A History of Assam c14.94

c14.94

∗ This eulogy on the Burhā Gohāin is based on the detailed account of his operations against the Moāmariās contained in the Buranjis, and is written advisedly, in spite of Captain Welsh’s statement that “the Burhā Gohāin may with great justice be suspected of having favoured the insurrection.” There is nothing whatever in the native accounts of this period that in any way supports this accusation, which was probably grounded on secret allegations made by other rival ministers, who had access to Captain Welsh from the beginning, whereas he did not meet the Burhā Gohāin till towards the end of the expedition. Welsh himself describes these ministers as unscrupulous intruigers. The evidence of such persons, who had themselves abandoned the contest, cannot be accepted as throwing any slur on an officer who, alone, for many years before Welsh came to Assam, had kept the Moāmariās in check, and who continued to do so after he had again departed. It may be added that, when Lieutenant Macgregor went on ahead of the main force to arrange for its commissariat, he reported that the Burhā Gohāin gave him every assistance in his power. Colonel Hannay also supports this view. In his Notes on the Moāmariās he says: “Purnānund (i.e. the Burhā) Gohāin may be said to have been the protector and regenerator of his country for a period of twenty years.”