Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa
Prince Sukladdhoj, alias Chilarai, is usually known as a great military general, an invincible warrior and a conqueror, but in fact, he was a versatile genius. A statesman of rare virtues, an able administrator, an adrift diplomat, a great patron of learning & the learned, an eminent scholar, an erudite litterateur, a dedicated public worker, a connoisseur of music, a great patron of ‘Sankardeva and Sankari Renaissance’, a promoter of Sanskrit, a committed secularist and a great ‘nation-builder’, Chilarai had the vision of a unified Eastern India. But today he is much forgotten in Assam, where he had contributed immensely.
Maharaj Naranarayana had so much faith in the loyalty and the capabilities of his most loved younger brother that he assigned the administration of the region known as ‘Koch Hajo’ on the eastern side of the Sankosh river to Chilarai, retaining the region on the western side, then extending to parts of Bengal under him. Yuvaraj Sukladdhaj was not only made the Commander-in-Chief of the combined armed forces but also made the Dewan (Prime Minister of the Koch Kingdom).
As the generalissimo of the Koch armed forces, comprising the Infantry, Cavalry, Elephantry and the Navy, Chilarai led a number of major expeditions against ‘Asama’ ruled by the Ahoms in 1546-47 and then in 1562-63. In the former campaigns, though initially the Ahoms faced a number of major reverses, and Chilarai’s forces seized Narayanpur, where a fort was also set up by him, the Koch forces suffered heavy losses at the battle of Pichala, due to communication problems, and had to retreat. The most illustrious aspect of this campaign was the construction of the famous ‘Gohain Kamal Road’, covering a distance of 350 miles (600 km) from Koch Behar to Narayanpur (Lakhimpur), by his younger brother, Prince Gohain Kamal, under the orders of Naranarayan-Chilarai.
The second expedition against ‘Asama’ was led by Chilarai, commanding a combined land force of 532,000 men and a strong naval contingent. According to the Akbar Nama, the fighting Koch forces comprised 4,000 cavalry, 200,000 infantry, 700 elephantry and 1,000 Bacharies, or war boats. As the warboats carried about 100 naval soldiers each, the naval forces were made up of about 100,000 men. Dr D. Nath has placed the total strength of all the forces under Chilarai to be around 600,000 men, inclusive of all supporting hands. What a stupendous task it must have been to build up such a massive combined force and to command it as the Generalissimo in those days, without the presently available means of transport, communication and other logistics! Even Napoleon the Great led a force of 400,000 men only in his European expeditions in the early 19th century, but Chilarai commanded a much bigger force more than two centuries earlier.
The Koch forces advanced unopposed through all the districts of Asama, marching over the Gohain Kamal Road, and got the spontaneous support of the Bhuyans, Bhutias, the Chutias and other tribes and even a Brahmin Bhuyan at Narayanpur. The Koch army captured Cinatoli and Habung (Lakhimpur district), where they set up military bases. The Koch navy defeated the Ahoms at Seola (Sala) and Makalong, then at Hantia. Dekhowmukh and Marangi province also fell. Next, the ‘Dehing fort’ under the Ahoms fell. Finally, the Ahoms were crushed on the banks of the Dehing; finding no other alternative to resist the invincible attacks by Chilarai’s forces, the Ahom king, Sukhampha (Khora Raja), deserted his capital with his ministers and key nobles and fled to Charaikhurung (the Naga Hills). Chilarai entered the Ahom capital, Gargaon, leading the Koch forces, with Naranarayana joining them at the van, with Queen Bhanumati. They stayed at Gargaon for three months, after which Naranarayan-Chilarai accepted the peace proposals from the Ahom king, and a treaty was signed.
Thereafter the Koch armed forces vacated Gargaon and started their homeward march towards the later part of 1563. During the return march, Chilarai invaded the Kachari kingdom and defeated the Kachari king, who declared his allegiance to the Koch king, presented many gifts and signed a friendship treaty. Next, Chilarai sent his envoys to the king of Manipur, who, fearing the dread of an attack by the famous Chilarai, declared his allegiance to Naranarayan, sent many presents and agreed to pay annual tributes. This was followed by Chilarai’s invasion of the Jaintia kingdom, whose Raja was killed in the battle by Chilarai. His son was made the king, who agreed to pay regular tribute.
Next, Chilarai invaded Tripura (Tippera), which then included the present Hailakandi district, part of Karimganj and part of Srihott (Sylhet). In the fierce battle that ensued, the king of Tripura lost his life. Great and magnanimous as he was, Chilarai installed his son on the throne and left Tripura on promise of payment of a tribute. After the conquest of Tripura, the king of Khairang (Khasi Hills), Virjavanta, declared submission to the Koches without fighting and agreed to pay an annual tribute. Then Chilarai launched an expedition against Sirihott (Sylhet), where a fierce battle took place and continued for three days. Finally, Chilarai jumped into the battlefield, with a sword in his hand like the kite, and killed many enemy soldiers, including the king. Having lost the battle, the brother of the king of Sirihott pleaded for peace with numerous presents, which was granted. On their return march, Chilarai’s forces invaded the small kingdom of Demorea and kept it under siege. Chilarai defeated the king, captured him and produced him before Naranarayana. On promise to pay a small tribute, the king was set at liberty.
After his military victories in the east and south, Chilarai returned to Guwahati towards the close of 1564. On his return march, he repaired and reconstructed all the ‘maths and mandirs’ that were found in damaged or dilapidated condition. On returning to Koch Behar, Chilarai had orders from Naranarayana to attack ‘Gaur Desa’ (Bengal). In the fierce battle that ensued, Chilarai lost when all his weapons were exhausted, his soldiers retreated and he was taken prisoner. Chilarai was given his freedom after six months, when he cured the mother of the ‘Patshah’, who was bitten by a poisonous snake. According to one tradition, the Patshah gave his daughter in marriage to Chilarai and also five ‘paraganas’ (districts) as her dowry. A few years later, on the signing of a treaty of friendship between Naranarayan and the emperor of Delhi, Akbar, Gaur Desa was invaded by Chilarai from the east and the Mughal forces from the west. This time, Gaur fell; the Sultan of Gaur fled the country, and as per the treaty, the country was divided between the two sides. The region on the east bank of the Ganges was annexed to the Koch kingdom, and on the west bank, it was annexed by the Mughals.
Tragically, however, as the grand victory celebrations were at their peak, along with the celebration of ‘Holi’, the great Chilarai had an attack of smallpox. After three to four days of suffering, Chilarai breathed his last on the holy day of ‘Doul Purnima’, in the month of Chaitra, 1571 A.D.
That Chilarai was the unifier of the many independent kingdoms of Eastern India in the 16th century can be concluded from the fact that Chilarai had never made any attempts to annex any of the conquered territories of the region, with the sole exception of Gaur Desa. He simply realised certain amounts as tributes from those kingdoms and allowed their respective monarchs to rule their kingdoms independently. Even after the fall of the Ahom king Sukhampha, Chilarai had not taken any hardened attitude to the Ahoms, which he could have easily taken with the massive support that he got from the people and the nobility of ‘Asama’. He considered his job to be over once he could avenge the tributary status of his father, Visva Simha, and fulfil his dream of vanquishing the Ahoms.
Chilarai and his brother, King Naranarayana, were great patrons of learning, art and literature. They invited scholars, poets, musicians, litterateurs, etc. from all over the subcontinent and honoured them by giving them the position of courtiers. The notable books written under their patronage are Prayag Ratnamala Grammar, Mahabharata Translation, Nal Damayanti, Usa Parinaya, Kulachal Bodh, Bokasur Bodh, Vyasa Sram, Anka, 10th Scanda Bhagavata, Satir Charitra and Prithur Charitra, based on 4th Scandha Bhagawat. Apart from these, Sankardeva made his unique gifts – Ram Vijay Nat, Krishna Gunamala, Sita Swayambara, Borgeets, Bhatimas, Padas, etc.
Sukladdvaja was a noted Sanskrit scholar and a literary giant. The famous commentary (in Sanskrit) on Gita Govindam of Jaideva, Saravati Tika, written by Chilarai himself, bears living testimony to the superb scholastic qualities of Chilarai.
Chilarai was also a great connoisseur of music. One day, Bhubaneswari (Kamal Priya), his wife later, who was the daughter of Ram Rai and cousin of Sankardeva, was singing a ‘bor-git’ (noble psalm)—“Mana meri Ram caranehi lagu”, composed by Sankardeva—to the accompaniment of a sarangi (sarenda) in an exceedingly melodious tune. Chilarai happened to listen to it and was totally overtaken. He tied the nuptial knot with her, with blessings of Sankardeva. The saint eulogised the qualities of Chilarai as ‘Parama rasiko guru Raja Sukladdvaja’. At their request, Sankardeva also got the book “Janma Rahasya” composed through Madhabdeva.
Chilarai also made a lasting contribution to the reconstruction of the Kamakhya temple that was once destroyed either by Kalapahar, the iconoclast from Gaur Desa, or ravaged due to wear and tear over time. The ‘Kamakhya pith’ (Yoni) was rediscovered by the Koch king, Visva Simha, on the Nilachala hill in his early days of kingship. He constructed a new shrine, got the ‘deity’ installed, and initiated her regular worship, which was long abandoned. It was probably in 1564, when Chilarai and Naranarayana visited Nilachala to pay homage to the goddess but were mortified to see the shrine in a totally dilapidated condition. They decided to reconstruct the shrine and, on return to the capital, entrusted the work to ‘Megha Mugdam’, the chief engineer. Chilarai gave all the required financial and logistic support to him and spent 15,000 gold coins, 425,000 silver coins and valuables of other kinds that he got through his military exploits for the work. In the record time of one year, the temple was reconstructed on its old edifice, and the Yoni’ symbol of the Goddess was ceremoniously installed. Chilarai made adequate provisions for the maintenance of the temple and daily worship of the goddess.
That Chilarai was a great secularist is established by the fact that he rebuilt the ‘Kamakhya’ temple when he was already a great devotee of Lord Krishna and was initiated into ‘eka saran nam dharma’ by Sankardeva. Chilarai also set up a number of ‘Xatras’ (monasteries) for the followers of Vaishnavism, the most known being the ‘Bhelaguri Satra’. For the use of the followers of ‘Saivism’, Chilarai constructed the ‘Boro Mohadeo’ temple at Borkodali village and the ‘Chota Mohadeo’ temple at Nak-katigash village, near Jalpaiguri, where people offer their prayers even now.
Chilarai had also taken up a number of public welfare activities within the Koch kingdom. A number of veterinary hospitals were set up, trees planted, roads constructed, large water tanks dug, learning encouraged, ‘Tol’ (schools) established, scholarships granted to the wise and the scholarly people, and even the war prisoners were granted land and other productive assets to earn a decent living and settle down. To relieve the people of Hajo and the neighbouring area from the flood havoc caused by a bend of the Brahmaputra, also called Hajo Suti (Hajo Stream), near Hajo (opposite Pandu), the bend was cut by engaging the troops under Chilarai’s order. The course of the river was straightened, thereby diverting the excess floodwater to the main course. This newly cut stream, known as ‘Kharga Srota’ (Sword Stream), is a lasting contribution of Chilarai.
It would be abundantly clear from the facts, as stated here, that Sukladvaja, alias ‘Chilarai’, represented the ‘ethos’ and ‘cultural heritage’ of Bharatavarsha. He was one of the iconic figures not only of Assam but of India as a whole. It appears that the people of Assam are generally unaware of the extraordinary virtues and the versatility of Chilarai and of the lasting contributions he had made for the enrichment of Assamese language, literature and culture. Otherwise, Chilarai would not have been treated as only a great hero of the Koches. On the occasion of the 516th birthday of ‘Chilarai’, it would be in the fitness of things if everyone of us paid our respectful homage to this great son of Bharatavarsha and took our solemn pledge to emulate him. The state government should put up life-size statues of Chilarai and Naranarayan at the Kamakhya temple entry gate as well as in the main centres of Guwahati.