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{{Assam History}}
There were three '''Burmese invasions of Assam''' between 1817 and 1826, during which time the [[Ahom Kingdom|Kingdom of Assam (Ahom)]] came under the control of [[Kingdom of Ava|Burma]] from 1821 to 1825. Locally, this period, called the ''manor din'' ([[Assamese language|Assamese]]: “The days/period of the Burmese”) by the [[Assamese people|Indigenous Assamese people]]<ref>Note: The corresponding period of Burmese rule in [[Manipur]] is called ''Chahi-Taret Khuntakpa'' ([[Meitei language|Meitei]]: seven years of devastation).</ref> is remembered with horror. The sharp drop in population due both to depredations as well emigrations left the erstwhile kingdom in shambles. It was the climactic period of the Ahom kingdom. The [[British Empire|British]], who were earlier reluctant to colonise Assam, came into direct contact with a belligerent Burmese occupying force. Following the [[First Anglo-Burmese War]] they annexed Assam and took [[Manipur]] as a subsidiary state.

==Background==
In the later part of 18th century, the [[Ahom Kingdom]] in [[Assam]] was wreaked by series of rebellions. The [[Moamoria rebellion]] in Upper Assam and the [[Dundiya rebellion]] in Western Assam severely weakened the Ahom Kingdom due to loss of lives and property. The Prime Minister Purnananda [[Burhagohain]] tried his best to reestablish [[Ahom kingdom|Ahom]] rule over the region. With great efforts, he finally suppressed all the rebellions, and firmly established the royal authority over the kingdom. For smooth functioning of administration or to consolidate his power, he appointed all his relatives in high posts of [[Ahom Kingdom]]. [[Badan Chandra Borphukan]], the governor of [[Guwahati]], was anxious of the growing power of Purnananda [[Burhagohain]]. At first, he tried to make friendship with Purnananda [[Burhagohain]]. He gave his daughter Pijou Gabhoru to Purnananda's son, Urekhanath Dhekial Phukan along with a huge amount of gold ornaments and utensils as dowry. The move backfired when Purnananda [[Burhagohain]] expressed his displeasure and suspected Badan Chandra [[Borphukan]] of misusing his office. Angered by the behaviour of Purnananda [[Burhagohain]], Badan Chandra [[Borphukan]] encouraged conspirators in the capital [[Jorhat]] with the aim to assassinate Purnananda [[Burhagohain]]. The conspiracy failed and the conspirators were punished. The alleged link of Badan Chandra [[Borphukan]] with the conspirators got revealed. Meanwhile the people of Western Assam, complained [[Burhagohain]] about the atrocities committed by Badan Chandra [[Borphukan]] and his two sons, Janmi and Piyoli. Finally in 1815 CE, Purnananda [[Burhagohain]] decided to act and he send a deputation with orders to arrest Badan Chandra [[Borphukan]] and bring him to the capital [[Jorhat]] for justice. Pijou Gabhoru, the daughter-in-law of Purnananda [[Burhagohain]], who was also the daughter of Badan Chandra [[Borphukan]], send an early message to her father, warning him of the impending danger. Warned by his daughter, Badan Chandra Borphukan escaped to [[Bengal]], which was under British rule. Burhagohain's men caught him at Chilmari in Bengal, but he again escaped with the help of local Thanedar or Police officer. He went to [[Calcutta]] and visited the Governor General [[Francis Rawdon-Hastings|Lord Hastings]] with the plea for help to oust Purnananda [[Burhagohain]]. The Governor-General declined his plea stating their Policy of Non-interference in the internal matter of another kingdom. Around that time, Badan Chandra [[Borphukan]] met the envoy of Burmese King [[Bodawpaya]], who was on a visit at [[Calcutta]]. The envoy, after hearing his plea took him to [[Burma]] and fixed an appointment with [[Bodawpaya]].<ref>E. A. Gait 1926: 224-225</ref><ref>S.K. Bhuyan 1968 Tungkhungia Buranji or A History of Assam(1681-1826) : 197-199</ref>

==First Burmese invasion==
In 1816, Badan Chandra [[Borphukan]] came to the court of Burmese King [[Bodawpaya]] and sought help to defeat his political rival Purnananda [[Burhagohain]]. The Burmese monarch agreed and send an expedition under a general of [[Bhamo]], with [[Badan Chandra Borphukan]] which entered Assam in January 1817. The first battle took place on March 27, 1817 at Ghiladhari. The Assam forces were led by [[Daman Gogoi]], '''Hau Bora''' and '''Jama Khan'''. The battle continued for a week when [[Purnananda Burhagohain]] died due to natural causes.<ref>{{harv|Baruah|1993|pp=216–218}}</ref> This, according to chronicles, led to the division in the ranks of the Ahom nobility, and due to lack of reinforcements the Assam army surrendered. Ruchinath, the son of Purnananda, became the [[Burhagohain]], and asked the king to evacuate, who refused. This led Ruchinath to suspect that Chandrakanta Singha was in alliance with Badan Chandra Borphukan,<ref>"The new Burha Gohain endeavoured in vain to induce the king to retreat to Lower Assam, and then, perceiving that the latter intended to sacrifice him, in order to conciliate the Bar Phukan and his Burmese allies, fled westwards to Gauhati." {{harv|Gait|1906|p=222}}</ref> and left for Guwahati without the king when the Burmese army advanced toward the Ahom capital at Jorhat. The king, [[Sudingphaa|Chandrakanta Singha]], stayed behind, received Badan Chandra Borphukan and made him the Mantri Phukan.

The Burmese army was paid 100,000 rupees and the commanders were given suitable presents. Hemo Aideo, an Ahom princess (daughter of Bagakonwar Tipam Raja and sister of Swargadeo Jogeshwar Singha) was sent to the king of Burma with 50 elephants and dowry. The Burmese army left Assam in April 1817. Soon after, Badan Chandra was assassinated. Ruchinath marched against Chandrakanta Singha and made Purandhar Singha the king.<ref>{{harv|Gait|1906|p=223}}</ref>

==Second Burmese invasion==
[[Bodawpaya]], on hearing this news, sent an army of 30,000 under the command of Kiamingi (Ala Mingi Borgohain) and guided by Patalang Senapati (Momai Barua). This army was met by an army led by Jaganath Dhekial Phukan on February 15, 1819 at Phulpanisiga, near Janji. The Burmese army was defeated with a loss of about 300 soldiers and retreated a short distance. The Assam army, instead of pursuing the defeated Burmese, returned to the Ahom capital Jorhat leading to much confusion and panic. Failing to instill confidence, Ruchinath Burhagohain and Purandar Singha sailed down to Guwahati, and the Burmese army was able to occupy the capital two days later.<ref>{{harv|Baruah|1993|pp=221–222}}</ref>

Chandrakanta was reinstated as the king on March 9, 1819 followed by execution of the Ahom officials who had supported Ruchinath Burhagohain; and in the middle of April 1819 Kiamingi left for Burma leaving Mingimaha Tilwa in charge. Under Tilwa's orders, Patalang pursued Ruchinath, engaged his forces in Nagaon and finally pushed him beyond Assam chokey. Patalang was made the Borbarua and the Burmese contingent returned to Burma on January 27, 1820.<ref>{{harv|Baruah|1993|p=222}}</ref> To express his gratitude to Bodawpaya, Chandrakanta Singha sent a princess, Upama Aideo, along with officials and attendants.

Nevertheless, Chandrakanta's attitude toward the Burmese changed soon after. Patalang, who was originally a native of Namrup, persuaded the king to shake off Burmese allegiance and had a fort constructed at Jaypur (Dighalighat).<ref>{{harv|Baruah|1993|pp=222–223}}</ref>

==Third Burmese invasion==
In 1819, [[Bagyidaw]] became the king of [[Burma]] and decided to annex Assam. He sent Mingimaha Tilwa to Assam in February 1821. Patalang Borbarua was killed and Chandrakanta Singha fled to Guwahati. Mingimaha killed a number of Ahom officials and installed Punyadhar (Jogeshwar Singha), a brother of Hemo Aideo, as the king.

===Chandrakanta Singha's response===
Chandrakanta Singha made his camp at Guwahati and lead his campaign against the Burmese with Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s help. Maharaja of Punjab sent a force of more than 500 Ferocious Nihang Sikh soldiers in support of Ahom King against Burma.
Purandar, who was unable to raise an army in the British territory, raised one in Bhutan under Robert Bruce, but this force was dispersed by Chandrakanta's forces in May 1821.<ref name="Baruah 1993 223">{{harv|Baruah|1993|p=223}}</ref> A large force, deputed by Tilwa, advanced against Chandrakanta (September 1821), who retreated to Assam Chokey and then to the British territories. Unlike Purandar, Chandrakanta was able to raise a force mainly of Sikhs soldiers, and he retook Assam Chokey (October 1821) and Guwahati (December 1821) and pitched his camp at Mahgarh, near Jorhat, on March 15, 1822.<ref>{{harv|Baruah|1993|p=225}}</ref>

[[Bagyidaw]], on hearing of the Assam situation, sent in a 20,000 strong contingent under [[Maha Bandula|Mingi Maha Bandula]] who attacked and defeated the forces of Chandrakanta in April 1822. Chandrakanta fell back to [[Guwahati]], and finally to Assam chaki, where he encountered Mingimaha Tilwa in June 1822. He was defeated and had to further retreat into the British territory. After this victory, the Burmese declared Mingimaha Tilwa the Raja of Assam and brought an end to the sovereign Ahom rule in Assam.<ref>"Towards the end of June, Mingimaha Tilwa, the chief commanding officer of the Assam ''Chaki'' was declared Raja of Assam. This marked the extinction of the Ahom monarchy." {{harv|Baruah|1992|p=225}}</ref>

===Burmese rule===
The defeat of Chandrakanta at Assam Chokey brought the Burmese face-to-face with the British in the [[Brahmaputra valley]]. Tilwa demanded the British hand over the fugitive king, and threatened to enter British territory to seize him, with about 7,000 troops at Assam Chokey and 1,000 more at Guwahati under Bandula. Nevertheless, the Burmese troops faced logistics issues, and as a result Bandula left Guwahati, leaving Tilwa at Guwahati with only 1,000 troops.<ref>{{harv|Baruah|1993|p=226}}</ref> At this juncture, the Chandrakanta Singha was invited by the Burmese to come back and rule. Chandrakanta abandoned his Baruas and Phukan's and surrendered to Tilwa at Assam Chokey. When he reached Jorhat, he was seized and imprisoned instead.<ref>{{harv|Baruah|1993|p=227}}</ref>

===Alternative Burmese account===
This account differs a little from the Burmese account in which the expedition that started in February 1821 with the 20,000 (including 10,000 [[Khamti people|Hkamti]] Shan and [[Jingpo people|Kachin]] levies) Burmese Army is said to have taken one and a half years to reach Assam when it defeated Chandrakanta Singha in July 1822 and made Assam a Burmese province under a military governor-general, extinguishing the 600-year-old [[Ahom kingdom|Ahom]] court once and for all.<ref name=rlf-112>Myint-U, River of Lost Footsteps, p. 112</ref><ref name=mmb-15>Myint-U, Making of Modern Burma, pp. 15–16</ref> Chandrakanta Singha fled to British territory of [[Bengal]]. The British ignored Bandula's demands to surrender the fugitive king, and instead sent reinforcement units to frontier forts.<ref name=lws>Shakespear, pp. 62–63</ref> Maha Bandula left a military garrison of 2000 men commanded by [[Maha Thilawa]], and returned to Ava.<ref name=app-233>Phayre, pp. 233–234</ref>

This period is remembered in [[Assam]] as very difficult, with the garrison soldiers and native marauders committing atrocities on the common people leading to thousands leaving Assam for [[Bengal]]. Much of the neighboring [[State of Manipur]] was also laid waste by the marauding armies.

By 1825, the [[Meitei people|Meitei]]s under the leadership of [[Meitei people|Meitei]] king [[Gambhir Singh]] had repulsed the Burmese and drove them past the [[Chindwin river]].<ref>[http://www.iitg.ernet.in/rcilts/phaseI/his_mnmo.html CHAHI-TARET KHUNTAKPA, 1819-1825 AD (seven years of Manipur anarchy, 3212-3218 MF)] IIT Guwahati</ref> The occupation led to frequent contacts between the Burmese and the British and finally to the [[First Burmese war]] and the [[Treaty of Yandaboo]] in 1826. This treaty marked the end of Burmese rule and the beginning of British rule in Assam.

==Atrocities==
In ''Buranji-vivek-ratna'', [[Maniram Dewan]], an eyewitness writes:<ref name="HKBarpujari1980">{{cite book | author=H. K. Barpujari | title=Assam in the days of the Company, 1826-1858 | year=1980 | publisher=Spectrum Publications | page = 11 }}</ref>

<blockquote>
...in attacking the house of a rich man, would tie him with ropes and then set fire to his body. Some they flayed alive, others they burnt in oil and others again they drove in crowds to village ''Naamghars'' or prayer-houses, which they then set on fire... It was dangerous for a beautiful woman to meet a Burmese even on the public road. Brahmans were made to carry loads of beef, pork and wine. The ''Gosains'' were robbed of all their possessions. Fathers of damsels whom the Burmese took as wives rose speedily to affluence and power.
</blockquote>

The sort of fighting and bloody killings that took place between 1812-19 when the Burmese kings of Mandalay tried to conquer and subdue the Shan Ahom kingdom in Assam, where the Burmese garrison commander Maha Thilawa's troops committed atrocities. However, the native marauders and hilly tribes, taking advantage of the unstable situation, disguised themselves as Burmese, looted the cities and probably killed more people than the invaders did.<ref>{{harvcol|Gait|1906|p=228}}</ref> The population of Assam was greatly reduced by 2/3 and 1/3 of the men and boys were killed during this period.{{failed verification|date=December 2011}}<ref>{{harvcol|Gait|1906|p=228}} Gait quotes from J Butler, ''Travels and Adventures in the Province of Assam'' (1855)</ref>

This event so weakened and disorganized the Shan Ahom that by 1839 the kingdom was completely annexed by the British. Before that from about 1228 - 1839 AD they maintained themselves under one Dynasty, (that of Mong Mao 568-1604 AD when its descendants ruled Hsenwi or Theinni in Burmese). Indeed the Shan Ahom resisted conquest by the Mughals who had conquered much of India before the British incursion.<ref>“DIALOGUE WITH A SHAN LEADER, H.R.H HSO KHAN PHA” . Tiger Yawnghwe or His Royal Highness Prince [[Hso Khan Pha]]; he is the eldest son of Sao Shwe Thaik, the former Saopha[Prince] of Yawnghwe[Nyaung-Shwe] and the first President of Burma after Burma's Independence from British colonial rule. Interview with Dr Tayza, Chief Editor of Burma Digest.</ref>
[https://web.archive.org/web/20070930035115/http://www.tayzathuria.org.uk/bd/2006/2/12/dialouge.htm]
Burmese translation of above interview
[https://web.archive.org/web/20070223104510/http://www.tayzathuria.org.uk/bd/2007/2/11/b/soab.htm]

The [[Muslim]] [[Pangal]] of [[Manipur]] devastated and were taken as slaves by the invading Burmese armies.<ref>[https://books.google.ca/books?id=RHmkHBTT_T0C&pg=PA199&lpg=PA199&dq=Pangals+Burmese+invasion&source=bl&ots=liRPcvwjpz&sig=Ba7SggK8oLaONxfgib1GF22XEsE&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiiqNz9qc3KAhXEnYMKHR2PAz0Q6AEIOTAF#v=onepage&q=Pangals%20Burmese%20invasion&f=false The Muslims of Manipur]</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist
|2}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last=Baruah
|first=S L
|year=1993
|title=The Last Days of Ahom Monarchy
|place=Delhi
|publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers
}}
* {{Citation
|last=Gait
|first=Edward A
|year=1906
|title=A History of Assam
|isbn=9780404168193
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w-6kr1IyHJkC
|place=Calcutta
}}
* {{cite book | last = Harvey| first = G. E.| title = History of Burma: From the Earliest Times to 10 March 1824 | publisher=Frank Cass & Co. Ltd | year = 1925| location = London}}
* {{cite book | last= Myint-U | first=Thant | title=The Making of Modern Burma | year=2001 | publisher=Cambridge University Press | isbn=978-0-521-79914-0}}
* {{cite book | last= Myint-U | first=Thant | title=The River of Lost Footsteps--Histories of Burma | year=2006 | publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux | isbn=978-0-374-16342-6}}
* {{cite book | last=Phayre | first=Lt. Gen. Sir Arthur P. | title=History of Burma | year=1967 | edition=2 | publisher=Susil Gupta | location=London}}
* {{cite book | last=Bhuyan | first=Dr.Surya Kumar | title=Tunkhungia Dynasty | location=Guwahati}}
* {{cite book | last=Barbaruah | first=Hiteswar | title=Ahomar Din | year=1926 | location=Guwahati}}
{{refend}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burmese Invasions Of Assam}}
[[Category:19th-century conflicts]]
[[Category:History of Assam]]
[[Category:Military history of Myanmar]]
[[Category:19th century in Burma]]
[[Category:First Anglo-Burmese War]]
[[Category:1810s in Asia]]
[[Category:1820s in Asia]]
[[Category:1810s in Burma]]
[[Category:1820s in Burma]]
[[Category:Military history of India]]
[[Category:1810s in India]]
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[[Category:1817 in Burma]]
[[Category:1825 in Burma]]
[[Category:1826 in Burma]]

Burmese invasions of Assam - Revision history

HughStoate90988: minor improve article as per guidelines per sources

>AccurateInformation2004: added extra information about Hemo Aideo