The British Indian Army Lushai Expedition of 1871 to 1872 was a punitive incursion under the command of Generals Brownlow and Bourchier. The objectives of the expedition were to rescue British subjects who had been captured by the Lushais in raids into Assam—including a six-year-old girl called Mary Winchester—and to convince the hill tribes of the region that they had nothing to gain and everything to lose by placing themselves in a hostile position towards the British Government.
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 On the southern borders of Assam lay the Lushais, who were a section of the Kukis living in the hills that constitute present-day Mizoram. For many years, long before the British occupation, the inhabitants of the plains towards the south had lived in dread of the Lushais, who used to come down and attack the villages, massacring the inhabitants, taking their heads, and plundering and burning their houses.
The first 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, cites Mackenzie's North-Eastern Frontier of Bengal, Chapter XXI. 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.
Lister Expedition
In 1849 the Lushai raids were so savage and numerous that Colonel Frederick George Lister, then Commandant of the Sylhet Light Infantry and Agent for the Khasia Hills, was sent in the cold weather of 1849–1850 to punish the tribes. His expedition was only partially successful, for he found the country so impracticable that he considered it unwise to proceed further than the village of Mulla which was about over the border. Mulla contained 800 houses and which he surprised and destroyed without opposition, all the male inhabitants being absent on a marauding excursion. The expedition also did manage to free about 400 captives, but Lister was of the opinion that "this robber tribe will not cease to infest the frontier until they shall be most servilely dealt with". This expedition, however, had the effect of keeping the British Assam southern border tolerably free from disturbance up to the beginning of 1862, when raiding recommenced.
Lushai Expedition (1869)
In the cold weather of 1868–1869 the Lushais burnt a tea garden in Cachar and attacked Monierkhal, and an expedition was organized to follow the marauders, to punish the tribes concerned, and to recover the captives. This expedition was in command of Colonel James Nuttall and consisted of three columns,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 but the monsoon rains coming on, the want of provisions and lateness of the season caused the expedition to fail in its principal objects. No tribes were punished and no captives were recovered.
Background The next season Mr. Edgar, the Deputy Commissioner of Cachar, accompanied by Major MacDonald of the Survey Department and a police escort, made strenuous efforts to get into touch with the Lushais. Accompanied by a small escort he visited them across the border and left nothing undone to conciliate and make friends with them; his good intentions and friendly attitude, however, met with little success, for 1870-1871 saw a series of Lushai raids on a more extensively organized scale and of a more determined character than any previous incursions of the kind.
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 "Howlong" tribe under "Sanpoong" (Savunga) and "Bengkhuia" (Bengkhuaia). The Alexandrapur tea estate was owned by George Seller. George Seller invited James Winchester to spend Christmas at the tea estate. James Winchester was camping in Alexandarapur with his six year old daughter Mary Winchester from December 1869. On 23 January 1870, James had breakfast with his host outside his bungalow when a raiding party of the Howlong chief Bengkhuia descended on him and his estate. A number of labourers were killed and James Winchester was speared from behind in an attempt to escape. George Seller managed to escape unharmed. Winchester's child Mary, a girl of six years, was carried off as a captive among many others. The event became widely spread and publicised on the matter of two European planters being murdered and the kidnapping of a little girl of European blood. The rescue of this kidnapped little British girl became a major factor in the expedition that was to follow.
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.
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.
Emboldened by their successes the raiders penetrated as far as Nundigram and on 27 January killed 11 and carried off three persons. The following morning they attacked a rear-guard of eight men, 4th Native Infantry, soon after they had left Nundigram; these fought most gallantly, only one man escaping. The Lushais lost 25 men on this occasion. On 23 February the Jhalnacherra tea garden was attacked by a party who killed and wounded seven coolies. Meanwhile, the Hill Tipperah and the Chittagong Hill Tracts also suffered, though not so severely.
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. Colonel Frederick Sleigh Roberts was assigned senior staff officer of the force. He was placed in charge of despatching the stores and equipment of the columns until he joined the Cachar column under Bourchier on 3 November 1871. He would cooperate with Colonel Nuthall at Silchar to explore the route over the Burdban range before settling on a different entry point into the Lushai Hills.
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.
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. Lord Napier arranged for two officers with supreme authority in the military operations to offset the mistakes of single authority expeditions. he also instituted a system of integrating civil officers as advisors and channels of communications with the tribes who would answer to the column commanders.
The country's difficulty and terrain made the columns need to be lightly equipped. No tents were permitted to be taken, and items such as baggage and followers were to be reduced to a minimum.
Cachar Column Operations
The Cachar column, which consisted of half a battery of Artillery, a company of Sappers, and 500 rifles, started on 15 December 1871. By the end of November, the column began to enter the Lushai Hills and was joined by John Edgar from Silchar on 6 December 1871. Colonel Frederick Sleigh Roberts joined General Bourchier on the 16th of November at the house of the civil officer and Deputy Commissioner of Cachar John Ware Edgar. The column left Cachar on 23 November 1871.
The force operated on the rationale that Lushai chiefs holding British subjects in captivity should surrender and release the captives. From the beginning the force was made to construct their own roads. Roberts described the road construction work continuing to the end of January, with 110 miles being made. Roberts relied on friendly Lushai tribesmen to act as guides for the column as the Lushai Hills were virtually unmapped. The roads were widened to six to eight feet wide for elephants to be able to traverse. Another issue was the dense forestry, which took up much time and labour to clear and cut down. The beginning of the expedition was difficult as cholera broke out among the Nepalese coolies on their way to join the column. As a result, 251 of 840 died with many desertions. In the end, only 347 coolies managed to join the column as a result. The elephants supplied for the expedition also were not fit as only 33 of the 157 provided were useful for the column. As a result of transportation difficulties, the carrying load and supplies were reduced to 40 pounds for officers and 24 pounds for soldiers, which Roberts described as difficult to keep within limit. Blankets and waterproof sheets were labelled essential as the terrain would be exposed to heights of low temperatures, and dew from the dense forestry would be described as heavy rain.