The Chutia kingdom (also Sadiya,"Their kingdom called Sadiya..." Pron: , or Sutia) was a late medieval state that developed around Sadiya in present Assam and adjoining areas in Arunachal Pradesh."(T)he Chutiyas seem to have assumed political power in Sadiya and contiguous areas falling within modern Arunachal Pradesh." It extended over almost the entire region of present districts of Lakhimpur, Dhemaji, Tinsukia, and parts of Dibrugarh (till the Burhi Dihing"..the Chutiya kingdom was bound by the Himalayas on the north, river Burhi Dihing on the south, Patkai ranges on the east and Bharali river in the west" ; "The hills and the river Buri Dihing formed its northern and southern boundaries respectively."; "Till 1513 AD, it [Dihing] was regarded as the boundary between the Ahom and the Chutiya territories." "About 250 years ago the Dihing (present Burhi-Dihing) flowed westerly through Sivsagar district to meet the Brahmaputra at the extreme western point of Majuli island (Sarma and Goswami, 2007). Over the centuries, the river Dihing has changed its courses many times...We find the earliest historical records of the valley after the coming of the Ahoms as the Buranjis or the Ahom chronicles, mention about the conflict between the Ahoms and the Chutiyas on the bank of the river Dihing. The Satsari Asom Buranji refers to the Ahom-Chutiya conflict over the matter of fishing rights in the river Dihing, which ultimately led to the annexation of the entire Chutiya territory upto Sadiya by the Ahoms during the reign of Suhungmung (p.56). However, it was only in the second decade of the sixteenth century that the area was brought under the control of the Ahoms, and before that the whole territory of present-day Dibrugarh was under the Chutiyas." ) in Assam,"Thus the Chutiya territory extended over almost the entire region of present districts of Lakhimpur, Dhemaji, Tinsukia, and some parts of Dibrugarh." as well as the plains and foothills "The ruins of two forts in Lohit district of Arunachal Pradesh is said to be the remains of Bhīṣmaka's city, viz. Bhismaknagar (sk. Bhīṣmakanagara): one ruin about 16 miles northwest of Sadiya at the foot of the hills between the rivers Dikrang and Dibang is known as the fort of Bhīṣmaka, and the other about 24 miles north of Sadiya between the gorges of those two rivers is believed to be the fort of Śiśupāla. Based on an inscribed brick with the name of Śrīśrī-Lakṣmīnārāyaṇa, discovered from the ruins of the forts in Bhismaknagar, it is assumed that Chutiya king Lakṣmīnārāyaṇa of the early fifteenth century had his capital in the area. The paleographical analysis of the inscription supports this dating." of Arunachal Pradesh."In the main, however, their territory was confined to the river valleys of the Suvansiri, Brahmaputra, Lohit, and the Dihing and hardly extended to the hills at its zenith." Some authors have suggested that the kingdom may have extended as far west as Viswanath"..N.N Acharyya, are of the opinion that the Chutiya kingdom extended up to Viswanath in the present Darrang district of Assam." "During the days of his successors, this kingdom[Chutia], at times, included besides the regions as mentioned above, also a part of the hilly province of present Arunachal Pradesh inclusive of Itānagar, its present capital, and its adjacent territories in the Brahmaputra valley as far west as to the river Bargāng near Biswanath in the Sonitpur District." corresponding to the region of present-day Biswanath district,"If architectural continuity is admitted between the fortifications in the Sadiya region and the Burai river ruin site, it would be possible to believe that the kingdom of these rulers extended as far as the outer limit of Darrang district, to the westernmost extent of which Ahom conquerors settled the vanquished Chutiyas in the early part of the sixteenth century." and northward into present-day Arunachal Pradesh, including the Itanagar area. The Chutia rulers exercised power by regulating eastward trade and the movement of people between Assam, Tibet, and southern China. The kingdom fell around the year 1523-24 to the Ahom Kingdom after a series of conflicts, and the capital area ruled by the Chutia rulers became the administrative domain of the office of Sadia Khowa Gohain of the Ahom kingdom."The Chutiya power lasted until 1523 when the Ahom king Suhungmung, alias Dihingia Rāja (1497–1539), conquered their kingdom and annexed it to his sphere of influence. A new officer of Ahom state, known as Sadiya Khowa Gohain, was appointed to administer the area ruled by the Chutiyas."
The Chutia kingdom, believed to be founded in the early 13th century around Sadiya and contiguous areas,"Moving down from the hills to the plains of upper Assam, at some point of time before the entry of the Shans, a Tai ethnic group of Southeast Asia, the Chutiyas formed a state earlier than the Ahoms in the thirteenth century." was one among several rudimentary states (Ahom, Dimasa, Koch, Jaintia etc.) that emerged from tribal political formations in the region after the fall of Kamarupa kingdom, between the 13th and the 16th century."The period from the 13th to the 16th century saw the emergence and development of a large number of tribal political formations in northeast India. The Chutiya, the Tai-Ahom, the Koch, the Dimasa (Kachari), the Tripuri, the Meithei (Manipuri), the Khasi (Khyriem), and the Pamar (Jaintia)—all these tribes crystallised into rudimentary state formations by the 15th century." Among these, the Chutia state was the most advanced,"The most developed of the tribes in the 15th century were the Chutiya." "Indeed it appears that of all the tribes of the Brahmaputra valley, the Chutiyas were the most advanced and had a well-developed civilization." with its rural industries,"The growth of a number of professions among the people of this kingdom like tanti (weaver), kahar (bell-metal worker), sonari (goldsmith) ... indicates the growth of some rural industries among the Chutiyas." trade,"(T)he Chutias, who held power by regulating the easterly trade and migration of people to and from Tibet, Southern China, and Assam." surplus economy and advanced Sanskritisation."(T)he Chutiyas were one of the earliest tribes to be Hinduised and to form a state, may point to their surplus economy." (At the time of annexation by the Ahoms) caste system had become prevalent in (the Chutiya) society." It is not exactly known as to the system of agriculture adopted by the Chutias,"It is not definitely known as to the system of agriculture adopted by them." but it is believed that they were settled cultivators."the word 'khā' of Tai-Ahom language, which is usually prefixed to names of non-Ahom people practicing shifting cultivation, does not appear for the Chutiyas, probably because they were neither stateless nor were they solely shifting cultivators in the early phase of Ahom rule. There seems no serious interaction between the Ahoms and old settled people of the neighborhood including the Chutiyas until the fourteenth century." After the Ahoms annexed the kingdom in 1523-24, the Chutia state & its population was absorbed into the Ahom kingdom through Ahomisation — the nobility and the professional classes were given important positions in the Ahom officialdom"The Ahoms accepted many Chutiyas to their fold and offered them responsible offices in the administration" and the land was resettled for wet rice cultivation."[T]he Chutiya kingdom consisted of a vast plan level and fertile territory which provided for the Ahoms possibility of easy extension of wet rice culture in the region."
Foundation and Polity Though there is no doubt about the Chutia polity, the origins of this kingdom are obscure."The origin of the Chutiya state is obscure." It is generally held that the Chutias, a grouping of different Bodo-Kachari cognate groups, established a state in the plains around Sadiya before the advent of the Ahoms in 1228."The Chutiyas belong to the Bodos, a linguistic group of the Brahmaputra valley, speaking a Tibeto-Burman language and having different cognate groups within them. According to the present-day Deori Chutiyas, the priests of the Chutiya people, they are originally inhabitants of the hills to the north of the Brahmaputra, perhaps the northwestern portion of the Dibang valley. Moving down from the hills to the plains of upper Assam, at some point in time before the entry of the Shans, a Tai ethnic group of Southeast Asia, the Chutiyas seem to have assumed political power in Sadiya and contiguous areas falling within modern Arunachal Pradesh." Although Buranjis, the Ahom chronicles, indicate the presence of a Chutia state, "The prefix Kha does not appear in the Tai words for the Dimasa and the Chutiya, probably because they were neither stateless, nor were they solely shifting cultivators." Nath argues that the evidence is scarce that it was of any significance before the second half of the 14th century."This shows that if there was any Chutiya state it was of little significance till at least mid 14th century." He notes that the chronicles describing Sukaphaa’s migration and search for a settlement in Upper Assam between 1228 and 1253 record no resistance from a Chutia state,"The Assamese chronicles while recording the route of Sukapha across the Patkai hills till he reached Charaideo in the southeastern corner of the present Sibsagar district through the courses of the rivers Dihing, Brahmaputra and Dikhow do not mention a Chutiya state that offered any kind of resistance to the advancing forces of Sukapha." and interprets this silence as evidence of its insignificance until at least the mid-14th century, when the first hostile confrontation is recorded. Other scholars, however, offer different assessments of the early political situation. Saikia describes the Chutias in the thirteenth century as "by far the most powerful group in the upper Lauhitya valley", possessing a king and capital at Sadiya.: "In the thirteenth century, the Chutias were by far the most powerful group in the upper Lauhitya valley having a king and a capital city at Sadiya." She further notes that, faced with significant political opposition from the Kacharis, the early Tai-Ahoms sought friendship with the Chutias, although an attempt to establish such relations in the mid-fourteenth century was unsuccessful and was followed by a lull of nearly a century.: "Faced with significant political opposition from the Kacharis, the Tai-Ahoms sought the friendship of the Chutias. An early attempt, in the mid-fourteenth century, did not produce positive results, and there was a lull for nearly a century." The Satsari Assam Buranji further states that alliance and cordial relations with the Chutia king had existed from the time of one of Sukaphaa's sons,: "Previously, since the time of one of Sukapha's sons, there was alliance and cordial relations with the Chutia king." while Saikia's translation of another Satsari chronicle records Chutias among the peoples encountered during Sukapha's migration.“Along the way, a number of people were captured and brought along with. They were either Chutias, Morans, Barahis—thus the migrating band expanded.”“Along the way, a number of people were captured. They were either Chutias, Morans, [or] Barahis ... given names according to the task they performed.” Scholars have alternatively suggested that the limited interaction between the early Ahoms and established neighbouring populations such as the Chutias was partly a consequence of the small and precarious character of the early Ahom polity, whose rulers generally avoided confrontation with larger population concentrations and well-established regional powers. This has also been suggested as an explanation for the long maintenance of the Namdang as a frontier and the limited early territorial expansion of the Ahoms.