Treaties and Disputes

In 1826 when the Treaty of Yandabo required the King of Burma to relinquish all his claims on Assam and agreed, furthermore, to desist from any interference in the territory, which included the dependencies in the neighbouring states of Cachar and Jaintia. To fill the sudden vacuum left by the Burmese, the British stepped in. For their part, the British had had their eye on the area for some time. They had already had contact with the Jaintas on the northeast frontier in the 18th century. They were “overrun but not annexed” by the Burmese in 1774. Cachar would have some dealings with the British subsequently at the end of the 1700s and Arakan after its takeover by the Burmese Empire in 1784. However, there was no direct intervention by the British until 1792, when the Ahom King, Gurinath Singh, appealed to the British for help in quelling a local rebellion and for dispelling the lawless bands of marauders who were habitually raiding Assam from Bengal. The expedition, which was by Lord Cornwallis the same year, was sent “to set things right in Assam.” However, at this point, the British were still interested in non-interference, and as such, the expedition was recalled, and Assam was left to deal with its wars on its own.
The Burmese, however, were not filled with such noble sentiments, and in 1819, seeing the central authority in Assam waning, they marched in and conquered it for themselves. For the British, the Burmese were getting a little too close for comfort – this, with other incursions and insults, fanned the first Burmese War to life. It finally ended in 1826. As already mentioned, the Treaty of Yandabo effectively ousted the Burmese from Assam, and David Scott was appointed the first Agent to the Governor-General for the entire region, barring Sadiya and Mattak, which remained, at least for now, independent. For his part, Scott now had to “settle” a territory that spanned 400 miles and was populated by nearly 1 million people. He was an experienced Indian administrator and, in a short time, managed to set the foundations of future British rule in Assam. Not that this state of affairs was to last.
In 1832, Upper Assam (except Sadiya and Mattak) was handed to the Ahom prince Purandar Singh, who, as vassal king, took control but only under the rather watchful eye of Scott, who was now Commissioner of Assam. However, once again, the British, ever interested in just a little more territory, saw it as justifiable to usher in the end of the king and in 1838, they annexed Singh’s territory, and Assam became a “non-regulated” province of the Indian Empire. They then turned their sights on Mattak and Sadiya, which swiftly fell in 1842. Cachar had already been dealt with – the old king, who had the misfortune of dying without an heir, fell prey to the Doctrine of Lapse in 1832. Jaintia was allowed to keep their king but was finally annexed in 1835. Manipur, on the other hand, was restored to their king, and the British kept themselves out of it for the time being. The actual Province of Assam would not be created until 1874, and in 1905, Lord Curzon redrew the map, when he combined Eastern Bengal and Assam into one province, only to have his decision reversed in 1912 when Assam was once again restored as a territory. This constant drawing and redrawing would not end for another 10 years when Assam would be declared a Governor’s Province.
However, with this out of the way, we shall now revert to 1826.
In 1826, the Abors were not entirely unknown – they had claimed, since time immorable, the inalienable right to all the fish and, more importantly, to the gold that was to be found in the lands of the Miri peoples. These found themselves gradually displaced by the bolshy behaviour of the Abors and began their long and slow exodus from their own lands. They placed themselves under the protection of the old Assamese government who, for their part, refused to assist the Abors who insisted the Miris return. With their open quarrel with the Assam Government, it was not long before the Abors fell into the sights of the gentlemen of the East India Company, who, for their part, were eager to establish trading posts on the Dihang River. This would lead to numerous raids, squabbles and expeditions and by 1847, British incursions into territory the Abors said was theirs reached their climax. The Abors made their point by kidnapping several Miri gold washers and then engaged in negotiations with the British. Up to this point, the Abors had been friendly to the British to the point of assisting them in their various disagreements with other Assamese tribes.
Negotiations for the release of the Miris were unsuccessful, with the Abors stoutly insisting the gold was theirs. It was decided, therefore, that the 1st Assam Light Infantry under Captain Babbage and the political officer, Major Vetch, under the guise of freeing the Miris, teach the Abors a lesson.
On their expedition, they took with them 100 men of the 1st Assam Light Infantry, six regimental elephants, and 150 coolies but no camp equipment, as it was supposed it would be short, swift work. On the first day, one of the elephants slipped in the river and lost the rice meant for the sepoys leaving them eating the course rice meant for the elephants; on another, the entire troop spent a night without water on the top of a windy hill, having neglected to fill their skins at the last, and now far off the river. The Abors they met were hardly warlike. Although the village headmen came bearing presents, the 10 Miris and their submissions, the political agent was still not satisfied. The headmen asked Vetch and Babbage to leave; in their opinion, they had done their part, so the affair was over. Not so Vetch.
Realising Vetch was not budging and most likely not understanding his reason for refusing to leave (which was down to ridiculous stubbornness and the humiliation of having been treated courteously by men he considered beneath him), the Abors attacked the camp during the night and inflicted some casualties. In retaliation, the Vetch burned down their villages. He then forbade the Abors from leaving their territory and suspended all trade with them. As such, for the next 10 years, the Abors kept to themselves, and there was peace in the hills.

In 1858 however, things changed. ” Until now, the British had been keeping a policy of non-interference where the tribes were concerned but now they changed their minds for ” despite the Government’s peaceful attitude to the hill tribes of Assam and the North-East Frontier, open clashes could not be staved off for long, and in the long run the Government’s policy of non-interference had to be replaced by a ‘forward’ policy.”
Unfortunately, this came to a head for the Abors in 1858. Gradually pushed further out of their lands were being forced to share their territory with other tribes who were likewise facing the now nearly insurmountable presence of planters, traders, explorers, missionaries and officials of every capacity; the Abors reverted back to their “raiding habits.” The Abors did not restrict their raids to missions of plunder and conquest – they included the massacre of a Beeah village in their program, which was something the EICo could hardly overlook.