Maibong

Maibong lies in the hills south of the Brahmaputra valley and became a capital of the Dimasa Kachari kingdom. After the Ahoms captured Dimapur in 1536, the Kachari court withdrew from the plains and established its seat here. The hill country offered a new centre from which the dynasty continued to rule.

A rock-cut temple at Maibong bears a seventeenth-century inscription and is associated with a goddess revered by the Kachari kings. The goddess represents the warlike aspect of Gauri and was a guardian deity of the dynasty. The monument preserves a religious connection with the royal house, while the move from Dimapur records a major change in the kingdom’s political geography. The Dimasa rulers maintained their court in the hills before later shifting their centre to Khaspur.