The Chutia people (Pron: or Sutia) are an ethnic group that are native to the Indian state of Assam and historically associated with the Chutia kingdom."In the chronicles of Assam, either in the Tai-Ahom or Assamese languages, two kingdoms were important in 15th and 16th century Upper Assam. These two “peoples” were called Kachari and Chutiya in the Assamese language, and respectively Tumisa (or Timisa) and Tiora in the Tai-Ahom language." The Chutia kingdom, with its capital at Sadiya, was a major medieval polity of Assam, whose territory extended across much of the eastern and northern Brahmaputra Valley and adjoining frontier regions before its incorporation into the Ahom kingdom in 1523–24."[T]he 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." Following the incorporation of the kingdom, sections of the Chutia population were dispersed and resettled across other parts of Upper Assam"(After defeating the Chutiyas, a number) of blacksmiths and other artisans were taken from Sadiya to the Ahom capital. Having settled all these matters Suhunmung returned to Charaideo where he performed the 'Rikkhan' ceremony" as well as Central Assam."(T)he outer limit of Darrang district, in the western-most extent of which Ahom conquerors settled the vanquished Chutiyas in the early part of the sixteenth century." They constitute one of the core groups that form the Assamese people."Many were the people throughout Assam who considered themselves “Chutiyas”, especially in Upper Assam, but they were considered to be an Assamese 'caste' since they were (and still are) quite indistinguishable from common Assamese people; actually, they were (and still are) one of those traditional groups of Assam that came to form the Assamese people." By the early colonial period, the Chutia community had the second largest population in Upper Assam (east of Kaliabor)."In the parts east from Kaliabor, the tribe next most numerous is called Chutiya." Today, they remain concentrated primarily in Upper Assam, while sizeable populations are also found in Darrang, Nagaon, North Guwahati (particularly Changsari and Rangmahal) and the Barak Valley.
The historic Chutias originally belonged to the Bodo–Kachari group(M)embers of the Mataks like the Morans, Barahis, Kacharis and Chutiyas, being members of the great Bodo family, had allied religious beliefs and customs. All of them worshipped a Primodial male deity and a Primodial female deity, and all of them were animist. with some suspected Shan admixtures."From the physical appearance of the Chutiyas, Gait opinies "they have in their frames a considerable infusion of Shan blood...." This may be possible because the Chutiyas were the next neighbours of the Shans of southeast Asia" A 2006 anthropometric study comparing six populations of Upper Assam found the Deori to be the closest comparison group to the Chutia sample, followed by the Mising and Moran. A 2004 genetic study placed the Chutias, together with the Ahoms and Rajbanshis, in an intermediate position along the historical tribe–caste continuum."The process of assimilation of some of the tribes in the caste hierarchy is probably reflected in the broad constellation of populations in the multidimensional plot (Fig. 3); on the one end it is the constellation of populations subscribing to the caste system, while the other end of the plot is the constellation of tribal groups. In between lie groups like the Rajbanshi, Chutiya, and Ahom, which were supposed to have undergone the process discussed above." "The Chutia, Ahom, and Rajbanshis constitute a separate and compact cluster positioned in the center of MDS plot." The Chutias underwent processes of Sanskritisation during the period of the Chutia kingdom,"The frequent appearance of Vaiṣṇava brahmins in the Chutiya royal grants shows their enhanced presence in the court and rural society." followed by further cultural change under the influence of Ekasarana Dharma after the sixteenth century."(A)fter the sixteenth century with the advent of the neo-Vaiṣṇava movement of Śankaradeva which brought about a profound change in the cultural and historical consciousness of the local population, including the Chutiyas." They also assimilated with neighbouring populations, particularly the Ahoms."While the Ahom has a subdivision called 'Chutia', the Chutia have a section known as 'Ahom'."
The Chutia community is recognised as an Other Backward Class by the Government of India. There has been a long-standing demand for its inclusion in the Scheduled Tribes list, and the Government of Assam has submitted a recommendation for the community's inclusion to the Government of India.
Names The origin of the name Chutia is not known: the Chutia kingdom was called Tiora in the Ahom language Buranjis, whereas the Assamese language ones used Chutia. Padmeswar Naoboicha Phukan, writing in the late nineteenth century, stated that the Chutias had formerly been known as Chutia-Kacharis and described their original lineage (kul) as Kachari.""
History Early history The recorded history of the Chutia people is closely associated with the eastern Brahmaputra Valley and particularly with the Sadiya region, which later became the political centre of the Chutia kingdom. Archaeometric evidence indicates that brick-building was already taking place in the Sadiya region during the early medieval period: a 2024 study grouped bricks from Pratimagarh and Padum Pukhuri within a technological horizon broadly assigned to the seventh–tenth centuries CE. This evidence predates the securely documented Chutia rulers and therefore indicates an earlier regional building tradition rather than, by itself, Chutia political authority.
The wider region also occupied an important position in the sacred geography represented in the Kalika Purana. Dikkaravasini, identified with Tamreswari at Sadiya, marked the eastern end of one conception of Kamarupa. Jae-Eun Shin notes that the text contrasts the country extending eastward from Lalitakanta, near present-day Guwahati, to Dikkaravasini with the region extending westward from Lalitakanta to the Karatoya River: the former was represented as the country of the Kiratas, generally associated with Tibeto-Burman populations of much of the middle and upper Brahmaputra valley, while the latter was portrayed as a Brahmanical sedentary society of Brahmins, sages and people of the varna order. Shin interprets the contrast as reflecting the uneven expansion of sedentary agriculture and Brahmanical settlement, although both regions were included within Kamarupa's sacred geography.
Chutia kingdom
The Chutia polity developed in this eastern regional setting, although its early history remains poorly documented. The epigraphic record becomes substantially clearer in the second half of the fourteenth century, when rulers centred on Sadhayāpura or Svadhayāpura, identified with later Sadiya, appear in copper-plate inscriptions. The kingdom developed around Sadiya and adjoining northeastern Assam and present-day Arunachal Pradesh. Its territory principally encompassed the present-day districts of Lakhimpur, Dhemaji, Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Majuli and Biswanath,"N.N Acharyya, are of the opinion that the Chutiya kingdom extended up to Viswanath in the present Darrang district of Assam." "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." together with parts of present-day Sivasagar district."..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""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, the area was brought under the control of the Ahoms and before that the whole territory of present-day Dibrugarh was under the Chutiyas." It also included plains and foothill regions of present-day Arunachal Pradesh. "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.""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." Historian Nityananda Gogoi states that under some of its rulers, the kingdom included part of the hilly region of present-day Arunachal Pradesh, including the Itanagar area, together with adjoining territories of the Brahmaputra valley extending westward as far as the Bargang near Biswanath. He cited similar marks on stones found among archaeological remains at Sadiya, on the Buroi River, and at Naxapahar, near the confluence of the Bargang and Dikal rivers, as supporting this reconstruction. Gogoi further concluded from the fourteenth- and fifteenth-century inscriptions of the Chutia rulers that the dynasty centred at Sadiya or Sadhayapur ruled an "extensive country" comprising parts of Upper Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
It subsequently developed into one of the principal political formations of medieval northeastern India; scholars describes the Chutias as "the most developed among the political formations of the region" by the fifteenth century."The period from 13th to the 16th century saw the emergence and development of a large number of tribal political formations in north-east India. The Chutia, the Tai-ahom, the Koch, the Dimasa, the Tripuri, the Meithei, the Khasi and the Pamar- all these tribes crystallised into rudimentary state formations by the 15th century....The most developed of the tribes in the 15th century were the Chutias." "Indeed it appears that of all the tribes of the Brahmaputra valley, the Chutiyas were the most advanced and had a well-developed civilization." The strategic position of the kingdom also enabled its rulers to regulate eastward trade and the movement of people between Assam, Tibet and southern China.