Kachari Kingdom
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The Kachari kingdom was a powerful and advanced kingdom in medieval Assam. The rulers belonged to the greater Bodo-Kachari ethnic group. The Kachari kingdom and others (Kamata, Chutiya), led by chieftains of indigenous tribes, developed in the wake of the Kamarupa kingdom. Remnant of the Kachari kingdom existed till the advent of the British, and this kingdom gave its name to two present districts in Assam: Cachar and North Cachar Hills.
The origin of the Kachari kingdom is not clear. Some historians speculate that they are the remnants of the Mlechchha dynasty of Kamarupa kingdom. By the 13th century the Kachari kingdom extended along southern Brahmaputra, from Dikhu to Kallang and included the valley of Dhansiri and present North Cachar Hills district. According to tradition, the Kachari settlements to the east of Dhansiri withdrew before the Ahom advance. The Chutiya kingdom existed further east and the Kamata kingdom to its west.
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[edit] Hostilities with Ahoms
The Ahoms settled into the tract between the Chutiya and the Kachari kingdoms that was inhabited by the Borahi and Matak peoples. The first clash with the Ahoms took place in 1490, in which the Ahoms were defeated. The Ahoms sued for peace, and an Ahom princess was offered to the Kachari king and the Kachari took control of the land beyond the Dhansiri. But the Ahoms were getting powerful and pushed the Kacharis back west. In 1526 the Kacharis defeated the Ahoms in a battle, but in the same year they were defeated in a second battle. In 1531 the Ahoms advanced up to Dimapur, the capital of the Kachari kingdom, removed Khunkhara the Kachari king and installed Detsung in his place. But in 1536 the Ahoms attacked the Kachari capital once again and sacked the city. The Kacharis abandoned Dimapur and retreated south to set up their new capital in Maibong.
[edit] At Maibong
At Maibong, the Kacharis came under Brahmin influence, and their genealogy was drawn from Bhima of the Pandavas, who married Hidimba and who had a son by the name of Ghatotkacha. The kingdom then came to be known as Heramba, and the rulers Herambeswar.
According to an account (Darrang Bansabali) Chilarai attacked the Kachari kingdom in the 16th century but did not consolidate the Koch rule. A small colony of Koch soldiers, who came to be known as Dehans, enjoyed special privileges in the Kachari kingdom. By the 17th century the Kachari rule extended into the plains of Cachar. A conflict with the Jaintia king over the region of Dimarua led to a battle and the defeat of the Jaintia king (Dhan Manik).
After the death of Dhan Manik, Satrudaman the Kachari king, installed Jasa Manik on the throne who is said to have manipulated events to bring the Kacharis into conflict with the Ahoms once again in 1618. Satrudaman, the most powerful Kachari king, ruled over Dimarua in Nagaon district, North Cachar, Dhansiri valley, plains of Cachar and parts of eastern Sylhet. After his conquest of Sylhet, he stuck coins in his name.
[edit] At Khaspur
The region of Khaspur was originally a part of the Tripura kingdom, which was taken over by Chilarai in the 16th century. The region was ruled by a tributary ruler, Kamalnarayana, the brother of Chilarai. After the decline of Koch power, Khaspur became independent. In the middle of the 18th century, the last of the Koch rulers died without an heir and the control of the kingdom went to the ruler of the Kachari kingdom. After the merger, the capital of the Kachari kingdom moved to Khaspur, near present-day Silchar.
[edit] British occupation
After Gobinda Chandra the British annexed the Kachari kingdom under the Doctrine of lapse. At the time of British annexation, the kingdom consisted of parts of Nagaon and Karbi Anglong; North Cachar, Cachar and the Jiri frontier of Manipur.
[edit] Rulers
At Dimapur
- Bicharpatipha
- Vikramadityapha
- Mahamanipha
- Manipha
- Ladapha
- Khorapha
- Khunkhorapha
- Detsungpha
At Maibong
- Nirbhay Narayan (1540-c1550)
- Durlabh Narayan or Harmesvar (c1550-1576)
- Megha Narayana (1576-1583)
- Satrrudaman (Pratap Narayan, Jasa Narayan) (1583-1613)
- Nar Narayan (1613-)
- Bhimdarpa Narayan (Bhimbal Konwar) (-1637)
- Indraballabh Narayan (1637-)
- Birdarpa Narayan (-1681)
- Garurdhwaj Narayan
- Makardhwaj
- Udayaditya
- Tamradhwaj Narayan (1699-1708)
- Queen Chandraprabha
- Suradarpa Narayan (-1730)
- Dharmadhwaj Narayan (Harischandra Narayan)
- Kirichandra Narayan (1735-1745)
- Gopichandra Narayan (1745-1757)
At Khaspur
[edit] References
- Gait, Edward A. A History of Assam, Calcutta 1906.
- Barpujari, S. K. History of the Dimasas (from the earliest times to 1896AD), Haflong, 1997.
