Battle of Samdhara was the first naval battle fought between Mughals and the Ahoms in 1616 [1]
Battle of Samdhara | |||||||
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Part of Ahom-Mughal conflicts | |||||||
Bhomoraguri Rock inscription 1616, commemorating the victory of Ahoms over the Mughals in Samdhara | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Ahom kingdom | |||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Pratap Singha Shamkula Borgohain Lasham Charing Gohain Ailas Gohain Lama Barua Chepta Barua Langu Deoghria Bharali Barua Piksai Hazarika | Seikh Qasim Khan Syed Hakkim khan Syed Aba bakr Sattrajit Raja Jagdeo Jamal khan Mankali | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
30,000 men 700 war elephants [2] | 10,000 troops 10,000 cavalry 400 war boats 2,000 musketeers [3] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Light | 5,000 killed 9,000 captured 3,000 fled Almost whole of the Mughal fleet was captured |
Part of a series on the |
History of Assam |
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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 Shah by name, who was procuring aloes-wood for Jahangir, at Singri, that lay to the east of the Barnadi and within the Ahom kingdom. On detection, his goods were confiscated and he was expelled from the Ahom territory. Shortly afterwards, unauthorised merchants of Bengal were found to the north of Kajali buying pulses, mustard seeds and other commodities. Two such mechant vessels were seized by the Ahom government and two of the tradesmen killed. [4] The incident of killing to the merchants was only a pretext to launch an invasion to Assam, the Mughal viceroy had long preparing for an invasion. [5]
This stern action of the Ahom government was taken exception to by the Mughal government in Bengal, which was further dissatisfied with the Ahom king Pratap Singha for sheltering Balinarayan, brother of Parikshit. Seikh Qasim Khan, the governor of Bengal, sent immediately a force consisting of over 10,000 troops, and 300 well-equipped war-boats, under Syed Hakkim and Syed Aba Bakr. [1] Sattrajit, son of the zamindar of Bhusna near Dacca, who had earlier fought successfully against Parikshit and had been rewarded by his appointment as thanadar of Pandu and Guahati, also accompanied the expeditionary force. Beside, some noted officers of the central government like Raja Jagdeo, grandson of Raja Todar Mal, Jamal Khan Mankali accompanied Aba Bakr. [6] The expeditionary force started from Bajrapur in Bengal in March 1616 and reached the mouth of the Kalang river in the midst of rains in May/June of that year. The Ahom fleet stationed at the Kajali Choucki attacked the invading force but suffered defeat and retreated with the loss of some boats. Elated at this victory, Sattrajit entered Sala by way of the Kalang, killed a few men and looted a royal store. After three days, he crossed the Brahmaputra, moved westward and carried away three female dancers from the Siva temple at Biswanath and sailed off. [7]
The Ahoms had been watching carefully the movement of the Mughals and, in the meantime, strengthened the fort of Samdhara, which stood near the confluence of the Bharali and the Brahmaputra. They managed to gain valuable information about the Mughals from Ahkek Gohain, who previously went to the Mughal side, and was brought back to Ahom camp after being promised pardon. The Mughal also proceeded to the Bharali and stationed at its right bank, opposite of the Ahom fort at Samdhara. [7] At this, the Burhagohain, Boragohain and other officials asked for auspicious moment to attack, from the Deodhai's (astrologers), which they advised in a night attack (January 1616). The Mughals who were unprepared, were unable to face the enemy were easily overpowered. Large number of officers including Syed Hakim, Jamal Khan Kankali, Bhaaaban Roxi, Gokul Chand, Lakshmi Rajput, Abu Bakr and his son were slain. [8]
The imperial fleet of Mughals at first resisted, but couldn't after the fall of their commander Abu Bakr, and gave up further resistance. Almost whole of the Mughal fleet was captured by the Ahoms and some naval officers including Miran Sayed Masud, in-charge of the war boats were slain. Sattrajit with Sona Ghazi made a narrow escape with two boats, while Ilahdad Khan Dakhini, Raja Rai, Narsing Rai, Karamchand, son of Satrajit and many others were captured. The casualties on the Mughal side, is estimated to around 1,700 men killed on the spot and, in total 5,000 killed, about 9,000 men taken as captive, and about 3,000 men seeking safety in the jungles by the author of Baharistan-i-Ghaibi. On the Ahom side Srifal Bora, Namal Bora, Hati Barua, Lacham Sandikoi and Chingdang were killed, but still gained a rich booty of elephant, horses and war materials. [7] Pratap Singha having herd of the victory at Samdhara, ordered not to kill the captive officers, as he was anxious to see them in person. He rushed to Samdhara, but until then most of the Mughal officers were slain. At this he ordered the Ahom officers put to death, responsible for killing the captive Mughal officers. [9]
Thus the maiden attempt Mughals to expand towards the east was successfully thwarted by the Ahoms. This defeat brought both ignominy and disaster to the Mughals.Qasim Khan was replaced by Ibrahim Khan Fathjang as the governor of Bengal in April 1617 and Lakshmi Narayan, who has been placed in detention for three years, was re-installed in his kingdom on the condition that he would serve the cause of the Mughals in their fight against the Ahoms. On the Ahom side, this victory greatly increased their prestige and solidified their position as the master-power of north-east. It was at this time that, they brought under their control the entire tract between the Barnadi and the Bharali. Pratap Singha, the Ahom king established Balinarayan as the tributary raja of Darrang and renamed him as Dharmanarayan. [10] Many of the captured soldiers and commanders were sacrificed to goddess Kamakhya in Kamakhya Temple, including the captured son of Sattrajit. [11]
The Ahom dynasty (1228–1826) ruled the Ahom Kingdom in present-day Assam, India for nearly 598 years. The dynasty was established by Sukaphaa, a Shan prince of Mong Mao who came to Assam after crossing the Patkai mountains. The rule of this dynasty ended with the Burmese invasion of Assam and the subsequent annexation by the British East India Company following the Treaty of Yandabo in 1826.
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 siege of Guwahati, with the Ahoms pushing away the Mughals west beyond the Manas river.
The Koch dynasty ruled parts of eastern Indian subcontinent in present-day Assam and Bengal. Biswa Singha established power in the erstwhile Kamata Kingdom which had emerged from the decaying Kamarupa Kingdom. The dynasty came to power by removing the Baro-Bhuyans, who had earlier removed the short-lived rule established by Alauddin Hussain Shah.
The Kamata Kingdom 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, and since it covered most of the western parts of it, the kingdom is also sometimes called as Kamarupa-Kamata.
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.
Suhungmung, or Dihingia Roja I was one of the most prominent Ahom Kings who ruled at the cusp of Assam's medieval history. His reign broke from the early Ahom rule and established a multi-ethnic polity in his kingdom. Under him the Ahom Kingdom expanded greatly for the first time since Sukaphaa, at the cost of the Chutia and the Dimasa kingdoms. He also successfully defended his kingdom against Muslim invasions, first by a general called Bar Ujjir and another by Turbak Khan. During his time, the Khen dynasty collapsed and the Koch dynasty ascended in the Kamata kingdom. His general, Ton-kham, pursued the Muslims up to the Karatoya river, the western boundary of the erstwhile Kamarupa Kingdom, the farthest west an Ahom military force had ventured in its entire six hundred years of rule.
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 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.
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.
Sutanphaa also Siva Singha was the 31st king of Assam from the Ahom dynasty who reigned from He was the eldest son of King Rudra Singha. Siva Singha was with his dying father at Guwahati, who then proceeded to the capital Rangpur where he ascended to the throne. He is noted for his elaborate system of espionage. He had numerous temples erected and made large gifts of land to them. With his patronage, Hinduism became the pre-dominant religion of the Ahoms. The king was also a patron of music and literature and music and himself composed Sanskrit songs and learnt songs. His reign coincided with the arrival of the first Europeans traders into Assam.
Suklingphaa, or Kamaleswar Singha, was a king of the Ahom kingdom. He came to power when he was a toddler, and died in his teens during a small pox epidemic. The de facto ruler during his reign was Purnanada Burhagohain, who was able to consolidate power after installing him on the throne; and his parents Kadamdighala and Numali also were very powerful. Kamaleswar Singha's reign witnessed the suppression of Moamoria rebellion and restoration of Ahom rule over Upper Assam. The Dundiya Revolution in Kamrup was also suppressed during his reign. In Nagaon, the Ahom army also managed to defeat a coalition of Moamoria rebels and the Kacharis of Kachari Kingdom. Much of this was the handiwork of Purnananda Burhagohain and not Kamaleshwar Singha.
The Kolong River or Kailang is an anabranch of the Brahmaputra River, which diverts out from the Brahamputra river in Hatimura region of Jakhalabandha, and meets the same at Kolongpar near Guwahati. The tributary is about 250 kilometres (160 mi) long and flows through the districts of Nagaon, Morigaon and Kamrup. On the way, several smaller streams meet it. The river flows through the heart of the Nagaon urban area, dividing the town into Nagaon and Haiborgaon.
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.
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.
The Battle of Alaboi was fought between the Ahom Kingdom and the Mughal Empire around 5 August 1669. The result was a Mughal victory, but Ram Singh I's next move was to open negotiations for peace. The Assamese also were tired of war, and hostilities were suspended for a time. Soon after the battle of Alaboi, Chakradhwaj Singha died in 1669. He was succeeded by his brother Udayaditya Singha. This was part of the seizure of Guwahati that led up to the final Battle of Saraighat which the Ahoms won.
Balinarayan alias Dharmanarayan or Baldeo of Mughals was the son of Koch King Raghudev and younger brother of King Parikshit and the first King of Darrang Desa. He was the chief conductor of the operations conducted against the Mughals during their occupation of Kamrupa erstwhile fallen Koch Hajo which got annexed to Mughal domain after the defeat of the latter.
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.