Kachari Ruins - Revision history

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+#REDIRECT [[Ruins of Kachari Rajbari]]
-'''The Kachari Ruins''' are a set of ruins located in [[Dimapur]], [[Nagaland]] in [[Northeast India]]. Their history dates back to the 10th century when they appeared during the [[Kachari Kingdom|Kachari civilization]]. The Kachari Ruins is a series of mushroom domed [[Column|pillar]]s. They were created by the Kachari Kingdom, which ruled here before the Ahom invasion into the territory during the 13th Century AD. Their origin and purpose are largely mysterious. The pillars are not well maintained. Some pillars still stand in all their glory but others have crumbled down.
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-It is believed that a game similar to chess was played there with the mushroom domes.
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->Homogenie: /* Colonial descriptions of the Ruins */

2021-10-24T13:08:43Z

Colonial descriptions of the Ruins

New page

{{more citations needed|date=October 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2018}}

'''The Kachari Ruins''' are a set of ruins located in [[Dimapur]], [[Nagaland]] in [[Northeast India]]. Their history dates back to the 10th century when they appeared during the [[Kachari Kingdom|Kachari civilization]]. The Kachari Ruins is a series of mushroom domed [[Column|pillar]]s. They were created by the Kachari Kingdom, which ruled here before the Ahom invasion into the territory during the 13th Century AD. Their origin and purpose are largely mysterious. The pillars are not well maintained. Some pillars still stand in all their glory but others have crumbled down.
It is believed that a game similar to chess was played there with the mushroom domes.

== Colonial descriptions of the Ruins ==
Lieutenant Grange, then Assistant Political Agent to the colonial government in Assam, undertook his first expedition to the [[Naga Hills]] in 1840. An extract from his journal was published in the ''Journal of Asiatic Society''. In his description of the Dhemapore Nugger (Dimapur), he described that they consisted of 'some pillars of various pattern, a gateway, the ruined tower, or palace walls, and a small fort to the north, besides tanks both within and without the walls.'<ref name=":0">{{harv|Grange|1840|p=947–966}}</ref>

In 1840, the fort was surrounded on three sides by a dry ditch. The gateway, Grange described, to be in a 'tolerable state of preservation' but the inner passage or guard room had turned into 'a heap of ruins.'<ref name=":0" /> In 1874, Major [[Henry Haversham Godwin-Austen|H. H. Godwin-Austen]], from the Topographical Survey of India, describes the entrance gateway as 'fine solid mass of masonry... the stone which are pierced to receive the hinges of double heavy door, are still in perfect preservation.' He further sketches it to be flanked on both sides by octagonal turrets of bricks with 'false windows of ornamental moulded brick work.'<ref name>{{harv|Godwin-Austen|1874|p=3}}</ref>

The pillars were in three parallel rows. The form of the town, or palace enclosure, was an oblong square running parallel to the [[Dhansiri River|Dhansiri river]]. Through oral tradition, Grange notes that it was built by Chokradoz, the fourth king of Cachar.<ref name=":0" /> These pillars, according to Godwin-Austen, were the most distinguishing feature of the ruins. However, he counted them as two rows rather than three as Grange noted. The tallest pillar was about 15 feet, and the smallest one at the southern end was 8 feet and 5 inches. Most of these pillars were around 12 to 13 feet. The lotus was evident in all of the carved work.<ref>{{harv|Godwin-Austen|1874|p=4}}</ref>

Jae-Eun Shin points out that early colonial descriptions by successive British administrators fail to mention any clear trace of temples and images at the ruins. This raises doubt about the scale and intensity of [[Sankritisation|Brahmanisation]] in the early history of the Dimasas.<ref name=":2">{{harv|Shin|2020|p=63}}</ref> She also points out that this city is probably the one mentioned in the ''Ahom Buranji'', which records that Ahom king [[Suhungmung]] (''alias'' Dihingia Rāja) and his son reached the city by ascending the river Timā (Dima or Dhansiri) in 1526 when the Ahoms attacked Dimapur. However, no Brahmanical temples or images are mentioned in this [[Buranji|Ahom Buranji]] record either.<ref name=":2" />

==Present day==
The ruins have long been neglected by the people and the government. It is a protected monument but not a single guard or police personnel can be seen there. More has to be done to preserve what is left of it.

==Notes==
{{reflist}}
==References==
{{refbegin}}
*{{Cite journal|last=Grange|date=1840|title=Extracts from the Journal of an Expedition into the Naga Hills on the Assam Frontier|journal=Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal|volume=9(2)|pages=947–966}}
*{{Cite journal|last=Godwin-Austen|first=H. H.|date=1874|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/255679#page/11/mode/1up|title=On the Ruins at Dímápúr on the Dunsirí River, Ásám|journal=Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal|volume=43(1)|pages=1–6}}
*{{Cite journal|last=Shin|first=Jae-Eun|date=2020-01-01|title=Descending from demons, ascending to kshatriyas: Genealogical claims and political process in pre-modern Northeast India, The Chutiyas and the Dimasas|url=https://doi.org/10.1177/0019464619894134|journal=The Indian Economic & Social History Review|language=en|volume=57|issue=1|pages=49–75|doi=10.1177/0019464619894134|issn=0019-4646}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dimasa Kachari Ruins}}
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Nagaland]]
[[Category:History of Nagaland]]
[[Category:Dimapur]]