A team of local explorers has reported a potentially significant historical find deep within the Deoparbat jungle near Numaligarh — a series of ancient brick-walled water tanks, or pukhuris, that they believe may date back to the 16th century.
The discovery was made on March 21 by a group led by Pranab Jyoti Sharma, accompanied by Srimanta Hazarika and Monjit Bora, in an area of the jungle that has not previously been subject to formal archaeological surveys.
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The significance of the discovery lies in where the tanks were found — on the 'Marunghee' (Morangi) frontier, a location directly tied to one of Assam's most enduring historical legends.
According to historical texts, the Ahom kingdom and the Kachari (Kosaree) chief once contested ownership of the Morangi region through an unusual engineering challenge: whichever side could successfully retain water in a tank built on the hilltop of Marunghee hill would claim the territory.
The Ahom representative, Koncheng Borpatra Gohain, reportedly sealed his tank using black tenacious clay, winning the contest — and the land — for the Ahom kingdom.
The uncovering of brick-lined tanks at this precise high-altitude jungle location has led the explorers to believe these may be the actual Trial Tanks from that contest, or commemorative structures built shortly after the event.
If verified, the find would represent the first known physical evidence of this chapter of Assam's history — a story previously known only through written historical accounts.
The discovery has not yet been formally assessed by archaeologists, and independent verification will be necessary to establish the age and origin of the structures.