Ahom Kingdom (1228–1826)
The foundations of present-day Assam are attributable to yet another migration from the east, of the Tai Ahoms, in the 13th century. Led by their redoubtable general Sukapha, an Ahom army crossed the Patkai range into the Brahmaputra valley, to establish an empire that would eventually extend throughout the valley. It was only in 1826, six hundred years later, that the Ahom Empire would give way to a century and a quarter of British rule. The Ahom were endowed with the historical faculty in a very high degree; and their priests and leading families possessed Buranjis, or histories, which were periodically brought up to date. They were written on oblong strips of bark, and were very carefully preserved and handed down from father to son.
A tradition relates that this race of conquerors were originally let down from heaven by iron chains, and alighted in a place called Mungbingram, supposed to be in the Pátkai range, in 567 AD. Their manners, customs, religion, and language were, and for a long time continued to be, different from those of the Hindus; but they found themselves compelled to respect the superior civilization of this race, and slowly adopted its customs and language.
Early in the thirteenth century, about 1228 AD, the invasions of the Shan tribe named Ahom began. Gradually, the Ahom chiefs made themselves masters of the country, and established a dynasty which lasted until the British occupation in 1825. The Ahoms brought new technology to Assam, provided a framework of peace and stability, resisted Mughal incursions and invasions, and introduced and maintained a uniquely structured, complex and efficient system of administration. They established integrative and assimilative systems of governance, reaching out to the already established communities of the valley, and to the tribes of the adjacent hills, in the process forging the character of the mosaic of modern day Assam.
The conversion of their king Chuchengpha to Hinduism took place about the year 1611 AD, and the whole Ahams of Assam gradually followed his example. In mediaeval history, the Assamese were known to the Musalmán population as a warlike, predatory race, who sailed down the o: in fleets of innumerable canoes, plundered the rich districts of the delta, and retired in safety to their forests and swamps. As the Muhammadan power consolidated itself in Bengal, repeated expeditions were sent out against these river pirates of the north-east. The physical difficulties which an invading force had to contend with in Assam, however, prevented anything like a regular subjugation of the country; and after repeated efforts, the Musalmáns contented themselves with occupying the western districts at the mouth of the Assam valley. The following details will suffice for the history of a struggle in which no great political object was attained, and which left the Assamese still the same wild and piratical people as when their fleets of canoes first sallied forth against the Bengal delta. In 1638, during the reign of the Emperor Sháh Jahán, the Assamese descended the Brahmaputra, and pillaged the country round the city of Dacca; they were expelled by the governor of Bengal, who retaliated upon the plunderers by ravaging Assam.
During the civil wars between the sons of Sháh Jahan, the king of Assam renewed his predatory incursions into Bengal; upon the termination of the contest, Aurangzeb determined to avenge these repeated insults, and despatched a considerable force for the regular invasion of the Assamese territory. His general, Mír Jumla, defeated the Rájá, who fled to the mountains, and most of the chiefs made their submission to the conqueror. But the rains set in with unusual violence, and Mír Jumlá's army was almost annihilated by famine and sickness. Thus terminated the last expedition against Assam by the Muhammadans, whose fortunes in this country were never prosperous.
A writer of the Muhammadan faith says: “Whenever an invading army has entered their territories, the Assamese have sheltered themselves in strong posts, and have distressed the enemy by stratagems, surprises, and alarms, and by cutting off their provisions. If these means failed, they have declined a battle in the field, but have carried the peasants into the mountains, burned the grain, and left the country desert. But when the rainy season has set in upon the advancing enemy, they have watched their opportunity to make excursions and vent their rage; the famished invaders have either become their prisoners or been put to death. In this manner powerful and numerous armies have been sunk in that whirlpool of destruction, and not a soul has escaped.”
The same writer stated that the country was spacious, populous, and hard to be penetrated; that it abounded in dangers; that the paths and roads were beset with difficulties; and that the obstacles to conquest were more than could be expressed. The inhabitants, he says, were enterprising, well-armed, and always prepared for battle. Moreover, they had lofty forts, numerously garrisoned and plentifully provided with warlike stores; and the approach to them was opposed by thick and dangerous jungles, and broad and boisterous rivers.
The difficulties in the way of successful invasion were of course not understated, as it was the object of the writer to exalt the prowess and perseverance of the faithful. He accounts for their temporary success by recording that “the Musalmán hordes experienced the comfort of fighting for their religion, and the blessings of it reverted to the sovereignty of his just and pious majesty.” The short-lived triumph of the Musalmáns might, however, have warranted a less ambitious tone. About the middle of the 17th century the chief became a convert to Hinduism. By what mode the conversion was effected does not clearly appear, but whatever were the means employed, it seems that the decline of the country commenced about the same period. Internal dissensions, invasion, and disturbances of every kind convulsed the province, and neither prince nor people enjoyed security.
Late in the 18th century some interference took place on the part of the British Government, then conducted by Lord Cornwallis; but the successor of that nobleman, Sir John Shore, adopting the non-intervention policy, withdrew the British force, and abandoned the country to its fate. Its condition encouraged the Burmese, an aggressive people, to depose the Rájá, and to make Assam a dependency of Ava. The extension of their encroachments on a portion of the territory of the East India Company compelled the British Government to take decisive steps for its own protection.
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