History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v3.c41.s5: §8. Mir Jumla conquers Assam.

History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v3.c41.s5

Language: English

§8. Mir Jumla conquers Assam.

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After a 16 days' stay the general left Kuch Bihar (4th January, 1662), absorbed Rashid Khan's detachment at Rangamati, and invaded Assam. "On account of the jungles and numerous nalas the daily progress did not exceed 4 or 5 miles." The men had to go through unspeakable fatigue which the Commander-in-Chief shared with the humblest private. His resolution bore down all opposition of Nature and man. The Ahom army, devastated by cholera, offered a feeble resistance, always retreating before the invaders or being routed with heavy slaughter. The Muslims advanced* victoriously up the Brahmaputra, carrying all the stockades, trenches and holes full of bamboo spikes on the way. Fort after fort was occupied,—Jogigupha at the mouth of the Monas river (20th January), Gauhati, Srighat at the mouth of the Bar Nadi (5th Feb.), Pandu, Beltala, and Kajali at the mouth of the Kallang,—most of which the enemy had evacuated in terror. Some of the feudal lords of Assam—e.g., the Rajahs of Darrang and Dimarua, now deserted to the Mughals.

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∗ For Mir Jumla in Kuch Bihar, Fathiyah, 10—18. For the Assam War, Storia, (ii. 98-102) and Bernier (171-173) are very brief.

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Samdhara at the mouth of the Bharali river and Simla-garh opposite to it on the south bank of the Brahmaputra, were now the only strongholds that lay in the path to Garhgaon, the Ahom capital. On 25th February, Simla-garh was most gallantly stormed by Dilir Khan, and this feat struck such terror into the hearts of the Ahoms that they fled from the almost impregnable fort of Samdhara without waiting for an attack. The Ahom fleet tried its fortune against the Mughal navy in the night of 3rd March, when Mir Jumla's army was too far from the bank to co-operate in the defence; but the Mughals gained a signal victory, annihilating the enemy's naval power and seizing 300 boats.

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∗ Mir Jumla's advance to Lakhau, Fathiyah, 18-43; Buranji viii, 82-90 (mentions two battles, viz., at Pancharatna on the Monas and at Samdhara, at both of which the Ahoms were defeated). Gait, 129-133. The naval battle in Fathiyah, 37-39, and Glanius, 154-161. Full history of the Mughal invasion in Buranji from Khunlung and Khanlai, i. 655-715, ii. 1-9, after which Purani Asam Buranji (ed. H. C. Gosvami) has no independent value.

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Then, by way of Salagarh and Lakhau, the invaders reached Garhgaon on 17th March. Jayadhwaj had fled away, abandoning his capital and all his property. His chief commander, the Bar Gohain, after retreating along the north bank of the Brahmaputra, parallel to Mir Jumla's line of march on the south bank, now fled to the Tiru mountains. The Ahoms recognized that it was impossible to resist the Mughal army.

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From 19th December, 1661, the day of the fall of Kuch Bihar, to 17th March, when he entered Garhgaon, Mir Jumla's advance had been a triumphal march. As the historian Talish rightly boasts, "Two kingdoms have been seldom conquered in the course of the same year" by one army. The spoils taken in Assam were enormous:—82 elephants, 3 lakhs of Rupees in cash, 675 pieces of artillery, 1343 camel-swivels, 1200 *Ramchangis*, 6750 matchlocks, 340 maunds of gunpowder, a thousand and odd boats, and 173 storehouses of paddy, each containing from 10 to 1000 maunds of grain.∗

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∗ Capture of Garhgaon, *Fathiyah*, 43-45 (march from Lakhau), 47-48 and 49-50 (spoils of war), 66-69 (city described). Gait, 134.

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§9. Mughal army at Garhgaon during rains.

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The rainy season was approaching, and Mir Jumla made his arrangements for going into cantonments and keeping hold of the country. Owing to the shallowness of the Dikhu river on which Garhgaon stood, the fleet could not sail up to that town, but had to halt some 18 miles north-west, at Lakhau, which stood at the junction of the old beds of the Brahmaputra and Dihing rivers. The army, however, could not leave Garhgaon, as the immense booty seized there could not be removed for want of transport and the elephants,—the richest portion of the spoils,—took time to be trained for marching. The Nawab with the main army went into quarters at Mathurapur, a village lying on a high ground, seven miles s. e. of Garhgaon (31st March). The Ahom capital, containing all the artillery, elephants, stores and property of the Mughal army, was held by a strong garrison under Mir Murtaza. Many outposts were set up: north of Garhgaon at Ramdang and Trimohani up to the point where the Dikhu falls into the Dihing; westwards at Gajpur and Dewalgaon on the way to Lakhau: southwards at Deopani and Silpani up to the skirt of the Tiru hills; and eastwards at Abhaypur, 16 miles from Garhgaon on the Namrup side. A body of sturdy men from

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Topography of Garhgaon and its environs, trans. by me in Journal B. & O. Research Society, iv. 483-486.

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Dariabad (in Oudh) under Jalal Khan held the bank of the Dihing, evidently north-east of Garhgaon. From Lakhau westwards the line of posts ran along the Brahmaputra to Gauhati.

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The enemy's forces were thus distributed: the Bar Gohain occupied the mountains south of Garhgaon, most of the other nobles with their followers lived in the huge island of Majuli, formed by the fork of the Brahmaputra and the Dihing, while the Rajah fled to Namrup, the easternmost province of his dominion.*

Linked texts (1)

Purani Asam Buranji — Assamese