Rangpur (pron: ˈræŋpʊə or ˈræŋgpʊə), 4th capital of the Ahom kingdom, was established by Swargadeo

Rudra Singha Sukhrungphaa (reigned 1696–1714), or Swargadeo Rudra Singha, was a Tungkhungia ahom king and 30th king of the Ahom kingdom under whom the kingdom reached its zenith of power and glory, he is considered as the most illustrious of the Ah ...

in 'Meteka' in 1707 after shifting the capital from

Garhgaon Gargaon (Pron:/gɑ:ˈgɑ̃ʊ/) is a town in Assam, India and was the capital of the Ahom kingdom for many years. It was built by the Ahom king Suklenmung (Gargoyaan Rojaa) in 1540. It is said that the capital was built at the suggestion of ...

. It is currently a part of

Sibsagar Sivasagar (Pron: or ) ("the sea of Shiva"), is a city in and headquarters of the Sivasagar district, Assam. Sivasagar is situated about 360 kilometers (224 mi) northeast of Guwahati. It is well known for its Ahom palaces and monuments. S ...

town. The place holds many monuments build by the Ahom dynasty, the most notable of which are the

Talatal Ghar The ''Talatal Ghar'' ) is an 18th century palace and military base located in Rangpur, from present-day Sivasagar, Assam, India. It is the largest of the monuments built by the Ahom dynasty. The visitors are only allowed to scout through ...

and the

Rang Ghar The Rang Ghar (), ( Assamese: ৰংঘৰ, ''rong ghor'' meaning "House of Entertainment") is a two-storeyed building which once served as the royal sports-pavilion where Ahom kings and nobles were spectators at games like buffalo fights a ...

. The architectural plan of Rangpur spread over almost a thousand bighas of land. Ghanasyam, an architect from Koch Bihar, was deputed by Rudra Singha. Rangpur means the' city of delight' and in Ahom language it is called Che-mun

Capital

Capital city

The city of Rangpur was laid in 1698 A.D. by Rudra Singha in Meteka area. It had three gates Borduar (i.e. main entrance), Na-duar and Paniduar besides an underground tunnel connected with the Dikhow river on the north. Rudra Singha's successors did much for the enhancement of splendour and expansion of the city of Rangpur. Ruchinath Kandali, a court poet of Rudra Singha, in his Markendaya Chandi states: ''that king Rudra singha who founded the city of Rangpur brought many learned Brahmans from various places to his capital and established them there by giving jobs and land.''

Dikhow River The Dikhow River is a left tributary of the Brahmaputra River in the Indian state of Assam. It rises in the Zunheboto district in Nagaland, flows through the Sivasagar district Sivasagar district (Pron: or ), formerly known as ''Sibsagar'', i ...

on the north of the town. On south a fort (Garh) near Namdang river, Baangarh on the east and Dikhow-Namdang on the west.

at first established the capital of his

Kingdom Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...

at Tengabari of Meteka area, and excavated the famous Joysagar Tank. And there after he respectively had constructed the

, Rangnath Dol, Fakuwa dol, and the

Temples A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

on the bank of Joysagar tanks.

Siva Singha Sutanphaa also Siva Singha was a king of Assam who reigned from 1714 to 1744 A.D. He was the eldest son of Rudra Singha. Siva Singha was with his dying father at Guwahati, who then proceeded to the capital Rangpur where he ascended to the th ...

built five royal buildings.

Pramatta Singha Sunenphaa () also, Pramatta Singha, was the king of Ahom Kingdom. He succeeded his elder brother Swargadeo Siva Singha, as the king of Ahom Kingdom. His reign of seven years was peaceful and prosperous. He constructed numerous buildings and t ...

later built the

with bricks on the west of

Rajeswar Singha Suremphaa (reign 1751–1769), or Rajeswar Singha, the fourth son of Rudra Singha, became the king of the Ahom kingdom after the death of his brother King Pramatta Singha. Rudra Singha's third son, Mohanmala Maladev Gohain, was considered ...

later also enlarged and re-constructed the

with bricks.

Lakshmi Singha Sunyeophaa also Lakshmi Singha (1769–1780), previously known as Kalsiliya Gohain, was an Ahom king. After Rajeswar Singha's death, he married Queen Kuranganayani and became the king of the Ahom kingdom. Shortly after he was installed he bec ...

made a flower garden in which he built the temple of Ekaneswar (siva) with a tank. It remained as dual capital of the Ahoms along with Garhgaon until the internal disturbances occured in 1787 A.D. In the reign of

Sulikphaa Sulikphaa () also, Ratnadhwaj Singha was the twenty-eighth king of the Ahom Kingdom. He was only 14 years of age when Laluksola Borphukan, the Ahom viceroy of Guwahati and Lower Assam, raised him to the throne, after deposing the former king, Sud ...

(Ratnadhwaj Singha), he had temporarily established the capital at Meteka, and named it Rajnagar.

Roads and Communications

The main road of the capital was Borali, starting from Dergaon to Joysagar. Some other significant roads of around Rangpur were Meteka ali, Duboroni ali, Borpatra ali and etc. The royal families and the officials used to reside in the - Jerenga pothar, Rupohi pothar etc.

Decline

Rangpur remained the capital during the most glorious period of the Ahom kingdom. The capital fell twice to rebels of the

Moamoria rebellion The Moamoria rebellion (1769–1805) was the 18th century uprising in Ahom kingdom of present-day Assam that began as power struggle between the Moamorias (''Mataks''), the adherents of the Moamara Sattra, and the Ahom kings. This uprising ...

for which it made it deserted. In the first instance, the rebels occupied the capital from November, 1769 to April, 1770, when the Swargadeo,

(Sunyeophaa), was kept in captivity in

Joy dol The Keshavnarayan Vishnu dol, popularly known as Joy dol, was constructed in 1698 by Ahom king Swargadeo Rudra Singha (1696–1714) in honour and memory of his mother Joymoti . Particularly this temple is dedicated to Hindu god Lord Vishnu. Th ...

till the rebels were defeated by the royalist. In the second instance, the rebels occupied the capital in 1788 during the reign of

Gaurinath Singha Suhitpangphaa reign (1780–1795), also Gaurinath Singha, was an Ahom king of the Ahom kingdom. He lost his capital Rangpur to the Moamoria rebellion and camped in the Nagaon and Guwahati region till Captain Welsh removed the rebels. Therea ...

and held on to it till 1792, when Thomas Welsh of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...

removed them.

Kamaleswar Singha Suklingphaa (ruled 1795–1811), or Kamaleswar Singha, was a king of the Ahom kingdom. He came to power when he was a toddler, and died in his teens during a small pox epidemic. The ''de facto'' ruler during his reign was Purnanada Burhagoha ...

made some efforts to revive its former glory but Burmese invasions left it a ruined city.

Photo gallery

File:Joysagar Tank.jpg, Joysagar Tank biggest artificial tank of India. File:Gola ghar.jpg, Arms and ammunition store File:Devidoul, Jaysagar, Sivasagar 03.jpg, Shiva dol, Joysagar File:Vishnudol joysagar.jpg,

File:Rang Ghar at Sibsagar Town, Assam.jpg,

File:Fakuwa doul.jpg, Fakuwa dol File:Ghanashyam's house, Joysagar.jpg, Ghanashyam house File:Kareng Ghar (Talatal Ghar) of the Ahom Kings 29.jpg,

Notes and references