Rulers were of the Dimasa tribe 10th century-1854

The Kachari kingdom

 The State of Dimacha

 Dimacha Kachari State

 ←

 10th century–1854 →

 The capitals are Dimapur, Maibang, Khachpur, Haritikar

 The government is a tribal monarchy

 Kal is a medieval kingdom in India

  - Established 10th century

  - Incorporation into British India

 Dimacha Kachari State: It was a tribal state located in Assam.  Its rulers were of the Dimasa tribe.  The Kacharis and other kingdoms ruled by local tribal leaders developed in medieval Assam after the Komta and Chutia kingdoms of Kamrup.  Parts of the Kachari kingdom survived until the arrival of the British.  The state was formerly divided into three districts of present-day Assam

These included: Kachar and North Kachar (Dima Hasao district) and Karbi Anglong district.

 The history of the origin of the Kachari kingdom is unclear.[1] According to tradition, the Kachari Dimasas were forced to leave the kingdom of Kamrup in ancient times due to political unrest.  Many people could not cross the Brahmaputra (Dilao in Dimasa) and stayed on the north bank and they later became known as Boros.  Those who crossed the river became known as Dimachas (sons of Artha-pani, ie sons of Goddess Ganga).  The Kachari Ghat on the Brahmaputra is thought to be evidence of this.[2] The Dimasas worshiped the goddess Kechai Khaiti of Shadia.[3]  They later converted to Hinduism in Maibang.

 Kashmari

 Kashmari, on the banks of the Dayang River in Golaghat district of Assam, was probably the first capital of the Kachari kingdom before Dimapur.

 The name Dimapur comes from 'Dimacha and Pur' (city).  Dimapur is referred to in Ahom history as "Che-Dima" meaning the city of Dimachar.  In the 13th century, the Kachari kingdom expanded from Dikhou on the southern bank of the Brahmaputra to the Kalang River, covering the valley of the present Dhansiri River and Dima Hasao district.

 Conflict with the Ahom

 The Ahom established their kingdom in the area between the Chutia and Kachari kingdoms inhabited by the Barahi and Matak people.  In 1490, the first Ahom-Kachari conflict took place and the Ahom were defeated.  The Ahom princess was given to a Kachari king to establish peace and the Kacharis also took control of the area across the Dhansiri.  However, as the Ahoms became stronger, they pushed the Kacharis westwards.  In 1526, the Dimasa Kacharis defeated the Ahoms in one battle but lost another in the same year.  In 1531, the Ahoms invaded Dimapur and made the Kachari prince Detchung their tributary king and signed an agreement to collect 20 elephants and Rs. 1 lakh per annum.  After five years of taxation, Detchung rebelled against the Ahoms and in 1536 the Ahoms again attacked Dimapur and killed Detchung.  The Dimacha Kacharis left Dimapur and established their new capital at Maibang to the south.

In Dimasa, "mai" means "rice" and "bang" means "a lot"

 Maibang

 In Maibang, the Dimacha Kacharis are influenced by Brahmins.  Detchung's son took the Hindu name Nirbhay Narayan and gave the title of Dharmadhi to his Brahmin guru.  From the name of Hirimbar, the kingdom was named Heramba and the rulers were also known as Herambeshwar.

 According to Brahmin legend of Maibang, the Pandavas came to the Kachari kingdom during their exile.  Bhima and the princess Hirimba fell in love and married the Gandharvas.  They had a son named Ghatotkacha who ruled the Kachari kingdom for many years.  His dynasty ruled a large area along the banks of the "Dilao" River (meaning ""long river"") or what is now the Brahmaputra until the fourth century.  It is believed that the Kacharis also took part in the wars of the Mahabharata.

 The king of Maibang is assisted in his rule by a council of ministers consisting of the Barbhandari and his subordinates.  The ministers and other officials were of the Dimasa ethnic group.  There were about 40 clans or Sengfangs of the Dimasa people.  Each tribe sent a representative to the royal council or mail.  The council, which had the power to elect a king, sat in the mail hall according to the status of Sengfang.

In the 17th century, the kingdom of Dimacha Kachar extended to the plains of Kachar.  Although the people of the plains did not participate directly in the councils of the Kachari kings, the religious gurus and Brahmins had great influence.  The subjects of the plains were divided to them as game, and the king collected taxes through an officer called Uzir.

 Neighboring states

 The Koch general Chilara invaded the Kachari kingdom in 1562 during the reign of Durlabh Narayan and subjugated it to the Kochs.  The annual tax was seventy thousand seals and sixty elephants.  Some of the Koch soldiers became known as Dehan and enjoyed special privileges in the Kachari kingdom.  However, after the death of Chilarai, the Kacharis took advantage of the internal conflict in the Koch kingdom and declared themselves independent again.

 In the early seventeenth century, the Jaintia king Dhanamani was defeated in a battle with the Jaintia kingdom over the Dimrua region.  After the death of Dhanamani, the Kachari king Shatrudaman made Yashmani king of Jaintia.  He diplomatically created a conflict between the Ahom and the Kacharis in  Shatrudaman, the most powerful king of the Kacharis, ruled Dimrua, North Kachar, Dhansiri Valley, Kachar plains and parts of eastern Sylhet in Nagaon district.  After the conquest of Sylhet, he stamped his name.

Ruins of Kachari Mahal at Khachpur

 The Khachpur area was formerly part of the state of Tripura.  The region was occupied by Chilarai in the 16th century and was ruled by Chilarai's brother Kamalnarayan.  After the collapse of the Koch kingdom, Khachpur became independent.  In the mid-18th century, the last Koch ruler died without an heir and the area came under the Kachari kings as dowry.  After the unification, the capital of the Dimacha Kachari kingdom was shifted to Khachpur near present-day Shillong.

 The arrival of the British

 In the early 19th century, the Ahom kingdom and the Dimacha Kachari kingdom fell under the Mans.  The last king, Govinda Chandra, was restored by the British after the Treaty of Yandabu in  But he was unable to subdue Tularam Thauchen, the general who ruled the mountainous region.  General Tularam Thauchen ruled the Mahur River and the Naga Hills to the south, the Dayang River to the west, the Dhansiri River to the east and the Jamuna and Dayang Rivers to the north.  On the 20th of April, 1830. b

Govinda Chandra was killed by some Manipuris at the instigation of Prince Gambhir Singh of Manipur.  In 1832, the British acquired his territory (North Kachar district) by paying a pension to General Tularam Thauchen;  In 1833, the Govindachandra area was also annexed as Kachar district

The Kachari kings

 in Dimapur

 • Judgment

 • Vikramadityapha

 • Mahamanipha

 • Manifa

 • Ladafa

 • Khorafa

 • Khunkhorafa

 • Detchungfa

 In Maibang

 • Nirbhaya Narayan (1540-1550)

 • Durlabh Narayan or Harmeshwar (1550-1576)

 • Megh Narayan (1576-1583)

 • Shatradaman (Pratap Narayan, Yash Narayan) (1583-1613)

 • Nara Narayan (1610-1613) had no sons

 • Bhimdarpa Narayan (Bhimbal Konwar) is the grandfather of Nar-Narayan.  (-1637)

 • Indravallabha Narayan (1637-)

 • Birdarpa Narayan (1644-1681) became sonless and the Hachanusa dynasty ended.

 The Thauchen Dynasty ruled again.

 * Peacock Narayan (Degashaifa Thauchen Chengfang)

 • Garuddhvaja Narayan (Thauchensa dynasty)

 • Capricorn

 • Udayaditya

 • Tamradhwaj Narayan (1699-1708) married Bhanumati, daughter of Manischaran Hachengsa.

 • Queen Chandraprabha

 • Shuradarpa Narayan (1708-1720)

 • Dharmadhvaja Narayan(1720-1735) is also known as Harichandra Narayan- son of Shuradarpa Narayan I (Thuchensa dynasty).  He died unmarried.

 Again the Hasanusa dynasty reigned.

 • Kirti Chandra Narayan (Hachanusa dynasty) (1735-1745) was the true brother of Nara Narayan.  He was the husband of Konjavati Thauchen, sister of Dharmadhvaja Narayan.

 • Ramachandra Narayan, also known as Sandhikari /Gopichand Narayan (1745-1757), was the son of Kirti Chandra Narayan.

 • Harichandra-II Also known as Baula Raja (1757-1772)/Gopichandra Narayan.  In 1772, he entrusted the kingdom to his younger brother Lakshichandra Narayan.

 • Lakshichandranarayan (Hachanusa dynasty) married Kanchani (1745), daughter-in-law of Koch King Bhim Singh. (1772-73) He died a year after his accession to the throne.

 in Khachpur

 • Krishna Chandra Narayan (1773-1813) He is also known as Kashi Chandra.  He was the first son of Harichandranarayan.  He was the nephew of Ramachandranarayan.

 • Govinda Chandra Narayan (1813-1830) was the second son of Harichandra Narayan.

 • • • •

 He was the ruler of the mountains.

 • General Tularam Thauchen (d. 12 October 1850)

Note s

^ (Bhattacharjee 1992:392–393)

 • nistration in Assam, published by Assam: Concept Publishing Company

 • Gait, Edward A. (1906), A History of Assam, Publishers Calcutta

 • Barpujari, S. K. (1997), History of the Dimasas (from the earliest times to 1896 AD), Publishers Haflong

 • Bhattacharjee, J. B. (1992), "The formation of the Kachari (Dimasa) state", in Barpujari, H. K., The Comprehensive History of Assam, 2, published by Guwahati: Assam Publication Board, pp. 10-11.  391–397

 • Gogoi, Padmeshwar (1968), The Tai and the Tai kingdoms, Gauhati University, Guwahati

 • Rhodes, Nicholas G.;  Bose, Shankar K. (2006), A History of the Dimasa-Kacharis as Seen Through Coinage, Mira Bose, Library of Numismatic Studies, Kolkata and Guwahati

 • Dundas, W. C. M., An Outline Grammar And Dictionary Of The Free (Sunday) Language (based on Barman, Mani Charan, Free Grammar).

 • Benu Dhar Sharma, 'Kachari Bir Tularam Senapati'