Joymoti Konwari, was the wife of

Tai-Ahom The Ahom (Pron: ), or Tai-Ahom is an ethnic group from the Indian states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. The members of this group are admixed descendants of the Tai people who reached the Brahmaputra valley of Assam in 1228 and the local indi ...

Prince Gadapani (later

Supatphaa Supaatpha also, Gadadhar Singha (reign 1681–1696) established the rule of the Tungkhungia clan of the Ahom kings that ruled the Ahom kingdom till its climactic end. He was the son of Gobar Roja, a descendant of Suhungmung, and who had become ...

). She was accorded the honorific Mohiyokhi on account of her heroic endurance of torture until the end, dying at the hands of royalists under Sulikphaa ''Loraa Roja'' without disclosing her exiled husband Prince Gadapani's whereabouts, thereby enabling her husband to rise in revolt and assume kingship. Gadapani and Joymoti's son

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 ...

had the Joysagar Tank dug at the spot where she was tortured. The first Assamese film '' Joymoti'', directed in 1935 by Jyoti Prasad Agarwala, was based on her life.

Biography

Joymoti was born in the middle of the 17th-century in Maduri to Laithepena

Borgohain Borgohain (Ahom language: ''Chao Thao Lung'') was the second of the two original counselors in the Ahom kingdom. He was selected by the Ahom king from members of the Ahom nobility (''Satgharia Ahom''), who vowed not to fight for the position of Ah ...

and Chandradaru. She was married to Langi Gadapani Konwar, later an Ahom king,

, who established the Tungkhunia line of kings. During the Purge of the Princes from 1679 to 1681 under King Sulikphaa (Loraa Roja), instigated by

Laluksola Borphukan Laluksola Borphukan (fl. 1672–1680) Laluk Nimati Phukan elder brother of Lachit Borphukan succeed the seat of Borphukan after demise of his younger brother Lachit Phukan, Laluksola Borphukan, who abandoned Guwahati, and aspired to be a king. He w ...

, Gadapani took flight. Over the next few years, he sought shelter in the Naga hills. Failing to trace Prince Gadapani, Sulikphaa's soldiers brought his wife Joymoti to Jerenga Pathar where, despite torture, the princess refused to reveal the whereabouts of her husband. After continuous physical torture over 14 days, Joymoti died on 13 Sot of 1601 Saka, or 27 March 1680.

Memorials and monuments

Joysagar Tank

Joymoti and Gadadhar Singha's eldest son

(

Sukhrungphaa 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 ...

, 1696–1714) succeeded his father. In honour of the memory of his mother Joymoti,

built the Joysagar Tank in 1697 at

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. Si ...

. It is believed to be the biggest man-made lake in India, comprising an area covering of land, including its four banks, out of which is filled with fresh water. A 2 km-long earthen water pipeline once ran from the tank to the Rangpur Palace (Kareng Ghar), supplying water to the royal palace.

Fakuwa Dol

Rudra Singha also built the Fakuwa Dol in 1703–04, a pyramid-shaped temple constructed before the Rangnath (Shiva) Temple on the banks of the Joysagar Tank. It is said that Rudra Singha, once again to perpetuate the memory of his mother Soti Joymoti, constructed the temple and placed a golden idol of her within it. It was actually a moidam (grave) of Joymoti. The circumference of the Dol was about , and its height from base to top was . There were eight brick pillars around the temple. The temple and the pillars are among some of the Ahom ruins that remain in Assam to this day.

Joymoti Day

Sati Joymoti Divas, commemoration day of Joymoti, is held annually in Assam on 27 March.

Sati Joymoti Award

The State Government of Assam has instituted an annual award in the name of Joymoti, presented to women in recognition of excellence in their chosen fields of work.

Film and theatre

''Joymoti'' (1935 film) was the first Assamese language film, directed and produced by Jyoti Prasad Agarwala. In 2006,

Manju Borah Manju Borah ( as, মঞ্জু বৰা) is a multiple international and national award-winning Indian female film director and short story writer from Guwahati, Assam. Borah also served as Jury Member, Indian Panorama, IFFI 2007, 10th MAMI ...

released another film by the same name. The 19th-century Assamese writer

Lakshminath Bezbaruah ' Lakshminath Bezbarua (, 14 October 1864), was an Assamese poet, novelist and playwright of modern Assamese literature. He was one of the literary stalwarts of the Jonaki Era, the age of romanticism in Assamese literature when through his ess ...

depicted her life in the drama ''Joymoti Kuwori''.

Notes

References

External links

Joymoti Konwari: an epitome of ideal womanhood
– Dr Kathita Hatibaruah {{DEFAULTSORT:Joymoti, Soti Indian female royalty People of the Ahom kingdom People from Sivasagar Indian torture victims 17th-century Indian monarchs 17th-century Indian women 17th-century Indian people 1680 deaths Year of birth unknown Ahom kingdom