Why the Kachari Kingdom Belongs to the Dimasa People

Historical Evidence

The historical identification of the Kachari Kingdom with the Dimasa people is supported by historical records, colonial administrative records, inscriptions and historical works describing the Kachari rulers, their capitals and their identity.

The historical sequence of the kingdom connects Dimapur, Maibang and Khaspur as successive royal capitals of the same Kachari royal dynasty.

1. Dimapur, Maibang and Khaspur — Continuity of the Royal Dynasty

Colonial administrative records, early surveys, and regional chronicles establish that the ruins at Dimapur and Khaspur belong to the same royal dynasty (the Dimasa), representing its initial capital and its final capital, respectively.

• Dimapur (Dhansiri Valley): Sovereign capital of the Dimasa monarchs until the Ahom–Kachari conflicts of 1536 A.D.
• Maibang (North Cachar Hills): Intermediate capital established post-1536 A.D.
• Khaspur (Plains of Cachar): Final royal capital established in the mid-18th century following the marriage of Prince Laxmichandra to the princess of the Khaspur plain kingdom, continuing until British annexation under the Doctrine of Lapse in 1832 A.D. following the death of the last ruler, Govinda Chandra.
• Raja Govinda Chandra: The last ruler belonged to the Hasnu clan of the Dimasa and ruled until the British annexation of Cachar in 1832 A.D.

2. Khaspur Singhadwar Stone Inscription — 1740 CE

This is a stone inscription of the Dimasa king Ramachandra Narayan Hasnu which was installed in the year 1740.

This is a stone inscription from Dimasa king's reign and it was discovered near the Main Singhadwar by the Archaeological staff while working on 12th December, 2005.

After the death of the Dimasa king Kritichandra Narayan, his elder son Ramchandra Narayan ascended the throne in 1738 A.D and shifted his capital from Wa-bari to Khaspur in the year 1740.

The stone inscription tell about the inauguration of newly constructed Singhadwar (entrance gate) on a newly shifted Dimasa capital in 1740 A.D.

3. Sir Edward Gait — A History of Assam

In A History of Assam, Sir Edward Gait explicitly records the different names by which the Kachari people were known and specifically identifies the Dimasa name in North Cachar Hills.

“The Kachāris may perhaps be described as the aborigines, or earliest known inhabitants, of the Brahmaputra valley. They are identical with the people called Mech in Goālpāra and North Bengal. These are the names given to them by outsiders. In the Brahmaputra valley the Kachāris call themselves Bodo or Bodo fisā (sons of the Bodo). In the North Cachar Hills(now Dima Hasao) they call themselves Dimāsā, a corruption of Dimā fisā or "sons of the great river." They were known to the Ahoms as Timisā, clearly a corruption of Dimāsā, so that this name must have been in use when they were still in the Dhansiri valley.”

Gait further records that in the thirteenth century the Kachari kingdom extended along the south bank of the Brahmaputra and included the valley of the Dhansiri and the tract which now forms the North Cachar subdivision.

Position in 13th, 14th and 15th centuries:

“In the thirteenth century it would seem that the Kachāri kingdom extended along the south bank of the Brahmaputra, from the Dikhu to the Kallang, or beyond, and included also the valley of the Dhansiri and the tract which now forms the North Cachar subdivision. At that time, the country further west, though largely inhabited by Kachāris, appears to have formed part of the Hindu kingdom of Kāmata. Towards the end of this century, it is narrated that the outlying Kachāri settlements east of the Dikhu river…”

4. Rev. Sidney Endle — The Kacharis

Rev. Sidney Endle records the movement of the Kachari royal court from Dimapur to Maibong and subsequently to Khaspur.

“ Eventually, however, their ancient foes followed them up to their new capital, and about the middle of the sixteenth century the Ahoms succeeded in capturing and sacking Dimapur itself. The Kachari Raja thereupon removed his court to Maibong (" much paddy"), where the dynasty would seem to have maintained itself for some two centuries. Finally, however, under pressure of an attack by the Jaintia Raja the Kachari sovereign withdrew from Maibong to Khaspur in Kachar (circa 1750 A.D.). There they seem to have come more and more under Hindu influence, until about 1790 the Raja of that period, Krishna Chandra, and his brother Govinda Chandra made a public profession of Brahminism. They were both placed for a time inside the body of a large copper image of a cow, and on emerging thence were declared by the Brahmins to be Hindus of the Kshatriya caste, Bhima of Mahabharat fame being assigned to them as a mythological ancestor. Hence to this day the Darrang Kacharis sometimes speak of themselves as "Bhim-ni-fsa.," i.e. children of Bhim, though as a rule they seem to attach little or no value to this highly imaginative ancestry.”

Endle also records the historical distinction between the northern and southern sections of the Kachari people and specifically uses Dimása for the southern section.

“It may perhaps be asked how a people so clannish and united as the Kacháris are well known to be, should ever become so widely separated as the Western (Bara) and Southern (Dimása) sections now undoubtedly are. The separation would seem to be almost final and complete. The writer, e.g., has often tried to ascertain if the Kacháris of the Northern Duars retained any tradition of ever having been subject to the Raja of Dimápur; but up to the present time no trace of any such tradition has come to light. Intermarriage between the two sections of the race is apparently quite unknown; indeed, the barrier of language would of itself probably go far to prevent such intermarriage: for although the two languages have much in common, yet in their modern form they differ from each other nearly as much as Italian does from Spanish; and members of the two sections of the race meeting each other for the first time would almost certainly fail to understand each other's speech. Perhaps the following tradition,¹ which apparently describes one of the closing scenes in the prolonged struggle between the Chutiyá Kacháris and the Ahoms, may go some way to account for the wide separation between the Northern and Southern sections of the race. The story is as follows:—Long, long ago the Dimásá fought against a very powerful tribe (the Ahoms), and being beaten in a great pitched battle, the king with all his forces retreated. But presently further retreat was barred by a wide and deep river, which could in no way be crossed. The Raja, being thus stopped by a river in front and an enemy behind, resolved to fight once more the next day, unless the problem of crossing the river could be solved. With this determination he went to sleep…”

5. B. C. Allen — Assam District Gazetteers: Cachar

B. C. Allen's Assam District Gazetteers: Cachar, Volume I provides one of the clearest statements connecting the Kacharis of Cachar with the name Dimasa.

"The Kacharis of Cachar, or Dimasa, as they call themselves, are generally supposed to be a section of the great Bodo horde. This populous and powerful race is said to have had its origin somewhere between the upper waters of the Yang-tse-kiang and the Hoang-ho, to have spread in successive waves over Assam, and to have even penetrated as far south as the Tippera Hills. Mr. Dundas, lately Subdivisional Officer of North Cachar, reports that an old prayer is still in use amongst the Dimasa which refers to a huge pepul tree growing near the confuence of the Dilao (Brahmaputra) and the Sagi. It was here, according to the prayer, that they were born and increased greatly in numbers, and from here that they travelled by land and by water to Nilachal, the hill near Gauhati on which the temple of Kamakhya stands. From Nilachal they moved to Halali, and finally settled at Dimapur. Copper-plates which have been recently discovered, and which are ascribed to the tenth and eleventh centuries A.D., state that the descendants of Narak, one of the earliest kings of Kamarupa, were overthrown by Cala Stambha, a Mleccha or foreign conqueror. Cala Stambha was succeeded by twenty other foreign kings, and the line of Narak was then restored in the person of Brahma Pala. It thus seems possible that the Dimasa may for a time have ruled at Gauhati, and may have been driven from there eastwards into the valley of the Dhansiri. When the Ahoms entered the Assam Valley in 1228 A.D., the Dimasa occupied the western part of Sibsagar, and a considerable part of Nowgong in addition to the valleys of the Kapili and the Dhansiri."

6. Dimapur — The Ancient Capital

Major John Butler's Travels and Adventures in the Province of Assam describes the ruined masonry gateway, carved lingam-shaped and chessman monolith pillars of Dimapur and identifies the site as the ancient metropolis of the Kachari (Dimasa) Rajas prior to their retreat to Maibang and the plains.

7. The Royal Clan and Epigraphical Evidence

The rulers of Maibang and Khaspur adopted Sanskrit regnal names such as Meghanarayana, Yasonarayana and Govinda Chandra and the formal state title Herambesvara for royal legitimacy and diplomatic discourse.

The adoption of Sanskritized regnal titles did not supplant the indigenous ethnicity of the ruling dynasty.

On-site epigraphy at Maibang, including the Lion Gate/Singhadvara Inscription of Saka 1498 / 1576 CE, and contemporary silver tankas explicitly qualify the monarchs as Hāchengsā-vaṃśaja ("born of the Hāchengsā lineage").

The Hāchengsā (Hasnu) house is documented as the hereditary royal clan (sengphong) of the Dimasa people.

8. Government of India — Official Recognition

On 18 November 2019, the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, answered Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 109 titled “PRESERVATION OF HERITAGE SITES OF DIMASAS.”

“ASI has two protected monuments related to Dimasas, namely Cachari Ruins at Khaspur and Rock-cut Temple at Maibang.”

The official Government of India record therefore directly describes the Cachari Ruins at Khaspur as a monument related to Dimasas. It also identifies the Rock-cut Temple at Maibang in the same category.

Conclusion

The documentary evidence presented above connects the Kachari royal dynasty with the Dimasa people through historical descriptions, the succession of royal capitals, inscriptions and colonial historical records.

The historical sequence of Dimapur → Maibang → Khaspur represents the movement of the Kachari royal court, while the historical sources explicitly identify the people and ruling dynasty with the name Dimasa.

B. C. Allen expressly records: “The Kacharis of Cachar, or Dimasa, as they call themselves”.

Sir Edward Gait likewise records that the Kacharis of the North Cachar Hills called themselves Dimāsā, while Sidney Endle records the movement of the Kachari royal court from Dimapur to Maibong and finally to Khaspur.

Taken together, these historical records provide documentary evidence for identifying the Kachari royal dynasty and its kingdom with the historical Dimasa Kachari tradition.

Historical Sources

• Allen, B. C. — Assam District Gazetteers: Cachar, Volume I, 1905.
• Gait, Edward — A History of Assam, 1926.
• Endle, Sidney — The Kacharis, 1911.
• Butler, Major John — Travels and Adventures in the Province of Assam, 1855.
• Government of India, Ministry of Culture, Lok Sabha — Unstarred Question No. 109: “Preservation of Heritage Sites of Dimasas”, answered on 18 November 2019.
• Khaspur Singhadwar Stone Inscription, 1740 CE.
• Maibang Gateway/Lion Gate Stone Inscription, Śāke 1498 / 1576 CE.