Ascent of the Queen - Phuleswari Kuwori

Rudra Singh's wish

Picture (1) - Vishnu Dol, Gaurisagar. Built under the patronage of Shiv Singh

The year was 1714. King Rudra Singh, unquestionably the greatest ruler of the Ahom dynasty was on his death bed, at Gauhati. He was on his way to launch a major campaign to invade Bengal but deteriorating health didn't allow him to move any further.
As his dying wish, he insisted his son and successor Shiv Singh to re-invite Krishnaram Pandit, an eminent Shakta priest from Bengal, and asked him to be his disciple. Years before, Rudra Singh refused to seek the discipleship of this very saint, as a consequence of which it is believed that Assam was hit by a major earthquake. The king regretted later and took this momentary injunction which heralded an epoch of Shakta influence in the Ahom realm.

The reigns of Moghul emperor Jahangir and Ahom ruler Shiv Singh strikingly resemble one another to a great extent. Not only the fact that both of them were incapable of carrying forward their mighty fathers' ambitious plans, but also both were men of culture, who were obsessed with indulgent lifestyles, were lovers of ease and comfort and most importantly, both surrendered the reins of government to their respective consorts who weilded unimaginable dominance and filled the nobility with members of their kinsfolk. Although these broad similarities are thwarted by peculiarities pertaining to the polity, culture, geography and social ethos of Assam, but one can hardly ignore the fact that these two rulers indeed shared some similar experiences while in power.

Tantricism in Ahom's Assam

Shiv Singh's rule witnessed an ascendancy of Shakta activities in Assam, albeit the fact that the Ahoms could never withdraw themselves from their old ways, beliefs and practices. A "virtual diarchy" as professor SK Bhuyan puts it, prevailed in matters of religion in the Ahom court. Infact, both Ahom and Hindu (Shakta) astrologers and priests exercised a considerable influence in the lives of the monarchs, guiding their decisions, policies and other activities.

In around 1722, the royal astrologers prophesied about a major disaster which might bring an end to Shiv Singh's life and rulership. Seeking the advise of his spiritual counsellors, Shiv Singh made lavish gifts to Brahmans and temples and voluntarily decided to abdicate his throne. It is often believed that the king's decision was not welcomed by the populace and it hampered his prestige considerably.

From the perspective of popular history, this dissatisfaction got mooted due to the King's decision to install his chief Queen, Phuleswari Kuwori as the Bar Raja, in his place. Afterall, in history, a woman wielding power has always been a matter of discomfort, both among the masses and the nobility, be it Raziya Sultan of Delhi, Didda of Kashmir or Noor Jahan, with whom our Ahom queen is popularly compared to!

The controversy

Popular culture was filled with stories about the new Queen's low origin, brewing around as gossips, partly factual, partly fictional. 

It was said that she was from the Nat-Kalita caste, who were traditionally entertainers in the field of music. Legend has it that she, originally named as Phulmati and her sister, Draupadi, were spotted by a royal official while tending cows in a field. Impressed by her daunting personality, he brought them to the royal household as maidens (or ligiris) of the then chief Queen of Shiv Singh, Ratnakanti. Ratnakanti had been eulogized by court poet Kaviraj Chakravartin in the preface of his Brahmavairta Puran. 

Over the years, Phulmati was successful in setting herself apart from her co-workers. Her habit of giving befitting replies and ability to come up with prompt solutions to critical problems amazed many, including the king whose heart she managed to win. Thus she managed to raise her position to that of a queen of the second order. There was also an episode where queen Ratnakanti was so jealous of Phulmati that she tried to keep her away from the king, in a distant village, under the vigilance of her close confidants. Shiv Singh got enraged after getting aware of this internal strife within his own household and he not only ordered to bring Phulmati back to the palace but made her the Chief Queen, the First Lady of his realm. Thereafter, she was given the name Phuleswari Kuwori, literally meaning "goddess of flower"!

There are other stories associated with Phulmati's ascent as well. Some say that she was actually brought as a maiden for his foster-mother. The foster mother couldn't tolerate the growing closeness between her son, the King and a mere maiden and for a while, conspired to keep her out of the king's sight. Notwithstanding that king's reverence for his mother also made him hesitant to communicate what he felt. However, soon after her death, the king approached Phulmati, expressed his feelings keenly and decided to marry her.

If these legends hold any credence, then it appears that for all the wrong and right reasons, this queen was indeed a woman of substance, coming from a small agro-pastoral family to become the queen of the Ahom kingdom, that too at its zenith. And ofcourse, her story doesn't just end here cause in the years of her reign as the Bar Raja Ahom Assam saw kind of a cultural efflorescence which the kingdom had never witnessed in its previous centuries.

"Hence, Phuleswari became Paramettswari!"

Picture (2) : Coin issued jointly in the names of King Shiv Singh and Queen Phuleswari Kuwori, designated as Paramettswari here

As the de-jure ruler, Phuleswari Kuwori was given the Ahom insignia- the Royal Umbrella. Also, coins were struck bearing names of both the king and her - where she figured as Parametta-swari Devi (Paramettswari being another name of Goddess Durga). The period also saw minting of coins with arabic and persian motifs for the first time where she bore the epithet "Ahom Begum" prefixed to her name, Paramettswari. Her previous name Phuleswari was given up, probably on the account that it reminded people of her low origin. Upon ascending the throne, she asserted her independence, personality and power effectively.

Her reign saw impressive strides in developmental, artistic and cultural activities, while her husband, Shiv Singh remained immersed in religious observances as a neophyte Shakta. Over the years, he became less involved in matters of statecraft, merely offering counsels when the need arose. Kuwori commissioned construction of a road in the memory of the King's foster-mother, the Dhai Ali or Nurse's road, located in Sivasagar. Several temple tanks were dug out under her support, including the renowned Jur-pukhuri (twin tanks) in Guwahati and Gauri Sagar tank, near Sivasagar. As a devout Shakta, she stationed the Dah Parbatia Gosains at Kamakhya and Ugratara and also made several grants and endowments to these temples. She also established a school at Rangpur, called Bar Rajar Parhaxali. It was under her patronage that the Shakuntala story was rendered into Assamese under the pen of their court poet - Kaviraj Chakravartin. Also, she sponsored another poet, Ananta Acharya who composed the Ananda Lahiri, literally meaning "waves of joy", a groundbreaking work on religious metaphysics. There Acharya eulogized the Queen, comparing her attributes to that of major deities - "fierce as Kali, patient as Mother Earth, devoted as the wife of Ram, intelligent as goddess Katyayini".

Picture (3) - The Shiva Doul at Gaurisagar. There are three temples located on the north bank of Gaurisagar tank, built during the lifetime of Shiv Singh

Her wisdom and folly

The Queen's exercise of power was more than nominal which invited a lot of criticisms. Also to make matters worse, her fanatic zeal to introduce Shakta rituals invited hostilities from the other existing sects, especially the Neo-Vaishnavs, who later got crystallized under the brand of Moamorias. 

The antagonisms reached its peak when the Queen compelled the Vaishnav Gosains, including the spiritual head of the Moamoria Sattra, to observe the Durga Puja festival. There the Queen not only asked the Gosains to bow below the image but also smeared their foreheads with blood of the sacrificed animals. This humiliating blasphemy was never forgiven by the Moamorias, who half a century later broke out in an open rebellion. 

Whether the Queen committed this act in the heat of the moment, prompted by provocation, or was this an outcome of some predetermined action dictated by her innate bigotry and intolerance, history has failed to answer that!

The reign of Paramettswari Devi also observed recruitment of several of her family members to high offices and dignities. Gradually, the nobility got carved out of her close confidants, comprising of her brothers and uncles who began to advise her on multiple occasions. Her brother Harinath was first made an important officer of the state and later was promoted to the position of Barpatra Gohain, one of the three most important ministers in the ruler's council. This very act echoes with Noor Jahan who did something very similar to consolidate her hold over the mighty Moghul empire. She placed her brother Asaf Khan as the grand Wazir (minister) of Jahangir. Moreover, several Iranians acquired high offices under her influence. 

Thus the Ahom patricians known for their collective sagacity, valor and military expertise, a body of well trained hereditary ministers became subjected to personal aggrandizement in the hands of a wilful and fickle minded nobility. 

This was seen as spearheading a process of slow decline of imperial authority in the hands of derelict officers.

Final Remarks

The biggest irony of Queen Phuleswari Kuwori's life still impinge on the fact that although she ascended the throne based on a very simple consideration - her reign would usher stability to the kingdom, averting a major civil strife - yet her episode with the Moamorias in that particular Durga puja festival left an unhealing wound in the dynamics of the Ahom-Moamoria relations, which in the coming years proved to be detrimental for the Ahoms. Added to that, she couldn't rule for long. 

She died in the year 1731 and according to an unpublished chronicle her death provoked a series of reactions owing to her heterodox innovations and activities.

Picture (4) - Gaurisagar Tank, Sivasagar district, Assam

Source :

My writeup is based on professor Surjya Kumar Bhuyan's article titled, "A Nur Jahan from Assam" where he tried to draw a parallelism between both these queens, separated from one another not merely by geography but also by chronological gap of a century. The author's work is primarily based on his personal inquiry and study of the Buranjis (Ahom chronicles).