3.7 Jungle Fever/Maisma Country
There was great difficulty in providing
supplies for the troops at this time, and as there was no urgency for their
services, Captain Urquhart's detachment was directed to return to Assam, making a detour by Ramree.
At the same time, Major White was ordered, with a small party, to open communication with Gowahatty, by the direct route via Jeeran, which had been stockaded and blocked up by the Cassyas.
At the same time, Major White was ordered, with a small party, to open communication with Gowahatty, by the direct route via Jeeran, which had been stockaded and blocked up by the Cassyas.
The party encountered little resistance, who
invariably retreated on being fired upon. However, the natural and artificial
obstacles were such, that had the Cassyas
mustered a proper spirit, the detachment would have inevitably lost. The
country between Nongkhlao and Assam was extremely
difficult of access, being mountainous and covered with the densest jungle, and
affording positions capable of being defended by a few determined men against
an army.
The roads were planted with sharp bamboo
stakes, called Panjhies or Ponjees, and the most difficult passes
were obstructed with trees and stockaded. Fortunately Scott had carried up a body
of prisoners from the jail to act as pioneers, and by their aid, he managed to
extricate the detachment. The detachment under Captain Urquhart and Lieutenant
Dawes affected its detour without any loss, but the sickness which prevailed in
his detachment on its return, was a stark reminder of the noxious climate of
these jungles in the hot season. Of 80 sepoys, there were not more than two or
three who did not go to hospital, and the two European officers suffered most
severely from sickness.
The Cassya resistance fell short of British
expectations. The advantage the British possessed in the use of firearms overwhelmed
their natural courage, and they candidly confessed, that they could not fight,
whilst such an unusual noise stunned their ears.
Scott displayed sound judgment in the maintenance
of British positions. At this time the troops were decimated by sickness due to
the miasma of the noxious jungles they had passed through in coming up from Assam. There was the additional difficulty of procuring
supplies in the hills. These issues affected the troops to such an extent that
the British could barely maintain their posts on the Assam
side.
At this time there were hundreds of Shyans (the original Burmese invaders of
Assam), who had been taken prisoners during the First
Anglo Burmese war. They feared for their lives and did not want to return to
their own country. They were hardy men, accustomed to withstand hardship, and did
not require carriage, cattle, or coolies,
for carrying provisions. These men were native to the air of the dreaded jungles.
Displaying resourcefulness, Scott deployed about 100 of them as soldiers. This
ensured that the British were able to keep up their communication in such an unhealthy
tract of country - the intervening jungles between Assam and
the Cassya Hills.
They took possession of Nongkhlao on 2 May
1829, having met little resistance throughout the campaign[1].
Tirot Sing was forced to run about from village to village, seldom sleeping
twice in the same place, and in some danger of being killed or taken by his own
people. His people were heartily sick of fighting, and very anxious to get out
of the scrape into which he has brought them.
Tirot Sing’s actions came as a complete
surprise to Scott. He regretted that Tirot Sing did not try it before Scott and
Beadon had left Nongkhlao. Scott was confident, from what he had since seen of
Cassya tactics, that with their fowling pieces[2]
alone, and without the aid of the 15 sepoys
who accompanied Scott to Churra, they could have defeated Tirot’s gang, and
burnt every village in the country.
“More arrant cowards, after all their boasting, he never saw, nor a
country in which the bow and arrow were so entirely useless, when opposed to
fire arms”.
The only places in which they could fight were
holes under the rocks, from one of which Captain Lister unfortunately got
rather badly wounded on 1 May 1829. A barbed arrow passed through his thigh and
narrowly missed the femoral artery. After this campaign, the British were loath
to hear about the military boasts of the Cassyas. Despite the lesson taught to
the Cassyas, a long time ago, on the plains (of Sylhet), they still made the mistake of thinking that they
were invincible in the hills. In reality, as compared with the plains, the odds
were five to one in favour of the British. This was largely due to the open
nature of the country and favourable climate. Scott’s detachment consisted of
about 200 men. Since 12 April 1829, they have been out working hard, and much
exposed to the rain. Consequently, there were 18 sick, of whom 5 had sore feet,
2 fevers, and 3 bowel complaints.
Almost the
whole country was now behind Tirot and preparing for defence. Muken Singh,
Syiem of Mawsmai was actively trying to secure alliances from the southern
Sative States. Valuable support was secured from the people of Sohbar, Wahlong,
Pamsanngut, Mawdon, Shella, Dwara Nongtyrnem and Mawsmai. In the past decades,
the Company’s relationship with the southern Native States had not been good,
and they threw solid support behind Tirot. Tirot and Bor Manick made an Agreement
in which the former accepted to defend against the Company from the south
(Sylhet) while the latter was to defend the northern areas (Kamrup).
All Native
States located centrally, such as Maram and Mawsynram put themselves on the
side of Tirot, whereas the northern Native States, such as Rambrai and Myriaw,
took active steps against the Company. Tirot and his supporters traversed the
length and breadth of the country and invited Sirdars, Basans, and Lyngdohs
to join them. Amongst the more prominent Syiems
who supported the cause were those from Mawsynram, Byrung, Bhowal, Rambrai, and
Myriaw. Khasi States that remained neutral were Khyrim, Langrin, Nongspung and
Nongstoin. Except for Duwan Singh, the Syiem of Cherra, who was a trusted ally
of the Company, the neutral States remained observers and later on sought to
arbitrate and bring to an end to the warfare.
Although some old records refer to a
'confederacy of Khasi states', in reality this could not have amounted to much.
Only a small number of the 25 chieftainships were in the uprising throughout.
Principal among them were Nongkhlaw, Myriaw, Rambrai, Mawsmai, Mawmluh (itself
a tributary village of the Nongkhlaw Syiemship)
and Maharam, though the brunt of the conflict would appear to have been borne
by Nongkhlaw and Rambrai, actively assisted by Bor Manik, the Chief of the
Shillong Kingdom. Two of the more important chiefs mentioned in British
records, Sing Manik of Khyrim (actually still a part of the Kingdom of
Shillong), and Dewan Sing of Cherra had no part in the hostilities.
Considering
the above 7 Khasi States, their total population could hardly have been more
than 20,000. In 1853 the population was about 24,005 out of the total Khasi
population of approximately 82,400. According to A. J. Moffatt Mills[3]
the combined population of the Khyrim and Cherra alone was much more (32,635 in
1853).
News of the
tragic event finally reached the Company headquarters at Fort William,
Calcutta. The Governor General (Lord William Bentinck, 4 July 1828 to 20 March
1835) as the President-in-Council ordered for the immediate suppression and the
capture of Tirot. In a letter dated 26 June 1829 from the Chief Secretary
addressed to Scott, the former authorised Scott to suppress the Cassyas. It was
desired that the conquest of the Cassya Hills should be followed by more
expansion of the British influence and that more transport facilities be
explored. More lenient treatment would be given to their allies like the Kala Rajah of Nongspung and Singh Manick
of Khyrim.
Strong reinforcements
were brought to Cherrapunji and operations commenced immediately. Captain
Lister had already secured accommodation at the Cherra Court. Scott and Lister
promptly captured Mawsmai and Mawmluh, both allys of Nongkhlaw. The Syiem of Cherra sent some of his men to
accompany the force to Mawmluh and Mawsmai. At Mawmluh, the Cassyas were forced
down the ridge and shot to death. Mawmluh
and Laitkynsew were both foiled in their attempt to repulse the British. And Tirot
who visited Mawmluh made a narrow escape. Next the force stormed Mawsmai and
the Syiem was forced to flee.
To the
south, many villages made attacks on the Company. The British force stormed
them and stockades were levelled to the ground. The Shella Wahdadarship made a desperate stand, but important strongholds were
besieged. In September 1829, the four Wahdadars
of Shella promised to pay Rs.4,000 as tribute to the Company.
Wahlong
made an independent stand and the Syiem
went down fighting. In October, Mawdon surrendered. A fiery battle raged around
Sohbar where the marks of stockades erected during the battle are still seen
today. Dwara Nongtyrmen resisted the troops by building a stockade but the
troops managed to dismantle it.
The
occupation of Khasi Hills really started on 12 September 1829 (augmented by a subsequent one in
October 1830) with the Agreement
between Dewan Singh, Syiem of Sohra,
with the knowledge and consent of his Dorbar
of Myntris and elders and Scott. At
the height of these battles, the Syiem
of Cherra, executed an Agreement for a sanitarium. He surrendered Saitsohpen,
Lower Cherra, to the Company and obtained in return a plot of about 50 acres of
land in the Panduah territory (Sylhet District).
The
occupation of Saitsohpen was highly gratifying to the Company which had been
making attempts to find a base to launch operations in the hills. Because of
its proximity to Sylhet, this proved a very suitable place for the
establishment of a base from which to pursue operations against the hostile
Khasis, especially as the syiem was friendly to the British. The ceded piece of land was "for erecting Government edifices and for
gentlemen to build houses on". At Cherrapunji, Scott built for himself a bungalow on the
plateau.
Scott undertook to make the road
passable for Tonjons (an open
chair, with a hood, carried on men's shoulders) if not horses, by means of a party of Assamese
convicts. With the aid of proper bearers, he did not think that it would be a difficult
task. However, the bearers from the plains would not do, unless they were
previously broken in to hill work. Scott had no doubt that the Cassyas
themselves, would soon learn to carry a double-poled Tonjon, if not on their shoulders, but slung in their own way, over
the head.
By 2 September 1829, Captain Lister had gone
back to Sylhet, after taking several stockades towards Cheyla (Shella). He
hoped that they would come to terms, when they saw the futility of resistance,
without it being necessary to resort to extreme force[4].
In this respect the British were disappointed. After talks and correspondence
with the Cassyas for three months, it became necessary to dislodge them, which
was done with the loss of a few men wounded by Ponjees, and one by an arrow.
According to Scott, the Cassyas were, without
exception, the worst hands at fighting that he had to deal with. They made no
serious attempts at defence, although he acknowledged that they were entrenched
in such a way as to be almost unassailable against the Company’s present means,
as long as they continued to remain under cover. Their most formidable weapon was the Ponjee,
by which a great number of men had been wounded. However, this was nothing
compared to the damage inflicted by the Burmese Ponjees.
In November 1829, the surrender of the
villages of Nongskhen, Sohbar and Nongjrong was secured which was formally
embodied in a Treaty. Only a few areas in the south had yet to be pacified.
Scott made
some attempts to negotiate with Muken, the
Syiem of Mawsmai, but failed. Muken was invited to a Peace Treaty where
Duwan announced the honest intention of the Company to restore him at Mawsmai
with presents and lavish grants of money. Muken was nearly trapped, but urged on
by his people, refused the offer and escaped to the jungles. During the last
few years of the conflict, the Company captured him and he became a pensioner.
A feature
of the rebellion was the united stand of the southern States, such as the Syiem of Byrong. It was due mostly to
the suspension of trade with Sylhet that forced their hand. With their
suppression, the military station at Cherrapunji now had full liberty to carry
out operations elsewhere. Troops of the Company were despatched and reinforced
from time to time from Sylhet to Cherra.
Since April
1829 the fighting at Nongkhlaw was more vigorous and violent than elsewhere.
The Company authorities resolved to lay siege to Nongkhlaw and bring Tirot to
his knees. Scott first tried peaceful means with Tirot. The Company would
remain content with simply the confirmation of the Treaty of 1826 and proper
measures were taken to safeguard its terms and provisions. Scott's agents had
worked actively to secure it and extensive contacts with the Syiems were made. But Tirot refused to
accept their offer.
Captain Lister
led a strong force to Nongkhlaw which became the main theatre of operations. At
Nongkhlaw the Cassyas rearmed and fresh operations were launched. All able bodied
men came forward and even women joined the national militia. Many Cassya men
were given to handle a two handed sword and a big shield. Some of them armed
themselves with homemade guns. Archers in their thousands got ready to operate
unseen from behind the masses of rocks and volunteers from all over the country
came to help Tirot. Before the end of April 1829, Lister approached Nongkhlaw,
on his way capturing a number of villages.
Even though
the Company had taken steps to suspend trade between the hills and plains, the
Nongkhlaw people still managed to bring food through other devious means. When Captain
Lister arrived, the road at Nongkhlaw was blocked by a heavy Cassya resistance,
first at Mairang and then at Nongrmai. Tirot, commanding in the field, received
a severe wound. Similary, on 1 May, Captain Lister received a slight injury by
an arrow, but both recovered soon.
Cassya strongholds
and strategic points were levelled by firing of the troops. The Cassyas
resorted to archery and hundreds of poisoned, and fire bearing arrows rained
from all directions. The British position was strengthened by the arrival of
Vetch with his corps (the 43rd Assam Light Infantry) from Gowahatty. According
to a report, Vetch had already embarked on a scheme to operate against the Cassyas
from Kamrup side since April and on hearing the news of the conspiracy, he
marched with 40 men from Gowahatty on 8 April 1829. The next day they halted at
Jirang and came in conflict with a Cassya party commanded by a relative of Tirot.
Vetch
sacked and destroyed all villages in that area.
“The village being
situated on a rocky eminence, surrounded by a jungle in which the enemy had
taken refuge; to secure our position, it became necessary to set fire to houses
skirting - but being filled, it extended to the whole village, and soon
presented a scene strangely contrasted-looking upwards, a lofty pillar of fire
rose from the deserted village, and beyond -it dense column of smoke towered up
to the highest heaven, presenting an object of great sublimity - a strange
Bacchanalian scene.”
Vetch
returned to the plains and restored order, as there was great alarm in the
country, and equipped his force from other military headquarters. He again
ascended the hills with more reinforcements and on arriving at Nongkhlaw on 3
May 1829, he joined Captain Lister. Vetch was accompanied by Captain Urquhart
with two companies of the 54th about 80 strong. The battle also shifted to
Mylliem which fell before the close of May.
Another important incident recorded at this
time was the death of Dr. Beadon, an attendant of Scott who received severe injuries
from an arrow on 20 May 1829. He was treated by Dr. Furnell but no relief came,
and after some days of torture, he died on 26 May 1829. As of 25 May 1829, Dr.
Beadon still continued in a dangerous state[5].
Dr. Furnell laid open the wound on 25 May 1829, but although he got firm hold
of the barb with a forcep, it was found impossible to extract it, or to do more
than move it back about half an inch, which might have been of some use in removing pressure from the nerves. Scott
remonstrated repeatedly with Dr. Beadon on exposing himself to danger, but he
was enraged at the cruelty of the Nongkhlao people, and bent upon revenge (see
Ostrich Hill section).
Scott had
little or no hope of the recovery of Dr. Beadon, who received a most severe
wound on 20 May 1829 from an arrow, which had penetrated the nose, leaving the
barb somewhere above the roof of the mouth[6].
He immediately lost the use of the left arm and leg and complained of such
intense pain in the head, that Scott did not think he could survive until the
doctor arrived. Even then he did not know what could be done to relieve him, as
the barb appeared to be out of the reach of any instrument, and buried amongst
bones.
Another factor that doomed the stand against
the British from the start was the total lack of firearms. The Khasis went to
war armed only with swords, shields, bows and arrows. Dr. Beadon was actually
mortally wounded by an arrow during a clash at the initial stage between a
party of soldiers and the Khasis. Moreover, the Khasis were untrained in the
type of warfare in which they soon found themselves engaged. They quickly found
out that it was impossible to engage in open battle a determined enemy who
could kill from a distance and accordingly they resorted to guerrilla activity
which dragged on for about four years. Having failed in their open warfare, Tirot,
Bor Manick and other leaders resorted to guerrilla warfare which was to prolong
the war. The Syiems left Nongkhlaw,
shifting their base of operation to another part of the interior from where
they exerted pressure on the Company.
Tirot's
party shifted to a cave near the Diengiei peak still known as the cave of Tirot.
The cave is said to have connected to the Kynshi river in the Nongkhlaw State
by a deep tunnel. It was located in the heart of Mylliem in Bor Manick’s domain.
Through the tunnel, communications were kept with Nongkhlaw. Tirot conducted
operations almost continuously from this cave until his capitulation.
With their
departure, the atmosphere of Nongkhlaw became a little calm. Scott had already
announced a British annexation of Nongkhlaw before the arrival of Vetch from
Kamrup. While the Nongkhlaw situation was more peaceful, the tumult of war
spread to other parts of the Cassya interior. Bor Manick and Tirot had
organised a stronger force and the scenes of battles shifted to places beyond
Nongkhlaw.
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