Ranjan Kumar Padmapati
(The writer can be reached at rkpadmapati@yahoo.co.in)
Assam can rightly be proud of two military geniuses, the ever valiant Lachit Borphukan and general Chilarai. Chilarai (1510-1571) was senior to Lachit Borphukan. Great historian Arnold Toynbee (1889-1975) ranked Chilarai as one of the world's three famous generals along with Chatrapati Shivaji and Napoleon Bonaparte. Though Chilarai was known by different names- Samar Singha, Sukladvaja, Chota Raja, Sangram Singha etc., he was popularly known as Chilarai. Many stories are woven around the origin of the title "Chilarai", and one of them which is worth mentioning is Sankardev's writing "More chari Chila Je Jhumpe rana maje, Eteka se Chilarai, Bole sobe Rajye". The English renderings of this go as "He jumps into the battle as the kite does on to its prey". Chilarai was not merely a warrior of repute, wrote Saravati Tika on Gitagovindam in Sanskrit which described Chilarai as a scholar. Chilarai and his brother king Narnarayan were sent to Varanasi. They stayed there for long twelve years, took training under the guidance of Guru Brahmananda Sannyasi in Warfare, Astrology, Tarka Sastra, Grammars, the Upanishads and the Vedas etc. Both returned as scholars.
During the reign of Naranarayan and Chilarai, the Koch power reached its zenith. The Koch kingdom expanded up to Karatoya. According to Abul Fazal, it covered Rangpur, part of Mymensing, Mithila in Bihar in the West and Lakhimpur in the East, lower Himalayas in the North to Chattagram in the South. Chilarai commanded an army of roughly six lakh soldiers. According to Akbarnama, Chilarai had an army of 4,000 cavalry, 200,000 infantry, 700 elephantry, and 1,000 war boats. Chilarai is known to have introduced the first naval warfare in the defence forces in India before Akbar. Chilarai launched the first Naval attack in the river Brahmaputra in the year 1562 AD during his second military campaign against the Ahoms. Napoleon commanded 4,00,000 soldiers during his military expedition against Russia 250 years later than Chilarai.
The Koch king attacked the Ahom kingdom in retaliation for the killing of three Koch princes – Kumar Dip Singha, Kumar Ram Chandra and Kumar Hemodhar – while the princes entered a disputed territory to take a holy dip in the Brahmakunda. The Ahom king took possession of Dip Singh's daughter Lilabati forcibly. King Naranarayan ordered Commander-in-Chief Chilarai to plan for an attack. Chilarai took six years for preparations. Engineering in-charge Gohai Kamal was entrusted with the job of construction of a roadway up to Lakhimpur, a road of 600 km for communication and excavating ponds at a roadside at distances of every half a day's march. Gohai Kamal completed the task within a year without the knowledge of the Ahom King in 1547 AD. Chilarai attacked the Ahom king twice, first in the year 1547 and was not successful. But in the year 1562-1563, the Koch attacked again. The fierce battle lasted for seven days. Chilarai's army chased the Ahom King Sukhampha to Nagaland with his nobles and dethroned him. The Koch army seized Gargaon for more than a year. After the defeat, the Ahom king signed a peace treaty and declared allegiance to Naranarayan. Naranarayan installed his brother Kamal Narayan as the Governor of the acquired territory.
Chilarai was a great warrior. On his return journey, he subdued the Kachari kingdom. He occupied Dimapur and then Maibong with only 20 cavalry soldiers highly trained in Guerrilla warfare. The king of Manipur also acknowledged the supremacy of the Koch power and the tribute was fixed at 20,000 silver motors, 3000 gold mohors and 10 elephants. He then subdued the Jaintia King who agreed to pay Chilarai 70 elephants and 10,000 silver mohors. He then invaded Tripura, killing king Bijoy Manikya, installed the prince of the deceased, fixing tribute of 10,000 silver mohors, 100 gold mohors, 30 horses, and then marched to Khasi hills and subdued the king. A treaty was signed to pay 15,000 silver mohors, 9,000 gold mohors, 50 horses, 30 elephants to the Koch. After signing a treaty of friendship with Akbar the great, he attacked Gaur Desha from the East and Moghul General Man Sing attacked from the West. The combined operation was successful. The eastern part was annexed with the Koch Kingdom and the western part went to the Moghuls. Thus Chilarai brought under control a vast territory under the Koch King as stated earlier, and was unchallengeable in Eastern India.
After the conquest of Gaur Desha when victory celebration was in the process Chilarai was infected suddenly by smallpox and died on the bank of the Ganges in 1571 AD. Historians compared the death of Chilarai with that of Alexander the Great on his homeward journey in Persia due to fever. Lachit Borphukan also died just after winning the decisive battle of Sairaighat in the year 1671 AD.
The Ahom King Suklenmung was intolerant to Sankardeva, propagating Neo Vaishnavism, in sharp contrast to the Koch King. The Ahoms sided with Brahmin priests. Sankardeva was completely shaken. He decided to leave the Ahom Kingdom with his followers, entered the Koch kingdom. Here too the Brahmin priests hatched a conspiracy against Sankardeva, telling Naranayan that Sankardva did not obey the doctrines of Hinduism. But Chilarai saved Sankardeva knowing his saintly soul, gave him shelter in his premises, otherwise the history would have taken a different course. The Assamese literature and culture flourished under the patronage of the Koch kings. Sankardeva completed most of his splendid works at Patbausi in Koch kingdom and then he shifted to Cochbehar at the instance of King Naranarayan. Chilarai, originally a Sakta, embraced Vaishnavism and accepted Sankardeva as his Guru. Naranarayan and Chilarai were staunch followers of secularism. They constructed the Kamakhya temple in the year 1565 though he embraced Ek Sarana dharma. Both patronized many temples of other faiths like Goddess Kali, Siva besides many Xatras. The prominent are Ramraikuthi at Charasal, Modhupur and Bheladanga Xatra. They were kind to animals. Ralph Fitch, a traveller, wrote, "They have hospitals for sheep, goats, dogs, cats, birds, and all living creatures when they are old and lame. They keep the animals until they die." Naranarayan and Chilarai patronized scholars, poets, musicians from different parts of India. The jewel amongst them was Sankardeva. The other notables were Ram Saraswati, Ananta Kandali, Bakul Kayasthya, just to name a few. King Naranarayan made only Sanskrit the court language. The court of Naranarayan is compared with that of Vikramaditya. Chilarai showed unshakable loyalty, exemplary affection, the strong bond of brotherhood and respect for Naranarayan, rare in history when sons and fathers engaged in killing each other for royal power. Even in the Ahom kingdom, an instance of patricide is known, the killing of Suhungmuhung by his son Suklenmung to ascend the throne. It is a matter of many regrets that Kochbehar, the centre of Assamese culture, was annexed with West Bengal on 1st January 1950 because of weak political representation. The residence of Chilarai- Boro Kot and Choto-Kot at Tufanganj, the dilapidated Gohai Kamal Road, the fort at Jaldhowa are some remnants that still can be seen, as important antiquity. They need preservation.