A Sketch of Assam: With some account of the Hill Tribes

by Major John Butler

“7th. We will adhere to the terms of this agreement, and never depart from them. This agreement shall be binding upon our brothers, sons, nephews and relatives in such way as the Agent to the Governor-General may deem proper. We have executed this agreement in the presence of many. Written at Suddeah, 5th May, 1826, A.D.”

The Singphoo country remained undisturbed until the year 1830, when the invasion of Wakim Koomjoon, from the province of Hookong, on the Burmese side, took place, and was promptly repelled by Captain Neufville. On this occasion, the Luttora and Tengapanee Singphoos took part with the invader, and the Beesa Gaum with the British authorities. The assistance of the Beesa Gaum does not appear to have been of a very active nature, but his conduct was nevertheless approved by the Political Agent, and rewarded by Government. He was, however, shortly afterwards dismissed from the situation of Sunzatee, and Zalim Sing, a Soobadar of the Assam Light Infantry, who had greatly distinguished himself under Captain Neufville, was appointed to the office. Bijee Nath Sing, a Soobadar of the Assam Light Infantry, succeeded him in 1839.

In 1835, the attack of the Duffa Gaum upon the Beesa took place. This compelled the British Government to interfere for his protection, and to avenge the massacre of its subjects; but although the attacking party came from Hookong, the contest was in reality between the Khakoo Singphoos, under the Luttoora chief (who espoused the Duffa’s cause), and the Now Dehing and Booree Dehing Singphoos, on the side of the Beesa; for the Duffa only brought fifty muskets with him and one hundred followers, the remainder of his force being collected within the British boundary.

The feud between the two rival chieftains, the Duffa and the Beesa, arose in 1823 A.D., two years before the assumption of the sovereignty of Assam by the British Government. A Singphoo chief of rank, named Likhee Khandoo, who had lately come over from Hookong, had proposed to the Beesa Gaum that the Singphoos, in conjunction, should attack the Bursenaputty, or chief of the Muttucks. The Beesa chief replied that he would willingly join provided the Duffa Gaum was of the party; the latter was applied to, but refused to engage in the enterprise; nevertheless the attack was made by the Singphoos, but was repulsed with severe loss to them, the Muttucks having received secret information which enabled them to prepare to receive the assailants. The prior intelligence of the attack which the Bursenaputty had received, was ascribed, whether justly or unjustly, to the Duffa chief’s agency. Accordingly, in a spirit of revenge, the remaining Singphoos attacked his house, wounded his wife (who died from the effects of her wounds), and killed some of his people. It is not certain that the Beesa chief was present at this outrage, but as the party went from his house, there can be little doubt of his connivance at the transaction. After this the Duffa chief withdrew into the district of Hookong, under Burmese control; and although repeatedly invited by the British authorities to return and resume his territory, he never could be prevailed on to do so. Nor did he ever make application to obtain redress for the injuries he had sustained from the Beesa chief prior to the conquest of Assam by the British Government, and it was evidently never his intention to apply. Indeed, it would have been incompatible with Singphoo notions of honour that a chieftain should have obtained redress in this manner without retaliating upon his enemy. With this latter view, ever since his retreat from Assam, he had been gradually labouring to extend his influence amongst the Singphoos, across both the Burmese and Assam sides of the boundary line; and possessing the advantage of birth, superior connections, and a reputation for liberality, he at length succeeded in establishing an ascendancy paramount to that of the Beesa chief: which had latterly declined, owing to his connection with the British Government. The Beesa chief, and those dependent upon him, had been compelled to give up the Assamese who returned from slavery in Burmah—a measure extremely repugnant to the Singphoos, dependant as they were upon the Assamese for the means of subsistence.

Matters stood in this position up to July 1835, when the Duffa Gaum, having obtained decided influence, planned an expedition into the Beesa’s territory, and appearing there unexpectedly, surprised and plundered his village, murdered his wife, his son’s wife, and ninety of his people: thus retaliating in a far greater degree the injury he had sustained. On hearing of this outrage, Lieutenant Charlton ordered out a company, and instructed the Soobadar to inform the Duffa Gaum that he must forthwith quit the Assam boundary, and that, on reaching the frontier, any complaint he had to prefer against the Beesa chief would be promptly attended to. The Duffa chief refusing to comply with the mandate, Lieutenant Charlton was obliged to employ force against him; but the troops under Lieutenant Charlton’s command being insufficient for the purpose, three months afterwards (in November 1835) the political agent in person moved to his assistance with two hundred and fifty men of the Assam Light Infantry.

The Duffa Gaum, anticipating an attack, had taken up a strong position in the stockades on the Menaboom hills. Prior to resorting to hostilities, every exertion was made to induce the chief to come to terms, and a three days’ truce was granted for this purpose. The Khamtee chiefs and the Bursenaputtee of Muttuck, who accompanied the political agent as auxiliaries on this occasion, were required to escort the Duffa Gaum to the camp of the Political Agent as a security that his person would be respected, and that he would be permitted to return unmolested should no satisfactory result follow the meeting. The Duffa Gaum, however, being still apprehensive of treachery, could not be prevailed upon to attend the conference, until the Political Agent consented to meet him at a spot one hundred and fifty yards distant from his fort, with an escort of only a havildar and twelve soldiers. The escort having been scrupulously counted, the chief at last came out with a similar number of armed followers. His demeanour was most abject: he and his whole escort sunk down upon their knees, and taking a handful of the earth, he kissed it and said that the Company was Lord and Master thereof. He then proceeded to speak of the injuries he had sustained from the Beesa Gaum. In reply, he was told that he had no reason to complain of the British Government, as he had never represented the conduct of the Beesa chief to any of the functionaries, and that it could not be expected that the Government should take cognizance of acts which had occurred in 1823, prior to its assumption of the sovereignty of Assam. The injuries which the British Government had sustained from him were then recapitulated: the murder of its subjects, the plunder of their property, and the Duffa Gaum’s stubborn persistence in retaining his position in the face of repeated injunctions that he should withdraw from the territory within the Assam boundary. It was further brought to his recollection that the British Government had repeatedly offered him repossession of his territory, provided he came in a peaceable manner, but that it was incompatible with its dignity to allow him to attempt to extort by force that which had been given spontaneously. He was then required, First, to make good, by an annual instalment in money, elephants’ teeth, or gold dust, the loss of 8000 rupees that our merchants had sustained by his treacherous attack on Beesa: furnishing security, or a hostage, for the fulfilment of his engagement; and, Secondly, to dismiss the auxiliary Singphoos whom he had brought from the Burmese territory: and as a security for their not returning he was to give up their arms. The Duffa Gaum agreed to both these propositions, apparently in the most joyful manner, and promised faithfully to come in the following morning; but the next day he sent a letter into camp referring entirely to his ancient dispute with the Beesa chief, and making no allusion whatever to the terms proposed to him. Upon this, the British force took up a position within five hundred yards of his stockade; but the Duffa Gaum’s agent immediately came out and said, that if the Political Agent would advance alone to a place within one hundred and fifty yards of the fort, the chief would come out and accompany him to camp. The Political Agent complied with the request, remained at the appointed spot half an hour at considerable personal risk, and called upon the Duffa Gaum to fulfil to his promise. The answer given was, that the Duffa Gaum had no confidence in the sincerity of the Political Agent, as Wakutchangnang had sent him a flint, powder and ball, the evening before: which was equivalent to an intimation that his intentions were warlike whilst proposing peace. The Agent urged in the strongest manner that no such message had been sent; but finding the Duffa Gaum immovable, hostilities were reluctantly resorted to. A signal was given to the battery, and the fire commenced; the stockade was carried, and the Duffa chief fled beyond the frontier.

Not the slightest doubt was entertained of the individual desire of the Duffa chief for peace; but the Khamtee chiefs, being irritated by certain proposed innovations in 1834—such as taking a census and taxing them—were the first, it is believed, to call in the Duffa chief, with a view of exciting troubles and obstructing the maturity of our plans; and thus was the negotiation marred.

In the year 1838 public tranquillity was again disturbed by a feud between the Peshee and Let chiefs, which compelled the British Government to interfere and punish the former: who, contrary to his agreement, persisted in attacking the latter. The Luttora chief likewise violated his compact, by giving aid to the Peshee chief, and was driven from the Company’s territory.

Though the Tengapanee Singphoos did not arrive in time to join in a body with the Khamtee chiefs, in the attack made on the post of Suddeah in January 1839, their disaffection was apparent in their unprovoked attack upon, and plunder of, the villages in the Saikwah district, when they carried off many Dooaneahs. In consequence of this outrage, a detachment of troops visited in November 1839, the principal villages of Inshaw, Dobom, Inban, Luttora, Koomkie, and Tang Sang Tang; situated at the foot of the Mishmee hills, between the Kerempanee north, and Mena Boom hills south, in the vicinity of the Tengapanee, which takes its rise in the Mena Boom hills south. On this occasion the whole of the chiefs were assembled, and the heinousness of their late conduct explained: fines were imposed in proportion to their means, and their submission and pledges required to an extent never before obtained, besides the restitution of most of the Dooaneahs carried away from Saikwah. The confederacy between the Singphoos and Kamtees was broken up, and the expulsion of the Deerack Tawah Gohain effected, with the loss of his village and a quantity of grain.

In November 1841, considerable alarm pervaded the north-east frontier, owing to a report that the Tippum Rajah, aided by the Burmese and Singphoos from both sides of the border, meditated an incursion into Assam. To remove this impression, a tour was made by the Political Agent with a company of the Assam Light Infantry, a body of Golundaz, and two three pounders carried on elephants, through the greater portion of the Singphoo territory. The route pursued was from Saikwah up the Burrampooter river to the Tengapanee; and on passing the villages of Kinglong, Dohing Koomkee, the principal chiefs, Neesaka of Jusha, Ong of Luttora, Labing of Dobom, Tang Sang Tang, Koomong of Koomkee, and Samnong, son of the Wakhet chief, paid their respects. From thence the party proceeded up the bed of the Tengapanee, by the site of the former village of Luttora, on to Naing and Meerappanee, and commenced the ascent over the Mena Boom hills: a most trying undertaking for elephants, as they had to travel along a narrow ridge in some places only a few paces wide, and entirely composed of loose stones; the sides frequently presenting dangerous precipices. It was in descending this ridge that the laden elephants encountered the greatest difficulty; yet they managed to get down without the necessity of dismounting the guns, and reached Beesa and Ningroo in perfect safety. The Singphoos thus learned the folly of trusting to their stockades in their fastnesses, when guns could be brought against them by moderate exertion and ingenuity. It was hoped that this tour would also tend to repress the feuds so constantly arising amongst themselves; seeing that justice could be administered even in retreats the most secluded and difficult of access. But this expectation was not realized; for in the year 1842 the Tippum Rajah (brother of Jegessur Sing, the last rajah of Assam, said to be now governor of Hookong and Mogong) sent the Beesa chief six pounds of needles, half of which were broken, to be distributed by him amongst the Singphoos: a token or signal of alliance and preparation for war. This intimation was followed up in January 1843 by an attack on a party consisting of one Jemadar, one Havildar, one Naick, and twenty Sipahees located in a small stockade at Beesa. Some previous altercation had occurred between the Jemadar and the Beesa chief regarding the repair of the stockade, which not having been effected, the Jemadar had contemptuously called the Beesa chief an old cow, and in return vengeance was vowed in intelligible terms. After holding out for some days, three Sipahees being killed and three wounded in the defence, the Jemadar was unfortunately induced to surrender himself and party prisoners of war; the treacherous Singphoos having assured him that the posts of Ningroo and Koojoo had fallen into their hands, and our troops been totally defeated. Trusting to their mercy and honour, he caused his men to cease firing; and oaths were freely taken in support of promises of good and honourable treatment; but the instant the Singphoos gained admittance into the stockade, the Jemadar and the whole party were disarmed and bound. The next morning the Jemadar and Havildar were led out by the Singphoos and tied up to a tree, and fired at; after this they were hewn to pieces with a short sword, on the same spot where one of the Singphoos had been shot by the Jemadar when in possession of the stockade. Nine of the Sipahees were sold into slavery, some to Hookong and Burkhamtee. Thus signally did the Singphoos gratify their revenge, at the commencement of the irruption or attempt to break through the line of outposts and lay waste the whole country.