The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c31.s3.14

c31.s3.14

Another good claim to notice is based upon the fact that Assam is one of the few Indian provinces the inhabitants of which successfully beat back the flowing tide of Muhammadan conquest, and maintained their independence in spite of repeated attempts to subvert it. The only Musalman invasion of Kāmarūpa which comes within the limits of the period treated in this volume is the expedition rashly undertaken in A. D. 1204–5 (A. H. 601) by the son of Bakhtyār, Muhammad, the conqueror of Bengal and Bihār. He advanced northwards along the bank of the Karatōya river, which then formed the western frontier of Kāmarūpa, and succeeded in penetrating into the mountains to the north of Darjeeling, but being unable to obtain any secure foothold, was obliged to retreat. His retirement was disastrous. The people of Kāmarūpa having broken down the great stone bridge of many arches, which was the only means by which he could cross the river in safety, nearly all his men were drowned. The leader of the expedition managed to swim across with about a hundred horsemen, and then fell ill from distress at his failure. Next year, A. D. 1205–6 (A. H. 602), he was assassinated.² Subsequent Muhammadan incursions were equally unsuccessful. The Muslim historian, who accompanied Mīr Jumla on his invasion of the country in 1662, expresses in striking phrases the horror with which the country and its people were regarded by strangers.¹ The kingdom retained its autonomy until 1816, when the Burmese appeared and occupied the country until 1824. They were expelled by British troops, and early in 1826 Assam became a province of the Indian empire.