// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did Moidam say to its date? "You're a grave match.
| UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
|---|---|
 Royal maidam at Charaideo, 2009 | |
 Interactive map of Moidam | |
| Official name | Moidams – the Mound-Burial System of the Ahom Dynasty |
| Location | Assam |
| Criteria | Cultural: (iii) (iv) |
| Reference | 1711 |
| Inscription | 2024 (46th Session) |
Frang-Mai-Dam or Moidam for short (Ahom:𑜉𑜩𑜓𑜝𑜪; meaning: Burial of the dead) is a traditional tumulus of the Ahom religion.[1] The royal maidams of Charaideo are listed as UNESCO world heritage site.[2][3] Today, the people of the four clans namely Mo-Hung, Mo-Cham, Chaodang and Mo-Plong follow the tomb tradition of Ahom religion.[1]
Structurally, a maidam consists of vaults with one or more chambers.[4] The vaults have a domical superstructure that is covered by a hemispherical earthen mound that rises high above the ground, with an open pavilion at the peak called chow chali. An octagonal dwarf wall encloses the entire maidam. The burial chambers were originally constructed of timber: the royal moidams of the thirteenth to seventeenth centuries were predominantly wooden, while stone and burnt-brick vaults came into use around the beginning of the eighteenth century.[5] The Archaeological Survey of India places this transition probably from the reign of Rudra Singha (1696–1714) and his successors.[6]
Burial is the predominant funeral rite of the Tai people, to which the Ahom people originally belonged. This is opposed to the Hindu system of cremation. After the Ahom kings adopted Hinduism, they chose to bury the ashes in mounds after cremation. The Ahom community in Assam consider the excavation an affront to their tradition, because the maidams are associated with Ahom ancestor worship and the festival of Me-Dam-Me-Phi.
Etymology
[edit]The word Moidam is a shorter form of the Tai-Ahom word Phrang-Mai-Dam.[7] Phrang-Mai means to bury, and Dam means dead ones or ancestral spirits.[7]
Maidams
[edit]The burial vault could contain one or more chambers serving different purposes. The principal chamber contained the body of the deceased king in the Rungdang (coffin), together with objects regarded as necessary for his life in the afterworld, while other chambers could accommodate servants and attendants, as well as horses and elephants.[8][9][10] The present height of Maidams has been reduced due to various natural calamities. In earlier times, at least 10 living persons were buried alive with the departed king to take care of him in the afterlife; however, this custom was abolished by Rudra Singha.
The height of the Maidams depended on the power of the kings; most of the Maidams were not designated by the name of kings, so most remain unidentified, except the Maidams of Gadadhar Singha and Rudra Singha. Most of the larger surviving maidams belong to the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
The construction materials of the royal tombs changed over time. According to the UNESCO nomination dossier, maidams dating from the thirteenth through the seventeenth centuries were constructed primarily of wood, while from the eighteenth century onwards stone and burnt bricks of various sizes were used.[5] The Chang-Rung Phukonar Buranji records the materials employed in the construction of the maidams of Rudra Singha, Siva Singha and Rajeswar Singha, including bricks and stones set with lime-based mortar.[5]
Archaeological evidence is consistent with this transition: Maidam No. 2 at Charaideo, a massive burnt-brick structure excavated by the Archaeological Survey of India in 2000–02, has been assigned to the first half of the eighteenth century on the basis of its artefacts, brickwork and literary evidence.[11] Royal burial was entrusted to hereditary groups associated with the funerary service. According to the Ahom chronicles, only members of the Gharphaliya and Lukhurakhan khels were permitted to bury kings and queens. Members of the two groups carried the Rung-Dang, or royal coffin, to Charaideo, while only the Lukhurakhans were permitted to enter the Kareng-rung-dang, the burial vault, to place the coffin before its entrance was sealed.[6]
Early royal burials could also involve the interment of human attendants. The Ahom chronicles record that both living and dead attendants were buried with members of the royalty, while the UNESCO nomination dossier states that the principal male and female attendants were originally placed inside the moidam to serve the deceased ruler in the afterlife.[6][12] Nirmal Kumar Basu, citing the Deodhai Asam Buranji, similarly records that personal attendants of a deceased king were buried with him and that attendants selected for the purpose were placed alive in the burial vault.[13] The practice of burying living attendants was abolished by Rudra Singha.[6] There was a specified officer called Chang-Rung Phukan responsible for the construction of Maidams. Chang-Rung Phukan was also the chief architect of the Ahom kingdom.[14] Officers called Maidam Phukans and guards called Maidamiya were appointed to protect and maintain the Maidams.
Historical documents called Chang-Rung Phukanor Buranji explain the construction and process of royal burials, including the articles buried. Later excavations by the Archaeological Survey of India found some of the maidams previously defiled,[15] with the articles mentioned in the Buranji missing. Many of the maidams were excavated and looted, most famously by the Mughal general Mir Jumla, who briefly occupied Garhgaon in the 17th century, and by the British after 1826.
Excavation
[edit]
Being famous for its vault treasure, Maidams also attracted many plunderers, from Mughals and the British to even local people, who have plundered the maidams multiple times. The earliest sketch of a Maidam was made in 1848 by Serjeant C. Clayton, who supervised an excavation of a Maidam in the 1840s.
In 2000–02, the Archaeological Survey of India, Guwahati circle excavated Maidam No. 2. It retained the characteristics of a full-fledged Maidam. The Maidam vault and covering earthen mound were made out of burned bricks and encircled by an octagonal boundary wall. There was a hole in the roof of the Maidam, indicating it was robbed earlier. The arched-shaped door of the maidam was found on the western side after it was excavated, which was originally covered with bricks and stone masonry. Though already robbed, it still yielded several artefacts, including skeleton remains of 5 individuals, ivory decorative pieces, several pieces of wooden objects (including a Xorai designed in the shape of a pillar), an ivory panel depicting royal Ahom insignia, carvings of elephants, peacock and floral motifs, etc. The exact dating of this Maidam couldn't be done, but it is estimated at the first half of the 18th century.[14]
Notes
[edit]- 1 2 Gohain, Dr. BK (2009). Tai-ahom Janagosthi Aru Tai Parampara Ed. 1st. p. 283.
- ↑ World Heritage List
- ↑ Kalita 2023, Times of India, Unesco ICOMOS Expert Arrives At Assam's Charaideo District, Vying For World Heritage Status
- ↑ (ASI 2007)
- 1 2 3 "Moidams – the Mound-Burial System of the Ahom Dynasty: Nomination Dossier". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. p. 9. Retrieved 21 September 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 "Maidams at Charaideo, Sivasagar, Assam" (PDF). Archaeological Survey of India, Guwahati Circle. 2014. pp. 4–5. Retrieved 21 September 2026.
- 1 2 Brochure on moidams at Charaideo, Sivasagar, Government of Assam p. 04
- ↑ Mitra, Debojit (2017). "An Analytical Study of Maidams of Ahom Kings in Comparison with Egyptian Pyramids" (PDF). International Journal of Advanced Research. 5 (5): 1694–1699. doi:10.21474/IJAR01/4298.
Inside the maidams, there are a number of chambers which were built for different purposes
- ↑ "Group of Four Maidams at Charaideo". Archaeological Survey of India, Guwahati Circle. Retrieved 21 September 2026.
- ↑ "Moidams – the Mound-Burial System of the Ahom Dynasty". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 21 September 2026.
- ↑ "Maidams at Charaideo" (PDF). Archaeological Survey of India, Guwahati Circle. p. 8. Retrieved 21 September 2026.
- ↑ "Moidams – the Mound-Burial System of the Ahom Dynasty: Nomination Dossier". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. p. 10. Retrieved 21 September 2026.
- ↑ Basu, Nirmal Kumar (1970). Assam in the Ahom Age, 1228–1826. Calcutta: Sanskrit Pustak Bhandar. pp. 217–218.
- 1 2 "Maidams at Charaideo" (PDF). 2014.
- ↑ (Dutta & Das 2003)
References
[edit]- Gogoi, Padmeswar (1976). Tai-Ahom Religion and Customs (1st ed.). Publication Board, Gauhati, Assam.
- ASI (2007). "Group of Maidams, Charaideo". Archaeological Survey of India, Government of India. Archived from the original on 2009-04-10. Retrieved 2007-11-30.
- Dutta, Pullock; Das, Ripunjay (3 January 2003). "Bounty hunters beat ASI to tombs". The Telegraph (Kolkata). Archived from the original on May 25, 2011. Retrieved 2007-12-06.
- Das, Ripunjay (2006-01-19). "Saving Ahom kingdom - Local youths push for Unesco tag to protect Charaideo". The Telegraph (Kolkata). Archived from the original on May 25, 2011. Retrieved 2007-12-06.
- Terweil, B J (1979). "Tai Funeral Customs: Towards a Reconstruction of Archaic-Tai Ceremonies". Anthropos. 74 (3/4): 393–432. JSTOR 40460011.
- Choudhury, Dr Satabdi Roy (2022-03-26). Amazing Assam. BFC Publications. ISBN 978-93-5509-778-1.
External links
[edit]
- Moidams in Dibrugarh District, Assam
- Lachit Moidam The Moidam of Lachit Borphukan.
- Multi-crore rupee project to give facelift to Ahom maidams The Telegraph, August 4, 2006.
