WOMEN IN AHOM SOCIETY: BEYOND THE TRADITIONAL HISTORICAL NARRATIVE

The history of the Ahom kingdom has traditionally been narrated through political events, royal succession, warfare, administration and military resistance to the Mughals. Within this predominantly political narrative, women have generally appeared as exceptional figures—queens, warriors, martyrs or symbols of sacrifice. Joymoti Kunwari and Mula Gabharu, for instance, occupy an important place in Assamese historical memory, but their prominence can also obscure the experiences of ordinary women who sustained households, agricultural production, weaving, religious institutions and community life. This paper attempts to move beyond such a heroic and exceptionalist representation of women in Ahom society. It examines women's economic contributions, domestic and productive labour, marriage and family relations, political participation, religious roles, and experiences of social hierarchy. It also critically examines the limitations of the Buranji tradition as a source for women's history. The paper argues that women in Ahom society possessed meaningful spaces of economic and social agency, but such agency existed within a hierarchical social order and cannot be equated with gender equality. A gender-sensitive reading of Ahom history therefore requires attention not only to exceptional women who entered political narratives but also to the largely anonymous women whose everyday labour helped sustain the Ahom state.