A History of Assam c21.71

c21.71

Their advent was welcomed by the British authorities, who still regarded a fresh Burmese invasion as possible, and whose policy it was to impede it by the settlement of friendly warlike tribes along the route which they would have to follow. A dispute arose between the new Sadiya Khowa Gohāin and the Bar Senapati regarding a certain tract of land. The British officer at Sadiya, to prevent a collision, attached it and told the disputants to appear before him and urge their respective claims. The Sadiya Khowa Gohāin, in defiance of this order, took forcible possession and refused to give it up when called upon to do so. His post was accordingly abolished, and he was removed to another part of the province. The Khāmtis themselves were left untaxed, and were still allowed to manage their private affairs under their own chiefs. But they were deprived of their control over the local Assamese, the jurisdiction over whom was thenceforth exercised by the Political Officer at Sadiya. Their slaves were also released, and they suspected the Government of a design to tax them and to lower their status to that of the ordinary Assamese. Thus, although they shortly afterwards assisted in the operations against the Singphos, as a reward for which their late chief was permitted to return from exile, they remained thenceforth in a state of simmering discontent. In January 1839, this culminated in a treacherous night attack on the British garrison at Sadiya. Colonel White, the Political Agent, was killed, and eighty others were killed or wounded. A punitive force was at once despatched to Sadiya. The insurgents sought refuge amongst the Mishmis. They were followed up and repeated defeats were inflicted on them; and in December 1843, the last of the rebels made his submission. Some were deported to Nārāyanpur, on the Dikrāng, in the western part of the district, and others were settled above Sadiya town to form a screen between the Assamese and the Mishmis.