History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v3.c41.s3: §5. Ahom conquest of Kamrup, 1658.

History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v3.c41.s3

Language: English

§5. Ahom conquest of Kamrup, 1658.

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But when in 1657 Shuja set out with most of the troops of Bengal to contest the throne, Pran Narayan, the Rajah of Kuch Bihar,* took advantage of the defenceless state of the province, drove away the Mughal envoy who had come to demand the annual tribute, and sent an army under his wazir Bhabanath to arrest an obnoxious vassal who had fled to Mughal territory (Hajo). A small imperial force that advanced to oppose Bhabanath was easily defeated. At the same time the Ahom viceroy of the west was making preparations for war and had bridged the Kallang river, for entering Mughal Kamrup. Mir Lutfullah Shirazi, the *faujdar* of Gauhati, fearing attack from two sides and knowing help from Bengal to be impossible, fled by boat to Dacca "with the speed of lightning and wind." The Assamese occupied the capital of Kamrup without a blow, and seized 140 horses, 40 pieces of cannon, and 200 matchlocks, besides much other property there. "The usurpers of Assam swept the whole country of Kamrup with the broom of plunder, carried off to their own kingdom all the movable and immovable things, and by levelling down houses left no sign of habitation."

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∗ Gait, 107-118; Buranji viii., 43-79. Baharistan (fullest of details up to 1627).

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∗ The Rajah's name is wrongly given in the Persian histories as Bhim Narayan or Pem Narayan. The correct form is given in the Assam and Kuch Bihar chronicles. Pran Narayan's paternal uncle, Bhim Narayan, never came to the throne. The *Buranji from Khunlung and Khunlai*, vol. i. pp. 653-656, gives the best account of the cause of the invasion: "Taking advantage of the quarrel (among the sons of Shah Jahan), Pran Narayan tried to deliver his country from Musalman sovereignty. In the month of Magh he sent word

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Pran Narayan proposed a friendly division of the conquest with the Ahom king Jayadhwaj, but the latter rejected the offer and drove Bhabanath beyond the Sankosh river. Thus the entire western Brahmaputra valley fell into the hands of the Ahoms, and their outposts were pushed on as far south as Hatchila near Karibari, only five days' march from Dacca.*

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This happened early in 1658, and for three years the invaders were left undisturbed. But by June 1660 the civil war was finally over, Shuja had been driven out of India, and Mir Jumla was appointed viceroy of Bengal with orders to "punish the lawless zamindars of the province, especially those of Assam and Mag (Arracan) who had caused injury and molestation to the Muslims."

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to Durlava Narayan (a local Rajah loyally governing a Mughal district) asking him to shake off the (foreign) yoke on the father's country......D.N. replied that P.N. had been given charge of the country by the Musalmans under a *sanad* in due order, and the same thing had been done to him (D. N.), and so he did not like to rise against the Emperor. Hearing this P. N. sent orders to Bhayanat Kaji (sic,) to capture D. N., who fled for shelter to Mahital Narayan of Beltala."

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* For these Koch and Ahom invasions, *Fathiyah*, 6-7; *Buranji* viii, 82-86; A. 196-198; Gait, 127-128.

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The *Purani Asam Buranji* ed. by H. C. Gosvami (1922), pp. 115-119, gives a somewhat different account.

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§6. Mir Jumla prepares for war, 1661.

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"The time for retribution had arrived." Hearing of Aurangzib's final triumph and of the military and naval preparations at Dacca, both the kings of Kuch Bihar and Assam sent envoys offering to restore the territory they had seized, "to guard it in the meantime" as they alleged. Accordingly, a force was sent from Dacca under Rashid Khan to take delivery of Kamrup from the Ahoms. But the disloyalty of a vassal like Pran Narayan could not be pardoned. A second force was detached under Rajah Sujan Singh to conquer Kuch Bihar and punish its king.

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Rashid Khan advanced unopposed to Rangamati (at the western end of Kamrup) and stopped there, while Sujan Singh halted opposite Ek Duar, a fortified gateway leading into Kuch Bihar, and both applied for reinforcements in view of the enemy's superior strength. Then Mir Jumla determined to conduct the war in person. For this, preparations were made on an adequate scale.*

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On 1st November, 1661, the viceroy started from Dacca with an army of 12,000 horse, and 30,000 foot. A vast flotilla of war-vessels (at least 323 boats of all kinds) accompanied him,—the most powerful of them being *ghurabs* or floating batteries, each towed by four long row-boats (called *kosas*) and carrying 14 guns and a crew of 60 men. Most of the naval officers and sailors were Portuguese or half-breeds, with some English and Dutch sailors too. On water the Mughals had an overwhelming superiority.*

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∗ Aurangzib's letter of appointment addressed to Mir Jumla, in Ishwardas, 50a. War preparations at Dacca and abortive negotiations, Fathiyah, 8-9, 25, 40.

Linked texts (1)

Purani Asam Buranji — Assamese