A History of Assam c10: Chapter IV. The Koch Kings
A History of Assam c10
- Language
- English
Chapter IV. The Koch Kings
c10.2
At the present day the word Koch is a term of some ambiguity. In Assam Proper it has become the name of a Hindu caste, into which are received the converts to Hinduism from the ranks of the Kachāri, Lālung, Mikir and other tribes; and, as the process of conversion is still continuing, the number of persons described as Koch is increasing rapidly. In North Bengal and Goālpāra, on the other hand, it is a term which is falling into disrepute; and it has, to a great extent, been abandoned in favour of the appellation Rājbansi. It is here generally regarded as indicative of race, that is to say, as the name of a tribe and not a caste, but the ethnic character of the people so called has been a matter of some controversy. The Koches are frequently referred to as Kuvacha in the *Purāns* and *Tantras*. The historian of Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khilji's invasion at the end of the twelfth century says that the features of "the Koch, Mech and Thāru, tribes" resembled those of a tribe of Southern Siberia. That acute observer Bryan Hodgson classed the Koch with the Bodo and Dhimal, and the same view is taken by Buchanan and in the Dacca Blue Book. On the other hand, Colonel Dalton considered them to be Dravidian, and Risley, while admitting an intermixture with Mongoloid stock, held that Dravidian characteristics predominate. This divergence of views seems to have arisen from the confusion caused by the use of the term Rājbansi. It originally referred to an entirely distinct community of Dravidian affinities, but was afterwards adopted by the Koches west of the Monās river, who, when they attorned to Hinduism, appropriated the caste name of the most numerous Hinduized community in their neighbourhood. So long as the Koch kings ruled, there was a considerable intermingling of the two races in the country subject to their domination. There seems, however, to be no doubt that the true Koches were a Mongoloid race, very closely allied to the Meches and Gāros; and we find that in Jalpaiguri, Koch Bihār and Goālpāra, the persons now known as Rājbansi are either pure Koches who, though dark, have a distinctly Mongoloid physiognomy, or else a mixed breed, in which the Mongoloid element usually preponderates. The Koch language is now practically extinct, but the traces of it which remain show that it was almost identical with Gāro. Ralph Fitch, who visited the Koch kingdom in the sixteenth century, says: "The people have ears which be marvelous great, of a span long, which they draw out by devices when they be young." This practice, though since abandoned by the Koches, is is still common amongst the Gāros. In former times the Koches and Meches freely intermarried, but the conversion of the former to Hinduism has now caused the practice to be discontinued. East of the Monās, where there were no Rājbansis properly so-called, the Koches, as the dominant tribe, were admitted to Hinduism without any change of their tribal name, but members of other Mongoloid tribes who afterwards followed their example were allowed to do so only by sinking their old designation and joining the ranks of the already-Hinduized Koches.*
c10.3
There are numerous old manuscripts which contain some account of the Koch kings, but by far the most detailed narrative yet brought to light is that contained in the *Bansābali* of the Darrang Rajas. This manuscript, which ends abruptly with the death of Parikshit, belonged to the late Raja Lakshmi Nārāyan Kuar, who was the leading representative of the Darrang branch of the Koch royal family.† It is written in metrical Assamese on oblong strips of *Sanchi* bark (*Aquilaria agallocha*), and is believed to have been compiled by a well-known Assamese writer in the year 1806. We have no means of tracing his sources of information; and, although at that time the memory of the events narrated must have been much fresher than it is now, there is clear internal evidence of a certain disregard of facts and of wild exaggeration, so that it is impossible to rely on the narrative as fully as on the Buranjis of the Ahoms. In the following account an endeavour has been made to eliminate the less probable portions of the story, but it must be clearly borne in mind that absolute credence cannot be given to any statement which is not confirmed by the testimony of Ahom or Muhammadan writers.
c10.4
∗ I have discussed this question more fully in the Assam Census Report for 1891, page 212, and in the Bengal Census Report for 1901, page 382. There is an excellent paper on the subject, by Babu Monmohan Roy, in the J. A. S. B. for 1903. Colonel Waddell's head measurements fully establish the predominance of the Mongoloid type in the Koches of Assam.
c10.5
† An analysis of the contents of this *Bansābali* was given by me in the J. A. S. B., Vol. LXII. It has recently been printed. (Baptist Mission Press, Calcutta, 1917.)
c10.6
Bisva Singh. The progenitor of the Koch kings was a Mech or Koch—it is not certain which—named Hāriya Mandal, a resident of Chikangrām, a village in the Khuntaghāt pargana of the Goālpāra district. He was recognized head of twelve leading families of Meches (or Koches) living in the pargana.* He married, it is said, two sisters named Hirā and Jirā, the daughters of one Hāju, by whom he had two sons, namely, Bisu the son of Hirā, and Sisu the son of Jirā. They were born some years before the conquest of Kāmatā by the Muhammadans under Husain Shāh. The latter did not retain a permanent hold on the country, and the people, left to themselves, split up into numerous petty principalities, each under its own chief. Bisu was a man of unusual enterprise and courage, and he soon forced his way to the front. He defeated the chiefs, or Bhuiyās, of Uguri and Luki, but was repulsed by Chāru Bhuiyā. Nothing daunted, he renewed his attack, at a time when the Bhuiyās' soldiers had dispersed for a festival, and killed him and the few followers that remained with him. Following up this success, he subdued the chiefs of Phulguri, Bijni and other places, and gradually extended his rule as far as the Karatoya in the west and the Bar Nadi in the east. He rose to power about 1515 A.D.
c10.7
His conversion to Hinduism. As usual in such cases, the Brāhmans soon sought him out. They discovered that his tribesmen were Kshatriyas who had thrown away their sacred threads when fleeing before the wrath of Parasurām, the son of the Brāhman ascetic Jamadagni, while Bisu himself was declared to be the son, not of the humble Hāriya Mandal, but of the God Siva who, assuming Hāriya's form, had had intercourse with his wife Hira, herself an incarnation of Siva's wife Pārbati. Bisu assumed the name of Bisva Singh, and his brother Sisu became Sib Singh, while many of his followers discarded their old tribal designation and called themselves Rājbansis.
c10.8
∗ Their names are Pānbar, Phedela, Phedphedo, Barihana, Kathia, Guābar, Megha, Baisāgu, Jagai, Gurikata, Jugbar and Dakharu. These are, for the most part, common Bodo names.
c10.9
Bisva Singh now became a great patron of Hinduism. He worshipped Siva and Durga, and gave gifts to the disciples of Vishnu and also to the priests and astrologers. He revived the worship of Kāmākhya, rebuilt her temple on the Nilāchal hill near Gauhāti, and imported numerous Brāhmans from Kanauj, Benares and other centres of learning.
c10.10
He moved his capital from Chikangrām to Koch Bihār, where he built a fine city. He made his brother Sisu, or Sib Singh, Jubrāj, and appointed twelve ministers of State from the twelve chief families of the Meches. He took a census of his subjects. He is said to have found that the number of able-bodied men capable of bearing arms was 5,225,000, but this is clearly an exaggeration. He divided off the people under various officers, viz., Thakurias over 20 men, Saikias over 100, Hazāris over 1,000, Umras over 3,000 and Nawābs over 60,000. He is said to have possessed a large number of elephants, horses, asses, buffaloes and camels. He married a number of wives by whom he had eighteen sons, including Malla Deb, Sukladhvaj, Nar Singh and Gosāin Kamal.
c10.11
Bisva Singh came into contact with the Ahoms, but the accounts differ as to what happened. According to the chronicles of the Koch kings, he undertook an invasion of Ahom territory, but had to retreat owing to the hardships experienced during the journey and the great difficulty of obtaining supplies. The Ahom chroniclers merely relate that in 1537 he paid a friendly visit to the Ahom king Suhungmung and exchanged presents with him.
c10.12
Bisva Singh died about 1540. During his reign there were hostilities more than once between the Ahoms and the Muhammadans, who advanced up the Brahmaputra as far as Koliābar, and who, when finally defeated in 1532, were pursued by the Ahoms as far as the Karatoya, but there is no reference to the subject in the records of Koch rule. The explanation may be that Bisva Singh's capital in Koch Bihār was far removed from the route taken by the Muhammadans and that, although he had defeated the local chiefs on both sides of the Brahmaputra as far east as the Bar Nadi, he had not at that time consolidated his rule and brought that part of the country under his direct administration. Or it may be that, not feeling strong enough to take his part in the war, he made no attempt to prevent the combatants from passing through his territory so long as they left him unmolested.
c10.13
At the time of Bisva Singh's death, his two eldest sons, Malla Deb and Sukladhvaj, were away at Benares, whither they had been sent to study under a learned Brāhman, and their brother Nar Singh, taking advantage of their absence, proclaimed himself king. As soon as the news reached them, Malla Deb and Sukladhvaj hastened home and, raising an army, defeated Nar Singh. He fled to Morang, the submontane tract west of Koch Bihār. On the Raja of that country refusing to give him up, his brothers marched against him and defeated him, whereupon Nar Singh fled again, first to Nepal and then to Kashmir. There are still in Koch Bihār some people called Morāngia who have a tradition that they were made over to Nar Nārāyan by the Raja of the Morang country.
c10.14
It is said that Nar Singh subsequently became ruler of Bhutan, and, although there is no confirmation of this statement, the occurrence is not altogether impossible. It has already been mentioned that in ancient times Bhutan seems, occasionally at least, to have formed part of the kingdom of Kāmarupa. The historian of Mir Jumlah's invasion in the middle of the seventeenth century says that the people of that country then spoke a dialect allied to that of the Koches. And in his Report on his mission to Bhutan, the late Sir Ashley Eden said: "Apparently the Bhutias have not possessed Bhutan for more than two centuries; it formerly belonged to a tribe called by the Bhutias Tephu; they are generally believed to have been people of Koch Bihār. The Tephu were driven down into the plains by some Tibetan soldiers, who had been sent from Lhassa to look at the country."*
c10.15
After expelling Nar Singh, Malla Deb ascended the throne and assumed the name Nar Nārāyan.† He appointed his brother Sukladhvaj to be his Commander-in-Chief. In this capacity Sukladhvaj displayed such dash and rapidity of movement that he was nicknamed Chilarai, or the Kite king.
c10.16
† In some of the old religious writings he is called Malla Nārāyan. In Blochmann's paper on Koch Bihār and Assam he is called Bāl Gosāin, but the proper reading should be Māl Gosāin, as in Dowson's Elliot's History of India, Vol. VI, p.
c10.17
Nar Nārāyan soon came into conflict with the Ahoms. The cause of the quarrel is uncertain. According to one authority, the Ahom king Suklenmung was the aggressor. A petty chief, or Bhuiyā, conspired, it is said, against Nar Nārāyan and, on detection, fled to Suklenmung, who gave him shelter and made an unsuccessful attack on the Koch king. However that may be, in 1546 an expedition under Sukladhvaj ascended the north bank of the Brahmaputra as far as the Dikrai river, where a battle took place. The Koches, who were armed with bows and arrows, succeeded in killing some of the Ahom leaders, whereupon the common soldiers fled and were pursued with great slaughter. A less decisive action was fought soon afterwards at Koliābar, on the opposite side of the Brahmaputra. The Ahoms subsequently took up a position at Salā, but were attacked by the Koches and defeated with great loss.
c10.18
In the course of these operations, the Koches constructed an embanked road the whole way from their capital in Koch Bihār to Nārāyanpur, in the south-west of what is now the North Lakhimpur subdivision, a distance of some 350 miles. The work was carried out under the supervision of Gosāin Kamal, the king's brother; parts of it are still in existence and are known to this day as "Gosāin Kamal's road."
c10.19
∗ Political Missions to Bhutan, p.
c10.20
¹⁰⁸ The first syllable of Tephu may perhaps be the Bodo Ti or Di meaning water, which occurs also in "Dimāsā," the tribal designation of the Bodos of North Cachar.
c10.21
⁵⁹¹ Malku Sāin on p. 331 of Blochmann's translation of the Ain (Vol. I) is clearly meant for Māl Gosāin.
c10.22
The Koches are defeated.
c10.23
This great undertaking was completed in 1547 and the Koches then erected a fort at Nārāyanpur. Suklenmung struck in behind them and entrenched himself on the bank of the Pichala river. He thus cut off their supplies and forced them to assume the offensive. The result was a disastrous defeat for the Koches. Many were slain in the assault and a large number of fugitives were subsequently surrounded and killed.
c10.24
But renew the war and gain the victory.
c10.25
This decisive defeat led to a cessation of hostilities for some years, but in 1562 a fresh attempt was made by Nar Nārāyan to overcome his powerful rival. According to one of the Ahom Buranjis this war arose out of a dispute in connection with Nar Nārāyan's invasion of the Kachāri country, referred to below, in the course of which he is said to have devastated some villages inside the Ahom frontier. A force was sent up the Brahmaputra in boats as far as the mouth of the Dikhu, where an engagement took place in which the Ahoms appear to have been worsted. In the following January the redoubtable Chilarai himself took the field with a large force and, in a second engagement near the Dikhu, inflicted an overwhelming defeat on the Ahoms. Their king and his chief nobles fled to Charaikharang in Nāmrup, and the Koches entered their capital Garghaon, in triumph. Some months later the Ahom Raja sued for terms, and peace was concluded on the following conditions, viz., the acknowledgment of the Koch suzerainty, the delivery of a number of sons of the chief nobles as hostages, and the payment of an indemnity, consisting of sixty elephants, sixty pieces of cloth and a quantity of gold and silver.
c10.26
War with Kachāris.
c10.27
The Ahoms were not the only nation defeated by Nar Nārāyan. He sent an expedition against the Kachāris, who were easily overcome. Their king, it is said, made his submission and, in addition to giving eighty-four elephants and other presents, agreed to pay an annual tribute of seventy thousand rupees, one thousand gold mohars and sixty elephants.
c10.28
Submission of Manipur Raja.
c10.29
Messengers were sent to the Raja of Manipur calling on him to submit and pay tribute, and the Raja, feeling himself too weak to oppose so powerful a prince, at once complied with the requisition. His tribute was fixed at twenty thousand rupees, three hundred gold mohars and ten elephants.
c10.30
The kingdom of Jaintia was next attacked and, in the battle that followed, the Raja was killed by Chilarai with his own hand. His son was placed on the throne after promising to pay regular tribute. It is said that one of the conditions imposed on him was that he should not in future strike coins in his own name. This story receives some confirmation from the fact that, until the year 1731, no king of Jaintia appears to have recorded his name on the coins minted by him on all known coins of earlier date, as on most of the later ones also, the words "ruler of Jaintia" are used instead of the Raja's name.
c10.31
Chilarai, it is said, then proceeded to wage war against the Raja of Tippera, who was vanquished and put to death. His son was set up in his place and undertook to pay tribute to the extent of ten thousand rupees, one hundred gold mohars and thirty horses. There is no mention of this war in the Tippera chronicles, and the only corroboration of the Koch Bansābali is found in an Assamese Buranji of uncertain date. This is not sufficient to establish it as an historical fact.
c10.32
The Sylhet king, it is alleged, was also defeated and slain, and his brother Asurai, who was nominated to succeed him, was fain to promise a tribute of a hundred elephants, two hundred horses, three lakhs of rupees and ten thousand gold mohars. This campaign, like the preceding one, lacks confirmation. Nor is it quite clear what part of Sylhet is referred to. The open country in the centre of the district was conquered by the Muhammadans at the end of the fourteenth century, but it may have been temporarily independent at this period which was a troublous one in Bengal.
c10.33
Viryavanta, the chief of Khairam, seeing the fate of the surrounding Rajas, is said to have voluntarily made his submission. His tribute was fixed at fifteen thousand rupees, nine hundred gold mohars, fifty horses and thirty elephants. It was also stipulated that he should in future put the name of Nar Nārāyan on his coins, the sign of a mace being added to distinguish them from those of the Koch king's own mint.
c10.34
No specimens of these coins are now forthcoming. As there are some grounds for believing that Nar Nārāyan defeated the Kachāris and Jaintias, there seems no reason to doubt that he obtained the voluntary submission of the chief of Khairam, who was less powerful, and whose country was equally accessible.
c10.35
According to some accounts, Panthesvar, the Raja of Dimarua, was another victim of Nar Nārāyan’s invincible general, but others say that he was formerly a tributary of the Kachāris who sought and obtained Nar Nārāyan’s protection from their oppression, and was established by him as warden of the marches in the direction of Jaintia.
c10.36
So far Nar Nārāyan had been everywhere successful. But it was now his turn to succumb to a stronger enemy than any he had yet encountered. This was the Padshah of Gaur. There is very little authentic information about the war, but according to the chronicles of the Koch kings, Nar Nārāyan was the aggressor. His army under Chilarai was defeated, and the latter himself was taken prisoner. The Muhamadans ascended the Brahmaputra as far as Tezpur, but they made no attempt to take permanent possession of the country, and returned to Bengal after demolishing the temples at Kāmākhya, Hājo and other places. All local traditions point to the redoubtable Brāhman renegade and iconoclast, Kālā Pāhār, as the leader of the Muhammadan army, and his name is so widely known in Assam as the destroyer of Hindu images and temples that it seems barely possible that there can be any mistake. Kālā Pāhār was the general of Sulaimān Kararāni, who ruled in Bengal from 1563 to 1572 A.D., and the invasion referred to in the local traditions is doubtless the same as that mentioned in the Riyāz-us-Salātin.∗ According to this authority, Sulaimān Kararāni set out for the conquest of the Koch kingdom in 1568 A.D. He had subjugated the outlying parts and was besieging the capital when he heard of an insurrection in Orissa, and so abandoned the siege. It is said in the local Buranjis that Chilarai was taken prisoner to Gaur. He was kept in captivity for some time, but, having gained the favour of the Padshah's wife, he eventually obtained his freedom and returned home. According to one account he married the Padshah's daughter, and received as her dowry the parganas of Bahirband, Bhitarband, Gayabāri, Sherpur and Daskaunia, *i.e.*, the riparian portions of Rangpur and North Mymensingh.
c10.37
∗ Abdus Salām’s translation, page 151.
c10.38
Nar Nārāyan now became anxious for a good under- @H Release of Ahom hostages. standing with the Ahoms. He accordingly determined to release Sundar Gohāin and the other hostages taken from them in 1562. In order to conceal his real motive he resorted to the device of playing at dice with Sundar Gohāin. After losing heavily, he staked the release of the hostages on the result of the next throw, which he also lost, and thereupon sent them back with numerous presents and a friendly letter to the Ahom monarch.
c10.39
Some years afterwards it is narrated that Nar Nārāyan @H Fresh hostilities with the Padshah of Gaur. assisted Akbar in his attack on the "Padshah of Gaur." Chilarai invaded his kingdom from the east, while the Imperial army advanced upon him from the west. The Gaur Padshah was easily defeated and his kingdom was divided between the Koch king and the Emperor of Delhi. This is the story told in the local *Bansābalis*, but no mention is made of any assistance from the Koches, in the Musalman accounts of the defeat of Dāud by Khān Jahān in 1576 A.D., to which the story appears to refer.
c10.40
In 1578, according to the *Ain-i-Akbari*, Nar Nārāyan "renewed his demonstration of obedience to the Imperial throne" and sent 54 elephants and other valuable presents to Akbar.
c10.41
In the course of the second expedition against the @H Chilarai's death and dismemberment of Koch kingdom. Muhammadans, Chilarai was attacked by small-pox and died on the banks of the Ganges. He left a son, named Raghu Deb, whom he commended to his brother's care. From the time of Chilarai's death there were, it is said, no more wars, and the prosperity of the people grew apace. In the Ahom *Buranji*s, however, a rebellion is said to have occurred in 1577, headed by three men named Bar Dado, Gabha Naik and Bar Katu. They were defeated and fled with 14,000 of their followers to Ahom territory, and were given refuge and settled at Gajala. According to the *Akbarnāmah*, Nar Nārāyan lived the life of an ascetic and did not marry till late in life. He at last did so, on the urgent representations of his brother Chilarai, and in due course he had a son. After Chilarai’s death, the latter’s son Raghu Deb, who had previously been regarded as the heir to the throne, began to fear lest he should be ousted from the succession. His disaffection was fanned by some of his father’s old followers; and at last, under the pretence of making a journey, he collected his family and all his adherents and proceeded to Barnagar on the Monās river, near which he erected a fort which he called Ghilajaypur. The site is now covered with forest growth, but numerous fruit trees and tanks are still to be seen there.* Nar Nārāyan sent men to recall him, but he refused to return. At last, rather than go to war with his own nephew, the peace-loving monarch agreed to divide the kingdom, keeping the portion west of the Sankosh for himself and his successors, and giving up to Raghu Deb the tract east of that river; on his side Raghu agreed to pay tribute, to acknowledge his uncle as his overlord and to strike coins only in the latter’s name. This was in 1581 A.D. Muhammadan writers refer to the two kingdoms as Koch Bihār and Koch Hājo respectively; the former name of course still survives, but the only trace of the latter is in the town called Hājo, a few miles north of Gauhāti.
c10.42
Soon afterwards a quarrel broke out, but the accounts vary, both as to the cause of it, and as to the manner in which it was settled. According to some, Raghu made a raid on certain villages in his uncle’s territory, while others allege that his failure to pay the tribute which he had agreed to give was the cause of the dispute. It is said by some that a battle was fought in which Raghu was defeated, and by others, that he submitted without hazarding an engagement, on seeing the strength of the army sent against him.
c10.43
∗ After the overthrow of the Koch kings an Ahom official called the Barnagaria Barua lived there. He was killed by the Burmese after, it is said, throwing his treasure into a small tank which is now silted up.
c10.44
Nar Nārāyan died in 1584* after a reign of nearly fifty years. In his time the power of the Koch kings reached its zenith, but this was due to the energy and skill of his brother Chilarai, rather than to any efforts of his own. He was a man of a mild and studious disposition, and seems to have been more addicted to religious exercises and conversation with learned men than to the conduct of State affairs. In all questions of politics Chilarai seems to have possessed an overwhelming influence; and he was the moving spirit in every adventure. As soon as he died, the din of warlike preparations ceased and peace reigned in the land.
c10.45
Nar Nārāyan greatly encouraged religion. He rebuilt the temple of Kāmākhya which the Muhammadans had destroyed, and imported learned Brāhmans from Bengal to conduct the religious ceremonies. The temple contains two stone figures, which are said to be representations of Nar Nārāyan and his brother Chilarai or Sukladhvaj. It also contains the following inscription:—
c10.46
"Glory to the king Malla Deb, who by virtue of his mercy, is kind to the people, who in archery is like Arjun, and in charity like Dadhichi and Karna; he is like an ocean of all goodness, and he is versed in many *sāstras*; his character is excellent; in beauty he is as bright as Kandarpa, he is a worshipper of Kāmākhya. His younger brother Sukladeb built this temple of bright stones on the Nila hillock, for the worship of the goddess Durgā, in 1487 Sak (1565 A.D.). His beloved brother Sukladhvaj again, with universal fame, the crown of the greatest heroes, who, like the fabulous Kalpataru, gave all that was devoutly asked of him, the chief of all devotees of the goddess, constructed this beautiful temple with heaps of stones on the Nila hill in 1487 Sak."
c10.47
∗ This is the date given in the late Prasiddha Nārāyan's *Bansābali* and by Gunābhirām, and I have accepted it in the absence of definite proof that it is wrong. But the dates on his son's coins and on those of Raghu Deb, who declared his independence on Nar Nārāyan's death (1587 and 1588, respectively), afford grounds for thinking that the correct date may be three years later.
c10.48
Tāntrik Hinduism.
c10.49
At this time Sāktism was the predominant form of Hinduism in this part of India, where in fact it is believed by many to have had its origin. Its adherents base their observances on the Tantras, a series of religious works in which the various ceremonies, prayers and incantations are prescribed in a dialogue between Siva and his wife Pārbati. The fundamental idea is the worship of the female principle, the procreative power of nature as manifested by personified desire. It is a religion of bloody sacrifices from which even human beings were not exempt. In the Kālika Purān it is stated that a man without blemish is the most acceptable sacrifice that can be offered, and the manner in which the victim is to be dealt with is laid down in great detail. When the new temple of Kāmākhya was opened, the occasion was celebrated by the immolation of no less than a hundred and forty men, whose heads were offered to the Goddess on salvers made of copper. Similar sacrifices were offered to various aboriginal deities. According to the Haft Iqlim there was in Kāmarupa a class of persons called Bhoqis, who were voluntary victims of a Goddess named Ai who dwelt in a cave; from the time when they announced that the Goddess had called them, they were treated as privileged persons; they were allowed to do whatever they liked, and every woman was at their command; but when the annual festival came round they were killed. Magic also held an important place in the estimation of the people, and in the Ain-i-Akbari they were accused, among other practices, of divination by the examination of a child cut out of the body of "a pregnant woman who has gone her full term of months."
c10.50
The Vaishnava revival of Sankar Deb.
c10.51
It was impossible that such practices would be allowed to continue indefinitely, and Nar Nārāyan's reign is remarkable for the Vaishnava reformation inaugurated by Sankar Deb, a Kāyasth of Batadroba in Nowgong. He is said to have been born in 1449 and to have died in 1569. The latter date is probably correct, in which case the former is possibly thirty or forty years too early. Sankar Deb preached a purified Vishnuism and inculcated the doctrine of salvation by faith and prayer rather than by sacrifices. He at first attempted to propagate his views in Ahom territory, but he was subjected to so much persecution, owing to the enmity of the Brāhmans who had the king's ear, that he went to Barpeta, where, under the mild and just rule of Nar Nārāyan, he proclaimed the new faith far and wide. The king himself is alleged to have had many interviews with him; and some say that he even wished to become his disciple, but that the great reformer refused this honour. It is said by some that Nar Nārāyan married Sankar Deb's niece Kamala Priya, but others aver that it was Chilarai who did so.
c10.52
Sankar Deb had appointed as his successor another Kāyasth named Mādhab Deb, but, on his death, this nomination was not universally accepted, and several of his Brāhman disciples seceded and formed separate sects of their own. The chief of these "Bāmunia Gosāins" were Deb Dāmodar, Hari Deb and Gopāl Deb, who founded numerous *sattras*, or religious centres. The most important are those at Auniāti, Dakhinpāt, Garumur and Kuruā Bāhi on the Mājuli. Amongst his own followers, Mādhab attained even a greater repute than the founder of the sect; he was himself more of an ascetic than the latter, but he permitted greater laxity to his followers, who are known as Mahāpurushias and still regard Barpeta as their headquarters. The Bāmunia Gosāins had one Sudra rival in Upper Assam in the person of Anirodh, a Kalita by caste. This man quarrelled with Sankar Deb and, leaving him, founded the Moāmariā sect, the adherents of which were destined to play an important part in the downfall of Ahom rule. They were mainly persons of low social rank, such as Doms, Morāns, Kachāris, Hāris and Chutiyas; and, as they denied the supremacy of the Brāhmans, they were naturally the special aversion of the orthodox Hindu hierarchy. Their designation is said to be a nickname given to the original disciples of Anirodh, who lived near a lake, where they caught large numbers of the fish called "Moā." It may also perhaps be connected with the circumstance that Anirodh is reputed to have owned a celebrated book on magic or Māyā.
c10.53
It must not be imagined from the foregoing remarks that Hinduism had become the universal religion in the Brahmaputra valley. This was by no means the case. The great mass of the Kachāri, Rābhā, Lālung and other aboriginal tribes still held to their old tribal beliefs, just as do some of them even to the present day. No pressure was put upon them to change their creed; and it is recorded that Nar Nārāyan issued an edict setting aside the tract north of the Gosāin Kamala Ali for the practice of aboriginal forms of worship. Before starting on his expedition against the Ahoms he made special arrangements for the performance by his Kachāri soldiers of their tribal rites on the banks of the Sankosh river.
c10.54
Nar Nārāyan was a great patron of learning, and some of the best-known Assamese writings date from his reign. Many Vaishnava hymns and homilies were written by Sankar Deb and Mādhab Deb; Purushottam Bidyabāgish compiled a grammar; and Ananta Kandali translated the Bhāgavat and other books into Assamese.
c10.55
Nar Nārāyan executed many useful public works. The construction of the Kamala Ali has already been mentioned. He made many other roads, and planted trees along them. He also erected several temples and caused numerous tanks to be dug. There is a tradition that he straightened the Brahmaputra near Pāndunāth, where it had previously run a very circuitous course. In 1636 the branch of that river which formerly flowed past Hājo is said by contemporary Muhammadan writers to have dried up, and we may perhaps conjecture that this was in consequence of the gradual enlargement of the channel cut by this king more than half a century before. Nar Nārāyan had a mint, and coins bearing his name, dated 1477 Sak (1555 A.D.) are still in existence.*
c10.56
Ralph Fitch visited the country during this reign and gives the following account of it:—
c10.57
I went from Bengala into the country of Couch (Koch) or Quichen which lies 25 days' journey northwards
c10.58
∗ See my Note on some Coins of the Koch Kings, Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal for 1895, Part I, and Stapleton's Contributions to the History and Ethnography of N. E. India, Ib., 1910, page 153. Stapleton points out that Nar Nārāyan's coin is modelled on that of Husain Shah of Bengal whose dynasty came to an end in 1538 A.D. A coin of Parikshit has recently been found, dated 1525 Sak, equivalent to 1603 A.D.
c10.59
from Tanda. The king is Gentile (Hindu); his name is Suckel Counse (Sukla Koch or Sukladhvaj); his country is set and lieth not far from Cauchin China; for they say they have pepper from thence. The port is called Cacchegate (Chichakot). All the country is set with bamboos or canes made sharp at both ends and driven into the earth, and they can let in the water and drown the ground above knee-deep, so that men nor horses can pass. They poison all the waters if any wars be. Here they have much silk and musk, and cloth made of cotton. The people have ears which he marvelous great, of a span long, which they draw out in length by devices while they be young. There they be all Gentiles, and they will kill nothing. They have hospitals for sheep, goats, dogs, cats, birds and for all living creatures. When they be old and lame they keep them until they die. If a man catch or buy any quick thing in other places and bring it thither, they will give him money for it, or other victuals, and keep it in their hospitals or let it go. They will give meat to the ants. Their small money is almonds, which often times they use to eat.
c10.60
The statement that Sukladhvaj was the Raja probably shows merely the extent to which the real power vested in him. There is, however, a tradition that, owing to the alleged discovery by his astrologers that he was under the influence of Saturn, Nar Nārāyan placed the conduct of affairs entirely in his brother's hands for a whole year and wandered about in disguise, and it may be that Ralph Fitch visited the country at this juncture. The story is not intrinsically improbable, and it has a counterpart in Ahom history in the case of Raja Sib Singh, who endeavoured to avert a similar omen by installing his Rānis in turn as the nominal rulers of his kingdom.
c10.61
It is difficult to explain the statements made by this traveller regarding the great tenderness shown by the people for animal life. It is far from being one of their peculiarities at the present day, and it may be presumed that the state of things described was due solely to the personal action of Nar Nārāyan himself, who was, as we have already seen, open to all sorts of religious influences, and may well have been induced by some Jain or Vaishnava ascetic to open hospitals for animals and to inculcate the principles here referred to.
c10.62
We have seen that Raghu Deb was given the portion of Nar Nārāyan’s kingdom that lay east of the Sankosh river. He thus ruled the country now included in the Mangaldai subdivision and the districts of Kāmrup and Goālpāra; his dominions stretched southwards from the Goālpāra boundary, and included the country between the old course of the Brahmaputra and the Gāro hills which now forms the eastern part of Mymensingh.
c10.63
Raghu was not destined to hold this latter tract long. An Afghan named Isā Khān, the Bhuiyā of Khizrpur, near Nārāyanganj in Dacca, was already a powerful chief in the time of Dāud. When the latter was overthrown by Khān Jahān, Isā Khān became the leader of the Afghans throughout the eastern part of Bengal, and at one time he ruled the whole country from Ghorāghāt to the sea. He was defeated by Shahbāz Khān in 1583 and fled by ship to Chittagong. He there collected a body of troops, and, with their aid, he proceeded to carve out for himself a new kingdom. Encouraged, no doubt, by the dismemberment of the Koch dominions, he selected for his first operations the southern outlying portion of the tract assigned by Nar Nārāyan to his rebellious nephew. Raghu endeavoured to resist the invaders in person, and occupied a fort where the village of Jangalbāri in Mymensingh now stands. It was surrounded by a moat, but the defenders were not able to hold it against the vigorous onslaught of Isā Khān and his men. Raghu himself escaped by a tunnel while the assault was in progress. Following up his victory Isā Khān took from the Koches the whole country as far as Rangamati in the Goālpāra district. This invasion is not referred to in any of the local Bansābalis, but it is mentioned by several Muhammadan writers.*
c10.64
∗ Cf. Wise, On the Bārah Bhuyās of Eastern Bengal (J. A. S. B., 1874, p. 213), and Blochmann’s translation of the Ain, p. 343.
c10.65
Raghu Deb rebuilt the Manikut or Hayagrib temple at Hājo, which had been destroyed by Kālā Pāhār, and endowed it with grants of land. When it was completed, it was consecrated by the sacrifice of numerous human victims. The following is a translation of an inscription inside this temple:—
c10.66
“There was a ruler of the earth named Bisva Singh; his illustrious son, the most wise king Malla Deb, was the conqueror of all enemies. In gravity and liberality and for heroism he had a great reputation, and he was purified by religious and pious deeds. After him was born his brother Sukladhvāj, who subdued many countries. The son of this Sukladhvāj was king Raghu Deb, who was like the greatest man of the Raghu race: his glories spread out in all directions; the lord of Kāmarupa, in obedience to the order of destiny, is the slayer of the wicked, who was like water to the flames of the fire of sorrow of the vast populace. Of the seed of Sukladhvāj, a king was born of the name of Raghu Deb, who consoles innumerable persons and is a worshipper of the feet of Krishna; the king coming of age had a temple built on the hillock called Mani hillock in 1505 Sak (1583 A.D.). The most skilled and efficient artisan Sridhar himself built it.”
c10.67
On Nar Nārāyan’s death, his son Lakshmi Nārāyan ascended the throne of the western Koch kingdom, which included Koch Bihār and parts of Dinājpur, Jalpaiguri and Rangpur. Raghu Deb now declared himself independent. He struck coins in his own name,* and refused to continue to pay tribute. Lakshmi Nārāyan was not in a position to force him to submit, and so resorted to underhand means. At his instigation Raghu’s son Parikshit rebelled against him,
c10.68
Isā Khān was brought under subjection to Akbar when Raja Mān Singh was Governor of Bengal.
c10.69
In Muhammadan times Sarkār Ghorāghāt was the northern frontier district skirting Koch Bihār, and comprising portions of the modern districts of Dinājpur, Rangpur and Bogra.
c10.70
∗ The only extant coins of Raghu Deb are dated 1510 Sak or 1588 A.D. Lakshmi Nārāyan had struck coins a year previously.
c10.71
but the rising was unsuccessful. Parikshit was thrown into prison and his confederates were hanged. After a time he escaped and fled to Lakshmī Nārāyan who received him cordially.
c10.72
Raghu Deb died about the year 1603 A.D., either from snake-bite, or of poison administered by the mother of his second son, Indra Nārāyan.†
c10.73
† I have taken 1603 as the date of Raghu Deb's death, as that is the year in which the coins of his successor Parikshit were issued. The date (1593) given by Gunabhiram and in Prasiddha Nārāyan's *Bansābali* must in any case be wrong, as an old cannon in the possession of the Raja of Gauripur bears an inscription recording its manufacture by Raghu Deb in 1519 *Sak*, or 1597 A.D. This cannon and another with a similar inscription but dated five years earlier, were found about a century ago in the bed of a river. (J. A. S. B., 1911 p. 43).
c10.74
On his death, the mother of Indra Nārāyan endeavoured to place her son on the throne, but the chief ministers objected and sent word to Parikshit, who lost no time in hastening to the capital and assuming the sovereignty. His first act was to order the execution of his brother Indra Nārāyan. Mān Singh, the latter's uterine brother, fled to Ahom territory, where he was given protection and an honourable position. Parikshit removed his capital to North Gauhāti and built a palace near the Asvakrānta hill.
c10.75
Like his father, Parikshit refused to acknowledge the supremacy of Lakshmī Nārāyan. There is said to have been a short war between the two countries in which Lakshmī Nārāyan was worsted. Both kings sought the friendship of the Ahoms, and in 1608, Parikshit gave his daughter Mangal Dāhi to Pratāp Singh. The Ahoms, however, were involved in wars with the Kachāris and abstained from all interference in Koch affairs.
c10.76
Meanwhile Lakshmī Nārāyan had turned his attention to the Muhammadans, and, in 1596, he had declared himself a vassal of the Mughal Empire. In the *Akbarnāmah* it is said of him that he "has 4,000 horse and 200,000 foot, 700 elephants and 1,000 ships. His country is 200 *kos* long and from 100 to 40 *kos* broad, extending in the east to the Brahmaputra, in the north to Tibet, in the south to Ghorāghāt and in the west to Tirhut." In 1597 he gave a daughter in marriage to Raja Mān Singh, at that time the governor of Bengal. Soon afterwards, the latter sent a detachment into Koch Bihār to protect him, but the quarter from which an attack was threatened is not stated.
c10.77
The friction between the cousins continued to increase, and at last, in 1612, Lakshmi Nārāyan went in person to Dacca and begged the Nawāb to intervene. At the same time Raghunāth, Raja of Shushang, near Karaibari, complained of Parikshit’s treatment of him. The Nawāb, Shekh Alāuddin Fathpuri Islām Khān, was glad of the opportunity to humble a Raja who had always prided himself on his independence, and despatched Mukarram Khān to invade Koch Hājo with 300 elephants, 6,000 horse, 10,000 to 12,000 foot and 400 or 500 warships.* Near Sālguna a naval engagement took place, in which Parikshit’s fleet of 300 boats was annihilated. Thence the expedition proceeded by land. The vanguard was commanded by Shaikh Kamal, who marched quickly but cautiously to Hātsilah in the Karaibari pargana, fortifying his encampments with bamboo palisades, according to the custom in that part of the country. He then laid siege to Dhubri, where Parikshit had erected a fort which he held with a garrison of 500 horse and 10,000 foot. An attempt to take it by storm was unsuccessful. Regular siege works were then constructed and at the end of a month the garrison fled. Parikshit sent an envoy to sue for peace; and, in addition to presents to the local commander, paid an indemnity of 100 elephants, 100 ponies and 20 maunds of lignum aloes. The governor of Bengal was informed of this, but sent back word that Parikshit must make his submission in person and cede the whole of his country.
c10.78
Parikshit now asked the Ahoms to come to his assistance. They consented, on condition that he sent all his available forces to join the Ahom army, but he was unwilling to do this, and elected to carry on the contest alone. The Muhammadans halted at Dhubri for the *Ramazān* (month of fasting), but hearing that Lakshmi Nārāyan, who in accordance with his promise had invaded Parikshit’s territory, was being hard pressed by the latter, Mukarram Khan sent a force under Sattrajit to his assistance. Parikshit was forced to retire, and took up a position on the Gadadhar river, a day's march from Dhubri. The Bengal auxiliaries cut off his supplies by blockading the mouth of this river. Parikshit, rendered desperate, sent his son-in-law, Dumria, against them, with a naval force, while he himself set out for a night attack on Dhubri. Dumria was entirely successful, capturing 250 warboats and inflicting heavy losses on the garrison of a fort which had been constructed by the blockaders. But Parikshit himself suffered unexpected delays and did not reach Dhubri till long after daylight. The Mughals were then ready for him. A battle raged all day without any decisive result, and at night Parikshit withdrew to his former position. The Mughals followed him and he continued his retreat across the Sankosh* to Barnagar on the Monās. Lakshmi Nārāyan joined in the pursuit. Parikshit’s fleet was defeated. He escaped to Pându, but realizing that his case was hopeless, he surrendered himself, his elephants and all his possessions. He was taken to Dacca, whence he was sent, under the Mughal Emperor’s orders, to Delhi. According to local accounts, Jahāngir agreed to restore him to his kingdom, on his undertaking to pay a sum of four lakhs of rupees, and he actually started to return, but fell ill and died on the journey.
c10.79
∗ This invasion and the subsequent operations are described in the Pādishāhnāmah, and also in the Bahāristān-i-Ghaibi, a contemporary record of events in Bengal during the reign of Jahangir, to whom it was dedicated by the author. I am indebted to Professor Jadu-nāth Sarkar for a translation of the relevant portions of the latter work. It is there stated that before the invasion described in the text, Islam Khan had sent an expedition against Parikshit under the command of Abdul Wahid, who suffered a severe defeat.
c10.80
The Mughals annex Parikshit's kingdom.
c10.81
His dominions, as far as the Bar Nadi, were annexed to the Delhi empire and Mukarram Khān’s brother was left in command of the Mughal garrison, which was at first stationed at Khelah. On his death, in 1616, Mukarram Khān himself was appointed governor, and moved the head-quarters to Hājo. Several Muhammadan notables were given estates in the conquered country, and 10,000 to 12,000 pāiks, or soldiers armed with shields and swords, were sent up from Bengal and provided with land in return for military service.
c10.82
∗ This must be the smaller Sankosh which flows into the Brahmaputra, east of Dhubri.
c10.83
But the Koches were by no means prepared to accept Mughal domination. They rose under various leaders and inflicted several defeats on Mughal detachments on both banks of the Brahmaputra. Reinforcements were sent up from Bengal, and some success had been obtained, when dissensions broke out among the Muhammadan commanders. On the defeat of Parikshit, his brother Bali Nārāyan* had fled to the Ahom king, Pratāp Singh, who gave him shelter. This and other causes of offence led the governor of Bengal to decide on the invasion of the Ahom country, which will be described in Chapter VI. On hearing that Aba Baqar had been appointed to the command of the invading force, Abdus Salam and several high officers at Hājo left their posts in disgust. Mirza Sahin, however, with the aid of Lakshmi Nārāyan, captured one of the Koch leaders, but another, named Sanātan besieged the Muhammadan revenue collector. Abdul Bāqi was ordered to go from Kelah to his assistance, and advanced by river, while Mirza Sahin marched by land. After capturing a Koch fort on Kāwarhada hill, on the bank of the Brahmaputra, Abdul Bāqi was held up at Barnagar until Sahin arrived to support him. He then established himself at Hājo. In the desultory fighting which followed, the Mughals were gradually gaining the upper hand when news arrived of the annihilation of Aba Baqar's army. A naval force was sent up the Brahmaputra but rescued less than two thousand who had fled from the field of battle.
c10.84
Bali Nārāyan was installed by the victorious Ahoms as tributary raja of Darrang, and was renamed by them Dharma Nārāyan. Three thousand Chutiyas were at the same time sent from Upper Assam and settled as pāiks in the Mangaldai sub-division. Dharma Nārāyan crossed the Bar Nadi and invaded Kāmrup, while Sanātan made an attack on the garrison at Barnagar. The Muhammadans repelled both these attacks, but they were at once called upon to face a rising on the south bank where "the 18 hill rajas" declared their independence and built a stockade at Râni, a few miles south-west of Gauhāti. They attacked Sahin, who was encamped at Pāndu, but were defeated after a severe struggle. A few days later Sahin took their stockade, but at this juncture Ibrahim Khan was appointed governor of Bengal in supersession of Qāsim Khan, who was regarded as responsible for Aba Baqar's disastrous expedition, and Qāsim's partisans in Assam thereupon deserted their posts. Shaikh Ibrahim, the revenue collector of Hājo thinking he saw a chance of making himself independent, sought an alliance with the Ahoms. This was promised on condition that he first drove out the Imperialists from Hājo. Thus encouraged, he stirred up the Koches to a fresh rebellion. Sanātān attacked the Mughal fort at Damdama and Dharma Nārāyan laid siege to Pāndu, but both were driven off. Ibrahim's treachery was discovered; and although he was assisted by the Ahoms, Sahin defeated and killed him. The Ahoms with Dharma Nārāyan occupied Pāndu and advanced towards Hājo, but were defeated with heavy losses, as will be narrated in Chapter VI. The country was still, however, far from settled, and Sahin was constantly fighting with Dharma Nārāyan, Samru and the 18 hill rajas. He was defeated by the Ahoms and Dharma Nārāyan in a surprise attack, and fled with a few survivors to Suālkuchi, after killing his women to prevent them from falling into the hands of the enemy. Having received reinforcements from Bengal, he again took the offensive, captured Samru and forced the hill rajas to submit. On the arrival of further reinforcements (in 1619) he advanced to Pāndu but was overwhelmed by the Ahoms in another surprise attack and fled in great disorder to Hājo.∗ Fresh quarrels now broke out between the Muhammadan leaders, and when Shah Jahān rebelled against his father, Sahin left his post to support him. An attempt was made to come to terms with the Ahoms, but the negotiations broke down. The Muhammadans, however, were too disorganized to carry on the war effectively and contented themselves with holding Hājo and a few other strongholds.
First 83 of 87 passages. Read on
Linked texts (4)
- Kālikāpurāṇa — Sanskrit
- Haft iqlīm — Amīn Aḥmad Rāzī 1594, Persian
- Tantra — Sanskrit
- Purāṇa — Sanskrit