A History of Assam c14.5

c14.5

This energetic and capable officer, of whom more will be heard later on, seeing that harsh methods frustrated their own ends, now urged the king to win over the malcontents by mild and conciliatory treatment, and, if his advice had been followed, it seems likely that the Moāmariās would have given no further trouble. But it was not. The new Bar Barua taking the opposite view, advocated their wholesale extermination; and this course commended itself to the cruel and vindictive nature of the king. A general massacre of the Moāmariās was proclaimed; many thousands, including women and children, were put to death, and four sons of the deposed Bar Barua, who were found to have been cognizant of the rising, were deprived of their eyesight. These atrocities served only to fan the flames of disaffection, and conspiracy succeeded conspiracy. The first was hatched at Jaysāgar by a Mahanta belonging to the Jakhalābāndhā Gosāin's family. He was caught and blinded, and three of his followers were fried to death in oil. The Morāns in the extreme east next broke out in rebellion, under a man named Badal Gāonburha, but they were dispersed without much trouble.