the denary series is exhausted, so that year is denoted by the combination of the first word of the denary series and the eleventh word of the duodenary, the twelfth by the second word of the denary and the twelfth word of the duodenary, the thirteenth by the third word of the denary and the first word of the duodenary, and so on.
c25.4
The two series of words are given below, with their equivalents in Chinese, Japanese and Tibetan:—
Denary Series
c25.s1.1
| Serial Number. | Ahom. | Chinese. | Japanese. | Tibetan. |
| 1 | kāp | kea | kino-je | sing. |
| 2 | dāp | yih | kino-to | sing. |
| 3 | rai | ping | fino-je | me. |
| 4 | mung | ting | fino-to | me. |
| 5 | plek | wu | tsutsno-je | sa. |
| 6 | kāt | ke | tsutsno-to | sa. |
| 7 | khut | kang | kauno-je | l cag s. |
| 8 | rung | sin | kauno-to | l cag s. |
| 9 | tāo | gin | midsno-je | chu. |
| 10 | kā | kwei | midsno-to | chu. |
Duodenary Series
c25.s2.1
| Serial Number. | Ahom. | Chinese. | Japanese. | Tibetan. |
| 1 | tyeo | toze | ne | byi-ba |
| 2 | plāo | chāo | us | g lang. |
| 3 | ngi | yin | torru | s tag. |
| 4 | māo | māo | ov | yo-s. |
| 5 | si | shin | tats | b rug. |
| 6 | siu | sze | mi | sb rul. |
| 7 | singa | wu | uma | r ta. |
| 8 | mut | we | tsitsuse | l cag. |
| 9 | sān | shin | sar | sp rou. |
| 10 | rāo | yeo | torri | bya. |
| 11 | mit | seo | in | kyi. |
| 12 | keo | hā | y | pag. |
c25.s2.2
The Tibetans, it should be observed, compound their words so as to form a cycle not of sixty, but of 252 years. Their method is described in Csoma de Kőrös' Tibetan Grammar, pp. 147 and ff.
c25.s2.3
I have been unable to obtain any explanation of the Ahom words used in these series. The Chinese call the words in their denary series *tien kan*, or terrestrial signs, while those in the duodenary series are the horary characters, and are known as *teche* or celestial signs. The denary series in the Japanese system is made up of the elements, of which they reckon five, doubled by the addition of the masculine and feminine signs *je* & *to*; the second series consists of the signs of the zodiac. The Tibetans, like the Japanese, employ the names of the elements for the denary series, but, for the duodenary, they take the names of certain animals—mouse, ox, tiger, etc.
c25.s2.4
The Ahoms commence their first cycle in the year 568 A.D., so that in order to ascertain the year in our era, corresponding to an Ahom *lākli*, the number of completed *tāosingas* should be multiplied by sixty, the number of the *lākli*, or year in the current *tāosinga*, added, and also 568. In inscriptions, as well as in the Ahom *buranjis*, the name of the *lākli* alone is given, and not the serial number of the *tāosinga*, but it is universally reckoned that Sukāphā entered Assam in the first year of the twelfth *tāosinga*, and it is easy to keep a tally of the *tāosingas* from that time on, as numerous events occurring in each *tāosinga* are mentioned in all the *Buranjis*. Thus Supāṭphā's coins are dated in *lākli rāisān*. This is equivalent to the 33rd year, and as it must be the nineteenth *tāosinga*, the date will be 18 × 60 + 33 + 568 = 1681 A.D. This, according to the *Buranjis* is the year of Supāṭphā's accession to the throne.