A History of Assam c12.83

c12.83

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.