Asom Divas or Assam Day is celebrated on December 2 every year to commemorate thearrival of the first king of Ahom kingdom Sukhapaa in Assam.
The day of December 2 is also commemorated as Sukaphaa Divas in honour of the founder of
the Ahom kingdom
The period of Ahom rule that existed for nearly 600 years.is always credited as the golden
period in the history of Assam
According to legend, Sukaphaa was born inMong Mao, a place close to Ruili in Yunnan,China.
He was the nephew ofPao Meo Pung, the ruler of Mong Mao who did not have any heir sohe was designated as the crown prince of the land
However, Sukhapaa decided to leave when a son was born later to Pao Meo Pung
After leaving his birth place in 1215, Sukhapaa travelled with a contingent of 9000 people
By travelling for a period of thirteen years , Sukaphaa finally reached Namrup in 1228.
One of the unique features of his arrival is that he came not as a proud king who hasproclaimed supremacy over a piece of land
He came as a head of an agricultural folk in search of conducting his occupation of farmingwell.
With the passage of time, Sukaphaa befriended many of the local tribes, adapted their simpleways of living and established marital relations with them.
He also moved from place to place searching for the right capital and finally established hiscapital city at Charaideo in 1253.
He is the leader who played an important role in unifying various ethnic groups of Assam bytreating them as equals and encouraging intermarriage between various tribes.
Sukaphaa’s unique ability to create unity and brotherhood among people of various tribes hasearned him the honorary title of Chaolung
Asom Divas is celebrated across various institutions of Assam by singing and narratingpraises of Sukaphaa along with the performance of various traditional forms of art