Ahom–Mughal conflicts refer to the period between the first
Mughal attack on the
Ahom kingdom in
Battle of Samdhara
Battle of Samdhara was the first battle fought between Mughals and the Ahoms in 1616
Background
The first direct clash of arms between the Ahoms and Mughals was occasioned by an illegal trade-affair carried by a merchant, Ranta or Ratan S ...
in 1616 till the final
Battle of Itakhuli
The Battle of Itakhuli was fought in 1682 between the Ahom Kingdom and the Mughal Empire. The Ahoms pushed back Mughal control to the west of the Manas river."In the Battle of Itakhuli in September 1682, the Ahom forces chased the defeated Mugh ...
in 1682. The intervening period saw the fluctuating fortunes of both powers and the end of the rule of
Koch Hajo
Koch Hajo (1581-1616) was the kingdom under Raghudev and his son Parikshit Narayan of the Koch dynasty that stretched from Sankosh river in the west to the Bhareli river in the east on the north bank of the Brahmaputra river. It was created by di ...
. It ended with the Ahom influence extended to the Manas river which remained the western boundary of the kingdom till the advent of the British in 1826.
Overview
A group of
Tai people
Tai peoples are the populations who speak (or formerly spoke) the Tai languages. There are a total of about 93 million people of Tai ancestry worldwide, with the largest ethnic groups being Dai, Thais, Isan, Tai Yai (Shan), Lao, Tai Ahom, an ...
, that came to be known as the
Ahom Ahom may refer to:
*Ahom people, an ethnic community in Assam
* Ahom language, a language associated with the Ahom people
*Ahom religion, an ethnic folk religion of Tai-Ahom people
*Ahom alphabet, a script used to write the Ahom language
* Ahom kin ...
in due course, migrated from present-day Myanmar to the Brahmaputra valley in the 13th century. They settled in with the locals initially and created a new state that came to be known as the
Ahom kingdom; and in the 16th-century they vastly expanded their power and territory by absorbing the
Chutia kingdom
The Chutia Kingdom (also Sadiya) was a late medieval state that developed around Sadiya in present Assam and adjoining areas in Arunachal Pradesh."(T)he Chutiyas seem to have assumed political power in Sadiya and contiguous areas falling ...
in
Upper Assam
Upper Assam is an administrative division of the state of Assam comprising the undivided Lakhimpur and Sivasagar (previously, Sibsagar) districts, of the upper reaches of the Brahmaputra valley. The other divisions are: Lower Assam, North Assam a ...
, removing the
Baro-Bhuyan
The Baro-Bhuyans (or ''Baro-Bhuyan Raj''; also ''Baro-Bhuians'' and Baro-Bhuiyans) refers to the confederacies of soldier-landowners in Assam and Bengal in the late Middle Ages and the early modern period. The confederacies consisted of loose ...
confederacy in Nagaon and Darrang, and pushing the
Dimasa kingdom
The Dimasa Kingdom (also Kachari kingdom) was a late medieval/early modern kingdom in Assam, Northeast India ruled by Dimasa kings. The Dimasa kingdom and others (Kamata, Chutiya) that developed in the wake of the Kamarupa kingdom were examp ...
further south. As the kingdom pushed west it came under attack from Turkic and Afghan rulers; and on one occasion the Ahoms general Ton Kham
Borgohain Borgohain (Ahom language: ''Chao Thao Lung'') was the second of the two original counselors in the Ahom kingdom. He was selected by the Ahom king from members of the Ahom nobility (''Satgharia Ahom''), who vowed not to fight for the position of Ah ...
pursued retreating invaders through a nascent
Koch kingdom
The Kamata Kingdom (pron: ˈkʌmətɑ) emerged in western Kamarupa probably when Sandhya, a ruler of Kamarupanagara, moved his capital west to Kamatapur sometime after 1257 CE. Since it originated in the old seat of the Kamarupa kingdom, a ...
and reached the
Karatoya river —and since then they began to see themselves as the rightful heir of the erstwhile
Kamarupa kingdom
Kamarupa (; also called Pragjyotisha or Pragjyotisha-Kamarupa), an early state during the Classical period on the Indian subcontinent, was (along with Davaka) the first historical kingdom of Assam.
Though Kamarupa prevailed from 350 to 11 ...
.
From the beginning the relationship between the
Ahoms and the
Mughals
The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...
was hostile and that was due to certain factors, such as, Mughal alliance with
Koch Bihar, the western enemy of the Ahoms and secondly the growing advance of the Mughals in north-eastern frontier which alarmed them. While the Mughals supported Lakshminarayan, son of
Nara Narayan
Naranarayan (reign 1554–1587) was the last ruler of the undivided Koch dynasty of Kamata Kingdom. He succeeded his father, Biswa Singha. Under him the Koch kingdom reached its cultural and political zenith. Under his rule, and under the mi ...
of Koch Behar, the Ahom king
Sukhaamphaa
Sukhaamphaa also known as Khora roja (1552–1603) was a king of the Ahom kingdom of medieval Assam. He ruled for a period of fifty one years, the longest in the Ahom dynasty. Very fond of sports, he fell off an elephant soon after his asce ...
(1552–1603) entered into alliance by marrying the daughter of Lakshminarayan's cousin
Raghudeva, the son of
Chilarai
Shukladhwaja (Pron:ʃʊkləˈdwɑːdʒ) (1510-1577AD), or more popularly known as Bir Chilarai(Pron:/ʧɪləˌraɪ/), was the 3rd son of Biswa Singha, founder of the Koch Dynasty in Kamata Kingdom and younger brother of Nara Narayan, the 2nd kin ...
who became the ruler of the eastern part of the
kingdom
Kingdom commonly refers to:
* A monarchy ruled by a king or queen
* Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy
Kingdom may also refer to:
Arts and media Television
* ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...
,
Koch Hajo
Koch Hajo (1581-1616) was the kingdom under Raghudev and his son Parikshit Narayan of the Koch dynasty that stretched from Sankosh river in the west to the Bhareli river in the east on the north bank of the Brahmaputra river. It was created by di ...
which approximately included the modern districts of
Goalpara
Goalpara, Pron: ) is the district headquarters of Goalpara district, Assam, India. It is situated to the west of Guwahati.
Etymology
The name Goalpara is said to have originated from the word "Gwaltippika" meaning Guwali village, or The villa ...
,
Barpeta
Barpeta (Pron: bə(r)ˈpeɪtə / bə(r)ˈpi:tə ) is a town in Barpeta district of the state of Assam in India and is district headquarters. The city is located north west of Guwahati and is one of the major cities in Western Assam. It is also ...
,
Kamrup,
Darrang
Darrang () is an administrative district in the state of Assam in India. The district headquarters are located at Mangaldoi. The district occupies an area of 1585 km2.
History
No definitive records about Darrang are available for the pre-med ...
, and a part of
Sonitpur
Sonitpur district ron: ˌsə(ʊ)nɪtˈpʊə or ˌʃə(ʊ)nɪtˈpʊəis an administrative district in the state of Assam in India. The district headquarters is located at Tezpur.
Etymology
The name of the is derived from a mythological story fo ...
(up to
Bharali). This dynastic alliance between Ahom and Koch was renewed afterwards by the next Ahom king
Susenghphaa (Pratap Singha, 1603-1641) who married a daughter of
Raja Parikshit
''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia.
The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested f ...
. It is true that with a view to satisfy the territorial ambitions of his own nephew, Nar Narayan allowed partition of his kingdom. But unfortunately, in spite of being pacified, Raghudeva and his successors remained all along hostile towards the Koch royal house and this rivalry and antagonism between these two frontier states invited intervention and aggression of their two mighty neighbourhood powers: the Mughals on the west and Ahoms on the east.
Conflict inception
From the time the Mughals appeared in the north-eastern frontier, a state of indirect rivalry and hostility began between the Mughals and the Ahoms. After the final defeat of Parikshit (1613) the first organised Mughal attack upon
Assam
Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...
was made with a view to conquer that kingdom. It was the outcome of the aggressive imperialism of the Mughals. "A desire for political supremacy and territorial expansion appears to have been the guiding motives of the Mughals."
Boundary dispute
A territorial dispute or boundary dispute is a disagreement over the possession or control of land between two or more political entities.
Context and definitions
Territorial disputes are often related to the possession of natural resources s ...
s and the trade rivalries appear to have complicated the situation and political issues precipitated the conflict.
After the extinction of the Kamrup monarchy, the Mughals came to regard the territory east of
Barnadi up to Singiri as part of the conquered region and hence asserted their political right over it. Ahoms strongly resented this claim. "Moreover the rich natural resources of the Assam valley and the prosperous kingdom of Kamrup in lower
Brahmaputra
The Brahmaputra is a trans-boundary river which flows through Tibet, northeast India, and Bangladesh. It is also known as the Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibetan, the Siang/Dihang River in Arunachali, Luit in Assamese, and Jamuna River in Bangla. It ...
valley, abounding in elephants and aromatic plants excited the cupidity of the Mughals and they were determined to force open the door of Assam."
The first organised open encounter with the Ahom kingdom was the well-deserved punishment meted out by the Ahom government to an unauthorised trader from Mughal India named Ratan Singh. His illicit trade was detected, his goods were confiscated and he was expelled from Assam. The Mughals got the necessary pretext for
war
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
and an imperial army was at once detached in 1615 under the command of Abu Bakr and
Raja Satrajit
''Raja'' (; from , IAST ') is a royal title used for South Asian monarchs. The title is equivalent to king or princely ruler in South Asia and Southeast Asia.
The title has a long history in South Asia and Southeast Asia, being attested f ...
of
Bhusna. The imperial army advanced towards
Barnagar
Badnagar is a town, and a municipality in Ujjain district in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India. Badnagar Tehsil Headquarters is Badnagar town and it belongs to Ujjain Division. It is located 45 km towards west from District headquarters Uj ...
, the old capital of Kamrup and next moved to Hajo and numerous outposts were raised in the surrounding region. In November 1615, Abu Bakr suddenly fell upon Kajali, the Ahom frontier post on the southwest. After a short skirmish, the Ahoms were defeated and leaving their war boats and the fort, they fled. Flushed with easy success the Mughals indulged in a series of aggressive measures against the Ahoms. The Ahom king then fortified the fort of
Samdhara with a view to check the advance of the Mughals. Meanwhile, the Mughals had reached the confluence of the Brahmaputra and the
Bharali facing Samdhara. After a month of inaction, the Mughals achieved a great triumph. They transported their horses across the Bharali and made a violent assault on the Ahom stockade on the left bank. The Ahoms thus suffered another discomfiture. The Ahom king sent a strong detachment to the Ahom commanders at Samdhara and exhorted them to fall on the enemy and fight to finish. The Ahoms gained an initial success and reoccupied the stockade at the mouth of Bharali. The imperialists were taken by complete surprise and suffered heavy casualties. Thus in spite of the initial success, the maiden attempt of the Mughals upon Assam ended in a disastrous failure. They suffered a colossal loss in men and money besides military prestige.
Conflict development
After the first disastrous failure in Assam, the Mughals henceforth continued to follow a defensive and conciliatory policy in regards to the Assam state. Because of their heavy engagement in Kamrup, the Mughals henceforward were very cautious not to offend their mighty neighbour. But the Ahoms being encouraged at their recent brilliant success continued to pursue hostile policy against the Mughals and proceeded to take advantage of the prevailing political confusion in Kamrup. The Assam disaster encouraged
sedition
Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, estab ...
s and
rebellion
Rebellion, uprising, or insurrection is a refusal of obedience or order. It refers to the open resistance against the orders of an established authority.
A rebellion originates from a sentiment of indignation and disapproval of a situation and ...
s in Mughal occupied Kamrup. The Ahoms encouraged the Kamrup rebels and thereby caused hardship to the Mughals. There was hardly any open and direct conflict between the two powers as such. In the year 1618 CE the Ahom king
Pratap Singha
Susenghphaa or Pratap Singha (), was the 17th and one of the most prominent kings of the Ahom kingdom. As he was advanced in years when he became king, he is also called the ''burha Raja'' (Old king). His reign saw an expansion of the Ahom k ...
installed Balinarayan, the brother of Parikshit as King of Darrang, stationed 3000
Chutia
The Chutia people (Pron: or ''Sutia'') are an ethnic group that are native to Assam and historically associated with the Chutia kingdom. However, after the kingdom was absorbed into the Ahom kingdom in 1523–24, the Chutia population was ...
troops at Mangaldai, and continued to help him for some time to reoccupy Kamrup. But in spite of the Ahom king's material assistance, Balinarayan ultimately failed to reconquer Kamrup. The Ahoms interfered in Kamrup for the third time on behalf of the hill chiefs of Dhanikal in 1619. The hill chiefs being sick of Mughal subjection made a bold attempt to seize the hill fort of
Ranihat and they sought the help of the Ahom king. The Ahom responded to the appeal and sent a large detachment to their assistance. After hard fighting, the Mughals were defeated and compelled to evacuate Ranihat hotly pursued by the Ahoms. But the Mughals soon gathered strength and recovered Dhanikal in spite of the stiff resistance of the Ahoms. Thus three attempts of the Ahoms at supplanting Mughal authority in Kamrup proved abortive. The Ahom king gradually withdrew from the arena of Kamrup policies leaving Balinarayan to his fate.
During Shah Jahan's reign
The reign of
Shah Jahan
Shihab-ud-Din Muhammad Khurram (5 January 1592 – 22 January 1666), better known by his regnal name Shah Jahan I (; ), was the fifth emperor of the Mughal Empire, reigning from January 1628 until July 1658. Under his emperorship, the Mugha ...
(1628–1655) marked a new epoch in Ahom-Mughal relations. After a decade of informal hostility, circumstances paved the way for the renewal of open conflict between the two powers. Two factors, both political, appear to have been responsible for the conflict. The first was the asylum given by the Ahom king to the hill-chiefs of Dhanikal who had sought his protection against the ill-treatment of the
Bengal Subah
The Bengal Subah ( bn, সুবাহ বাংলা; fa, ), also referred to as Mughal Bengal ( bn, মোগল বাংলা), was the largest subdivision of the Mughal Empire (and later an independent state under the Nawabs of Ben ...
dar
Qasim Khan Chishti Qasim Khan Chishti (''reigned:'' May 1614 – 1617) was the Subahdar of Bengal during the reign of emperor Jahangir. He was the younger brother and the successor of Islam Khan Chisti. He was entitled ''Muhtashim Khan''.
History
Qasim Khan led seve ...
. The second factor, which precipitated the crisis, was the wickedness and treachery of Satrajit, the
Thanadar of
Pandu
In the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata'', Pandu ( sa, पाण्डु, Pāṇḍu, pale) was a king of the Kuru Kingdom. He was the foster-father of the five Pandava brothers, who were the boons bestowed upon his wife Kunti by a number of deities ...
who made a common cause with Balinarayan and instigated him to take advantage of the change of governor in Bengal in order to attack Kamrup. The invasion of
Kamrup by Balinarayan compelled the Mughals to resort to arms. The Ahoms gained initial success. A fierce encounter took place, which ultimately ended with the total discomfiture of the imperialists. Thereupon, the Mughals fell back to their frontier post of
Hajo
Hajo is a historic town set in the hills northwest of Guwahati, Assam, India. It is a meeting point of Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims due to the various pilgrimage sites on the different hills of Hajo. To the Hindus, the Manikut Parbat of Hajo ...
. The Ahoms laid
siege
A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition warfare, attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity con ...
to Hajo and fighting continued for some time. At last both sides having been thoroughly worn out, the fighting was stopped for some time.
[A. C. Roy, ''History of Bengal'', pp. 162,163]
The Ahom-Mughal conflict started afresh towards the end of December 1636. The Mughals entered Kamrup proper. The decisive defeat inflicted by the imperialists on Balinarayan and the Ahoms in November 1637 turned the tide of fortune in favour of the imperialists. The whole of Kamrup was cleared and re-annexed to the Pan-Mughalia.
The third round of conflict began soon. The imperialists advanced up the
Brahmaputra
The Brahmaputra is a trans-boundary river which flows through Tibet, northeast India, and Bangladesh. It is also known as the Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibetan, the Siang/Dihang River in Arunachali, Luit in Assamese, and Jamuna River in Bangla. It ...
and halted opposite to Samdhara in October 1638; severe fighting ensued. Although the faint-hearted Ahom admiral retired from the battlefield, the garrison in the fort of Samdhara offered such a gallant defence that the Mughals had to give up the contest with great loss of men and materials.
Both sides became eager for
peace
Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...
. Hence a treaty of peace was signed in February 1639. According to the
Treaty of Asurar Ali
The Treaty of Asurar Ali (early February 1639) was signed between the Mughal Empire, Mughal ''faujdar'' Allah Yar Khan and the Ahom kingdom, Ahom general Momai Tamuli Borbarua. The treaty came at the end of a period of Mughal efforts to drive int ...
between the Ahom general Momai Tamuli
Borbarua
Borboruah ( Ahom language: ''Phu-Ke-Lung'') was one of the five (councillors) in the Ahom kingdom, a position created by the Ahom king Prataap Singha in 1621. The position included both executive and judicial powers, with jurisdiction of the A ...
, and the Mughal commander Allah Yar Khan, western Assam commencing from
Gauhati
Guwahati (, ; formerly rendered Gauhati, ) is the biggest city of the Indian state of Assam and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the ...
passed into the hands of the Mughals. The Ahom king, for the first time, acknowledged formally the Mughal overlordship in Kamrup, the Mughals acknowledged the independence of the Ahom king and gave up all pretensions to the territories east of Barnadi in the north and
Kalang in the south and the Ahom king agreed not to interfere in Kamrup. In addition, trade and commercial intercourses were resumed.
The Ahom-Mughal relations following the peace of 1639 was far from satisfactory. However, it would be wrong to assume that both sides strictly honoured the peace treaty of 1639. The keynote of the political history of this period is the endless criminations and recriminations of the Mughals and the Assamese on various rounds, such as, 'Kheda' operations, trade and commercial intercourse, boundary disputes,
extradition
Extradition is an action wherein one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, over to the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdict ...
of political offenders, and violation of personal liberty and privileges of the subject people. On these issues frictions continued mounting without, of course, any open armed-clash. It was really a period of armed peace between the Mughals and the Ahoms.
In 1648, the Mughal Faujdar of Gauhati sent a message of congratulations to the Ahom king
Jayadhwaj (Sutamla) on his succession. But,
Jayadhwaj Singha
Sutamla (1648–1663) Jayadhwaj Singha was the 20th king of the Ahom kingdom. During his reign the Mughal viceroy at Bengal Mir Jumla II invaded and occupied his capital Garhgaon as a result of which he had to retreat to the Namrup area, a ...
(1648–1663), taking advantage of the emperor Shah Jahan's illness and the war of succession, expelled the Mughals from Gauhati, and chased them down beyond the river Manaha (
Manas). He also devastated the territory near
Dacca
Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city i ...
and carried off to Assam a large number of Mughal subjects as captives.
During Aurangzeb's reign
Aurangzeb
Muhi al-Din Muhammad (; – 3 March 1707), commonly known as ( fa, , lit=Ornament of the Throne) and by his regnal title Alamgir ( fa, , translit=ʿĀlamgīr, lit=Conqueror of the World), was the sixth emperor of the Mughal Empire, ruling ...
, after ascending on the throne of
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
, ordered
Mir Jumla to invade Cooch Behar and
Assam
Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...
and re-establish Mughal prestige in eastern India. After having occupied Koch Behar had also declared its independence. Mir Jumla entered Assam in the beginning of 1662. He easily repulsed the feeble resistance offered by the Assamese at the garrisons between Manaha and
Guwahati
Guwahati (, ; formerly rendered Gauhati, ) is the biggest city of the Indian state of Assam and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the ...
. He occupied one garrison after another, and Pandu, Guwahati, and Kajali fell into the hands of the Mughals practically unopposed.
The easy success of Mir Jumla was due to dissatisfaction in the Assam camp. The leading commanders and the officers were the exclusive monopolies of the Tai-Ahom. But, King Jayadhwaj Singha had appointed a
Kayastha
Kayastha (also referred to as Kayasth) denotes a cluster of disparate Indian communities broadly categorised by the regions of the Indian subcontinent in which they were traditionally locatedthe Chitraguptavanshi Kayasthas of North India, the C ...
as viceroy of Western Assam and
commander-in-chief of the Ahom army despatch against Mir Jumla leading to resentment among the ranks. This officer was Manthir Bharali Barua of the Bejdoloi family. He was also appointed Parbatia Phukan. This appointment caused bitter resentment among the hereditary Ahom nobles and commanders and the resistance which they offered to the invaders was neither worthy of the efficient military organisation of the Ahoms nor of the reputation which they acquired by repeated success in their enterprises against foreigners, and Mir Jumla's march into Assam was an uninterrupted series of triumph and victories through the real secret of his success, namely, defection in Ahom camp, which has not been touched upon by any historian of the expedition.
The Ahoms, however, recovered their senses when the hostile force reached the neighbourhood of Kaliabor. They concentrated their defence at Simalugarh and Samdhara. In February 1662, Mir Jumla laid siege to Simalugarh and after a severe hand-to-hand fight, the Ahoms abandoned the fort and took to flight. The Ahom forces at Samdhara on the opposite bank, being unnerved by the fall of Simalugarh, left their charge without any opposition. After this brilliant success, Mir Jumla entered the Ahom capital
Garhgaon
Gargaon (Pron:/gɑ:ˈgɑ̃ʊ/) is a town in Assam, India and was the capital of the Ahom kingdom for many years. It was built by the Ahom king Suklenmung (Gargoyaan Rojaa) in 1540. It is said that the capital was built at the suggestion of ...
on 17 March 1662. The Ahom king Jayadhwaj took shelter in the eastern hills abandoning his capital and all his treasures. Immense spoils fell into the hands of the
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...
– 82 elephants, about 300,000 coins in gold and silver, 675 big guns, about 4750
maund
The maund (), mun or mann (Bengali: ; Urdu: ) is the anglicized name for a traditional unit of mass used in British India, and also in Afghanistan, Persia, and Arabia:. the same unit in the Mughal Empire was sometimes written as ''mann'' or ''mun ...
s of
gunpowder
Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). ...
in boxes, 7828
shield
A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry or projectiles such as arrows, by means of a ...
s, 1000 odd ships, and 173 stores of rice.
But, Mir Jumla conquered only the soil of
Ahom Ahom may refer to:
*Ahom people, an ethnic community in Assam
* Ahom language, a language associated with the Ahom people
*Ahom religion, an ethnic folk religion of Tai-Ahom people
*Ahom alphabet, a script used to write the Ahom language
* Ahom kin ...
capital and neither the king nor the country. The
rainy season
The rainy season is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs.
Rainy Season may also refer to:
* ''Rainy Season'' (short story), a 1989 short horror story by Stephen King
* "Rainy Season", a 2018 song by Monni
* ''T ...
was fast approaching and so Mir Jumla halted there and made necessary arrangements for holding the conquered land. Communications with the imperial fleet at Lakhau as well as with
Dacca
Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city i ...
were arranged. But the torrential rain and violence of the rivers caused immense hardship to the Mughals and the communication with the Mughal fleet and Lakhau and with Dacca became completely disrupted.
The Ahoms took the fullest advantage of the unspeakable hardship of the Mughals. With the progress of
monsoon
A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...
, the Ahoms easily recovered all the country east of Lakhau. Only
Garhgaon
Gargaon (Pron:/gɑ:ˈgɑ̃ʊ/) is a town in Assam, India and was the capital of the Ahom kingdom for many years. It was built by the Ahom king Suklenmung (Gargoyaan Rojaa) in 1540. It is said that the capital was built at the suggestion of ...
and
Mathurapur remained in the possession of Mughals. The Ahoms were not slow to take advantage of the miserable plight of the Mughals. The Ahom king came out of his refuge and ordered his commanders to expel the invaders from his kingdom. A serious epidemic broke out in the Mughal camp at Mathurapur, which took away the lives of hundreds of Mughal soldiers. There was no suitable diet or comfort in the Mughal camp. At last life became unbearable at Mathurapur and hence the Mughals abandoned it.
By the end of September, the worst was over. The
rain
Rain is water droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the Earth. It provides water f ...
s decreased, and
flood
A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...
went down, roads reappeared and communications became easier. The contact with the Mughal fleet at Lakhau was restored which cheered the long-suffering Mughal garrison. The Mughal army under Mir Jumla joined the fleet at
Devalgaon. The Ahom king Jayadhwaj Singha took refuge in the hills again. But in December, Mir Jumla fell seriously ill and the soldiers refused to advance any further. Meanwhile, the Ahom king became extremely anxious for peace. At last a treaty was concluded at
Ghilajharighat in January 1663, according to which the Ahoms ceded western Assam to the Mughals and promised a war indemnity of three lakhs of
rupee
Rupee is the common name for the currencies of
India, Mauritius, Nepal, Pakistan, Seychelles, and Sri Lanka, and of former currencies of Afghanistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates (as the Gulf rupee), British East Africa, B ...
s and ninety elephants. In addition, the king had to deliver his only child and daughter
Ramani Gabharu
Ramani Gabharu ( born 1656), was the princess of Kingdom of Assam and the first wife of titular Mughal emperor Muhammad Azam Shah. She was sent to the Mughal harem as part of the Treaty of Ghilajharighat and was renamed Rahmat Banu Begum .
She ...
, as well as his niece, the daughter of the Tipam Raja, to the harem of the Mughal emperor. Thus, according to the treaty Jayadhwaj Singha transferred Kamrup to the possession of the Mughals and promised to pay a heavy war indemnity.
The question of prompt payment of war indemnity of elephants and cash became a source of friction between the Ahoms and the Mughals. The first installment was paid by Jayadhwaj promptly. But as soon as Mir Jumla withdrew from Assam the Ahoms began to default. Jayadhwaj Singha's successor
Chakradhwaj Singha
Supangmung (reigned 1663–1670), also known as Chakradhwaj Singha ( as, স্বৰ্গদেউ চক্ৰধ্বজ সিংহ), was an important Ahom king under whom the Ahom kingdom took back Guwahati from the Mughals followin ...
(
Supangmung
Supangmung (reigned 1663–1670), also known as Chakradhwaj Singha ( as, স্বৰ্গদেউ চক্ৰধ্বজ সিংহ), was an important Ahom king under whom the Ahom kingdom took back Guwahati from the Mughals followin ...
, 1663-1670) was against any payment at all on principle. He shouted out from his throne: – "Death is preferable to a life of subordination to foreigners". In 1665 the king summoned an assembly of his
ministers and
noble
A noble is a member of the nobility.
Noble may also refer to:
Places Antarctica
* Noble Glacier, King George Island
* Noble Nunatak, Marie Byrd Land
* Noble Peak, Wiencke Island
* Noble Rocks, Graham Land
Australia
* Noble Island, Great B ...
s and ordered them to adopt measures for expelling the Mughals from western Assam, adding—"My ancestors were never subordinate to any other people; and I for myself cannot remain under the vassalage of any foreign power. I am a descendant of the Heavenly King and how can I pay tribute to the wretched foreigners."
A large portion of the war indemnity still remained undelivered for which the Ahom king had to receive threatening letters from
Syed Firoz Khan, the new
Faujdar
Faujdar is a term of pre-Mughal origins. Under the Mughals it was an office that combined the functions of a military commander along with judicial and land revenue functions.
In pre-Mughal times, the term referred to a military officer but d ...
at Guwahati. On receiving Firoz Khan's letter the Ahom king made up his mind to fight. On Thursday, Bhadra 3, 1589 ''saka'' around August 20, 1667, the Ahom army started from the capital and sailed down the Brahmaputra in two divisions. They encamped at
Kaliabor
Kaliabor, a sub-division town in Nagaon district of Assam situated at a distance of 48 km east of Nagaon town. It was the headquarters of Borphukans during the Ahom era. Kaliabor lies in the middle of assam and surrounded in the north by t ...
, the Vice Regal headquarters, from where they conducted their war operations against the Mughals.
Sayed Firoj Khan, the imperial governor of
Guwahati
Guwahati (, ; formerly rendered Gauhati, ) is the biggest city of the Indian state of Assam and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the ...
and his army were not prepared for such an eventuality, with the result that the Ahoms gained a series of victories over the enemy. The Ahom army on the south bank was successful in their fighting. Their chief objective was the capture of
Itakhuli
Itakhuli or Sukreswar Hill is a small hill on the south bank of the Brahmaputra at Guwahati. The past official residence of the Deputy Commissioner of Kamrup District of Assam was located on top of this hill. The D.C. bungalow was vacated for t ...
which is a small hill on the south bank of the Brahmaputra at Guwahati. On 2 November 1667,
Itakhuli
Itakhuli or Sukreswar Hill is a small hill on the south bank of the Brahmaputra at Guwahati. The past official residence of the Deputy Commissioner of Kamrup District of Assam was located on top of this hill. The D.C. bungalow was vacated for t ...
and the contiguous garrison of Guwahati fell into the hands of the Ahoms. The enemy was chased down to the mouth of the Manaha river, the old boundary between Assam and Mughal India. The Ahom also succeeded in bringing back the Assamese subjects who had previously been taken as captives by the Mughals during the expedition of Mir Jumla. Thus within the short span of two months the Ahoms retook their lost possession and along with it their lost prestige and glory, this was due to the determination and courage of Ahom king
Chakradhwaj Singha
Supangmung (reigned 1663–1670), also known as Chakradhwaj Singha ( as, স্বৰ্গদেউ চক্ৰধ্বজ সিংহ), was an important Ahom king under whom the Ahom kingdom took back Guwahati from the Mughals followin ...
. On receiving the news of victory the king cried out-"It is now that I can eat my morsel of food with ease and pleasure". The success of the Ahoms in recovering possession of Guwahati and western Assam forms a momentous chapter in the history of their conflicts with the Mughals.
Ram Singh's campaign
![Lachit Borphukan and His Army](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/Lachit_Borphukan_and_his_army.jpg)
In December 1667, the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb received intelligence of the capture of Guwahati by the Ahoms, and he at once resolved to dispatch a strong army to reestablish Mughal prestige on their North-East frontier. He commissioned Raja
Ramsingh I of
Amber
Amber is fossilized tree resin that has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Much valued from antiquity to the present as a gemstone, amber is made into a variety of decorative objects."Amber" (2004). In Ma ...
, son of the distinguished general Mirza-Raja
Jai Singh I
Jai Singh I (15 July 1611 – 28 August 1667) was a senior general ("Mirza Raja") of the Mughal Empire and the Raja of the Kingdom of Amber (later called Jaipur). His predecessor was his grand uncle, Raja Bhau Singh.
Accession and early ca ...
, to lead an invasion of Assam. He was accompanied by Rashid Khan, the ex-
Faujdar
Faujdar is a term of pre-Mughal origins. Under the Mughals it was an office that combined the functions of a military commander along with judicial and land revenue functions.
In pre-Mughal times, the term referred to a military officer but d ...
of Guwahati. Ram Singha reached the frontier garrison of Rangamati in February 1669. On Ram Singha's arrival at
Rangamati
Rangamati (Bengali: রাঙ্গামাটি;) is the administrative headquarter and town of Rangamati Hill District in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. The town is located at 22°37'60N 92°12'0E and has an altitude of . The distr ...
, the Ahom commanders stationed at Manaha attempted to oppose the advance of the enemy. There were few skirmishes, but the Assamese could not attain any success. The Assamese were not prepared for such an eventuality and they left their frontier garrisons and sailed down to Guwahati.
Also, the Ahoms had not quite completed their preparations for resisting
Ramsingh I’s advance.
Lachit Borphukan
Lachit Barphukan was an Ahom commander, known for his leadership in the Battle of Saraighat that thwarted an invasion by Mughal forces under the command of Ramsingh I.
Biography
Lachit was born to Momai Tamuli, a commoner who rose to the ran ...
, the commander-in-chief of the Ahom camp, had realized fully that postponement of the open encounter would enable him to bring his preparations to perfection in the light of the enemy’s superior strength. Lachit Borphukan sent the following message to Ram Singh "Tell Raja Ram Singh that we want to know why he has come to our country." Firoz Khan, ex-Fauzadar of Guwahatii, now a prisoner of the Ahoms, was released and Lachit Barphukan sent him to Raja Ram Singh with the above message. Ram Singh demanded through Firoz Khan the restoration of the limit fixed in 1639 between Allah Yar Khan and Momai Tamuli Borbarua. By the time he received this reply Barphukan would rather fight than yield an inch of the territory which providence had given to his master.
The result was that in the first two battles of the campaign were fought near
Tezpur
Tezpur () is a city and urban agglomeration in Sonitpur district, Assam state, India. Tezpur is located on the banks of the river Brahmaputra, northeast of Guwahati, and is the largest of the north bank cities with a population exceeding 100, ...
in the beginning of April 1669. The Ahoms were worsted on both occasions, but they won a naval battle, and soon afterwards repulsed the Muhammadans and Ram Singha was compelled to retire to Hajo where he quarreled with Rashid Khan. Eventually, Ram Singha cut his tent ropes and ordered him out of the camp.
[E.A. Gait, ''A History of Assam'', p. 156] Soon afterwards the Muhammadans were again defeated near
Sualkuchi
Sualkuchi (Pron: ˈsʊɑ:lˌkʊʧɪ, ) is a census town in Kamrup district in the Indian state of Assam. It is situated on the north bank of the river Brahmaputra, about 35 km from Guwahati, Sualkuchi is a block of Kamrup District. It ...
, both on land and water.
Battle of Alaboi, At this juncture,
Ramsingh I challenged
Swargadeo Chakradhwaj Singha
Supangmung (reigned 1663–1670), also known as Chakradhwaj Singha ( as, স্বৰ্গদেউ চক্ৰধ্বজ সিংহ), was an important Ahom king under whom the Ahom kingdom took back Guwahati from the Mughals followin ...
to single combat, and undertook, if he were defeated, to return with the army to Bengal. The Ahom king declined the invitation, and ordered his generals to renew their attack. They did so, and won another double engagement near
Sessa. They followed up this success by taking the fort at
Agiathuti, but soon afterwards Ram Singha attacked the Ahom army and routed it, inflicting heavy loss. The Barphukan hurried up with reinforcements, but his flank was tired and he was obliged to retreat with loss of his ships. Raja Ram Singha now opened negotiations for peace. The Ahoms were also tired of the war, and hostilities were suspended for a time.
Sporadic engagements accompanied by proposals of peace continued during 1669 and 1670. From October 1669 to March 1670, Ram Singha withdrew himself from the fight.
In the meantime
Ramsingh I sent a letter to the Barphukan inviting the king of Assam to fight a duel in the presence of the two hostile armies. But the Ahom king dismissed the insolent challenge by simply saying—"Ram Singha is a mere servant and he has no umbrella over his head. So I do not like to fight a duel with such a man." Chakradhvaj Singha could not hold his patience any longer. In the meantime, the Mughals had then concentrated their army near Alaboi Hill in the vicinity of
Pacharia. A terrible contest ensued on the plains to the south of the Alaboi Hill. The Ahoms were badly defeated in that battle. The massacre at Alaboi had terribly upset Lachit Barphukan. Though the Alaboi massacre meant a serious loss to the Ahoms, it did not confer upon the enemy any decisive advantage.
But Ram Singha repeated his demands for the evacuation of Guwahati and reversion to the ''status quo'' ante of the year 1639. The Barphukan remained firm in the position he had previously maintained. So war was inevitable between the two parties. But when the war was taking a more critical turn,
Chakradhwaj Singha
Supangmung (reigned 1663–1670), also known as Chakradhwaj Singha ( as, স্বৰ্গদেউ চক্ৰধ্বজ সিংহ), was an important Ahom king under whom the Ahom kingdom took back Guwahati from the Mughals followin ...
, the king of Assam, died in April 1670. He was succeeded by his brother
Udayaditya Singha
Sunyatphaa also Udayaditya Singha was the king of Ahom Kingdom from 1670 CE to 1672 CE. After his elder brother Swargadeo Chakradhwaj Singha died in the middle of Ahom-Mughal war, Udayaditya Singha succeeded to the throne. His reign witnessed th ...
(Sunyatphaa, 1670-1672)
Although the negotiations with the Mughals continued, but Ram Singha suspected the sincerity of the Barphukan and returned to attack. Udayaditya renewed the war and ordered the Barphukan to march with 20,000 men from Samdhara to Saraighat. The Ahoms were successful on land but their navy was forced to retreat. Barphukan arrived with more ships and the Mughal army was beaten and the Ahoms also gained a second land victory. The Mughals could not stand the dash and fury of the Assamese onset. The Assamese were fighting for their life and liberty, and the Mughals for the mere luxury of triumph and territorial expansion. The Barphukan intended to chase them further still, but he was dissuaded by Achyutanda Doloi. The combat came to an end, and it was a decisive victory for the Assamese. This battle is known in history as the
Battle of Saraighat
The Battle of Saraighat was a naval battle fought in 1671 between the Mughal Empire (led by the Kachwaha raja, Ram Singh I), and the Ahom Kingdom (led by Lachit Borphukan) on the Brahmaputra river at Saraighat, now in Guwahati, Assam, In ...
. Ram Singha, weakened by the repeated losses, retreated to Rangamati in March 1671. Hadira opposite to Goalpara became the Ahom frontier outpost. Thus the Mughals were evicted from Kamrup, strong fortifications were constructed at Guwahati. Thus Ahoms remained in undisturbed possession of their territories till 1679 A.D.
Post-conflict
In 1679, during the reign of Sudoiphaa or Parvatiya Raja, Laluk Barphukan, the Ahom viceroy of Gauhati, and his brother entered into a conspiracy and invited
Muhammad Azam Shah
Qutb-ud-Din Muhammad Azam (28 June 1653 – 20 June 1707), commonly known as Azam Shah, was briefly the Mughal emperor who reigned from 14 March 1707 to 20 June 1707. He was the third son of the sixth Mughal emperor Aurangzeb and his chief cons ...
, the then
Nawab of Bengal
The Nawab of Bengal ( bn, বাংলার নবাব) was the hereditary ruler of Bengal Subah in Mughal India. In the early 18th-century, the Nawab of Bengal was the ''de facto'' independent ruler of the three regions of Bengal, Bihar, ...
(married to his niece
Ramani Gabharu
Ramani Gabharu ( born 1656), was the princess of Kingdom of Assam and the first wife of titular Mughal emperor Muhammad Azam Shah. She was sent to the Mughal harem as part of the Treaty of Ghilajharighat and was renamed Rahmat Banu Begum .
She ...
), to take possession of the fort at
Saraighat
Saraighat (Pron: ˌʃəraɪˈgɑ:t) is a neighborhood in the Indian city of Guwahati, on the north bank of the river Brahmaputra. Sarai was a small village where the old abandoned N.F. Railway station of Amingaon was located.
History
The ...
. Accordingly, in March Laluk Sola made over Gauhati to the Mughals in return for a promised reward of four lakhs of rupees and an assurance to support Laluk's candidature for the throne of Assam.
[S.K. Bhuyan, ''Lachit Barphukan And His Times'', p. 89]
In 1681,
Gadapani
Supaatpha also, Gadadhar Singha (reign 1681–1696) established the rule of the Tungkhungia clan of the Ahom kings that ruled the Ahom kingdom till its climactic end. He was the son of Gobar Roja, a descendant of Suhungmung, and who had become ...
was formally installed as sovereign of Assam under the name Gadadhar Singha (Supaatphaa, 1681-1696). His first act after taking reign was the dispatch of an army against
Mansur Khan, which succeeded in recovering Gauhati in August 1682 after a decisive encounter at Itakhuli Which is known as
Battle of Itakhuli
The Battle of Itakhuli was fought in 1682 between the Ahom Kingdom and the Mughal Empire. The Ahoms pushed back Mughal control to the west of the Manas river."In the Battle of Itakhuli in September 1682, the Ahom forces chased the defeated Mugh ...
. The Ahoms expelled Mansur Khan from Gauhati and re-established their possession over the territories extending up to the river Manaha (Manas). Thus, Manaha (river Manas) became once more the western boundary of
Assam
Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...
and it remained as such till the occupation of the western Assam by the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
in the year 1826.
List of Conflicts
See also
*
Ahom Dynasty
*
Ahom kingdom
*
Battle of Alaboi
*
Mogul Era (part of the
History of South Asia
South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; T ...
series)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahom-Mughal Conflicts
History of Assam
Bengal Subah
17th-century conflicts
Tai history
Tai peoples
17th century in the Ahom kingdom
Wars involving the Mughal Empire
17th century in the Mughal Empire
Ahom kingdom