Who was the last true Swargadeo (Ahom King) ? Author : Muhammad Talha Amin Baruah

Title : Who was the last true Swargadeo (Ahom King) ? 

Author : Muhammad Talha Amin Baruah

It is a matter of historical debate about who is actually the last Ahom king, some say it's Purandar Singha, while some say its Jogeswar Singha, while there are some who consider it to be Gomdhar Konwar. Let us look at history and historical facts to find out who is the last Ahom ruler in reality. After the Konbuang dynasty of Burma attacked the Ahom kingdom and seized control of the entire kingdom by 1819, Chandrakanta Singha (also known as Sudingphaa) became the new emperor of the Ahom Kingdom with the help of the Burmese. It was chandrakanta who called the Burmese in the Ahom territory in order to overthrow Purandar Singha. 

In the beginning, the Burmese and Chandrakanta were friends, but the Burmese made Chandrakanta feel like he was a puppet king. Chandrakanta soon came into conflict with the Konbuang dynasty because he willed to be a free King, not bound by any alien control. Therefore, Chandrakanta was replaced with Jogeswar Singha as an acting king by the Burmese in 1821. Later when the Britishers defeated the Burmese, the treaty of Yandaboo was signed between both the parties on 24th of February, 1826. This treaty officially ceded the territory previously of Ahoms, to the British East India Company. Britishers had promised the Ahoms that they would return the kingdom back to its legitimate ruler after the battle. But later on, the EIC didn't carry out their promise and kept the territory under them. This led to a rebellion of the Ahoms in 1828, led by an Ahom prince Gomdhar Konwar, popularly known as the Ahom rebellion. At this point, Ahoms had declared Gomdhar as the new emperor following the Ahom coronation rituals in Jorhat. But the Britishers caught Gomdhar and he was sentenced to death. 

In modern literature, Gomdhar is sometimes considered and referred to, as the last Ahom king. A similar attempt for liberation was made by Gadadhar Singha II in 1829, which also failed. Another revolt occurred in 1830, led by Piyali Phukan. After these events, the Britishers finally decided that they would restore the Ahom kingdom, but only as a vessel. In 1833, Purandar Singha was selected to rule. Purandar's rule was only limited to present-day Sivsagar and Lakhimapur. His reign lasted till 1838, when he was desposed from his post after he failed to pay revenue to the British East India Company. This was actually not the end. In 1847, Jubraj Kameswar Singha was permitted by the British Government to use the title of 'Raja' in his name, but he practically had no territory to rule. 

In 1857, when the great revolt for independence started, Maniram Dewan decided that he would restore the Ahom kingdom. According to certain historians, Maniram has always dreamt of restoring the Ahom kingdom since the day Purandar was dethroned. Kandarpeshwar Singha (grandson of Purandar Singha) was supposed to be crowned by Maniram Dewan on the day of Durga Puja (probably 26 September 1857), but the Britishers uncovered their plan and the revolt was suppressed, most rebels being executed or sent to jail. Kandarpeshwar was also arrested and kept in royal jail, but was later released (probably because he was only a teenager and Queen Victoria had granted amnesty to those who didn't soak their hands in the blood of any whites) with a pension of ₹500 per month. Some historians thus consider that Kandarpeshwar was a king and refer to Kandarpeshwar as 'Swargadeo Kandarpeshwar Singha' or King Kandarpeshwar Singha. It is noted that Kandarpeshwar was given the title of 'Charing Raja' in 1848. In conclusion, the last legitimate Ahom ruler without any external control is Gondhar Konwar and the last ruler with external control is also Purandar Singha (referring to his rule from 1833-38, under the British East India Company). While it's not completely wrong to consider Purandar's grandson Kandarpeshwar Singha as the last Ahom king, but since he like his father didn't rule any territory of their own and were kings only by name.


Hence, it is pretty debatable whether he (Kandarpeshwar) is the last ahom king or not. Therefore the conclusion is that Gomdhar Konwar is the last Ahom king since he owned a small piece of territory during his rebellion, neither was he bound to any external control and he ascended the throne as per the Tai Ahom rituals.