A History of Assam c14.109

c14.109

Chandrakānt, however, was now only a nominal ruler, and the real authority was vested in the Burmese commanders, who set themselves to hunt down all the adherents of the Burhā Gohāin that still remained in Upper Assam. Amongst others they captured and put to death the Burhā Gohāin and the Bar Barua. They sent a body of troops to Gauhāti to capture Purandar Singh, but he escaped to Silmāri in the British district of Rangpur, where he more than once solicited the assistance of the East India Company. He offered to pay a tribute of three lakhs of rupees a year, and also to defray all the expenses of the troops that might be deputed to restore him to the throne of his ancestors. The Burhā Gohāin had determined to defend Gauhāti, but the Burmese advanced in great strength, and his troops, fearing to face them, quietly dispersed. He was thus obliged to seek an asylum across the frontier. He proceeded to Calcutta, where he presented several memorials of the same purport as those already submitted by his nominal master. To all these applications the Governor-General replied that the British Government was not accustomed to interfere in the internal affairs of foreign states. Meanwhile Chandrakānt and the Burmese were making repeated applications for the extradition of the fugitives, but to these requests also a deaf ear was turned.