Battle of Itakhuli | |||||||
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Part of the Ahom-Mughal conflicts | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Ahom kingdom | Mughal Empire | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Supreme commander Dihingia Alun Borbarua [2] | Faujdar ContentsCommander, Naval fleetJayanta Singh [5] |
Part of a series on the |
History of Assam |
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The Battle of Itakhuli was fought in August 1682 between the Ahom Kingdom and the Mughal Empire. The Ahoms pushed back Mughal control to the west of the Manas River. [1] The main battle was fought at a garrison island on the Brahmaputra, in which the Mughal fauzdar, Mansur Khan, was defeated and the remnant of the Mughal forces pursued to the Manas River. With this win, the Ahoms recovered Sarkar Kamrup from the Mughals.
After Gadadhar Singha became the Ahom king in 1681, preparations began in March 1682 for a war to expel the Mughals from Guwahati. An army was organized under the Dihingiya Alun Barbarua. A three-pronged advance was made in June and July 1682: under the commands of Holou Deka-Phukan and the Namdangiya Phukan along the north bank of the Brahmaputra River; under Garhgayan Sanikoi Neog Phukan and Khamrak Charingiya Phukan along the south bank; and the navy under Bandar Barphukan and Champa Paniphukan. [6]
The Mughals were at a disadvantage, with the faujdar Mansur Khan ill, and widespread discontent among the soldiers. [7] The Imperial attention was focused elsewhere: Aurangzeb, the Mughal emperor, was drawn toward the Deccan due to the Mughal–Maratha Wars (1680-1707), and the Subah of Bengal was busy with its dispute with the East India Company. [8] As the Ahom forces advanced, the Mughals retreated from the advance outposts—Bahbari and Kurua in the north bank and Kajali and Panikhaiti in the south bank—to the fort of Itakhuli. The Ahoms now cast their focus on Shah Buruz on the north bank (Salal Borgohain, Bandar Borphukan, the Sadiyakhowa Gohain, the Marangikhowa Gohain and others) and on Itakhuli on the south bank (Dihingiya Borbarua, Saring Phukan and others posted at the Sarania fort). The Pani Phukan kept his fleet at the mouth of the Barnadi River. [9]
The only contested battle was fought when Ali Akbar, the commander of Itakhuli, attacked the Ahom forces at the Sarania fort, but he had to retreat after heavy losses. This prompted the faujdar Mansur Khan to desert the fort (17 July 1682). At this, the Ahoms advanced to Itakhuli and besieged it. [10] A naval battle was fought at Paniduar on 15 August 1682 between the Dihingia Rajkhowa (Ahom) and Jayanta Singha (Mughal), with the defeat and surrender of Jayanta, leaving the garrison at Itakhuli without any naval support. [11]
Unable to sustain his position, Ali Akbar abandoned Itakhuli with his forces the next day at dawn, met with Masur Khan at Guwahati and retreated to Rangamati secretly by boat. The cavalry—under Indradaman, Dalan Singh and Kabir Khan—retreated by land, pursued by the Borbarua by land and water up to the Manas River. The evacuated fort of Itakhuli was then occupied by the Chetia Borphukan. [12]
The war spoils were enormous—pearls, gold, silver, copper, brass, lead, weapons and animals of war. Among the prisoners, the cousins of Raja Ramsingh were released, but the Bhatdhara Phukan, brother of the late Laluksola Borphukan who had abandoned Guwahati, was ghoulishly killed. [13]
With the fall of Itakhuli, the Ahom kingdom quickly occupied the region up to Manas River, and set up administration under the Borphukan, with his headquarters at Guwahati. [14]
Lachit Borphukan was an Ahom Borphukan, primarily known for commanding the Ahom Army and the victory in the Battle of Saraighat (1671) that thwarted an invasion by the vastly superior Mughal Forces under the command of Ramsingh I. He died about a year later in April 1672.
The Battle of Saraighat was a naval battle fought in 1671 between the Mughal Empire, and the Ahom Kingdom on the Brahmaputra river at Saraighat, now in Guwahati, Assam, India. This was the decisive battle that ended the years long Mughal seige of Guwahati, with the Ahoms pushing away the Mughals west beyond the Manas river.
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 dividing the Kamata kingdom then under Nara Narayan in medieval Assam. The Sankosh River divided the two new kingdoms, and it is roughly the boundary between the present-day Assam and West Bengal. The western half of the Kamata kingdom emerged as Koch Bihar whereas the eastern half emerged as Koch Hajo. The name Hajo comes from the legendary king Hajo, a Koch tribal chief and an ancestor of the Koch dynasty, who ruled over the Rangpur division in present-day Bangladesh and some regions of present-day Assam.
The Treaty of Ghilajharighat, Tipam, was signed between the Ahoms and the Mughal forces led by Mir Jumla II on January 23, 1663. The treaty Mir Jumla II brought occupation of the Ahom capital, Garhgaon, to an end.
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. His reign saw an expansion of the Ahom kingdom to the west, the beginning of the Ahom-Mughal conflicts, and a reorganization of the kingdom with an expanded Paik system and reoriented village economy designed by Momai Tamuli Borbarua. His expansion to the west is underlined by the two new offices that he created: that of the Borbarua and the Borphukan. The alliances he formed with the rulers of Koch Hajo resulted in formation that successfully thwarted Mughal expansion. The administrative structure that he created survived until the end of the Ahom kingdom in 1826.
The Ahom kingdom was a late medieval kingdom in the Brahmaputra Valley that retained its independence for nearly 600 years despite encountering Mughal expansion in Northeast India. Established by Sukaphaa, a Tai prince from Mong Mao, it began as a mong in the upper reaches of the Brahmaputra based on wet rice agriculture. It expanded suddenly under Suhungmung in the 16th century and became multi-ethnic in character, casting a profound effect on the political and social life of the entire Brahmaputra valley. The kingdom became weaker with the rise of the Moamoria rebellion, and subsequently fell to repeated Burmese invasions of Assam. With the defeat of the Burmese after the First Anglo-Burmese War and the Treaty of Yandabo in 1826, control of the kingdom passed into East India Company hands.
Ahom–Mughal conflicts refers to the series of 17th-century conflicts between the Ahoms and the Mughals over the control of the Brahmaputra valley. It began soon after the eastern branch of the Kamata kingdom then under the Koch dynasty, Koch Hajo, collapsed after a sustained Mughal campaign bringing it face-to-face with the eastern Ahoms. After nearly seventy years of sustained efforts, the Mughals were finally ousted in the Battle of Itakhuli in 1682. The Mughals since then maintained interest to the region west of the Manas river via zamindars, till they were ousted from Bengal by the British about a hundred years later.
Choapha Supatpha also Swargadeo Gadadhar Singha, was the twenty-ninth king of Ahom kingdom, who reigned from 1681 to 1696. He established the rule of Tungkhungia royal house of Ahom kings, whose descendants continued to rule till the climactic end of the Ahom kingdom in 1826. He was earlier known as Gadapani Konwar and was a son of Gobar raja, a descendant of Suhungmung, and who had become king for twenty days. Gadadhar Singha stabilized the Ahom kingdom, which was going through a long decade of political turmoil and instability. This period saw the ruthless power grab of Debera Borbarua and Laluksola Borphukan's abandonment of Guwahati to the hands of Mughals and oppression via Sulikphaa alias Lora Roja.
Sukhrungphaa or Swargadeo Rudra Singha was the 30th Ahom king, reigning from 1696 to 1714 A.D. His father Gadadhar Singha freed Assam from the Mughal disturbances and internal conspiracies, thereby Rudra Singha inherited a stable state and government and had the advantage of the solid foundations laid by his father. He devoted his time to transform Assam into a first-rate power in India. He stopped the persecution of the Neo-Vaisnava sect and built temples, several public works, and patronized art, literature, and culture. Rudra Singha is also famed for being the real father of Ahom architecture. He giving up the isolationist policy of his predecessors forged diplomatic ties with various states of that time and established extensive trade with Bengal.
Borboruah was one of the five patra mantris (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 Ahom kingdom east of Kaliabor river and those regions not governed by the three great Gohains, and the princely estates. The region to the west of Kaliabor was governed by the Borphukan.
Borphukan was one of the five patra mantris (councillors) in the Ahom kingdom, a position that was created by the Ahom king Prataap Singha. The position included both executive and judicial powers, with jurisdiction of the Ahom kingdom west of Kaliabor river. The headquarters of Borphukan was based in Kaliabor and after the Battle of Itakhuli in 1681 in Itakhuli in Guwahati. This position was particularly important and powerful because of its distance from the Ahom capital, giving it a semblance of independence. The region to the east of Kaliabor was governed by the Borbarua. Lachit Deka later became Borphukan or the ruler of Lower Assam according to the fifth chronicles of the Satsori Asom Buranji.
The Treaty of Asurar Ali was signed between the Mughal faujdar Allah Yar Khan and the Ahom general Momai Tamuli Borbarua. The treaty came at the end of a period of Mughal efforts to drive into the Ahom kingdom that began in 1615, and followed a decisive Ahom victory over the Mughals at Duimunisila in November 1638. According to the treaty, the boundary between the Mughals and Ahoms was fixed on the Barnadi River in the northern bank (utarkul) of the Brahmaputra River and the Asurar Ali in the southern bank (dakhinkul), believed to be the Rajgarh Road in Guwahati, the causeway or the high Garh was in existence until late 60's. The Ahom king recognized the supremacy of the Mughals in Kamrup, and the Mughal fauzdar agreed not to interfere in the Ahom kingdom. Trade and commerce between the two regions was permitted with the Ahom kingdom represented by Kanu Sharma and Sanatan, and the Mughal represented by Sheikh Meda.
Suklamphaa also Ramadhwaj Singha was a king of the Ahom kingdom. His reign is known for the rise in power of Debera Borbarua and the beginning of a ten-year period of power struggles among high officials of the kingdom that saw quick changes in kings via court intrigues and internal armed conflicts.
Mir Jumla II invaded the Ahom kingdom in January 1662 and left it in January–February 1663. He was able to occupy Garhgaon, the Ahom capital, before the beginning of the rainy season, but he and his army were confined mostly to Garhgaon and Madhupur during that period. The Ahom king Sutamla had to take flight and hide in Namrup during Mir Jumla's occupation of the capital. The defection of Baduli Phukan, a high ranking Ahom commander, precipitated the Treaty of Ghilajharighat in January 1663, with the Ahom king accepting tributary status. Mir Jumla died on his way back before he could reach Dhaka, his capital.
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 the end of Ahom-Mughal war, which started during the reign of Chakradhwaj Singha, when the Mughal army led by Rajput prince, Ram Singh I of Amber, was decisively defeated by the Ahom forces led by Ahom commander Lachit Borphukan in the Battle of Saraighat. The later part of his reign was characterized by the failure of military expedition against the Dafala tribes and the influence of Paramananda Sannyasi, a saintly figure from Brindaban, over Udayaditya Singha. Udayaditya's over exerted devotion towards Paramananda Sanyasi, aroused dissatisfaction among the nobles, which ultimately caused his deposition and execution. His reign was followed by a series of political anarchy and internal disturbances in the Ahom kingdom which continued till the accession of Gadadhar Singha in 1681 CE.
Suhung also known as Samaguria Rojaa Khamjang was a king of the medieval Indian Ahom kingdom who ruled for a very short period. While most of the chronicles put the number of days of his reign as 20, in some chronicles the duration of his reign was shown as one month and fifteen days. Suhung was installed as king of Ahom kingdom by Debera Borbarua after the latter poisoned Ahom king Ramdhwaj Singha. His reign was characterized by the atrocities committed by his minister Debera Borbarua. Finally, Suhung decided to get rid of Debera Borbarua and put an end to his reign of tyranny, but the powerful minister outsmarted the king, by secretly poisoning his medicine and killing him.
Kamrup is the modern region situated between two rivers, the Manas and the Barnadi in Western Assam, with the same territorial extent as the Colonial and post-Colonial "Undivided Kamrup district". It was the capital region of two of the three dynasties of Kamarupa and Guwahati, the current political center of Assam, is situated here. It is characterized by its cultural artifacts.
Sudoiphaa or Tej Singha was the king of Ahom kingdom from 1677 CE to 1679 CE. After deposing king Sujinphaa, Atan Burhagohain, the Prime-Minister of Ahom Kingdom, installed Sudoiphaa in the throne. Sudoiphaa's reign witnessed the end of the ministerial dictatorship of Atan Burhagohain and rise of Laluksola Borphukan, the Ahom Viceroy of Guwahati and Lower Assam, as the real authority behind the throne. In order to gain absolute authority in the Royal Court, Laluksola Borphukan, treacherously surrendered the garrison of Guwahati to Mughals, and held Atan Burhagohain and other nobles as captive. Sudoiphaa's effort to reestablish his authority and bring the ambitious Laluk Sola Borphukan to justice for his treachery against his country and collaboration with the foreigners, finally led to his own deposition and execution by the ambitious minister.
The Invasions of Assam by Islamic rulers began in 1206 when the Turko-Afghan Muhammad-i-Bakhtiyar passed through Kamarupa against Tibet. The last attempt was the Battle of Saraighat in 1671 under Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. The Ahom kingdom removed the vestigial Mughal power from Western Assam up to the Manas river in 1682 after the Battle of Itakhuli.
Momai Tamuli Borborua (?–1650) also known by his other name Sukuti was an Ahom general, statesman, and noble and the first incumbent to the office of the Borbarua. He is popularly known for systemizing the paik system and for being the father of famous Ahom general Lachit Borphukan.