Buranji

There were two kinds of Buranjis: one maintained by the state (official) and the other maintained by families.[4] Many such manuscripts were written by scribes under the office of the Likhakar Barua, which were based on state papers, diplomatic correspondences, judicial proceedings, etc. Others were written by nobles or by people under their supervision, sometimes anonymously. These documents reveal chronology of events, language, culture, society and the inner workings of the state machinery of the kingdom. They were written in "simple, lucid and unambiguous but expressive language with utmost brevity and least exaggeration." The tradition of writing Buranjis survived more than six hundred years well into the British period, till a few decades after the demise of the Ahom kingdom.[5]

The Buranjis not only describe the Ahom kingdom, but also the neighbours (Chutiya, Kachari and Tripura Buranjis) and those with whom the Ahom kingdom had diplomatic and military contacts (Padshah Buranji). They were written on the barks of the Sanchi tree or aloe wood. Though many such Buranjis have been collected, compiled and published, an unknown number of Buranjis are still in private hands. During the reign of Rajeswar Singha, Kirti Chandra Borbarua had many Buranjis destroyed because he suspected they contained information on his lowly birth.[6]

Ahom local historians claim 18th century buranjis to be 13th century.[7]

Most of the manuscripts Buranjis are written in Ahom language. But later the tradition of writing Buranji was minimised and amount of Buranji become lesser and Assamese Lingua franca adopted by the end of the kingdom. Western Assamese was the dominant literary language and the "sole medium of all ancient Asamiya literature including the Burañjīs written in the Ahom courts". The Eastern Assamese dialect became the standard literary language of the region in around the early-19th century.[8] Gargaya, a style of Assamese writing that developed between the 17th and 19th centuries, was notably used in eastern Assam for writing Buranjis.[9]

Some authors published Modern Books with the domain of Buranji which does not chronicle Buranji Manuscripts but they are based on the manuscripts. Those books are known as Modern Buranji. Some of the examples of most popular Modern Buranjis are -