The Forgotten Kachari Kingdom

India is a country seeped in history. Every corner of this country has great stories to tell about kingdoms that once ruled this land. Somehow, unfortunately the focus has always been central India. The Northeast of India has always been a neglected topic. Such neglect has taken its toll. The ancient ruins of the Kachari Kingdoms now lay neglected and forgotten under cover of overgrown weeds.

The Kacharis were powerful rulers of the medieval Assam. Dimapur, now in Nagaland was the capital of the Kachari dynasty and the ruins of this can be found in Dimapur. In the December of 1706, powerful Ahom king Rudra Singha defeated the Kachari king Tamradhaja. Tamradhaja fled towards south to Khaspur. The Kacharis then settled in the plains of Cachar and made Khaspur their court. Originally they named it Hirimba kingdom after the demoness Hirimba. Hirimba was wife of second Pandava prince Bhima. They had a son named Ghatotkacha. From Ghatotkacha to GovindaChandra Narayan who was the last Kachari king, there have been 103 kings in the complete Kachari dynasty. The remnants of the Kachari Dynasty are present in Khaspur near Silchar in Cachar and Dimapur, in Nagaland. In Dimapur the remains can be seen at Rajbari Park which is easily accessible. One can see numbers of large dome shaped pillars. These are instances of the significant megalithic culture that once flourished in this region before the emergence of the Ahoms. What is the most saddening is that though the maintenance of these falls under the purview of Archeological Survey of India yet little or nothing has been done to preserve these magnificent relics of the past.

By: Madhuchanda Saxena

Content: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/guwahati/Kachari-kingdom-ruins-cry-for-care/articleshow/38445794.cms