Minister Wangki Lowang, Prof. J. N. Phukan Decipher Ancient Scripted Pots at Namsang; Historic Salt Well Visited at Subang

Day two of the official tour of Minister for Environment & Forest, Geology, Mining and Minerals and DoTCL, Shri Wangki Lowang ji, along with Padma Shri awardee Professor Jogendra Nath Phukan, focused on uncovering key elements of Nocte heritage at Namsang and Subang villages.

At Namsang, the delegation received a traditional welcome by village youths in full Nocte attire. Professor Phukan, assisted by Shri Dhiraj Phukan and Dipak Phukan, examined five ancient scripted earthen pots locally known as Ngolo or Kolo. Each pot stands about two feet tall and weighs around 14–15 kilograms.

During the study, one inscription was successfully deciphered. Professor Phukan identified the script as belonging to the Tai Ahom tradition. The deciphered word, Mohong, means “salt” in the Ahom language, indicating that the pots were likely used for storing salt or as tools in traditional salt production. Though the artefacts were first documented in 2020 by Nocte Digest, their inscriptions had remained unread until now, making this a major breakthrough in understanding their historical purpose.

The team also visited the old Namghar at Namsang, offering respects and recognising its cultural and spiritual importance.

Later, the delegation travelled to Subang village to inspect the historic and sacred salt well known as Moran Sum, developed for tourism in 2019 under the initiative of the Minister. Recent scientific studies show that the physico-chemical quality of Nocte salt is superior to salt found in other Northeastern states.

Historically, Nocte salt was a prized trade item exchanged with the Ahoms and neighbouring tribes. Control over salt sources once led to conflicts between the Noctes and the Ahoms, which ended between 1696 and 1714 during the reign of Ahom king Rudra Singha. During this period, Hote, also known as Latha Khunbao, Chief of Namsang, Borduria and Laptang, adopted Vaishnavism after being initiated by Sri Ram Ata at Merbil Bareghar Satra in present-day Sasoni under Naharkatiya, Assam. He was renamed Narottam, meaning “the best among men.”

The tour concluded with a dinner hosted at the Hon’ble Minister’s residence, attended by the ADC and AC of Deomali, ZPMs of Deomali and Soha blocks, the Executive Engineer (Power) and other distinguished guests.