300–400 Ships captured 21,000 Soldiers taken as prisoners 300 vessels captured
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The Battle of Kaliabor, also known as Battle of Kaliabar, marked a pivotal naval military confrontation between the Mughal Empire, under the command of its general Mir Jumla II, and the Ahom dynasty, led by Bargohain, on March 3, 1662, near the location known as Kaliabor, situated in modern-day Assam.
During the Mughal war of succession, the Ahoms seized the opportunity to invade the Mughal territory of Kamrup. After Aurangzeb ascended to the Mughal throne, he appointed one of his generals, Mir Jumla II who had aided him in the war as the Governor of Bengal. Subsequently, he dispatched this general to launch a campaign against the Ahom dynasty of Assam in order to reclaim lost territories. As the Mughal forces advanced towards the Ahom capital, they encountered an attack from the Ahoms near Kaliabar, where the Ahoms were numerically superior to the Mughals. Despite the numerical disadvantage, the Mughals emerged victorious, capturing a significant number of Ahoms as prisoners of war.
In the northeast of the Mughal Empire, Bengal's expanding export economy and the presence of Muslim settlers created a potential area for aggressive military campaigns. The Mughal control remained relatively weak in this region. When Shah Shuja's governorship of Bengal was disrupted by the succession war due to the death of Shah Jahan, local landlords like Prem Narayan, the ruler of Kuch Bihar, rebelled. Concurrently, Jayadhwaj Sinha, the Ahom king, dispatched an army to invade and annex Kamrup, the Mughal border district along the Brahmaputra River.[1]
The Map connecting Koch Bihar, Bengal and the Assam
After being defeated by Aurangzeb, Shah Shuja sought refuge in Arakan. In acknowledgment of Mir Jumla's commendable service over the past sixteen months despite facing numerous challenges, Aurangzeb decided to appoint him as the permanent Governor of Bengal.[2] In mid-1660, Aurangzeb, determined to re-establish control over the northeast region, appointed Muhammad Said Mir Jumla, his ally from the Deccan, as the governor of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa. During his initial year in office, Mir Jumla overhauled the provincial administration, revived revenue collection, and effectively enforced Mughal authority across all three regions. He relocated the provincial capital from Rajmahal to Dhaka, aligning with the eastward shift in Bengal's population and economy. Additionally, he made significant investments in various trading ventures, collaborating with both his own agents and European trading companies.[3]
Initially, Mir Jumla annexed Kuch Bihar to the Mughal Empire, demonstrating both vigor and conciliation in his administration. He ordered the call to prayer, known as azan, to be recited from the royal palace terrace. War materials captured were confiscated for the imperial government and sent to Dhaka. Some goods belonging to the King of Koch Bihar were reviewed by Muhammad Abid, the escheat officer. The name Kuch Bihar was changed to Alamgirnagar. Until the appointment of Askar Khan as the permanent faujdar by the Emperor, upon the General's recommendation, Isfandiyar Beg (now titled Khan), son of Allah Yar Khan, served as the acting faujdar of the region. He was supported by Qazi Samui Shujai as diwan and Mir Abdur Razzaq and Khwajah Kish or Das Mansabdar as amirs.[4]
Similar to the Bhuiyas of Bengal, the Maghs, and the Feringhis, the Ahoms posed a significant threat to the security of the Mughals in Bengal, particularly along the northeastern frontier.[5] By November 1661, Mir Jumla was ready to embark on a campaign described as "a holy war with the infidels of Assam," as reported by his official news correspondent.[6]
Preparations and initial conflicts
The Ahom forces
The exact number of war-boats possessed by the Ahoms remains uncertain. The historian Fathiya suggests a remarkably high figure exceeding 32,000. Whereas Talish mentions estimates derived from reports of the "Waqiahnavis" of Gauhati, indicating that by 1662, no fewer than 32,000 boats had arrived. Considering those engaged for the army and those belonging to the Assamese, it is plausible that more than half belonged to the Assamese. It's reasonable to estimate that the Ahoms deployed around 1000 war-boats against Mir Jumla, outnumbering his naval strength by more than threefold. However, little is known about the naval organization of the Ahoms and the personnel of such a large flotilla. Only a few Ahom officers' names are recorded, such as the Naubaicha, who oversaw 1000 men for manning royal boats, and the Nausalia Phukan, tasked with one thousand carpenters for boat construction and repair.[7]
The Ahom artillerymen
According to Wade, the Ahom mariners lacked proficiency compared to the Mughals when navigating the open sea. They also lacked the essential skills for artillery use. Additionally, bridges over rivers were occasionally built by workers brought in from Bengal, as the local population lacked the required expertise.[8]
The Ahom naval soldiers mostly use bows, and arrows and matchlocks but do not come up in courage to the Muhammadan soldiers .
The Mughal governor Mir Jumla gathered a formidable force consisting of 12,000 cavalry, 30,000 foot soldiers, and a flotilla comprising several hundred-armed vessels. Among these vessels were ten ghurabs, or floating batteries, each carrying fourteen guns and towed by four rowing boats. Additionally, the son of the King of Koch Bihar, recently converted to Islam, allied with the Mughals in their campaign against the Ahoms.[6]
Capturing Ahom forts
The Mughals advanced towards Gharaghat on the right bank of the Karatoya river and reached the Brahmaputra five days later. The army and fleet were instructed to march in close coordination. Dilir Khan led the vanguard, Mir Murtaza was responsible for communication, and the fleet was commanded by admiral Ibn Husain, with assistance from subordinate admirals Jamal Khan and Manawar Khan. Successively, forts of the Ahoms fell into the hands of the Mughals. Strategic posts like Jogigopa at the mouth of the Manas river (opposite Goalpara), Saraighat at the mouth of Bar Nadi, and Pandu and Kajali at the mouth of the Kallang river were evacuated by the Ahoms. Despite the strength and number parity between the Ahom and Mughal fleets, the Ahom fleet did not engage with the imperial fleet until it reached Kajali, which appears peculiar.[9]
The Battle
The Mughal army reached a location called Kaliabar in the Nowgong district, where a significant naval battle took place on March 3, 1662. Due to the presence of hills along the Brahmaputra River from this point onward, the imperial army had to move away from the riverbank, becoming disconnected from their fleet. This temporary separation of the invading army from the navy provided the Ahoms with the opportunity they desired to launch a vigorous attack. The isolation of the Mughal fleet, coupled with the accidental absence of its admiral Ibn Husain (along with some ships) from the main fleet, emboldened the Ahoms to destroy the imperial fleet.[10]
The Kaliabor region
On the night of March 3, 1662, as the imperial fleet had recently anchored above Kaliabar, an Ahom armada of 700-800 ships under the command of its admiral Bargohain launched a sudden and vigorous assault on the Mughal fleet. Glanius reports that the enemy's fleet consisted of 600 ships.[11] Meanwhile, upon hearing the night-long cannonade, Mir Jumla dispatched Muhammad Mumin Beg Ekkataz Khan to assist the beleaguered fleet, particularly the English, Dutch, and Portuguese ships in the Mughal army, which were erroneously reported by a Moorish informer to have been lost. Due to the lack of habitable areas, unstable ground, dense jungles, and muddy terrain, Muhammad Mumin was unable to reach the fleet during the night. However, he arrived early the next morning accompanied by 10 or 12 horsemen and ordered the trumpets to be blown.[12]
This turn of events decisively determined the outcome of the stubborn contest. Encouraged by Muhammad Mumin's arrival, the Mughals intensified their efforts, while the demoralized Ahoms fled, some by boat and others on land. The Mughals captured around 300 or 400 ships, each armed with "big guns," in addition to powder and lead. Since even the smallest ship accommodated 70 men, it is estimated that at least 21,000 men were taken as prisoners of war.[13] Many were slain by the pursuing Mughal columns, who were instructed not to show mercy. The 50 Ahoms who managed to escape were sentenced by their king to undergo severe punishment. Although the Ahom admiral was captured despite his disguise, he was released at the request of some of Mir Jumla's senior officers. The remaining 300 Ahom vessels anchored about a mile away from Mir Jumla's camp, where they were sunk the following day by artillery fire. Those that fled to the other bank were pursued and some were captured. The effectiveness of the Assamese navy was completely annihilated as a result. This was the most decisive victory of Mir Jumla along his campaign against Ahoms.[14]
The reasons behind the Ahom navy's defeat are evident. Despite their overwhelming numerical superiority and the advantage of the upstream current, they failed to capitalize on these factors. While it initially seemed that the Mughal fleet would be overwhelmed by the sheer force of the Ahom fleet, the heavy Ahom "bacharis" manned by 60 or 70 men each were less maneuverable compared to the lighter and swifter Mughal "kosas." Additionally, the Ahom cannons, although planted on their boats, were smaller and had limited range, as demonstrated by their inability to significantly damage the Mughal boats even at close range. The failure of the Ahom fleet to capture the hard-pressed Dutch vessels, which were temporarily separated from the main Mughal fleet, highlights the ineffectiveness of the Ahom navy. However, the close cooperation between the Mughal and European admirals, along with their determined fighting, enabled the Mughal fleet to withstand the crisis. The timely dispatch of Muhammad Mumin Beg by Mir Jumla to assist the imperiled imperial fleet ultimately tipped the scales in favor of the Mughals.[15]
By March 1662, the Mughal army proceeded inland, leaving the fleet behind, aiming to capture Garghaon, the capital from which the Ahom ruler and his court had fled. The spoils of war were substantial, including treasure, stored rice, weapons, and armed riverboats. With the onset of the rainy season, Mir Jumla stationed his forces near the capital, while the Ahoms severed the line of Mughal outposts leading back to the Brahmaputra fleet. From May to October, the Mughal army in the capital and the river fleet at Lakhau endured famine, disease, continuous Ahom assaults, and desertions.[16]
As the rains ceased and supplies and reinforcements arrived, the Mughal army was able to confront the Ahoms once more. Ultimately, in early 1663, the Swargadeo (Heavenly King) and his nobles sought peace. The Ahom ruler agreed to become a Mughal vassal, send a daughter with a dowry for marriage to the imperial court, surrender significant treasure and elephants, and cede extensive territories in Darrang and western districts. Mir Jumla began organizing a phased withdrawal and the administration of the newly acquired districts, but he fell seriously ill and passed away in March 1663.[16]
Muhi al-Din Muhammad, commonly known by the title Aurangzeb, and also by his regnal name Alamgir I, was the sixth Mughal emperor, reigning from 1658 until his death in 1707. Under his reign, the Mughal Empire reached its greatest extent, with territory spanning nearly the entirety of the Indian subcontinent.
Mirza Abu'l Fayaz Qutb-ud-Din Mohammad Azam, commonly known as Azam Shah, was briefly the seventh Mughal emperor from 14 March to 20 June 1707. He was the third son of the sixth Mughal emperor Aurangzeb and his chief consort Dilras Banu Begum.
Farrukhsiyar, also spelled as Farrukh Siyar, was the tenth Mughal Emperor from 1713 to 1719. He rose to the throne after deposing his uncle Jahandar Shah. He was an emperor only in name, with all effective power in the hands of the courtier Sayyid brothers. He was born during the reign of his great-grandfather Aurangzeb, as the son of Azim-ush-Shan and Sahiba Niswan. Reportedly a handsome man who was easily swayed by his advisers, he was said to lack the ability, knowledge and character to rule independently. He was executed by Maharaja Ajit Singh of Marwar.
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 siege of Guwahati, with the Ahoms pushing away the Mughals west beyond the Manas river.
Mirza Shah Shuja was the second son of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan and Empress Mumtaz Mahal. He was the governor of Bengal and Odisha and had his capital at Dhaka, in present day Bangladesh.
Mirza Muhammad Kam Bakhsh was the youngest son of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, born to his wife Udaipuri Mahal.
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.
Mirza Abu Talib, better known as Shaista Khan, was a general and the Subahdar of Mughal Bengal, he was maternal uncle to the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, he acted as a key figure during his reign, Shaista Khan initially governed the Deccan, where he clashed with the Maratha ruler Shivaji, However, he was most notable for his tenure as the governor of Bengal from 1664 to 1688, Under Shaista Khan's authority, the city of Dhaka and Mughal power in the province attained its greatest heights. His achievements include constructions of notable mosques such as the Sat Gambuj Mosque and masterminding the conquest of Chittagong. Shaista Khan was also responsible for sparking the outbreak of the Anglo-Mughal War with the English East India Company.
Ahom–Mughal wars 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.
Mir Jumla II, or Amir Jumla, also known as Ardistānī Mir Muhammad, was a military general, wealthy diamond trader, a Vizier of Golconda sultanate, and later a prominent subahdar of Bengal under the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb.
Munnawar Khan was a Mughal Empire admiral during the reign of Emperor Aurangzeb.
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.
SutamlaJayadhwaj 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, and because of this flight he is also known as the Bhagania Roja in the Buranjis. In the days of Jayadhwaj Singha Auniati Satra and Dakhinpat Satra was established. He formally accepted the initiation of Niranjan Bapu and settled him as the as Satradhikar in the Auniati Satra. He even exempted disciples of satra from personal labour to the state.
The Battle of Khajuha was fought on January 5, 1659, between the newly crowned Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb and Shah Shuja who also declared himself Mughal Emperor in Bengal. Shuja's army rested by the tank of Khajwa, about 30 miles to the west of Fatehpur- Haswa in'the Allahabad District, between the Ganges and the Jumna.
The army of the Mughal Empire was the force by which the Mughal emperors established their empire in the 16th century and expanded it to its greatest extent at the beginning of the 18th century. Although its origins, like the Mughals themselves, were in the cavalry-based armies of central Asia, its essential form and structure was established by the empire's third emperor, Akbar. The regular forces were mainly recruited and fielded by Mansabdar officers.
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. 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.
Ramani Gabharu was a princess of Kingdom of Assam and the first wife of titular Mughal emperor Muhammad Azam Shah. She was sent to the Mughal Emperor as part of the Treaty of Ghilajharighat at the age of seven and was renamed Rahmat Banu Begum after she married Muhammad Azam Shah.
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.
The Mughal war of succession of 1658–1659 was a war of succession fought between the four sons of Shah Jahan: Aurangzeb, Dara Shikoh, Murad Bakhsh, and Shah Shuja, in hopes of gaining the Mughal Throne. Prior to the death of Shah Jahan, each of his sons held governorships during their father's reign. The emperor favoured the eldest, Dara Shikoh, However, there was resentment among the younger three, who sought at various times to strengthen alliances between themselves and against Dara. Since there was no Mughal tradition of hierarchy, the systematic passing of rule, upon an emperor's death, to his eldest son. Instead it was customary for sons to overthrow their father and for brothers to war to the death among themselves.
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Ahom kingdom 
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