 He claimed to be the Mahdi (promised messiah), twelfth imam, promising to free the peasants from oppression.By making a deal with the Nagas and Kukis who were allied with the Kachari Raja, he was able to convince them to join his side.Reza's force proceeded to defeat all the barqandaz (subalterns) sent by the Raja of the Kachari Kingdom, and expelled the King, Raja Krishnachandra Narayan at Khaspur to the nearby hills.