Do you want to get lost in history?
A glimpse of my motherland’s glorious history
Do you want to get lost in history?
No, I am not talking about Outlander, although Jamie would be a delightful companion. I am talking about Assam’s very own history. I often remember the beautiful Bihu days I spent in Sivasagar back in 2019. Apart from the fact that I finally got to meet my online bestie Gayatri, I spent the majority of my time there amidst the remnants of our illustrious past.
Don’t you wonder how the Ahom Swargadeos lived? Did their queens have retinues of servants and lady companions to keep them happy? Did the princesses frolic about in the beautiful and lush gardens of Assam? Did the princes learn to hunt and fight alongside their fathers and uncles? But then again, I go back to thinking about the harshness we associate with the story of Gadadhar Singha’s ascension to the throne and the torture and death of his beloved wife, Joymoti.
Because that is what we think of when we think about royalty, do we not? Did these Ahom royals live resplendently or did they have an ounce of normality in them, like us Assamese today? The very perception of royalty brings a very Western or central-Indian picture into our minds. But what were our very own royals like? History books will never be enough. Because the bravery we associate with Lachit Borphukan does not seem to…
