Assam India North east Travel

Khaspur – A kingdom in ruins

About twenty-five kilometers from the town of Silchar in southern Assam, lie the ruins of one of the most powerful kingdoms of their times, the Kachari kingdom, also known as the Dimasa kingdom.

Not much is known about the origin of the Kachari kingdom which was established in the thirteenth century and was finally annexed by the British in 1854 but legend has it that they were the off-springs of Ghatotkacha, the son of Bhima.

 ruins in Khaspur
The Chandi temple – Khaspur

The Kachari (kochari) Kingdom in Udharbond

During the start of their rule, Dimapur (capital of present-day Nagaland) used to be the capital of the kingdom which was later moved to Maibang in Assam before finally being moved to Khaspur (locally known as Rajbari, meaning the King’s palace).

Khaspur, where the ruins lie scattered inside the Pathemara Tea Estate is easily accessible by narrow but good enough roads.

Pathemara TE
Part of the Pathemara TE

The area is maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India (I don’t know if maintain is the right word here).

ruins in khaspur
Century-old ruins in pitiful condition, Khaspur – Thaligram

Of whatever is left of the ruins, some of it is either in shambles and waiting to be lost forever because of non-maintenance or the rest of them have been repaired so much that they have lost their original feel and now, don’t look much different from present-day monuments.

ruins of khaspur
Ruins in much better shape after restoration, Thaligram – Khaspur

The ruins are spread across the tea-garden area and to find all of them, you need to take a walk in and around the village and the market areas of the tea-estate.

singha duar khasput
The ‘Singh duaar’ (Lion Gate)

After you are done walking and seeing all the ruins, try looking for this amazing Church from the last century.

While roaming around in the village of Thalighram, looking for the ‘ruins’, I was pleasantly surprised and excited to suddenly come across this century-old Church from the 1800s. Finding something I have never heard about before from anyone made it even more exciting.

church thaligram khaspur
Santh Estifun Church, Thaligram

*Try finding this little gem whenever you visit Khaspur.

14 thoughts on “Khaspur – A kingdom in ruins”

  1. “Hi Rajiv,
    The very title of your blog is so attractive. I can help but picture a bunch of ancient buildings in ruins and how on the previous era, they were filled with so many people. I also really like the way your pictures tell the story where words are inadequate. “

    1. Thank you so much Anmol, for your wonderful words. Really makes me happy 🙂 .
      From what I have heard from elders, the place was more or less the way you and many of us imagine it. A thriving and prosperous community with special interest and dedication in their own culture.

      Thanks again for your wonderful words Anmol, do keep connected via FB / subscribe via email if you would want to have the future posts sent directly to you.

      Cheers,
      Rajiv

  2. nowadays m habituated to travel from tinsukia to university.Starting of new route from silchar had made a devastating benifits. still there must be some sort of improvement…

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