The Moamoria rebellion (1769–1805) was an 18th-century uprising in Ahom kingdom of present-day Assam that began as power struggle between the Moamorias (Mataks), the adherents of the Vaishnavite Mayamara Satra, and the Ahom kings."The first popular challenge to the Ahom monarchy was organized by the disciples of the Moamara satra." This uprising spread widely to other sections of Ahom kingdom"As the rebellion was in progress, all who wanted to free themselves from the exploitative government joined hands with the Moamorias making it a mass uprising and creating a crisis for the Ahom monarchy" including disgruntled elements of the Ahom aristocracy"The leaders of the Moamoriyas then resolved to form an alliance with three prominent exiled Ahom princes—Mohan Mala Gohain, the third son of Rudra Singha, and Charu Singha and Ratneswar, both sons of Rajeswar Singha." leading to two periods in which the Ahom king lost control of the capital. Retaking the capital was accompanied by a massacre of subjects, leading to a steep depopulation of large tracts. The Ahom king failed to retake the entire kingdom; a portion in the north-east, Bengmara (modern-day Tinsukia district), became known as Matak Rajya ruled by a newly created office called Borsenapati, became a tribute-paying but virtually independent territory.
The Ahom kingdom emerged from the rebellion much weakened. About half of the population of the kingdom perished and the economy was totally destroyed. The weakened Ahom kingdom fell to a Burmese invasion which ultimately led to colonization by the British.
Background
This rebellion was primarily among the Moamoria Paiks against the Ahom kingdom. The Moamorias were the followers of the Moamaria sattra that was predominantly Morans (the mainstay of the Ahom militia), but there were also the Chutias (expert archers and matchlockmen), Sonowal Kacharis (gold-washers), professional castes such as Hiras (potters), Tantis (weavers), Kaibartas (fishermen), Bania (artisans) and Ahom nobles and officers. The rising popularity of Moamoria sattra had siphoned off the power of orthodox Hindu groups and Shakti sect which supported the Ahom kings. The Satras provided refuge for those seeking to escape the Paik system under which, any able-bodied person who was not a Brahmin or a noble could be used for labour, services or conscripted into the army. The Ahom kingdom was entering a crisis, as the Paik system on which the state was based was unable to adapt to the changing economy and the emerging social classes. The rise of the Satras was one of the reason for the leakage of manpower from the Paik system, and as a result the Ahom kingdom and the Satras came into increasing conflict. Mayamara satra belonged to the non-conformist Kala-samhati sect that competed against the royalist satras belonging to other sects. The Ahom kingdom watched the growth of this Satra with discomfort and heaped insult and repression on the followers of this satra. The Moamoria Rebellion started during the reign of Swargadeo Sunyeophaa and ended during the reign of Swargadeo Suklingphaa. It continued up to 36 years, from 1769 to 1805.
In the course of time, the Moamoria guru compromised with the Ahom rulers and the rebels drew inspiration from magico-religious cult of night worshipers, a mixture of tribal fertility rites and Tantrism.
First phase On September 15, 1769, Raghav Moran (Ragha Neog), a leading disciple of the Satra and a leader of Morans, was flogged by Ahom officials for not supplying the required number of elephants. This acted as the transgressing point and blessed by their spiritual head, the Morans raised the standard of revolt after collecting an army of about seven thousand. By November, the Morans led by Ragha Neog, Naharkhora Saikia and his two wives Radha and Rukmini, promised the throne to three exiled Ahom princes (Mohanmala Gohain, and two sons of Suremphaa) and with their help liberated the territory north of the Burhidihing river. An early royal response was unsuccessful. The Ahom Buranji records that, after the Moamarias had made the son of the Moamara Mahanta the ruler of Namruk, the king ordered a Chutia Hazarika to arrest the rebels and produce them before him; the Moamarias captured and killed the officer. The Tungkhungia Buranji records a further unsuccessful expedition under Bez Bara, the Bara of the Tekelas, who was sent with a force including one thousand Bhitarual Chutia Kanris and one thousand musketeers attached to the Borbarua. The force was defeated; its Hazarikas were killed and Bez Bara escaped to report that a larger army was required."Tekela Bara, the Ahom officer who was sent to fight against the Moamarias, in the engagement that followed the royalist suffered a defeat and he himself made a hairbreadth escape. He further reported that the two female leaders were possed of supernatural powers by whose strength they were catching the bullets in their wrappers" On November 21, 1769, the rebels occupied the Ahom capital and placed Ramakanta, son of Naharkhora, on the throne. All high offices were thrown open only to Morans and the princes poisoned by deceit. The Ahom king, Sunyeophaa, was captured and kept a prisoner. All high officers were executed and three common Morans became the three great Gohains. Ragh Neog became the Borbarua, a kanri paik became the Borphukan and two common Ahoms became the Gohains at Sadiya and Marangi.
The rebel leaders went to pay homage to the abbot of Mayamara Satra, which was the source of unity among the rebels. Heavy penalty was imposed on the royalist satras, also they were forced to pay homage to the Mayamara abbot.
The rebels, inexperienced in statecraft, failed to usher in a new order. Instead, they began imitating the unpopular practices of their erstwhile leaders. Raghav Moran seized the wives and daughters of many nobles and kept them in his harem. As some of the rebel officers took on the airs of the old nobility, many rebels were dissatisfied and, led by Govinda Gaoburha, left the capital and reached Sagunmuri.
After four months of rebel regime, there came the spring festival (bohag bihu). The peasant soldiers who were voluntarily guarding the capital left their posts to visit their villages, so the defense of the capital got weakened and thus vulnerable. Taking advantage of this, some of the old nobility in disguise killed Ragha on April 14, 1770, with the help of Kuranganayani, an Ahom queen from Manipur, and retook the capital. In the purge that followed, Ramakanta the rebel king, Naharkhora, Radha, Rukmini, Astabhujdev, the Moamara sattradhikar and his son Saptabhuj were all executed.
After the capital was recaptured the remaining rebel forces in Sagunmuri under Govinda Gaoburha attempted to overthrow the king again. This movement too had the signs of a popular uprising. The main weapons used by the rebels were bamboo staves and clubs, and their slogan was praja-oi joroiroa, chekani-oi sopai dhora ("Ye oppressed subjects, hold your stave close"), and this uprising was called chekani kubua ron ("The war of the staves"). In one of the engagements, the Borpatrogohain and the Dhekial Phukan were killed, and the Borgohain made a hair breath escape. The rebels advanced toward Rangpur and they were met at Thowra by the forces of the Burhagohain, the new Borpatrogohain, the Borgohain and a detachment cavalry from the Manipur king. In this battle the rebels were defeated; Govinda Gaoburha was captured and executed. The remaining people were then separated and settled at different places. One of the last holdouts, Nomal, was finally captured and executed.
Second phase On the night of April 1782, in the festive atmosphere of bohag Bihu, the Moamarias launched a surprise attack on the royal convoy of newly crowned king Suhitpangphaa by mixing with the royal attendants and torch bearers and launched their quest for killing the king under the veil of darkness. The Moamarias mistook the king to have been killed but actually he somehow managed to escape the assault and took shelter in a hideout. The rebels then advanced towards Rangpur, overcame the resistance offered by the city-guards and occupied it. In the meantime, a strong body of royalist under the head of Ghanashyam Burhagohain wrested the rebels out of Rangpur. This was followed by an indiscriminate massacre of the Moamorias, rejecting any kind of conciliatory policy." It was revealed that sons of deposed Barbarua Sivaram had taken part in the rebellion. The king ordered the extraction of eyes of the four sons" Several thousands of people along with innocents were killed and many escaped and sought refuge in the hills and neighbouring Kingdoms, this had an adverse effect on the production system and the economy was on the verge of collapse. The massacres were finally suspended at the request of the courtiers.
Third phase The scattered Moamarias now reorganized themselves with Dafala-Bahatias" One of the main discontented elements of Ahom kingdom was the Bahatia Paiks who had several grievances against the Ahom government. In order to protect the plains areas of Assam from the neighboring hill–tribe's frequent raids, the Ahom government introduced a kind of political bribe through the settlement of a class of Assamese Paiks called bahatia in foothill areas who were obliged to give their service to the respective hill–tribes so assigned. Moreover, the Bahatia had to serve the Ahom army whenever called for. The Bahatia who were assigned to the Dafla tribe (Nishis) were called Dafla Bahatia. The Dafla Bahatia along with all their counterparts allyed themselves with the Mataks." under one Harihar and broke in rebellion in 1786 from the foot of Daphla Hills. They defeated the royalist force at Garaimari bil and other places. Then freed Pitambar, a relation to the previous Mayamara abbot and persuaded to join them, who did it after allegedly performing a Brahmayagna (Brahman–slaying sacrifice). The rebels then burnt the Satras of Garmur, Auniati and Dakhinpat (all royalist Satras in Majuli), headed by Brahmanas, and also executed the abbots of Bareghar and Budhbari Satras, which belonged to Kala-Samathi for collaborating with the royalist. At Pahumara the rebels routed the troops sent by the vassal states of Rani, Luki, Beltola and Topakuchi and further advanced and defeated the Burhagohain at Sagunmari, making him retreat to Rangpur. The rebels got momentum to pillage villages in the vicinity of Rangpur. Attempt was made by the abbot of Dihing Satra with his disciples to repulse them but went to vain. The Ahom priests too collected bands of soldiers and fought with the rebels.
The rebels after many prolonged battles, marching along the Jhanji River appeared at the capital gates and surrounded Rangpur in January 1788. At this sight king Suhutpanphaa accompanied by most of his officers left for Guwahati, leaving Purnananda Burhagohain in charge. The Burhagohain too deserted Rangpur after resisting the rebels for a few days. From Guwahati, Suhitpangphaa sent a large contingent of troops under the Pani Phukan to the assistance of Burhagohain. Receiving reinforcement, the royalist assumed offensive but still couldn't manage to reoccupy the Ahom metropolis. In August 1788, Patkonwar (a son of Rajeswar Singha) raised a huge army with the assistance of Nara Raja and recovered Rangpur from the Moamorias, but his victory was short lived and he was eventually killed following an internal dissension in his camp.