THE STATE AND THE RICE ECONOMY

Political setting

The land of Kamrup that once extended from the easternmost limits of the Brahmaputra valley to the banks of the river Karatoya was long in ruin when, in the early thirteenth century, Turko-Afghan adventurers from Bengal and the migrant Ahom (Tai) settlers from upper Burma appeared on the scene. No more was there any semblance of a central kingship left. Nor was it to reappear during the subsequent centuries under review. Instead, there persisted a fragmented political system. Several new tribal state formations, as well as a number of petty non-tribal and armed land-controllers (bhuyān/bhaumik) — the latter mostly concentrated in the western and central parts of the region — coexisted side by side.

The Ahoms were an advanced plough-using tribe. Their rudimentary state had at its base not only their own settlements but also the subjugated non-Ahom villages, both settled and shifting. The Ahom nobility had domains allotted to them, and at their head was the king chosen from the royal clan. The king appointed select noblemen to important offices and could dismiss them when necessary. In turn, he was himself appointed and could be removed from office by the council of the great nobles. The adult male population owed the obligation of periodic service to the state. The utilization of the manpower pool was organized by the king with the help of a hierarchy of officers. The latter were entitled to exploit a portion of the mobilized labour for their own private gains.