The Sadiya Serpent Pillar is a medieval octagonal stone pillar found in Sadiya, Assam, within the region of the historical Chutia kingdom. Though the builders and the exact date of its construction remain unknown, it is notable for bearing the earliest known inscription in the Ahom script, dated to 1532 CE, during the reign of Suhungmung Dihingia Raja (1497–1539).
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| Sadiya Serpent Pillar en.wikipedia.org |
According to the Assam Gazetteer (1928), the pillar was discovered between the Dibang and Deopani rivers, near the seventh milepost of the Sadiya–Nizamghat road. It was close to a stone bridge and a brick tank, and the surrounding area included remnants of fortifications. British explorers S.F. Hannay and T. Block documented the presence of brick gateways, bridges, and similar octagonal serpent pillars in nearby Tamreswari Temple, where two such structures featured coiled snakes biting their tails carved near the base.
The pillar inscription, written in Ahom, contains nine and a half lines and was likely erected to commemorate the Ahom conquest of Sadiya in 1524. It records a treaty between the Ahoms and the Mishmi tribe, negotiated by Phrasenmung Borgohain, the Ahom governor of Sadiya. The treaty required the Mishmis to pay annual tribute in specified goods and reside on one side of the Dibang River, thereby establishing Ahom authority in the frontier region.
The pillar, which stands eleven feet high, was rediscovered in 1921. In 1953, it was transported to Assam State Museum in Guwahati, where it remains on display as a significant artifact of Assam's early Ahom history and political diplomacy.
