History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v3.c41.s3.1

v3.c41.s3.1

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."