Joymoti Konwari
BornMid 17th-century,
Madurigaon, Sivasagar, Assam
Died
Jerenga Pathar, Sivasagar
SpouseGadadhar Singha
ChildrenLai
Lechai
Parent(s)Laithepena Borgohain and Chandradaru

Joymoti Konwari was the wife of Ahom prince Gadapani (later Supatphaa). She died at the hands of the royalists under Sulikphaa Loraa Roja without disclosing her exiled husband Gadapani's whereabouts in the Naga Hills, thereby enabling her husband to rise in revolt and assume kingship.[1]

Biography

Joymoti was born in the middle of the 17th-century in Maduri to Laithepena Borgohain and Chandradaru. She was married to Langi Gadapani Konwar,[2] later an Ahom king, Supatphaa, who established the Tungkhungia line of kings.

A few buranjis mention her but not as Joymati but only as a nameless Gadapani’s wife.[3] Most of what is known about her life is obtained from the ballads and folklore popular among the people of Upper Assam and not on actual evidence.[4][5]

Legacy

Since the early 20th-century literary figures such as Padmanath Gohain Baruah and Lakshminath Bezbaruah transformed the "ordinary story" of Joymati into a "fictional tale" of a female hero's moral victory against the male military might and as a representation of the Ahom glory.

The story of Joymati attained a new fame when it was filmed in 1935 by Jyotiprasad Agarwala.[6]

By 1918, Joymoti came to be seen as a virtuous Hindu women with Kumudeswar Barthakur first bestowing the title of Sati upon Jaymati and publishing Jaymati Kahini (1918) in which she was represented as the embodiment of Hindu female chastity, devoted to her husband and dharma. This depiction of her by Barthakur was an effort to "Indianise" her character away from her Tai roots.[7]

Memorials and monuments

Joysagar Tank

Joymoti and Gadadhar Singha's eldest son Rudra Singha (Sukhrungphaa, 1696–1714) succeeded his father. In honour of the memory of his mother Joymoti, Rudra Singha built the Joysagar Tank in 1697 at Sibsagar. It is believed to be the biggest man-made lake in India,[8] comprising an area covering 318 acres (1.29 km2) of land, including its four banks,[9] out of which 155 acres (0.63 km2) is filled with fresh water. A 2 km-long earthen water pipeline once ran from the tank to the Rangpur Palace (Kareng Ghar), supplying water to the royal palace.

Fakuwa Dol

Rudra Singha also built the Fakuwa Dol in 1703–04, a pyramid-shaped temple constructed before the Rangnath (Shiva) Temple on the banks of the Joysagar Tank. It is said that Rudra Singha, once again to perpetuate the memory of his mother Soti Joymoti, constructed the temple and placed a golden idol of her within it. The circumference of the Dol was about 90 ft (27 m), and its height from base to top was 30 ft (9.1 m). There were eight brick pillars around the temple.

Joymoti Day

Sati Joymoti Divas, commemoration day of Joymoti, is held annually in Assam on 27 March.[10]

Sati Joymoti Award

The State Government of Assam has instituted an annual award in the name of Joymoti, presented to women in recognition of excellence in their chosen fields of work.[11]

Film and theatre

Screenshot from Joymoti (actress Aideu Handique as Joymoti)

Joymoti (1935 film) was the first Assamese language film, directed and produced by Jyoti Prasad Agarwala. In 2006, Manju Borah released another film by the same name. The 19th-century Assamese writer Lakshminath Bezbaruah depicted her life in the drama Joymoti Kuwori.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ (Sharma 2011:225–226)
  2. ↑ (Gogoi & Bora 2011:1512)
  3. ↑ (Sharma 2011:226)
  4. ↑ (Sharma 2011:226)
  5. ↑ (Sharma 2004:18)
  6. ↑ (Sharma 2011:225–226)
  7. ↑ (Sharma 2011:227)
  8. ↑ "Joydol Joysagar Tank". OnlineSivasagar.com. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
  9. ↑ "Sukhaangpha (1923) to Rudra Singha (1714)". The Assam Chronicle. 28 February 2011. Archived from the original on 28 June 2013. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
  10. ↑ "Jaymati". Assaminfo.com. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
  11. ↑ "Assam Govt. to Introduce Award after Ahom Princess Joymoti". Northeast today. 1 February 2012. Retrieved 19 April 2012.

References

  • Gogoi, Debo Prasad; Bora, Prasanta (2011). Role of Ahom Women with Special Reference to Mulagabharu, Jaymati Konwari and Bar Raja Phuleswari Konwari. Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. Vol. 72(II). pp. 1511–1512. JSTOR 44145777.
  • Sharma, Jayeeta (2011). Empire's Garden: Assam and the Making of India (PDF). Duke University Press.
  • Sharma, Jayeeta (2004). "Heroes for our Times: Assam's Lachit, India's Missile Man". In Zavos, John; Wyatt, Andrew; Hewitt, Vernon (eds.). The Politics of Cultural Mobilization in India. Delhi: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195668018.
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