By Arup Saikia
arupsaikia07@gmail.com
(Author Arup Saikia is a noted cultural enthusiast, writer, Bhaona artiste and alumnus of the University of Delhi.)
As we know, the movement of religious equality feeds on democratic society or vice versa. Feudalism is barren land for them. The situation of Sankardeva's religion is not an exception to it. Geographically the Ahom kingdom is located at the end of mainland India. Even the Koch kingdom is also more accessible to the main Indian soil. So democracy is far from imagination. There was only one positive sign in the kingdom. Being a virgin tribal state, the people are not acquainted with the religious casteism of Hinduism. That time the names of kingdoms were named after communities, like the Ahom, Chutiya or Koch kingdoms, etc. After the demise of Koch king Nara Narayana, the kingdom was weakened and divided. The Ahom monarchy filled the power vacuum in major parts of Assam. With the expansion of the Ahom kingdom, the state machinery had to run on the physical labour of the subjects. With numerous stratifications, a strong, fully fledged, classified state had emerged.
Not totally feudal. So the classified word is used. Therefore the religious environment also became very inconvenient and challenging. The Ahom empire was transformed into an unreasonably racist state in the eighteenth century. The bitter racism was fully grown during the reign of monarch Pratap Singha. Technically, monarchy wants to sustain the "Paik" (worker community) system. The assimilation or frequent people-to-people interaction is harmful for monarchy. The punishment for intercaste marriage or mix-up is very severe. Even once some Brahmins were demoted to the "Kaibarta" community for mutually sharing a public feast. The Bhuyans were apostles of the Vaishnavite cult. They have led or worked for many Vaishnavite monasteries, or "Than". One reputed Vaishnavite missionary, Mukunda Bhuyan, was decapitated for advocating a casteless society.
(Mukunda Bhuyan administered the marriage ceremony, monitoring "Lagoon" conferring rituals. He was imprisoned and killed. One Koibarta person, namely Sanjay of Borhat, arranged a "Borsabah" (big feast). All the communities were invited, like Koibarta, Hari, Ahom, etc. The public gathered across caste. His chest was severed.)
Excerpted from
"Satsari Asom Buranji" (page 105) by Dr Surya Kumar Bhuyan.
Dr TulTul Borah wrote in "Itihasar Jalangare Sri Sri Kamalabari Satrar Satapallab" (Page-105).---------"The first Bhuyan missionary, Badla Ata, came to upper Assam. He was captured several times by the king's army. The arrested devotees were put to work in an agricultural field."
Dr Raktim Ranjan Saikia views the matter in "Prak Oupanibesik Asomor Arthanoitik Itihas" as follows:
Now the rulers thought of an idea on how to mitigate the anger caused by feudal exploitation. The rulers of the growing Ahom kings understood that it wasn't possible to unite all these people through the casteist Brahmin's "Shakta" religion or the traditional tribal religious custom. Because most people of the kingdom were almost tribal. Therefore, as an alternative, they needed an acceptable, strong, somewhat free religion from the rigidity of abominable racism.
The above-mentioned contention is nothing but the compulsion of the Ahom monarchy to formally convert to Vaishnavism. Their acceptance of Vaishnavite ideals is not an expression of cordiality or devotion. We can term it properly as strategic conversion or "Sham Vaishnavism". There's a noteworthy reference related to the above two words. Many shows originated in the form of "Ankiya Bhaona" in the post-Sankari period. People call it only "Bhaona", omitting the word "Ankiya".But prominent Sankari scholar Dr Maheswar Neog names it as "Pseudo Bhaona" instead.
CONFLICTS OF IDEOLOGY
The Ahom monarchs were already accustomed to classification. A non-industrialised rural state maintains division in manual labour only. More precisely, to erect religious shields to attain the end. The likes of education or health issues are beyond their thinking periphery. The casteist Brahmanical Hinduism is the safest haven to run the kingdom and take refuge. So the horse of the Sankari Bhakti movement halted here suddenly. Ahom monarch Swargadeu Jayadhwaj Singha for the first time formally accepted Hinduism in 1654. He donated land to establish "Auniati Satra" in modern Majuli. Hinduism entered the Ahom court through Brahmins only at the very beginning also. The Ahom monarchs used to write "Chao-Pha" as a prefix.But Suhungmung (1497-1539) was the first Ahom king to adopt a Hindu name. They were begun to be addressed instead as "Swargadeu" since the coronation ceremony. Likewise, Dakshinpat Satra was also established, headed by a Brahmin saint, Banamali Dev, under royal patronage. The Bhuyans also didn't remain inactive. They have a mass popular base among the common citizens of interior places. The Bhuyans have changed the track. They took a turn towards rural roads from the highway, in layman's language. The non-Brahmin Bhuyans approached the middle- and lower-rank officials of the Ahom monarchy. In turn, they happily patronised their ideal of egalitarian ethos. The post Sankari Bhuyans had gone through hard work to spread the ideology. The central officers of the monarchy didn't bother to think about the happening in the remotest area.
It's generally said that Sankari Vaishnavas, or Sankardeva, were much persecuted in the Ahom kingdom. The Ahom monarchs, not the general Ahom people, were against Sankardeva. The following two examples are, we think, sufficient to validate the point.
"Srimanta Sankardeva's grandson is Chaturbhuj Thakur. His wife, Aai Kanaklata, had rediscovered "Barduwa than" in the middle of the seventeenth century. The Ahom officer Tongosu Phukan had helped her during the entire period." (P-164)
"An Ahom officer, namely Khanikar Baruah, has sponsored the Kanshapar Satra of Sologuri." (P-166)
Both references are excerpted from "Pabitra Asom" by Dr Maheswar Neog.
Moreover, Tongosu Phukan sponsored and became a disciple of Bali Satra. (P-166, Pabitra Asom, by Dr Maheshwar Neog)
Famous Vaishnav Badala Ata was also assisted to ride a boat by an Ahom officer, Handique. Historian Surya Kumar Bhuyan again wrote in "Satsari Asom Buranji"-"The greatest king of Ahom, Rudra Singha, also later sponsored some Bhuyan Satra for political compulsion."It's noteworthy to say that Aai Kanaklata is a symbol of woman liberty. Aai Kanaklata established the Vaikunthapur satra to the south of Tamranga. Another female head of a monastery is Aai Bhubaneswari. She is the daughter of Haridev and remains a spinster to discharge her duties.
Therefore, we can conclude that non-Brahmanical satras are promoted and contributed to by like-minded Ahom officers. Besides the stiff resistance of the monarchs, the acceptance of Sankari ideals among common Ahoms is a sign of mass socio-cultural leadership.
But the prominent Damodari, or Brahmanical, Satras were incessantly sustaining prominence and command. The culture of Assam is not unitary at all. The number of tribes residing here is almost equivalent to that of the total Indian tribes. So the friction between Sankari and non-Sankari will remain. But it's confirmed that Sankardeva is the household name of Assam. If Assam is the earth, Sankardeva is its axis. People are pro- or anti-Sankardeva. His relevance is genuinely indelible in Assam.