Lushai Expedition
The
For the British, the expedition was a success: the prisoners were freed and the hill tribes agreed to negotiate peace terms. The border region was to remain peaceful until 1888 when large-scale raiding was resumed and another punitive expedition was organised.
Prelude
After turning the Burmese out of
The first Kuki or Lushai raid mentioned as being committed in British governed Assam was in 1826. From that year to 1850 the local officers were unable to restrain the fierce attacks of the hillmen on the south. Raids and outrages were of yearly occurrence,[2] and on one occasion the Magistrate of Sylhet reported a series of massacres by "Kookies" in what was alleged to be British territory, in which 150 persons had been killed.[1]
In 1849 the Kuki attacks were so savage and numerous that Colonel Lister, then Commandant of the
In the cold weather of 1868–1869 the Lushais burnt a tea garden in
The next season Mr. Edgar, the
The first raid occurred in the Chittagong Hill Tracts on 31 December 1870, a little more than a day's journey from the Chima outpost. The raiding were about 200 strong. On 23 January 1871 the village of Ainerkhal, on the extreme west of the Cachar district, was burnt, 25 persons killed, and 37 taken prisoners. The same day the tea garden of Alexandrapore was destroyed by a party of the "How long" tribe under "Sanpoong" and "Benkuia", Mr. Winchester, a tea planter, being killed, and his child Mary, a girl of six years, carried off.[4] The rescue of this kidnapped little British girl became a major factor in the expedition that was to follow.[3]
A few hours after the attack on Winchester tea garden (plantation), the adjoining garden of Kutlicherra was attacked, but the Lushais raiders were driven off by two planters. The following day a second attack was made on Kutlicherra, when two Lushais were wounded.[4]
On 26 January the raiders surprised some sepoys and police in the Monierkhal garden, killed one sepoy, and wounded one sepoy and one policeman, and commenced an attack on the stockade and coolie lines. Reinforcements arriving they retired with a loss of 57 men killed and wounded. British loss being six killed and six wounded and one coolie missing. Simultaneously with the attack on Monierkhal a party raided the adjoining garden of Dhurmikhal, but did little damage.[4]
Emboldened by their successes the raiders penetrated as far as
Expedition
The Government of India now decided that an expedition should be made into the Lushai country during the ensuing cold weather. It was decided that the force should consist two columns, the right advancing from Chittagong and the left from Cachar. General Brownlow, C.B., commanded the former, with Captain Lewin, Superintendent of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, as Civil Officer, and General Bourchier, C.B., with Mr. Edgar, Deputy Commissioner, Cachar, as Civil Officer, was in charge of the left or Cachar column.[4]
In addition to these two columns, a contingent of Meiteis accompanied by Colonel James Nuttall, the Political Agent of Manipur, made a demonstration across the southern border to co-operate with General Bourchier's portion of the expedition.[4]
The entire political and military conduct of the expedition was placed in the hands of the Military Commanders, who were specially instructed that the object of the expedition was not one of pure retaliation, but that the surrender of the British subjects held in captivity should be insisted on, and that every endeavour should be made to establish friendly relations with the savage tribes and to convince them that they had nothing to gain and everything to lose by placing themselves in a hostile position towards the British Government.[6]
The Cachar column, which consisted of half a battery of Artillery, a company of Sappers, and 500 rifles, started on 15 December 1871. After encountering and overcoming considerable resistance and penetrating a very difficult country, General Bourchier destroyed the chief village of the offending tribes and imposed conditions of peace. Hostages were taken and a fine of arms and produce was levied. The column reached Cachar on its return on 10 March 1872.[6]
The Chittagong column of about the same force as that starting from Cachar advanced from Demagiri to deal with the Lyloos and Howlongs. Punishment was inflicted on these tribes and their full submission on suitable terms was secured. The restoration of all captives and an engagement to keep the peace in future were among the conditions on which the submission of the tribes was accepted. At the close of the expedition frontier posts were built to protect the border and bazaars were opened to encourage the Lushais to trade.[6]
Aftermath
Assam now enjoyed comparative peace until 1888-1889, when the hillmen raided into Chittagong, and Assam furnished a force of 400 police under the command of Mr. Daly to co-operate with General Tregear's column. Entering the hills from Cachar, the police, with a detached force of the Chittagong column, attacked and destroyed several villages which were implicated in the raids into Chittagong in 1888. When the troops retired at the close of the operations, they left two posts in the North Lushai hills—one at Aijal, the other at Changsil—and a Political Officer was appointed to administer the North Lushai Tract, with headquarters at
Notes
- ^ a b c d e Sausmarez & Tuck 1896, p. 14.
- ^ Sausmarez & Tuck 1896, p. 14 cites Mackenzie's North-Eastern Frontier of Bengal, Chapter XXI.
- ^ a b c d Low 1883, p. 110.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Sausmarez & Tuck 1896, p. 15.
- ^ Charles Low states two columns with 20 days of provisions; one column was under the command of Brigadier-General Nutthal and the other under consisting of the 7th Native Infantry under the command of Major Stephenson (Low 1883, p. 110)
- ^ a b c d Sausmarez & Tuck 1896, p. 16.
References
- Low, Charles Rathbone (1883), Major-General Sir Frederick S. Roberts, Bart., V. C., G. C. B., C. I. E., R. A., a Memoir, London: W. H. Allen and co., p. 110
- Attribution
- This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Sausmarez, Carey, Bertram; Tuck, Henry Newman (1896), The Chin Hills: a history of our people, Rangoon, Printed by the superintendent, government printing , Burma, pp. 12–16
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link). A note on page 16 states that: "This account is condensed from Mackenzie's North-Eastern Frontier of Bengal, pages 313–316."
Further reading
- Woodthorpe, Robert Gosset (1873), The Lushai expedition, 1871-1872, London: Hurst and Blackett