07-07-2025
Diminishing roots of Tai Ahom language and its links with Thailand
The influence of ancient Tai culture in India and Thailand is evident in their language. People from Assam, a state in the northeast of India, for example call themselves "axomiya", with roots from the Tai Ahom community.
Tai language belongs to the Tai Kadai family and has three branches; Southwestern, Central, and Northern. Thai falls in the Southwestern group. Everyday terms have been retained in both Tai Ahom and Thai, illustrating the deep linguistic connection between the Tai peoples of Northeast India and Thailand.
The Tai Ahom trace their origins to the Mong Mao region, located in present-day Dehong, Yunnan province of China, or the Hukawng Valley in Myanmar.
Their settlement in Assam and subsequent assimilation with local peoples created an enduring cultural and historical bridge between the Tai world of Southeast Asia and Northeast India.
However, their traditional language is diminishing as modernisation remains a threat to indigenous culture.
Dr Damrongphon Inchan, the dean of the Faculty of Archaeology (Department of Anthropology), Silpakorn University, and also co-author of Festival Of Joys: Dai/Tai/Thai Songkran And BohagBihu Of The Tai Ahomstates, said: "Ahom people cannot communicate in Ahom language except the priest who can read ancient scripts and practise rituals. It is not commonly spoken now. Only some people who get training can speak to the priest's family."
The paper was presented at the 3rd Colloquium on the Dai's History and Culture (CDHC) in Yunnan, China, in April. Dr Damrongphon also participated in an international seminar titled "Recent Archaeological Pursuits In Burial Traditions Of South Asia And Southeast Asia" in Assam, India, in May.
Despite later assimilation with the local Assamese population, Tai Ahoms retained certain customs, rituals and festivals, some of which remain similar to those practised by Tai peoples in Thailand, such as the New Year "Sonkranti festival" and Assamese Bihu.
The Tai Ahom connection to both Thailand and Northeast India is rooted in their origins as part of broader Tai migrations from southern China and northern Southeast Asia, which included the territories of present-day Thailand.
In the early 13th century, a Tai prince named Sukaphaa led a migration from this area, moving through northern Myanmar and eventually settling in Assam, India, in 1228.
This migration was part of a broader movement of Tai peoples during the 11th to 13th centuries, when various Tai groups dispersed from southern China and northern Southeast Asia into regions that now comprise Thailand, Laos and Northeast India.
The reasons for these migrations likely included pressures from the expanding Chinese empire and the search for new lands suitable for wet-rice cultivation.
The Tai Ahom established a powerful kingdom in Assam that lasted nearly 600 years (1228–1826), paralleling the rise of Tai-led kingdoms in Thailand such as Sukhothai and Ayutthaya.
The Tai Ahoms brought with them traditions, language and wet-rice agriculture -- cultural features shared with Tai groups in Thailand and neighbouring regions.
The Tai Ahom community's advancements in literature shows a record of their history. The Buranjis chronicles reveal their history and culture written in their language and later translated into modern-day Assamese.
Dr Damrongphon said that he wants to revive Ahom language and history. He believes that through conferences and collaboration with the Tai community, their language and culture can be revived.
