->Floyd23 at 11:24, 30 December 2021

2021-12-30T11:24:39Z

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{{Short description|XVI century ruler in South Asia}}
{{EngvarB|date=March 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name = Biswa Singha
| title =
| image =
| caption =
| succession =
| spouse =
| spouse-type =
| coronation = 1515
| reign = 1515–1540
| dynasty = [[Koch dynasty]]
| predecessor = None
| successor = [[Nara Narayan]]
| issue = [[Nara Narayan]], [[Chilarai]]
| father = Hariya Mandal
}}
{{Assam History}}
'''Biswa Singha''' (1515—1540) was the progenitor king of the [[Koch dynasty]] of the [[Kamata kingdom]]. Bisu<ref>"The original name of Bishwa Singha was Bisu..{{harvcol|Nath|1989|p=16}}</ref> was born to a [[Mech people|Mech]] father and a [[Koch people|Koch]] mother<ref>"He [Hajo, a Koch leader] had two daughters, Hira and Jira of whom Hira was married to Hariya, a member of the "impure tribe" called Mech. Of them was born Bisu...it becomes clear that Biswa Singha's father was a Mech and mother was a Koch and both the tribes were "rude" and "impure", hence non-Aryan or non-Hinduised." {{harvcol|Nath|1989|p=17}}</ref> in the present-day [[Kokrajhar district]], Assam who after being Hinduised acquired the name Biswa Singha.<ref>"(T)he Koches were adapted to tribal ways of living at the time and Bisu's family members largely cultivated cottons on the hills. However when he acquired power to control the surrounding situation, the Brahmanas as pointed out by Gait, soon found him out and Hinduised him and his family, and called him Biswa Singha"{{harvcol|Gogoi|2002|p=18}}</ref> He was able to unify different [[Bodo-Kachari people|Bodo-Kachari]] tribal groups<ref>"Bisu organised the different Bodo tribes of the region under his banner and launched a career of war and conquest and made the koches a power to be reckoned with.."{{harvcol|Nath|1989|p=16}}</ref> against the [[Baro-Bhuyan]]s of [[Assam]] and establish a kingdom the remnant of which still exists today.

==Establishment of the Koch dynasty==
After break-up of the [[Kamarupa kingdom]] in the 12th century, its territories were divided among small kingdoms, local chiefs and landlords. To the very east emerged the [[Chutiya kingdom|Chutia]], [[Ahom kingdom|Ahom]] and the [[Kachari kingdom|Kachari]] kingdoms.<ref>{{Harvcol|Nath|1989|pp=19}}</ref> To their west was the region of the Baro-Bhuyans that formed the buffer between the eastern kingdoms and the [[Kamata kingdom]]. In 1498, [[Alauddin Hussain Shah]] the [[Bengal Sultanate|Sultan of Bengal]] attacked [[Nilambar of Kamata|Nilambar]], the king of Kamata, and occupied it. He left the region in the hands of his son Daniyal, who was attacked and defeated by a confederation of Bhuyan landlords led by Harup Narayan. The Bhuyans succeeded in removing the conquerors, but they failed to create a kingdom and instead maintained their fiefdoms.

In that political vacuum, Biswa Singha managed to unify other tribal groups and establish the Koch dynasty in the seat of the erstwhile Kamata kingdom.

===Origin of Biswa Singha===
Biswa Singha's father was Hariya Mech alias Hariya Mandal. Hariya Mandal married Hira and Jira, the daughters of Koch Hajo, a Koch chief, and formed an alliance between the Koch tribe and other tribal groups. Bisu, as Biswa Singha was called earlier, was born to Hariya Mandal and Hira. Bisu is suspected to have participated in the Bhuyan campaigns against Daniyal,<ref>{{Harvcol|Nath|1989|pp=22–23}}</ref> when he acquired his military skills.

===Campaign against the Bhuyans===
Bisu began his campaign around 1509<ref>{{Harvcol|Nath|1989|pp=28–29}}</ref> from his seat at Chikana and successfully managed to unify the Mech, Koch, [[Garo people|Garo]] and other tribal groups of Darrang, Karaibari, Atiabari, Kamtabari and Balrampur.<ref>{{Harvcol|Nath|1989|pp=23–24}}</ref> The Bhuyan chiefs he defeated during his campaign were the Bhuyans of Ouguri, Kusum Bhuyan, Dighala Bhuyan, Kalia Bhuyan, the Bhuyan of Jhargaon, Kabilash Bhuyan, the Bhuyans of Karnapur, Phulaguri, and [[Bijni]] and finally the Bhuyan of Pandunath (Pandu at [[Guwahati]]). His campaign against the Karnapur Bhuyan was particularly difficult, and he could defeat him only with a stratagem during [[Bihu]].<ref>{{Harvcol|Nath|1989|pp=25}}</ref> His campaign caused problems for other adjoining Bhuyans, like those from Banduka and Sajalagram.

===At Kamatapur===
Having defeated the Bhuyans, Bisu now moved his seat of power from Chikhwna to [[Kamatapur]], a few miles southeast of the present [[Cooch Behar]] town, and declared himself the ruler of [[Kamata kingdom]]. Brahman priest created a legend of Bisu being born as the son of [[Lord Shiva|Shiva]] to give [[Legitimacy (political)|legitimacy]] to his rule<ref>"It is common to believe Biswa Singha's origin as son of Siva was nothing but creation of the Brahmans...The Brahmans needed royal patronage and the king wanted legitimacy which could be obtained through the universal religion to teach the people to be obedient, patient and submissive"{{harv|Sheikh|2012|p=250}}</ref> and here he assumed the Hindu name Biswa Singha. This happened in 1515, which is taken as the beginning of the rule of the Koch dynasty in Kamata.<ref>{{Harvcol|Nath|1989|pp=28}}</ref> He began consolidating his power with a well thought out administrative system. He appointed his brother Sisu (Sisya Singha) as the ''yuvaraj'', the descendants of who became the [[Raikut]] kings of Jalpaiguri. He created positions for twelve ministers called ''Karji''s and recruited them from the twelve important families of his tribesmen.{{sfn|Nath|1989|p=29}} Two of the most important ''Karji''s and the ''yuvaraj'' (Raikot) formed a cabinet. A commander of a small standing army, the ''senapati'', was created. After a census, he created a gradation of officers who controlled the population. Individual able-bodied males were called Paiks, with commanders ''Thakuria'' (over 20 Paiks), ''Saikia'' (over 100 Paiks), ''Hazari'' (over 1000 Paiks), ''Omra'' (over 3000 Paiks) and ''Nawab'' (over 66,000 Paiks).<ref>{{Harvcol|Nath|1989|pp=29–32}}</ref> The only Brahmin appointee was the royal priest (''raj purohit'').<ref>"One such Brahman was Swarbabhuma who was appointed as ''Rajapurahita'' or royal priest and also adviser to the king"{{harv|Sheikh|2012|p=251}}</ref>

Biswa Singha formed alliances with various chiefs and kings around his kingdom via marriages. He had eighteen wives (from [[Nepal]], [[Gaur]], Kamarupa, Benaras, Mithila and [[Kashmir]]) who bore him eighteen sons. These sons were given state duties. Nara Singha (son of Ratnakanti of Nepal) was in charge of the territory conquered from the king of [[Bhutan]]. Malladev (later [[Nara Narayana]], son of Hemaprabha of Gaur) was the heir apparent; Sukladhwaj (later [[Chilarai]], son of Padmawati of Gaur), Gosain Kamal (son of Chandrakanti of Kamarupa) was in charge of public works, etc.

===Buffer state===
Even though the restructuring of the Kamata kingdom was done in all earnest, the new administration was still tenuous. The Gaur rulers still had ambitions to conquer the Brahmaputra valley which brought them into conflict with the newly expanded [[Ahom kingdom]]. One such invasion was by Turbak, who attacked the Ahoms in 1532–1533.,<ref>{{Harvcol|Nath|1989|pp=33}}</ref> most likely passing through the Kamata kingdom.<ref>{{Harvcol|Nath|1989|pp=34–35}}</ref> Turbak was summarily defeated, and the remnant of his army was pursued to the Karatoya river, the western boundary of the Kamata kingdom, by the Ahom general Tonkham Borgohain. At the end of this expedition, Tonkham Borgohain restored Biswa Singha at his seat of power at Kamata Kingdom to act as a buffer between the Ahom kingdom and the Gaur ambitions in Brahmaputra valley.

An ambitious person, Biswa Singha could not bear the status of vassalage to the Ahom kingdom, and made an abortive attempt to invade the Ahom kingdom in about 1537. Due to logistical shortcomings, he had to abandon his ambitions, and instead paid a visit to the Ahom court, where he agreed to pay an annual tribute.<ref>{{Harvcol|Nath|1989|pp=33–34}}</ref> This was unbearable to him, and his deathbed injunction to his successors were to remove this vassalage.

He invaded the kingdoms of Soumarpith, [[Bijni]], Bidyagram and Bijaypur and was victorious. Next he attacked [[Bhutan]] and after victory made a treaty with Bhutan. Biswa Singha also acquired major portions of [[Gaur, West Bengal|Gour]], then ruled by Hossien Shah. On the request of his mother he shifted his capital from the Chikna Mountains to Hingulabas in the plains. During his reign Muslim invaders, including Turuk Khan and Nasrat Shah, the king of Gour attacked his kingdom numerous times but after facing defeat they were forced to retreat. His bravery and courage helped the [[Kamata kingdom|Koch-Kamata Kingdom]] hold a strong base.

He sent his two son Nara Narayan & Sukladhaj to a Sankrist scholar named Brahmananda in [[Varanasi]] to introduce them to the ideals of [[Dvija|higher caste Hindus]].{{sfn|Sheikh|2012|p=251}} He later brought several priests from places like [[Kanauj]], [[Mithila (ancient)|Mithila]], [[Varanasi|Benaras]] and [[Puri]] to perform Brahminical rites that led to the sankristisation of the Koch royal family from tribalism to [[Shaivism|Saivaism]].<ref>"He brought some learned Brahmanas from Mithila, Benaras, Kanauj, and Srikshetra (Puri) to his kingdom in order to perform the Brahminical rituals....all these factors went a long way in effecting a rapid transformation of Koch Behar royal family from tribalism to Saivaism and Vaisnavism"{{harv|Sheikh|2012|p=251}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist|2}}

==References==
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite book |last = Nath| first = D| title = History of the Koch Kingdom: 1515–1615| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ECxUOSudNGYC&dq=history+of+koch+kingdom|publisher=Mittal Publications| place=Delhi|year=1989}}
*{{cite book |last=Gogoi |first=Jahnavi |title=Agrarian System of Medieval Assam |publisher=Concept Publishing Company |place=New Delhi |year=2002}}
*{{Cite journal|last=Sheikh|first=Amiruzzaman|title=The 16th century Koch kingdom: Evolving patterns of sanskritisation|date=2012|journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume= 73|pages=249–254|jstor=44156212|issn=2249-1937}}

{{refend}}

{{S-start}}
{{s-hou|[[Koch dynasty]]}}
{{s-reg}}
{{s-bef|before=none}}
{{s-ttl|title=Kamateshwar}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Nara Narayan]]}}
{{S-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singha, Biswa}}
[[Category:History of Bengal]]
[[Category:Kingdoms of Assam]]
[[Category:Hindu monarchs]]
[[Category:People from Assam]]

Biswa Singha - Revision history

->Floyd23 at 11:24, 30 December 2021