Siba 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 throne. He is noted is noted for his elaborate system of espionage. He had numerous temples erected and made large gifts of land to them. With his support ''Hinduism became the pre-dominant religion of the Ahoms". The king was also a patron of music and literature and music and himself composed Sanskrit songs and learnt songs. His court poets like Ananta Acharyya composed the Ananda Lahari and Kavichandra, the Kam-Kumar Haran Haran and the Dharma puran at the instance of the king and his first chief queen Phuleshwari. During his reign also came the first Europeans to trade with Assam.

Reign

As per the wish of Swargadeo Rudra Singha on his deathbed, he was succeeded by his eldest son Siba Singha (reigned 1714–1744). Siba Singha ascended the throne on the 20th day of Magh, and assumed the Ahom name Sutanphaa. He gave up Rudra Singha's plan to organise a confederacy of the rajas of Hindustan and to invade Bengal (Mughal Empire), but obeyed his father's injunction to become a disciple of Krishnaram Bhattacharjya (Nyayavagish), the Shakta priest from nearby Nabadwip in present-day West Bengal. He gave the management of the Kamakhya Temple to Krishnaram, who came to be known as Parbatiya Gosain, as his residence was on top of the Nilachal hill. Siva Singha accepted him as the royal priest and made a large number of land grants to temples and Brahmin priests.

Dafla expedition

His long 30-year reign was peaceful. In January 1717 there was an expedition against the Daflas of the northern hills, who had again taken to raiding the plains people. After they had been reduced to submission, an embankment was constructed along the foot of the hills inhabited by them as protection against future raids.

Bar Rajas

Siba Singha was a staunch Shakta and was greatly influenced by the Brahmin priests and astrologers. In 1722 he was so alarmed by their prediction that his rule would shortly come to end, that he not only made many and lavish presents to various temples and the Brahmins, in hope of conciliating the gods and averting the calamity, but also endeavour to satisfy the alleged decree of fate by a subterfuge which greatly diminished his prestige in the eyes of his people. He declared his chief queen Phuleswari, who assumed the name Pramateswari Devi (one of the names of Durga), and the title "Bar Raja" or chief king.

Queen Phuleswari minted coins in joint name of her and her husband where she used Persian legend, the first of its kind in Assam. Phuleswari was more under the influence of the Brahmins, particularly the Parvatiya Gosain, than the king had been. It is believed that this was instigated by Gosain and in her zeal for Sakta Hinduism she attempted to make Shaktism the State religion. With this objective, she ordered the Vaishnava gosains to worship the goddess Durga. She then forbade the worship of other deities and personally supervised the act of desecration of the Sonarijan camp. Learning that the Sudra Mahantas were strong monotheists, she held a Durga puja in the capital Rangpur and forced Moamoria and several other gosains to offer oblations to the goddess and smeared sacrificial blood on their foreheads. The Moamarias never forgave this insult to their spiritual leader and it became one of the prime reasons that they broke out in an open rebellion about half a century later, which came to be known as the Moamoria rebellion.

Phuleswari died in 1731. The king then married her sister Dropadi, and made her the Bar Raja with the name Ambika. She died about 1738, and was succeeded by another wife named Enadari who took the name Sarbeswari on becoming Bar Raja.

Art and literature

Siva singha imitated the example of his father; Siva Singh his subjects became his children, oppression was of art and unknown; strangers were received with hospitality. Foreign musicians were invited into his country to instruct his own and the Monarch became the author of a large collection of pious songs. Siba Singha erected numerous temples and gave away land for the support of the Brahmins and temples with all the generosity. Siva Singha was a great patron of literature and music. It was during his reign that Sakta Hinduism became the predominant religion of Assam.His reign was also considered as the golden era of Assamese manuscript, many notable manuscript were written one of its Hastividyarnava which received royal patronage.

Administrative and public works

Siva Singha is said to have established such an elaborate system of espionage during his reign that he had accurate information of everything that was done or even spoken in all parts of his kingdom.

During Siba Singha's reign, the chief public works were the construction of Dhai Ali and the tanks and temples at Gaurisagar, Sibsagar and Kalugaon. About south west of Sivasagar town by the side of what is now National Highway-37, Bar Raja Phuleswari Konwari, the first wife of king Siva Singha built three temples – Shiva Dol, Vishnu Dol and Devi Dol – on the bank of a big tank covering an area of including the banks. This big tank was dedicated in the name of 'Gauri' or 'Durga', thus it is known as Gaurisagar tank and the entire place is now known as Gaurisagar. She also had dug the Borpatra tank at Kalugaon beside the historical Jerenga Pathar in memory of her brother who happened to be a Borpatra Gohain during her regime. On the north-eastern side of that tank, two temples, namely Bishnu Dol and Jagadhatri Dol were constructed on the bank of the tank named as Lakshmisagar Pukhuri. It was during his second wife Bar Raja Ambika's rule the Sibsagar tank, Bar Pukhuri, situated within the heart of Sivasagar town was dug. On its banks three temples were built in 1734 – the Sivadol , the Vishnu Dol and the Devi Dol.
Many temples were also constructed by Swargadeo Siba Singha in Kamrup including Shripur Dewaloy (a Devi temple), Ballilecha Shri Shri Kali Dewaloy (a Kali temple), Jaypal Than, Basudev Dewaloy; all located in present Nalbari district. In Sualkuchi he built the Sidheswar Dewaloy, a Shiva temple. And in Dergaon (Golaghat district) he also constructed Burhi Goshani Than.

At Aswaklanta, North Guwahati on the bank of the river Brahmaputra in 1720, Siva Singha built two big temples dedicated to Lord Janardana and Lord Vishnu.

Siva Singha had the land surveyed in Kamrup and Bakata. The register, or Pera Kagaz, based on this survey of Kamrup was still used at the time of the British occupation. This contained a list of all occupied lands, except homesteads with their areas, and particularly of all rent free estates.

It was recorded that in 1739, four Europeans, whose names appear to have been Bill, Godwin, Lister, and Mill, visited King Siva Singha at Rangpur. The king met them at the principal gate of the city where, it is said, they did him homage by falling prostrate at his feet.

Death

Siva Singha died in 1744 and Pramatta Singha, the second son of Rudra Singha ascended the throne.

See also

* Ahom dynasty
* Ahom kingdom
* BorRojaPhuleswari Konwari

Notes

References

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sutanphaa
Ahom kingdom
Ahom kings
1744 deaths
Year of birth unknown
Hindu monarchs