Moidam

Maidams

The burial vault could contain one or more chambers serving different purposes. The principal chamber contained the body of the deceased king in the Rungdang (coffin), together with objects regarded as necessary for his life in the afterworld, while other chambers could accommodate servants and attendants, as well as horses and elephants. The present height of Maidams has been reduced due to various natural calamities. In earlier times, at least 10 living persons were buried alive with the departed king to take care of him in the afterlife; however, this custom was abolished by Rudra Singha.

The height of the Maidams depended on the power of the kings; most of the Maidams were not designated by the name of kings, so most remain unidentified, except the Maidams of Gadadhar Singha and Rudra Singha. Most of the larger surviving maidams belong to the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

The construction materials of the royal tombs changed over time. According to the UNESCO nomination dossier, maidams dating from the thirteenth through the seventeenth centuries were constructed primarily of wood, while from the eighteenth century onwards stone and burnt bricks of various sizes were used. The Chang-Rung Phukonar Buranji records the materials employed in the construction of the maidams of Rudra Singha, Siva Singha and Rajeswar Singha, including bricks and stones set with lime-based mortar.

Archaeological evidence is consistent with this transition: Maidam No. 2 at Charaideo, a massive burnt-brick structure excavated by the Archaeological Survey of India in 2000–02, has been assigned to the first half of the eighteenth century on the basis of its artefacts, brickwork and literary evidence. Royal burial was entrusted to hereditary groups associated with the funerary service. According to the Ahom chronicles, only members of the Gharphaliya and Lukhurakhan khels were permitted to bury kings and queens. Members of the two groups carried the Rung-Dang, or royal coffin, to Charaideo, while only the Lukhurakhans were permitted to enter the Kareng-rung-dang, the burial vault, to place the coffin before its entrance was sealed.

Early royal burials could also involve the interment of human attendants. The Ahom chronicles record that both living and dead attendants were buried with members of the royalty, while the UNESCO nomination dossier states that the principal male and female attendants were originally placed inside the moidam to serve the deceased ruler in the afterlife. Nirmal Kumar Basu, citing the Deodhai Asam Buranji, similarly records that personal attendants of a deceased king were buried with him and that attendants selected for the purpose were placed alive in the burial vault. The practice of burying living attendants was abolished by Rudra Singha. There was a specified officer called Chang-Rung Phukan responsible for the construction of Maidams. Chang-Rung Phukan was also the chief architect of the Ahom kingdom. Officers called Maidam Phukans and guards called Maidamiya were appointed to protect and maintain the Maidams.

Historical documents called Chang-Rung Phukanor Buranji explain the construction and process of royal burials, including the articles buried. Later excavations by the Archaeological Survey of India found some of the maidams previously defiled, with the articles mentioned in the Buranji missing. Many of the maidams were excavated and looted, most famously by the Mughal general Mir Jumla, who briefly occupied Garhgaon in the 17th century, and by the British after 1826.

Excavation

Being famous for its vault treasure, Maidams also attracted many plunderers, from Mughals and the British to even local people, who have plundered the maidams multiple times. The earliest sketch of a Maidam was made in 1848 by Serjeant C. Clayton, who supervised an excavation of a Maidam in the 1840s.

In 2000–02, the Archaeological Survey of India, Guwahati circle excavated Maidam No. 2. It retained the characteristics of a full-fledged Maidam. The Maidam vault and covering earthen mound were made out of burned bricks and encircled by an octagonal boundary wall. There was a hole in the roof of the Maidam, indicating it was robbed earlier. The arched-shaped door of the maidam was found on the western side after it was excavated, which was originally covered with bricks and stone masonry. Though already robbed, it still yielded several artefacts, including skeleton remains of 5 individuals, ivory decorative pieces, several pieces of wooden objects (including a Xorai designed in the shape of a pillar), an ivory panel depicting royal Ahom insignia, carvings of elephants, peacock and floral motifs, etc. The exact dating of this Maidam couldn't be done, but it is estimated at the first half of the 18th century.