purnananda burhagohain was the prime minister of assam when the burmese army came with badanchandra.
purnananda burhagohain was the prime minister of assam when the burmese army came with badanchandra.
who was the prime minister of assam when the burmese army came with badanchandra?
purnananda burhagohain
bodawpaya's next target was assam, another kingdom to the west but much larger one than manipur. in 1816, the assamese governor of guwahati, badan chandra borphukan sought help from the burmese king in order to oust his political rival purnananda burhagohain, the prime minister. bodawpaya agreed, and in december 1816, sent a 16,000-strong force led by gen. maha minhla minkhaung to assam. yit was a junior commander. the burmese forces entered assam in january 1817 and defeated the assamese army at the battle of ghiladhari. a fresh assamese force was raised to defend the capital. the new assamese army made a stand at kathalbari near the assamese capital jorhat but was promptly defeated. king chandrakanta singha now agreed to become a tributary of burma, and gave many presents and ahom princess hemo aideo in marriage to the burmese king. a year later, the pro-burmese prime minister badan chandra borphukan was assassinated, and the ahom king chandrakanta singha was deposed by rival political faction led by ruchinath burhagohain. chandrakanta singha sought help from bodawpaya. yit was again called on to serve in november 1818 and in february 1819, the burmese forces invaded assam and reinstalled chandrakanta singha on the throne of assam. in both assamese campaigns, yit was a regimental commander, two ranks below the overall commander-in-chief. though a junior commander, yit proved his worth on the battlefield, and his input was valued by the senior commanders. after a successful campaign in assam, he was promoted to governor of ahlon-monywa in june 1819 (nayon 1181 me) by his lord the prince of sagaing who had just ascended to the burmese throne as king bagyidaw. on 3 november 1819 (2nd waning of tazaungmon 1181), yit was given the title of maha bandula by the king. it is a title by which he would be remembered.
maha bandula
in 1824 a.d. the first anglo-burmese war broke out. the burmese was utterly defeated and were expelled from assam, cachar and manipur. in february 1825 ce, burmese army in assam was completely defeated. the british surrounded rangpur the last stronghold of burmese in upper assam. the burmese commanders sent one buddhist priest named dharmadhar brahmachari, a native of ceylon, brought up in ava, to negotiate the terms for the surrender of rangpur. in exchange, the burmese commander requested british commander colonel richards, to allow them to withdraw from assam unmolested. the british commander colonel richards agreed to this proposal in order to avoid further bloodshed, allowing burmese army to return to burma. at that time jogeswar singha was residing in jorhat, while chandrakanta singha was at rangpur. the british commander fearing tension due to the presence of these two former kings, exiled jogeswar singha to jogighopa in present-day bongaigaon district, while chandrakanta singha was sent to guwahati.
jogeswar singha