Gendered Structure of Silk Rearing and Its Socio-Economic Relevance in Ahom Period (1228-1826 C.E.)

Abstract

The Tai speaking Ahoms left present-day Yunnan in China in the early thirteenth century and under the leadership of Sukapha (1228-1268 C.E.) set up a mighty and enduring kingdom in the Brahmaputra Valley of Assam. Ruled by the Ahoms from the early thirteenth century to the mid-nineteenth century, this polity gradually expanded to dominate the entire valley. Assam has long been known for its weaving skill and sericulture flourished particularly in the medieval period under sustained patronage. Upper Assam had become a major centre of silk production, as the Ahoms were imbued with an understanding of sericulture and weaving. While silk production became part of everyday living, historical records indicate that state control was placed almost from the very beginning. Approximately one thousand families were said to have been given silk production assignments during the reign of Su-Tu-Pha (1369-1376 C.E.). The gendered organization of labour within the medieval Assamese sericulture provides clues to how economic activity was organized through caste hierarchies, ecological dispositions, and state policies. The Ahom period (1228-1826 C.E.) provides a backdrop for the overlap of women’s household duties with silk production and social structure. This study looks into the gendered organization of sericulture over the period of Ahoms and its wider socio-economic significance with particular reference to muga, endi (eri), and pat silks. It investigates the various patterns of production in different ecological zones and among different social groups, and how the state organized labour by designating specific communities to particular stages of production. This research uses both primary and secondary historical sources to show how sericulture was not only an economic activity but also intertwined into the sphere of household labour and ritual life alongside statecraft. The silk production was kept alive by women throughout domestic rearing and weaving, while strengthening household economies.

DOI: 10.46700/asssr/2025/v7/i2/186