Storia do Mogor 105: The War in Assam.
Storia do Mogor (Irvine) 105
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The War in Assam.
105.1
It is time now to tell what happened during the time that Aurangzeb was in Kashmir. I have already said that before his departure he sent orders to Mir Jumlah to undertake the conquest of Assam. It was the common belief that Aurangzeb ordered Mir Jumlah into Assam that he might be got rid of, dreading that, as he had thrown the kingdom of Gulkandah into confusion, and had known how to arrange for the conquest of Dara and the destruction of Shiva Ji, he might likewise attempt by his devices to place someone else on the Mogul throne. Whatever might have been the reason for this order, Mir Jumlah at the head of his brave captains went forth to conquer a new realm, taking with him his loyal follower Diler Khan. Both were anxious to open to Aurangzeb a door for entering China. For that seemed an easy thing after the acquisition of Assam. Assam lies among mountains, is a very fertile country, most luxuriant in food-products and fruit, which are here found of various kinds such as we have in Europe — that is, pears, apples, peaches, cherries, grapes. With it as a base they could take Pegu, and through it enter into China.
105.2
They left the city of Dhakah together, at the head of forty thousand horsemen, in addition to infantry — these moved by land; and by way of the river he sent a large fleet commanded by Portuguese. These two forces reached, at a distance of one hundred leagues from Dhakah, a small fortress called Aso (Hajo), which, years before this time, the Assamese had taken from the province of Bengal. In a short time Mir Jumlah captured that fort. From this place he marched for twenty-eight days into the territory of Assam. The Assamese believed that if the fleet were destroyed it would be easy to eat up the land army. For it would suffice to block the way to supplies, and then the army would waste away. It was very easy to accomplish this, as the country is mountainous and the paths very narrow. For this purpose [73] a very powerful Assamese fleet appeared one day, and coming down with the stream in its favour, it looked as if it would swallow up all the Portuguese and their boats. But the latter warded them off, and the force of the current carried the Assamese past their goal, the Portuguese meanwhile making a great din with their mortars and matchlocks. When the Assamese had passed their enemy they veered, but the Portuguese fell upon them with such impetuosity that in a little the whole of that fleet was destroyed, some ships sent to the bottom, some captured, and altogether great loss being inflicted on the Assamese.
105.3
Glorious and triumphant, Mir Jumlah believed that by this victory he already held the whole of Assam in his grasp. He considered that Fortune was in his favour. Not to allow the rajah to entrench himself in any fortified place, he continued to advance, the rajah always retreating and doing nothing but hindering the supplies, or killing any stray individual who had gone in search of forage or firewood. He awaited the coming of the rainy season, in which the floods cover the low ground, for which reason the cities and villages are placed upon heights. The Assamese finding, in spite of their killing all stragglers from the army, that the Moguls were not deterred thereby from boldly advancing, they tried a scheme for frightening them and killing them by degrees. It was as follows : To as many as they caught they inserted in the anus an iron like a Turkish padlock, which, once in, could never be withdrawn ; its shape was thus % It shut up as it went in, and once inside it opened out, leaving the handle projecting. The poor things returned to the army lamenting, and died in a desperate state. The army of Mir Jumlah was terrorized, and after that experience men were very much more cautious in going to a distance.
105.4
Mir Jumlah and his soldiers reached the principal city of the Assam kingdom, called Guergao (Kharganw), and fighting bravely, ejected the rajah. The latter retired into the mountains, and Mir Jumlah, after occupying the place, caused the tombs to be destroyed, which contained great treasures, it being the Assam custom to bury with the defunct the wealth that he possessed. It is the practice of these people that when the master of the house dies they bury with him all his wives, concubines, and servants — that is, the tailors, washermen, barbers, and others who serve in the deceased's house, setting them all on fire after binding their feet. The city of [74] Kharganw is very large and fine, inhabited by rich merchants — that is, according to the stories told me in Dhakah when I passed through it (II. 62). The natives of those lands take four wives. Here the women are very lovely, and they do all the work of the house, the men being indolent, except in war-time, when they all go forth to fight. When I passed through Dhakah I saw huge boats which Mir Jumlah was sending loaded with the booty taken at Kharganw and other places. These boats had extremely high poops, carved with ugly, fear-inspiring faces. Their armament was of small pieces, swivel-guns (trilhoens) and petrechos of bronze, of which the muzzles whence the ball issues were fashioned into shapes of animals — tigers, lions, dogs, elephants, and crocodiles.
105.5
Finding that though he had captured the city of Kharganw he was still unable to overtake the rajah in his flight into the hills, Mir Jumlah continued to amuse himself in the said city. But the rajah blocked all supplies, setting fire to everything, and posting soldiers so that no food from outside could find its way into the town. Thus he continued hostilities until the arrival of the rainy season, which also fought for him. For food being exhausted in Mir Jumlah's army, the soldiers were forced to eat the flesh of horses and camels, and anything of that sort they could find. In this way Mir Jumlah was constrained to quit Assam, since his people began to die from such inferior food. But if it had been easy to get into, it was very difficult to get out of this country, owing to the floods, also to the ambushes laid by the natives. It looked as if Mir Jumlah would be quite used up there, and, had it not been that by his prudence he was able to manoeuvre so skilfully, his retreat would have been a disaster. He left with the Assamese a remembrance of his name. It was not for want of courage nor of determination that he left to the Assamese their indigenous king, but because the mountains of the interior cannot be overcome, and the seasons were against him. With great difficulty he reached the fortress of Hajo, and strengthening its defences, resolved to go once more in the following year against the rajah.
105.6
But little did he know what was in store for him, for already was drawing near the term of his achievements and the time to finish with his wiles [75].