A History of Assam c12: Chapter VI. The Period of the Muhammadan Wars

A History of Assam c12

Language: English

Chapter VI. The Period of the Muhammadan Wars

SUSENGPHĀ, one of the late king's three sons, succeeded him. Being already advanced in years when he became king, he was nicknamed the Burhā Raja. He was also known as Buddha Svarga Nārāyan, on account of his great wisdom, and as Pratāp Singh, because of the great deeds done during his reign. The last is the name by which he is best known.

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Hostilities. with the Kachāris.

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Soon after his accession Jasa Mānik, Raja of Jaintia, who was on bad terms with the Kachāri Raja, Pratāp Nārāyan, endeavoured to embroil the Ahom king by offering him his daughter on condition that he fetched her by a route which led through the Kachāri country. Pratāp Singh sent messengers to Pratāp Nārāyan to ask for his assent, but the latter, having come to despise the power of the Ahoms since their defeat by Chilarāi, refused to give it, and shortly afterwards made a raid on a village inside the Ahom boundary. Incensed by his refusal and by the subsequent unprovoked aggression, Pratāp Singh determined to clear a road by force. In June 1606 he sent troops up the Kallang to Rahā and thence up the Kopili, where they defeated a tributary chief of the Kachāris. They proceeded viâ Hānān to Sātgaon and defeated the Kachāris at Dharamtika, capturing many guns, swords and spears. The main body of the Kachāris then retreated to Māibong, leaving a garrison in a fort at the junction of the Kopili and Marādoyang rivers. The Ahoms made an assault on this fort but were repelled. They entrenched themselves and sent word to Pratāp Singh, who in October led a fresh force up the Dhansiri valley, and occupied a fortified position at Demālai. In November the Jaintia princess was successfully escorted from Jaintiapur to Rahā, and thence to the Ahom country. Pratāp Singh returned to his capital, and the bulk of his troops in Nowgong were withdrawn; but a strong garrison was left at Rahā in charge of a Gohāin named Sundar.

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The latter demanded tribute of the Kachāris and said that if they failed to pay he would attack Māibong itself. In the meantime Sundar’s son Akhek poisoned his mind against the king, and he became indifferent to his duties. The Kachāris, under Bhīm Darpa, their king’s eldest son, took advantage of the slackness which now prevailed in the fort, to make a night attack, in which Sundar and many other Ahoms were killed, and the rest were put to flight.

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Pratāp Singh was greatly enraged on receiving news of this disaster, but he foresaw the approach of renewed hostilities with the Muhammadans and was unwilling to weaken his resources by continuing the struggle with the Kachāri king. He therefore sent him a pacific message and presents, and said that Sundar Gohāin, in attacking him, had disobeyed orders. Pratāp Nārāyan accepted the explanation and asked for an Ahom princess in marriage. He was given a daughter of one of the chief nobles, who was escorted by the Burhā Gohāin to his capital. Soon afterwards it became known that Akhek Gohāin who, in the meantime, had been placed in command at Dikhumukh, was partly responsible for the disaster at Rahā. Being dismissed from his post, he began to tamper with the local chiefs on the north bank of the Brahmaputra, who are said to have offered to make him their king, but, at the last moment, his courage failed him and he fled, first to Parikshit, ruler of the eastern Koch kingdom, and then to the Muhammadan governor of Bengal.

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In 1608 Pratāp Singh obtained in marriage Mangaldāhi, the daughter of the Koch king Parikshit. He gave twenty-three elephants to Parikshit, and the latter sent with his daughter, six families of domestics and twenty female slaves.

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In 1615 Bali Nārāyan, the brother of Parikshit, who had just been defeated by the Muhammadans, as narrated in the account of the Koch kings, fled for shelter to Pratāp Singh, who received him cordially.* About the same time a Mussalman trader was murdered near Koliābar, on suspicion of being a spy, and his two boats were looted. Shekh Qāsim, the governor of Bengal, decided on a punitive expedition and sent Saiad Hakim, an imperial officer, and Saiad Abā Bakr with upwards of ten thousand horse and foot and four hundred large ships to invade the Ahom country. They were accompanied by Sattrajit, the son of a zamindar living near Dacca, who had fought in the army sent against Parikshit and, as a reward for his services, had been made thānādār of Pāndu and Gauhāti. Akhek Gohāin also went with the expedition.

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∗ The Muhammadan accounts of these operations are contained in the Pādishāhnāmah, II, p. 64 ff. and in the Bahāristān-i-Ghaibi.

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The invaders reached Koliabar by way of the Kallang river. The Ahoms met them at the mouth of the Bharali, but the Mughals, having taken advantage of a fog to cross their horses over the river in boats, won the first battle. They did not follow up their victory, and another Ahom army soon reached the Bharali. Its commander was afraid to attack, and remained inactive, in spite of stringent orders to the contrary from Pratāp Singh. He was superseded, and his successor, acting on the advice of Akhek Gohāin, who had deserted from the enemy on receiving a promise of pardon, surprised the Muhammadans in a night attack, both by land and water, and totally defeated them. The fugitives were overtaken and surrounded, and Saiad Abā Bakr and many other leaders were either killed in the battle or captured and put to death.* Sattrajit's son, who was among the prisoners, was sacrificed to the goddess Kāmākhyā. The heads of the slain were piled up in heaps. An immense amount of booty fell into the hands of the Ahoms, including elephants, horses, and a large number of warships, boats, cannon, guns and other munitions of war. Pratāp Singh returned to his capital in triumph and performed the Rikkhvān ceremony.

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Bali Nārāyan was now installed as tributary Raja of Darrang, with the title Dharma Nārāyan. His capital was established at a place on the south bank of the Brahmaputra, which formed part of Darrang, as the term was then understood. The promise of pardon made to Akhek was afterwards revoked, and he suffered the death penalty. The author of the *Pādishāhnāmah* says that this disaster led to the deposition of Qāsim Khān from his office as governor of Bengal.

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∗ In the *Bahāristān-i-Ghaibi*, it is said that 5,000 Muhammadans were killed or died of their wounds, 9,000 were captured and 3,000 fled from the field. Of the latter about 2,000 were rescued by a relief expedition sent up from Hājo.

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In November, 1617, Pratāp Singh advanced with an army towards Hājo, accompanied by Dharma Nārāyan. Other chiefs made their submission to him as he advanced. Amongst their number was the Dimarua Raja, and this opportunity may be taken to give a brief outline of his history. His ancestor Panthesvar was originally a tributary chief of the Kachāris, but, owing to their oppression, he fled with his followers to Nar Nārāyan, who established him on the Jaintia frontier with jurisdiction over a tract inhabited by about 18,000 people. His son Chakradhvaj was imprisoned for neglecting to pay tribute, but was released on the intercession of Raghu Deb, the king's nephew, and was restored to his principality when the latter became the ruler of the eastern Koch kingdom. His descendants, Poāl Singh, Ratnākar and Prabhākar paid tribute to Raghu Deb's son, Parikshit. The Jaintia Raja, Dhan Mānik, subsequently arrested Prabhākar and confined him in Jaintiapur. Prabhākar invoked the aid of the Kachāri king, who demanded his release and, failing to obtain it, attacked Dhan Mānik and defeated him. Prabhākar's son Mangal, who succeeded him, sought and obtained the protection of the Ahoms. It was well for him that he did so, as it was shortly afterwards the means of saving him from capture by the Kachāri Bhimbal.

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Accompanied by these chiefs, Pratāp Singh attacked and took Pāndu, which he fortified; and the Musalmans, after sustaining a defeat at Agiathuti, retreated to Hājo. Their commander Abdussalām reported the state of affairs to the Nawāb of Dacca, and asked for help, and his brother Muhiuddin was sent to his assistance with a thousand horse, a thousand matchlock men and over two hundred boats and war sloops.

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Meanwhile the Ahoms continued to occupy the positions which they had already taken up. Their instructions were to postpone further action until the receipt of orders from the king, but the appearance of a few Muhammadan horse soldiers was too much for some of the hot-headed commanders, and they pursued them to Hājo.* This place was then assaulted on all sides, by the Ahoms in front, and in the rear by the local levies led by Dharma Nārāyan and a chief named Jadu, who is called by some writers a Chutiya and by others a Kachāri. The attack failed; and the Ahoms retreated to Srighāt, closely followed by the Muhammadans, who defeated them in several engagements. The Burhā Gohāin was taken prisoner; a large number of soldiers were killed and wounded, and nine elephants and many ships and guns were captured by the enemy. On receiving news of this disaster, Pratāp Singh ordered his scattered forces to rally at Sāmdhara. An enquiry was made, and the officers responsible for the neglect of the king's orders were beheaded or starved to death. According to one account the Bar Gohāin and Sāring Raja were deprived of their offices and confined in the royal pigsties.

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Creation of posts of Bar Phukan and Bar Barua.

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Lāngi Pānisiya, who had distinguished himself by rallying the fugitive soldiers and restoring orders amongst them, was rewarded by being given the newly-created post of Bar Phukan, or governor of the conquered provinces west of Koliābar. The tracts east of Koliābar outside the jurisdictions of the Bar Gohāin and Burhā Gohāin were at the same time placed under the administration of another new functionary known as the Bar Barua. The first incumbent of this post was Māmāi Tāmuli, the King's uncle.

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In September, 1619, hostilities were renewed by the Musalmans, who besieged Dharma Nārāyan in his fort on the south bank of the Brahmaputra. An Ahom force was sent to his assistance and took up a position near that of the Muhammadans. For six weeks the two armies faced each other. The Ahoms then forced an engagement, in which the Muhammadans were worsted; large numbers were killed, and the rest fled to Hājo, leaving ten cannon, fifty guns and many other weapons, as well as some horses, buffaloes and cattle, in the hands of the Ahoms. After the battle, Dharma Nārāyan and a number of frontier chiefs, including those of Dimarua and Hojāi, again made their submission to Pratāp Singh. The latter, it is said, endeavoured to induce the Raja of Koch Bihār to make common cause with him against the Muhammadans, but his overtures were rejected.

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∗ The best Muhammadan accounts of these operations are those of the Pādishāhnāmah (II pp. 64 ff.) and the Bahāristān-i-Ghaibi. In the latter work it is said that the attack was ordered by Pratāp Singh, although he had been told that the omens were adverse.

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Both parties now seem to have grown tired of the war; and Lakshmi Nārāyan, Raja of Koch Bihār, with the consent of the Nawāb of Dacca, sent one Biro Kāzi to Pratāp Singh to offer his services as mediator. Biro Kāzi was kept in confinement, but the news of the effort to open negotiations reached Sattrajit, the Thānādar of Pāndu. This man's loyalty to the Muhammadans was doubtful; and he had for some time evaded the payment of the stipulated tribute. He was afraid of what would happen to himself if the Muhammadans were to make peace with the Ahoms, and he accordingly sent men to Lāngi Bar Phukan to signify his desire to be accepted as his friend. He exchanged presents with Pratāp Singh and sent his five-year old son to pay him homage. But Sattrajit was a traitor by nature, and, as he had been false to the Muhammadans, so now he intrigued with the officials of the Ahoms. The Nawāb of Dacca sent fresh messengers to Pratāp Singh, but the Bar Phukan, at Sattrajit's instigation, misrepresented the object of their visit, and they were accordingly sent back without obtaining an audience of the king.

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At this juncture, one Māsu Gobind, after conspiring against the king, fled to Luki. Sattrajit promised to arrest him, but, instead of doing so, he gave him warning and allowed him to escape to Bengal. This greatly enraged Pratāp Singh, and he sent orders to the Bar Phukan to seize Sattrajit. A meeting was arranged, and the two met on the island of Umānanda, opposite Gauhāti. They embraced each other and exchanged presents. The Bar Phukan then allowed Sattrajit, who had gained a considerable influence over him, to depart without attempting to effect his arrest. The king, being informed of this, and also of the Bar Phukan's duplicity in the matter of the envoys from Dacca, caused him to be chained in a dungeon, where he was left to starve to death. Neog succeeded him as Bar Phukan, and the war came to an end.

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Another expedition. After some years, the relations of the Ahoms with the Nawāb again became strained. The author of the *Pādishāhnāmah* blames Sattrajit for this, saying that, on the occasion of Islām Khān’s appointment to Bengal, he made common cause with Dharma Nārāyan, and instigated him to profit by the change of governors and push forward his boundary, so as to include the south-eastern parganas of the modern district of Goālpāra. There were also other causes of friction. Some Muhammadan subjects were killed in Ahom territory, but Pratāp Singh disclaimed all knowledge of the occurrence and refused to give redress. A defaulting fiscal officer under the Nawāb, named Harikesh, was given shelter by Pratāp Singh, who refused to surrender him, alleging that the Nawāb had similarly taken under his protection fugitives from his kingdom. This led to a fresh war. A force was despatched in 1635 to seize Harikesh by force, but it was opposed by the Ahoms and defeated near the Bharali river.

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The Ahoms assume the offensive. Pratāp Singh now determined to carry the war into the enemy’s territory. He sent presents to the chiefs of Dimarua, Hojāi, Barduār and other frontier tracts and induced them to join.* He also succeeded in attaching to his cause the chiefs of about ten thousand soldier cultivators, or *pāiks*, who had been settled by Qāsim Khān in Kāmrup. His troops soon reduced the Muhammadan forts at Deomiha, Bantikot, Chamaria and Nāgarberā, after which they entrenched themselves at Pāringa, on the bank of the Kulsi river, and at Niubihā, which had been evacuated by the Muhammadan garrison on their approach. In the course of the operations a Musalman general and many soldiers were killed and a great quantity of booty was captured. Hājo was now invested, and the Muhammadans were defeated in several engagements, in one of which they lost 360 cannon and guns, as well as other stores.†

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∗ The chiefs of the Duārs enumerated by Kāsinath include those of Rāni, Luki, Bako, Bagāi, Bangāon, Chhaygāon, Pāntan, Barduār, Bholāgāon and Māyāpur.

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† According to the *Buranjis*, Sattrajit now sued for peace and there was a cessation of hostilities for some months, but there is no mention of this in the Muhammadan accounts of the war.

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In the meantime, Abdussalām, the Musalman governor of Hājo, had sent an urgent request for reinforcements to the Nawāb, Islām Khān, who despatched to his assistance one thousand horse and one thousand matchlock men, under Saiad Zainul-ābidin, together with two hundred and ten war sloops and boats and a large supply of ammunition, weapons and money. On the arrival of these reinforcements, it was arranged that Abdussalām should remain in occupation of Hājo, whilst Zainul-ābidin endeavoured to push his ships as far as Srighāt in order to keep the Ahoms at bay. The first engagement was fought a little to the west of Pāndu, and the Ahoms, who had left their fortified camps and advanced to the attack, were defeated, after a severe fight, with the loss of four ships and a few cannon. The Bar Phukan’s son, who commanded the Ahom troops, was shot whilst trying to rally his men. Their two camps were promptly destroyed by the Muhammadans, and two days later they were driven from Agiathuti. Their fort at Srighāt was then besieged. For three days they kept the Muhammadans at bay, but on the arrival of twenty sloops with fresh troops, the latter renewed the attack, and the Ahoms, whose ammunition was running short, were forced to retreat. When the news of these reverses reached Pratāp Singh, he at once despatched strong reinforcements. On their arrival, the Ahoms once more advanced and drove the Muhammadan fleet back to Suālkuchi. It is recorded in one of the Buranjis that a Feringi, or European, in the service of the Muhammadans, who had gone off by himself to shoot birds, was captured and sent to the Ahom king. This is the first instance recorded of a European entering Ahom territory. At this juncture, the branch of the Brahmaputra which flows past Hājo dried up, and as this rendered mutual succour in case of attack impossible, Abdussalām sent orders to Zainul-ābidin to join him at Hājo. This he did, leaving the fleet in charge of Muhammad Sālih Kambu, Sattrajit and Majlis Bāyazid.

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The same night the Ahoms, with nearly five hundred ships, attacked the hostile fleet and gained a decisive victory. Muhammad Sālih was killed, Bāyazid was made prisoner, and the greater part of the fleet fell into the hands of the victors. This disaster is ascribed by the author of the Pādishāhnāmah to the perfidy of Sattrajit, who is accused of having informed the Ahoms of the departure of the Muhammadan leader, and of having retired with his own ships as soon as the attack began. The Ahom chroniclers state that three hundred boats of all sizes and three hundred cannon and guns were captured, as well as other spoils.

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Hājo was now closely invested by the Bar Phukan and Dharma Nārāyan. All supplies were cut off, and the defenders were reduced to great straits. They made several unsuccessful sallies, in one of which Abdussalām was wounded. For some time they subsisted on their pack bullocks and camels, but at last, when these had disappeared, Abdussalām agreed to surrender, and he and his brother went to the Ahom camp with a considerable portion of his forces. They were at once arrested and taken before Pratāp Singh, who ordered them to be sent up-country. The leaders were settled at Silpāni and other places, and were given land and slaves, while the common soldiers were distributed as slaves among the Baruas, Phukans and other Ahom nobles. Saiad Zainul-ābidin, with the rest of the garrison, refused to give in. They made a gallant attempt to force their way through the enemy, but were all killed.

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A great quantity of loot was taken at Hājo, including two thousand guns and seven hundred horses. The brick buildings which the Muhammadans had erected were all levelled with the ground. It subsequently transpired that, while they were besieged in Hājo, the Muhammadan leaders, with a view to obtaining favourable terms of surrender, had sent to the Bar Phukan, for transmission to the king, a number of pearls and other valuable articles, and that these had been misappropriated by the Bar Phukan, who had also taken fifty families of weavers from Suālkuchi and settled them in the northern part of his own jurisdiction instead of sending them to Upper Assam. For these offences he was arrested and put to death.

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The remaining Musalman garrisons in Kāmrup were attacked and captured in turn, and, in a great part of the Goālpāra district also, the Muhammadan yoke was thrown off. Chandra Nārāyan, a son of the Koch king Parikshit and the founder of the Bijni family, with the aid of a detachment of Ahom troops sent to him by Pratāp Singh, established himself at Hatsila in Karāibāri, on the south bank of the Brahmaputra. Many of the zamindars on the north bank made their submission to the Ahoms.

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Before these events occurred, the Nawāb of Dacca had collected fifteen hundred horse and four thousand matchlock men, together with large stores of grain, ammunition, weapons and money, and proposed to march in person to the relief of Abdussalām. But his presence being required in Dacca, he entrusted the command of the expedition to his brother Mir Zainuddin, who set out with an escort of twenty-five war sloops. The long river journey was slow and tedious; and before he was able to reach Assam, the events already described had taken place. The news of these disasters did not dismay him, and he at once took vigorous steps to restore the Muhammadan supremacy in Lower Assam. According to some accounts, he was accompanied by Prān Nārāyan, Raja of Koch Bihār. He marched against Chandra Nārāyan, who fled without waiting to be attacked, and all the Goālpāra zamindars on the south bank of the river submitted.

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He then crossed to the north bank and, after obtaining the submission of the leading zamindars, retraced his steps to Dhubri, where he found Sattrajit and some convoy ships which he had managed to detain. Having obtained clear proof of Sattrajit's treachery on various occasions, he arrested him and sent him to Dacca, where he was imprisoned and afterwards executed.

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Meanwhile the Ahoms were preparing to resist his advance up the river. They collected a force of twelve thousand foot, including their Koch auxiliaries, and a numerous fleet. They took up a position at Jogighopā on the north bank of the Brahmaputra and at Hirāpur on the opposite side of the river, their fleet being anchored in mid-stream between these two forts. Several engagements took place, and in the end the Ahoms were defeated. In one of these fights Chandra Nārāyan was killed. The Muhammadans then crossed the Monās,* and encamped at Chandankot for the rainy season, when it was impossible to carry out extended operations on land. Their forces had by this time been considerably augmented by the remnants of the old garrisons and by the levies of the local zamindars, who returned to their allegiance as Zainuddin advanced. In the *Buranjis* his army is spoken of as "a great host," but its actual strength is not stated. A flying column of five thousand men was despatched, under Muhammad Zamān, the Faujdār of Sylhet, to eject the Ahoms from the south bank; and when this had been accomplished, the same officer was sent with a strong detachment to reinstate Uttam Nārāyan in his zamindari at Barnagar on the Monās, whence he had been driven by three thousand Ahoms and Koches. He crossed the Pomāri river and advanced towards Barnagar, whereupon the Ahoms withdrew to Chothri at the foot of the Bhutān Hills. Muhammad Zamān now entrenched himself at Bishenpur to await the close of the rainy season and get his war material into order. Soon afterwards, the Ahoms, having received reinforcements which brought their strength up to forty thousand men, advanced to the Kalāpāni, about three miles from his encampment, and threw up entrenchments. They made several night attacks on the Muhammadans and, by erecting palisades all round their camp, cut off all their supplies. No regular engagement occurred until the close of the rains, when the main body of the Muhammadans left Chandankot and marched on Bishenpur. The Ahom generals, seeing the advisability of doing something before the two hostile forces could effect a junction, and having received an additional reinforcement of twenty thousand men, made an attack in force on Muhammad Zamān’s position. This was on the night of the 31st of October 1637. They carried two of his stockades, but next morning he again drove them out and, attacking in his turn, took in succession fifteen stockades which had been erected by them. They retreated to Pomāri, with the loss of four thousand men and several generals, as well as a number of matchlocks and other weapons.*

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∗ In the Muhammadan records and in Major Rennell's Journal this river is called Banās; in the map attached to Pemberton's Report on the Eastern Frontier it is written both ways.

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The Muhammadans now united their forces and, three weeks later, made an attack from three different directions on the Ahom army, which had entrenched itself at Bārepaita. The Ahoms ran short of ammunition and sustained a crushing defeat; a very large number were killed, including several of the leaders, and many others were made prisoners and were subsequently put to death. The pursuit continued as long as daylight lasted. The scattered remnant fled to Srighāt, where Pratāp Singh was encamped with the fleet and the heavy baggage.

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After this decisive victory the Muhammadans advanced to Pāndu. They captured the Ahom fort at Agiathuti in spite of a furious but ineffectual cannonade. Srighāt was next taken, and a naval engagement took place, which was every whit as disastrous to the Ahoms as the land battle at Bārepaita. Nearly five hundred sloops and three hundred guns fell into the hands of the victors. The Kājali fort at the mouth of the Kallang was also captured, but it was soon afterwards retaken by the Dimarua Raja and a chief named Hari Deka. Pratāp Singh sent a small force to assist them in holding it, and they succeeded in doing so, until they allowed themselves to be drawn into an action on open ground. They were then defeated, and fled to Koliābar, which was now the rallying point for the Ahom forces.

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When the news of this defeat reached the Ahom king, he was so much alarmed that he prepared for flight to the hills and removed his valuables from the capital; he also put to death the Muhammadan leaders who had been made prisoners in previous battles.

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∗ The above account of the operations of Muhammad Zamān in the direction of Barnagar follows that given in the *Pādishāh-nāmah*, which is also my authority for the strength of the Ahom forces engaged. According to the *Buranjis*, the Muhammadans retreated on the arrival of the first Ahom reinforcements and occupied three positions at Jakhālikhāna, Bhabānipur, and Bhātākuchi. The Ahoms entrenched themselves on the Kalāpāni and succeeded in reducing the forts at Jakhālikhāna and Bhabānipur. They also captured Bhātākuchi, but the next morning it was retaken by the Muhammadans after a very sanguinary encounter in which many soldiers perished on both sides. The Ahoms then retreated to Pomāri.

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The Muhammadans now sent a detachment in pursuit of Dharma Nārāyan, who was reduced to great straits and fled to Singiri Parbat, where he and his two sons were eventually killed. During the next three months, the Muhammadans consolidated their rule in Kāmrup and effected a financial settlement of the country. Mir Nurullah of Harāt was appointed Thānādār, with his head-quarters at Gauhāti.

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In 1638 a Muhammadan force, accompanied by Prān Nārāyan, the Raja of Koch Bihār, ascended the Brahmaputra and encamped at the mouth of the Bharali. The Ahoms entrenched themselves on the opposite bank. Hostilities continued for some time, but eventually the invaders were defeated and retired to Gauhāti. It is stated in some of the Buranjis that, in order to gain time, the Ahoms made proposals of peace, and offered to supply elephants, aloes wood and other articles. An armistice was granted to permit of the king being consulted: in the meantime the entrenchments were completed, and the Bar Barua, who was in command, then informed the Muhammadans that he would sooner fight than agree to pay tribute. After their victory, the Ahoms reoccupied Kājali, but the prolonged campaign had exhausted their resources and they were unable to continue the war.

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A treaty was therefore negotiated, under which the Bar Nadi, on the north bank of the Brahmaputra, and the Asurar Ali, on the south, were fixed as the boundary between the Ahom and the Muhammadan territories. During the next twenty years, the country west of this boundary line remained in the undisputed possession of the Muhammadans, and traces of the system of administration introduced by them survive to this day.

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The Kachāri King Bhimbal, died in 1637 and was succeeded by his son Indra Ballabh, who sent envoys to Pratāp Singh to enlist his friendship. His advances were coldly received, as it was thought that his letter was not couched on sufficiently respectful terms. This, like all subsequent communications between the two nations, was carried viâ Koliābar and not by the old route along the valley of the Dhansiri. That valley had been depopulated in the course of the repeated wars, and it was already becoming overgrown with the jungle which now forms the Nāmbar forest.

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Pratāp Singh died in the year 1641 after a reign of 38 years. He was a capable, energetic and ambitious prince; and, although a great part of his reign was distracted by wars with the Kachāris and Muhammadans, he was still able to devote much attention to the internal organization of his kingdom, the development of backward tracts and the construction of roads, embankments and tanks. There were several conspiracies during the first few years after his accession, which were repressed with the ferocious severity customary amongst the Ahoms. The petty chiefs or Bhuiyās, who occupied the tract on the north bank of the Brahmaputra, between the Bharali and the Subansiri, had discontinued the payment of tribute from the time of the Koch invasion under Sukladhvaj; and in 1623 one of their number named Uday declared himself independent and was joined by several other chiefs. He was arrested and executed, and Pratāp Singh took the opportunity to break the power of the Bhuiyās for ever. He transferred them and their principal supporters to various places on the south bank of the Brahmaputra and forbade them to cross to the north bank on any pretext whatsoever; a number of men who, disregarding this order, went there to rear cocoons were put to death.

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A census of the people was taken; and, where this had not already been done, they were divided off into clans, and officers were appointed over them. To protect the country on the Kachāri frontier, four hundred families of Ahoms from Abhaypur, Dihing and Nāmdāng were settled around Marangi. A number of families from the more thickly inhabited parts of Lower Assam were transferred to some of the sparsely populated tracts higher up the river, and the immigration of artisans of all kinds was encouraged. The country round the Dihing was opened out by roads to Charāideo and Dāuka. The towns of Abhaypur and Mathurapur were built; Jamirguri was surrounded by an embankment, and the palace at Garhgāon was protected in the same way. The want of an embankment as a line of defence having been experienced at the time of the Koch invasion under Sukladhvaj, the Lādaigarh was constructed

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Pratāp Singh's death; character and miscellaneous events of the reign.

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with this object. Another embankment known as the Dopgarh was thrown up as a means of protection against Nāga raids, and no Nāga was permitted to cross it, unless accompanied by a peon or *kataki*. Pratāp Singh had also proposed to construct an embankment along the Kachāri frontier, but refrained, upon the representation of his nobles, who urged that his kingdom in this direction was a growing one, and that it was inadvisable to do anything which would tend to confine it within fixed limits.

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In order to stop the acts of oppression committed by the Miris and Daflas, *katakis* were appointed to watch them and keep the authorities informed of their movements. In this connection, however, it should be mentioned that in 1615, when reprisals were attempted after a raid perpetrated by these hillmen, the Ahom forces were obliged to beat a retreat.

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Forts were erected at Sāmdhara, Safrai, Sita and many other places. A stone bridge was built over the Darikā river, and many bamboo bridges were constructed. Numerous markets were established, and trade flourished greatly during the interval of peace between the two great wars with the Muhammadans.

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Like many of his predecessors, Pratāp Singh was much addicted to elephant hunting, and was frequently present at the *kheddas*. His ambition was to be the owner of a thousand elephants. When he had obtained this number, he assumed the title Gajpati (lord of elephants) and caused the town of Jamirguri to be renamed Gajpur in commemoration of the event. This circumstance is alluded to in the *Pādishāhnāmah*, where he is described as "an infidel who has a thousand elephants and a hundred thousand foot."

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He kept a close eye on all branches of the administration and maintained his authority with a firm and heavy hand; punishment was meted out to all, even to the highest nobles, who were unfortunate enough to incur his displeasure. Some instances of his severity have already been given. Amongst others, the case of the Bharāli Barua may be mentioned. This man enjoyed the king's confidence to a very unusual degree, but he was nevertheless sentenced to death on proof of embezzlement and other misconduct.

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During his reign the influence of the Brāhmans increased considerably. The Somdeo was still worshipped; and before a battle, it was still the practice to call upon the Deodhāis or tribal priests to tell the omens by examining the legs of fowls.* This, however, did not prevent the king from encouraging Hindu priests. When the tank at Misagārh was completed, Brāhmans were called in to consecrate it; temples for the worship of Siva were erected under the king's orders at Dergāon and Bishnāth, and grants of land were made for the maintenance of Brāhmans and of Hindu temples. It is recorded, however, that, on one occasion, shortly after gifts had been distributed to the Brāhmans, a son of the king died, and Pratāp Singh was so enraged in consequence that, for a time, he persecuted them, and even put some of them to death.

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At the instigation of the Brāhmans the Mahāpurushias, whose tenets were rapidly gaining ground, were subjected to much persecution and several of their Gosāins or high priests were put to death.

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The Ahom language continued to be the medium of conversation between the king and his nobles, but Hindus were often appointed as envoys (*bairāgis* and *katakis*) in preference to Ahoms, who were sometimes found wanting in intelligence.

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Among the miscellaneous events of this reign may be mentioned a bad outbreak of cattle disease in 1618, which carried off many cows and buffaloes, and a flight of locusts in 1641, which spread all over the country from west to east, and caused such widespread devastation that a famine resulted from it. A great deal of damage was done by lightning; two palaces were destroyed in this way and also the house in which the Somdeo was kept, the temple at Bishnāth and the king's elephant house or *Falkhānā*.

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The following interesting remarks on the Ahoms of this period are extracted from the *Pādishāhnāmah*†:—

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∗ The Ahoms were most superstitious, and on several occasions it is narrated that the king hastily left the house he was occupying merely because a screech owl had perched on it. † Apud Blochmann, J. A. S. B., 1872, page 55.

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“The inhabitants shave the head and clip off beard and whiskers. They eat every land and water animal. They are very black and loathsome in appearance. The chiefs travel on elephants or country ponies; but the army consists only of foot soldiers. The fleet is large and well fitted out. The soldiers use bows and arrows and matchlocks, but do not come up in courage to the Muhammadan soldiers, though they are very brave in naval engagements. On the march they quickly and dexterously fortify their encampments with mud walls and bamboo palisades, and surround the whole with a ditch.”

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During his mortal illness, Pratāp Singh was attended by his three sons Surāmphā, Sutyinphā and Sāi. The last mentioned, who was the youngest, collected a number of armed men in readiness to seize his brothers and force his way to the throne as soon as his father died, but the eldest, Surāmphā, after obtaining the support of his brother Sutyinphā, by saying that he himself was childless and promising to make him his heir, closed the gates of the city and disarmed and ejected the conspirators.

c12.60

On Pratāp Singh’s death, the chief nobles offered the throne to Sutyinphā, but he remained true to his word and refused to accept it over the head of his elder brother. Surāmphā was accordingly saluted as king. Soon afterwards Sāi conspired against him and was arrested and put to death.

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Surāmphā was a man altogether destitute of the ordinary principles of morality. He first cohabited with one of his father’s wives. Subsequently he fell in love with a married woman of the Chetia clan and, having caused her husband to be poisoned, took her to his harem. She adopted a nephew of her first husband, and this youth was declared heir-apparent by the king, who thereby broke the promise he had made to Sutyinphā at the time of his accession. The boy died soon afterwards, and one of Sutyinphā’s sons was accused of having poisoned him. Sutyinphā was accordingly ordered to surrender him to be executed, and was deprived of all his possessions. At the same time the king, at the instigation of his paramour, called upon each of the chief nobles to furnish a son for burial with his adopted child.

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Whether this order was actually carried into effect is not clear, but the result of it was to exasperate the nobles beyond endurance. Overtures were made to Sutyinphā, who agreed, though very reluctantly, to supersede his brother. The city was entered by a body of armed men, and Surāmphā, who was taken completely by surprise, was deposed and removed to a remote place in the hills, where he was eventually poisoned. Owing to his deposition, he is generally known as the Bhagā Raja.

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The only occurrences in his reign worthy of mention are the construction of the Salaguri Road and the ignominious expulsion of some Kachāri envoys, who came to offer their king's congratulations on the occasion of his accession, because the letter which they brought was sealed with the seal of a Singh, and not of a Phukan, i.e., of an independent ruler and not a subordinate chief.

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There was a heavy flood in 1642, in which many cattle were washed away and drowned. Several earthquakes occurred in the same year.

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Sutyinphā, who now ascended the throne, was usually known as the Nariyā (sick) Raja on account of his indifferent health; he suffered from curvature of the spine, whence the nickname Kekora (crooked) was also sometimes applied to him. His installation was effected with great pomp. Amongst other amusements provided to celebrate the occasion, the people were entertained with the spectacle of fights between elephants, between an elephant and a tiger, and between a tiger and a crocodile. His first act was to put to death certain officials who were suspected of being opposed to his usurpation of the throne. Soon afterwards one of his wives, who was the sister of the Burhā Gohāin, persuaded him that the son of his chief queen was conspiring with her father, the Barpātra Gohāin. The son in question was invited to dinner by the king and treacherously put to death. The Barpātra Gohāin was also executed, and his daughter was deposed from her position as chief queen. This rank was then conferred on the woman who had made the mischief. She afterwards tried to poison the king's mind against another of his sons, named Khahua Gohāin, and instigated an unsuccessful attempt to murder him.

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Nariyā Raja (Sutyinphā), Expeditions against the Daflas.

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In June 1646, an expedition was sent to subjugate the Daflas.* The troops ascended the Dikrāng and looted several villages, but they were much harassed by the Daflas, who fought with bows and arrows, and eventually retreated without achieving their object. The king was so enraged at the failure of the expedition that he dismissed the Burhā Gohāin and Barpātra Gohāin, who were in command, and to complete their disgrace, made them appear in public in female attire. In the following January, a second expedition was despatched; and the Daflas, who, aided by the Miris, ventured to fight a pitched battle, were utterly defeated. The expedition marched through their country, destroying the villages and granaries, and looting cattle to the number of about a thousand. These operations resulted in the full submission of the hillmen. In the same year the Tipām Raja, who had withheld the payment of tribute, was arrested and put to death; and an expedition was sent against the Khāmting Nāgas, which seems to have been fairly successful.

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The king is deposed by his nobles.

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Kukure Khowā Gohāin, the son of the chief queen, gave great dissatisfaction to the people by his cruelty, and at the same time alienated the nobles by his overbearing and insulting behaviour towards them. The king was asked to remonstrate with him, but he declined to do so. At the same time, the delicate state of his health prevented him from attending regularly to public business. He became increasingly unpopular; and eventually, in November 1648, he was deposed by the nobles, headed by the Burhā Gohāin, and his son Sutāmlā was made king in his stead.† A few days later he was poisoned; some say that his chief queen was buried alive in his grave, and others that she and her son were crushed to death. During this reign there was some further discussion with the Kachāri king as to his status. The latter objected to being described as "established and protected by the Ahoms," but he seems to have waived his objections on being promised an Ahom princess in marriage.

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∗ The name of the tribe is given as "Singi" which I assume means Dafla. The Daflas call themselves "Sing" or "Nyising" and the locality described is that now inhabited by this tribe.

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† So say Kāsināth and some of the Buranjis. Others, which are usually trustworthy, say that the king fell ill and, being neglected by all, expressed a wish to abdicate in favour of Sutāmlā, and that he died a natural death soon afterwards.

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Sutāmlā, on ascending the throne, assumed the Hindu name Jayadhvaj Singh. Owing to his flight from Garhgāon at the time of the Muhammadan invasion, which will be described further on, he is also known as "Bhagania (fugitive) Raja." On the day of his accession the people were entertained with fights between wild animals. The Somdeo was placed on the throne; guns were fired, bands played and largess was distributed. Presents were also made to the Brāhmans. The Daflas, the Kachāri king and the Muhammadan governor at Gauhāti sent messages of congratulation and presents. The Raja of Jaintia, who did the same, coupled his felicitations with a request to be given back the provinces of Dimarua and Kuphanāli, which had been ceded the Ahoms, but his petition was refused.

c12.73

The new king shared the fate of all usurpers, and several conspiracies were formed against him, which he repressed with ferocious severity. In one, the Burhā Gohāin was concerned, and he and his fellow conspirators were tortured to death by the barbarous expedient of placing live coals in their mouths. On another occasion the Bar Gohāin helped some of the persons implicated to make good their escape. As a punishment, he was stripped naked and whipped, and made to eat the flesh of his own son and was then tortured to death.

c12.74

In 1650 an expedition was sent to punish the Lakma Nāgas for a raid committed by them. They were put to flight and a village was burnt, but the punishment was not sufficient to act as a deterrent. Fresh raids were perpetrated, and four years later a second expedition was found necessary. The Lakmas, armed with spears, made an unexpected attack on the Ahom troops, but were driven off by a detachment of Dafla archers that accompanied the force. A stockade was then taken, and many of the Nāgas who defended it were killed. Soon afterwards the Ahom force was again surprised, but the Lakmas failed to drive home their attack, and took refuge in the hills, whither the Ahom soldiers found it difficult to follow them, on account of the stony ground to which their bare feet were unaccustomed. The Nāgas now asked for a cessation of hostilities, and then treacherously attacked the envoy who was sent to treat with them. The Ahoms, after receiving reinforcements, renewed their advance. They were unable to come up with their nimble foes, but destroyed their houses and stores of grain. Eventually the Nāga chief came in and made his submission. He agreed to pay tribute, and in return was given a hill, the possession of which had previously been in dispute.

c12.75

In 1655 the Miris made a raid and killed two Ahom subjects. The force sent against them defeated with considerable loss a body of three hundred Miris and burned twelve of their villages; the tribe then gave way and agreed to pay an annual tribute of bison, horses, tortoises, swords and yellow beads (probably amber), and gave up twelve men to the Ahoms in the place of the two whom they had killed.

c12.76

In 1647 the Raja of Jaintia seized an Ahom trader and, as he would not release him, Jayadhvaj Singh retaliated by arresting a number of Jaintia traders at Sonapur. This led to a cessation of all intercourse between the two countries for eight years. The Jaintia Raja then made overtures to the Bar Phukan at Gauhāti, and friendly relations were re-established.

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In 1658 Pramata Rāi rebelled against his grandfather Jasa Manta Rāi, Raja of Jaintia, and called on the tributary chief of Gobhā to help him. The latter refused, and Pramata Rāi thereupon destroyed four of his villages. He appealed for help to the Kachāris, who were preparing to come to his assistance, when the local Ahom officials intervened and said that, as the Ahoms were the paramount power, it was they whose protection should be sought. The Gobhā chief accordingly went with seven hundred men to Jayadhvaj Singh and begged for help. Orders were issued to the Bar Phukan to establish him in Khāgarijān, corresponding more or less to the modern Nowgong, and this was accordingly done.

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Shah Jahan, the Mughal Emperor of Delhi, fell sick in 1658, and Prān Nārāyan, Raja of Koch Bihār,* took advantage of the confusion caused by the wars of succession that followed, to throw off the Muhammadan yoke. He made raids into Goālpāra, and two of the local chiefs fled to Beltola, where Jayadhvaj Singh took them under his protection. Mir Lutfullah Shivazi, the Muhammadan Faujdār of Kāmrup and Hājo tried to oppose him, but the bulk of his troops had been withdrawn by Prince Shuja; he was defeated by Prān Nārāyan's army under his Vazir Bhabānāth, and retreated to Gauhāti.

c12.79

In the meantime Jayadhvaj Singh, who was also on the alert to take advantage of the dissensions amongst the Mughals, assembled a strong army, threw two bridges over the Kallang and advanced towards Gauhāti. On arriving, he found that the Faujdār had fled by boat to Dacca without waiting to be attacked. Twenty cannon and a number of horses, guns, etc., which there had been no time to remove, fell into his hands.† Prān Nārāyan now proposed an offensive and defensive alliance against the Muhammadans and a friendly division of their possessions in Assam, he taking the tract lying on the north bank of the Brahmaputra and the Ahoms that on the south. His advances were rejected by the Ahoms who were elated by their easy capture of Gauhāti. They marched against the Koches and, after a slight check, defeated them twice and drove them across the Sankosh. They thus became the masters of the whole of the Brahmaputra valley, and nearly three years elapsed before any effort was made by the Muhammadans to regain their lost territory. During this period, a number of the inhabitants of villages in Lower Assam were transported to the eastern provinces. According to the *Ālamgirnāmah* the Ahoms, not content with their conquest of the whole of the Brahmaputra valley, plundered and laid waste the country to the south of it, almost as far as Dacca itself.

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∗ In his analysis of the Fathiyah-i-'Ibriyah Blochmann calls this king Bhim Nārāyan, but he notes that some manuscripts have also Pem Nārāyan. There can be no doubt that the proper reading should be Prān Nārāyan. This is the name given in the Koch, as well as in the Ahom, chronicles. The author of the Fathiyah-i-'Ibriyah describes this ruler as a "noble, mighty king, powerful and fond of company. He never took his lip from the edge of the bowl nor his hand from the flagon; he was continually surrounded by singing women and was so addicted to the pleasures of the harem that he did not look after his kingdom. His palace is regal, has a ghusulkhana, a darshan, private rooms, accommodation for the harem, for servants, baths and fountains, and a garden. In the town there are flower-beds in the streets and trees to both sides of them. The people use the sword, firelock and arrows as weapons. The arrows are generally poisoned; their mere touch is fatal. Some of the inhabitants are enchanters; they read formulas upon water and give it to the wounded to drink, then recover. The men and the women are rarely good-looking."

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† A cannon formely in possession of Babu Saurendra Mohan Sinha, bears an inscription stating that it was taken by Jayadhvaj Singh from the Muhammadans whom he defeated at Gauhāti. [J. A. S. B., 1911, page 46.]

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When Mir Jumlah was made governor of Bengal, and had occupied Dacca after the flight of Prince Shuja to Arakan, Jayadhvaj Singh sent an envoy to him to say that he had taken possession of the country solely in order to protect it from the Koches, and that he was prepared to hand it over to any officer whom the governor might send for the purpose.

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Rashid Khān was accordingly deputed to receive back the Imperial lands. On his approach, the Ahoms abandoned Dhubri, and fell back beyond the Monās river, but he suspected a snare and waited for reinforcements before taking possession of the tract which they had abandoned. When the Ahom king heard of the retreat of his troops, he caused the two Phukans who were responsible for it to be arrested and put in chains, and appointed the Bāduli Phukan to be Neog Phukan and Commander-in-Chief. He also ordered the Jogighopā fort at the mouth of the Monās to be strengthened and a new fort to be constructed on the opposite bank of the Brahmaputra, and sent a letter to Rashid Khān calling upon him to withdraw his troops. These matters were duly reported to Mir Jumlah who, in the meantime, had taken the field in person against Prān Nārāyan. When appointed Viceroy of Bengal, he had been specially enjoined by Auranzeb to "punish the lawless zamindars of the province, especially those of Assam and Magh (Arracan) who had caused injury and molestation to the Muslims." Mir Jumlah occupied Koch Bihār, but failed to capture the Raja, who escaped to Bhutān. He left a garrison of five thousand men in Koch Bihār and then, on the 4th January, 1662, set forth on his invasion of Assam. Rashid Khan joined him at Rangamāti, but the local zamindars, thinking it impossible that he could defeat the Ahoms, held aloof. Owing to the dense jungle and the numerous rivers, the journey was most tedious, and the daily marches rarely exceeded four or five miles.

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