The office of the Ahom king, was reserved exclusively for the descendants of the first king Sukaphaa (1228–1268) who came to Assam from Mong Mao in 1228. Succession was by agnatic primogeniture. Nevertheless, following Rudra Singha's deathbed injunction four of his five sons became the king one after the other. The descendants of Sukaphaa were not eligible for ministerial positions—a division of power that was followed till the end of the dynasty and the kingdom. When the nobles asked Atan Burhagohain to become the king, the Tai priests rejected the idea and he desisted from ascending the throne.