Treaty of Ghilajharighat (1663) : Assam History Study Materials & Notes
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Treaty of Ghilajharighat of 1663
Mughal’s relations with Assam began in the reign of Jahangir. Islam Khan, the Mughal subedar of Bengal, invaded and annexed Kamrup or Koch Hajo, the western part of Assam, in 1613 from its Koch ruler Parikshit Narayan. The annexation of Kamrup led to a series of battles between the Mughals and the Ahom Kings of Assam. The authority of the Mughals was never fully established in Kamrup. The Ahom, particularly under the Ahom king Pratap Singha, time and again tried to expel the Mughals from Kamrup. The Ahom-Mughal contest for mastery over Kamrup dragged on with periodic interval till the end of the 17th century, when Aurangzeb sent Mir Jumla, the Mughal governor of Bengal, in 1661 to occupy Assam. Mir Jumla, after capturing Kamrup, defeated the Ahoms and captured the Ahom capital of Gargaon.
Then, the Treaty of Ghilajharighat was signed between the Ahoms and the Mughal forces led by Mir Jumla on January 23, 1663, at Tipam on the Buri Dihing. The treaty brought Mir Jumla’s occupation of the Ahom capital, Garhgaon, to an end and Ahom King Jayadhwaj Singha became a tributary of the Mughal Emperor. He agreed to pay a huge war indemnity, the cessation of all territory west of the Bharali on the north bank on the state of ‘Dimarua’, Beltola west of the Kallong on the south bank of the Brahmaputra. After the treaty, Mir Jumla and his army left Assam.
Main conditions of the treaty were
- Jayadhwaj Singha was to send a daughter, six-year-old Romoni (Nangsen) Gabhoru, to the Imperial harem. Later, she was married as Rahmat Banu Begum to Muhammad Azam Shah, the son of Aurangzeb in 1668.
- Twenty thousand tolasof gold, six times this quantity of silver and forty elephants to be made over at once.
- Three hundred thousand tolasof silver and ninety elephants to be supplied within twelve months.
- Six sons of the chief nobles to be made over as hostages pending compliance with the last mentioned condition.
- Twenty elephants to be supplied annually.
- The country west of the Bhareli river on the north bank of the Brahmaputra and of the Kalang river on the south to be ceded to the Emperor of Delhi.
- All prisoners and the family of the Baduli Phukan to be given up. Baduli Phukan, who was the Neog Phukan and commander-in-chief of the Ahom forces had defected to the Mughal side in September, 1662 along with many followers.
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