Regions with significant populations | |
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Assam | |
Scriptures | |
Lit Lai Peyn Kaka, Lai Lit Nang Hoon Pha, Lai-Phala, Phra-Long (Buddhist), | |
Languages | |
Ahom language | |
Ethnic religion of the Ahom people |
Part of a series on the |
Culture of Assam |
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The Ahom religion is the ethnic religion of the Ahom people. The Ahom people came into Assam in 1228, led by a Tai prince Sukaphaa, and admixed with the local people. The people who came into Assam included two clans of priests, joined later by a third, who brought with them their own religion, rituals, practices and scriptures. The religion is based on ritual-oriented ancestor worship[4] that required animal sacrifice (Ban-Phi),[5] though there was at least one Buddhism influenced ritual in which sacrifice was forbidden (Phuralung).[6] Ancestor worship and the animistic concept of khwan are two elements it shares with other Tai folk religions.[7] There is no idolatry except for the titular god of the Ahom king[8] and though there is a concept of heaven or a heavenly kingdom (Mong Phi, sometimes identified with a part of Tian, China),[9] there is no concept of hell.[10] It was the state religion of the Ahom kingdom in the initial period.
The Ahom kingdom expanded suddenly in the 16th century and the Ahom peoples became a small minority in their own kingdom—though they continued to wield control. Subsequently, they slowly converted and by the early 19th-century, Ahom religion declined to be replaced by Hinduism. In the 1931 survey, all Ahoms listed Hinduism as their religion.[11] Nevertheless, since the 1960s and 1970s due to an Ahom revivalism movement, as well as efforts from scholars, many of the older practices of the Ahom religion are being resurrected.
The three priestly clans (Mo'sam, Mo'hung, Mo'Plong) of the Ahom people are the current custodians of the Ahom religion.[12]
Ahom [aho]
Census Data Finder/C Series/Population by Religious Communities
2011census/C-01/DDW00C-01 MDDS.XLS
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