A History of Assam c12.84

c12.84

At last, after many delays, he arrived opposite the Ahom fort at Jogighopa with a force of twelve thousand horse and thirty thousand foot.* The garrison, which was suffering from some form of violent epidemic disease, possibly cholera, and had a total strength of only twelve thousand, was overawed by this formidable army and, after a very faint-hearted resistance, evacuated the fort and beat a hasty retreat to Srighāt and Pāndu. The author of the Fathiyah-i-'Ibriyah gives the following description of the fort at Jogighopa:—"It is a large and high fort on the Brahmaputra. Near it the enemy had dug many holes for the horses to fall into, and pointed pieces of bamboo (pānjis) had been stuck in the holes. Behind the holes, for about half a shot's distance, on even ground, they had made a ditch, and behind this ditch, near the fort, another one three yards deep. The latter was also full of pointed bamboos. This is how the Ahoms fortify all their positions. They make their forts of mud. The Brahmaputra is south of the fort, and on the east is the Monās."