Chetia (surname)

Chetia, is an Assamese surname and historical family name associated chiefly with Upper Assam. The name occurs in chronicles relating to both the Chutia Kingdom and the later Ahom Kingdom.

Historical usage

One of the earliest recorded occurrences of the name appears in accounts of the final conflicts between the Chutia and Ahom kingdoms. The Buranjis identify Chuluki Chetia as one of the Chutia Bora-Buruk, or commanders, alongside Koitara and Borpatra, who fought against the Ahoms in the Dibrugarh war.[1][2] This indicates that the name was already in use among the military or administrative elite of the Chutia kingdom before its annexation by the Ahoms in 1523–24.

During the reign of Suhungmung, the name was employed in the Ahom Kingdom as a collective designation for sections of the incorporated population. The Satsari Assam Buranji states that “the commoners among the Barahis, Chutias, Morans and Kacharis from then on were called Chetia”.[3] Saikia later explicitly identified this passage as an account from Suhungmung's reign.[4] Dutta(1985) states that several Chutia families were incorporated as Chetias into the social and administrative organisation of the Ahom kingdom.[5] These families were subsequently recognised as constituent families or foids of the wider Ahom nobility.

By the later Ahom period, Chetia functioned principally as a family or lineage designation. The Ahomar Din describes the origins of eighteen Chetia families. Of these, ten—Lai, Khatowal, Lesam, Bhandari, Luthuri, Piksai, Bihporuwa, Khengulia, Doul and Buruk—are traced to Chutia ancestry; two, Bharjara and Japarjal, to Naga ancestry; two, Lanmakhru and Lekai, to Moran-Lanmakhru ancestry; two, Gohain and Kachari, to Ahom ancestry; one, Deka, to Garo ancestry; and one, Bahbaria, to the Baro-Bhuyans.[6] The Buruk Chetias served under the Borphukan in Lower Assam and performed duties comparable to those of the chaodangs (royal guards) in Upper Assam. The clan was found principally around Tezpur and Guwahati, where its members identified as Buruk Chutia; the smaller groups in Sivasagar and Jorhat used Buruk Chetia.[7] Members of families like Lesam, Piksai, Bihporua and Bhandari Chetias subsequently held offices such as Gohain, Deka Phukan, Singrai Phukan, Raidangia Phukan and Borphukan.[8][a]

Chetia Phukan was also used as the designation of officers serving under the Borphukan's provincial administration. Two such offices are recorded: the Kaliaboriya Chetia Phukan, stationed at Kaliabor, and the Guwahatiya or Dopdariya Chetia Phukan, attached to the Borphukan's council at Guwahati.[11] This official designation was distinct from the use of Chetia as the name of a particular family or lineage.

Notable people

Notable people bearing the name include:

See also

References

  1. ↑ Bhuyan, SK,"Deodhai Assam Buranji", p.16, "The chiefs of the Chutias were Toktoru, Koitara, Chuluki Chetiya and Borpatro."
  2. ↑ Barua, Gopal Chandra, Ahom Buranji, p. 57, Tai-Ahom text, translated as: “Phrasenmung Borgohain (Thaomunglung Phrasenmung) and Chao Senglung Kinglun, together with all the principal officers (poi-thau-tang-móng), went forth (poi) and joined battle (hit ti kan). There were then deaths in the fighting on land (khau cang tai tang buk jeu). They thereupon engaged and checked (tô kit) the naval force (riu) of Kaitara, Alangki Chetia and Patorlung there (kä nai koi).”
  3. ↑ Saikia, Sayeeda Yasmin (1997). In the Meadows of Gold: Telling Tales of the Swargadeos at the Crossroads of Assam. Guwahati: Spectrum Publications. p. 14. ISBN 81-85319-61-8. The commoners among the Barahis, Chutias, Morans and Kacharis from then on were called Chetia.
  4. ↑ Saikia, Yasmin (2004). Fragmented Memories: Struggling to Be Tai-Ahom in India. Durham and London: Duke University Press. p. 132. ISBN 978-0-8223-3373-9. Here, for instance, is a comment from Suhungmung's reign: ... The commoners were called Chetia.
  5. ↑ "The founders of noted Ahom families, like those of Chetia and Lahon, were Chutiyas." (Dutta 1985:30)
  6. ↑ Barbarua, Hiteswar. Ahomar Din (in Assamese). pp. 577–580.
  7. ↑ Barbarua 1997, p. 579.
  8. ↑ (Barbarua 1997:217, 222)
  9. ↑ (Bhuyan 1968:xxx)
  10. ↑ (Bhuyan 1968:xxx–xxxi)
  11. ↑ (Baruah 1993:200–201)

Notes

  1. ↑ The introduction to the Tungkhungia Buranji lists Chetia and Pikchai-Chetia among the families from which some Borphukans were appointed.[9] The chronicle also explains that officers were commonly referred to by their family rather than by their personal names; consequently, designations such as Chetia Borphukan or Pikchai Chetia Borphukan generally denoted a Borphukan belonging to the respective Chetia lineage.[10]

Bibliography

  • Barbarua, Hiteswar (1997). Ahomar Din (in Assamese) (2nd ed.). Guwahati: Publication Board, Assam.
  • Barua, Golap Chandra (1930). Ahom-Buranji, with a Parallel English Translation: From the Earliest Time to the End of Ahom Rule. Calcutta: Assam Administration.
  • Baruah, Swarna Lata (1993). Last Days of Ahom Monarchy: A History of Assam from 1769 to 1826. New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal. ISBN 978-81-215-0462-1.
  • Bhuyan, Suryya Kumar, ed. (1968). Tungkhungia Buranji, or, A History of Assam, 1681–1826. Gauhati: Department of Historical and Antiquarian Studies, Assam.
  • Dutta, Sristidhar (1985). The Mataks and Their Kingdom: Castes and Tribes of Assam. Allahabad: Chugh Publications.
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