This document codifies the customary laws of the Tai Ahom community, serving as an act of cultural preservation, legal recognition, and community empowerment. These laws and practices, long transmitted through oral traditions and chronicled in historical sources, are not new proposals but an affirmation of the Ahom community's enduring heritage. This volume is the result of extensive consultation with Tai Ahom practitioners, priests, and Bailungs, drawing directly from their profound knowledge and lived experiences, alongside interviews with numerous Tai Ahom priests to create this one-stop reference documentation.

Our objective is to provide a comprehensive and practical handbook, accessible to Ahom families, legal practitioners, community leaders, and scholars. It aims to make Tai Ahom customary law readily understandable, reliable, and applicable in real-world contexts. This handbook covers a wide array of Ahom traditions and customs, from the 'Chaklong' marriage system, crucial for resolving matters like divorce and inheritance, to 'Maidam' burial practices, ancestor worship, and clan-based rituals.

Tai Ahom customary laws, rituals, and religious practices form a distinct and internally coherent system, rooted in their unique heritage. These practices and social laws predominantly align with Taoist traditions, reflecting their origins from the Mong Mao area in present-day South China/Yunnan region approximately 800 years ago. This continued heritage is vital for the Ahom community's cultural pride and distinct religious identity, rooted in Taoist-inspired spiritual and ritual frameworks such as 'Furalung' and 'Ban-Fi'. The core idea of this book is to help readers clearly distinguish Tai Ahom as a unique entity in terms of both community and religion.

Furthermore, the Tai Ahoms maintain a separate calendrical system called 'Lak', managed by Tai 'Bailungs' and 'Molungs'. This 'Lik-Tai' or Tai Calendar, a lunisolar system similar to traditional Lunar Buddhist calendars in Southeast Asia, plays a crucial role in structuring rituals, festivals, agricultural practices, and the community's spiritual life, anchoring Ahom traditions within a broader Tai cosmological framework.

Ultimately, this codification transcends a mere legal exercise. It is a profound cultural and spiritual endeavor—a testament to the Ahom community’s resilience and a promise to future generations that their unique legacy will be preserved and respected. May this document serve as a living reference and a source of pride for the Ahom people, honoring their past and guiding their future.

Here’s a structured plan to develop and codify Tai Ahom Customary Law, tailored for advocates, researchers, and journalists. This plan is divided into key phases and content components: