Moamoria Rebellion - First Phase

First Phase

On September 15, 1769, Ragh Neog, a leading disciple of the sattra, was flogged by Ahom officials for not supplying the required number of elephants. By November, the Morans led by Ragh Neog, Naharkhora Saikia and his two wives Radha and Rukmini, promised the throne to three Ahom princes (Mohanmala, a brother, and two others, nephews of Lakshmi Singha the king) and with their help liberated the territory north of the Burhidihing river. On November 21, 1769 the rebels occupied the Ahom capital and placed Ramananda, son of Naharkhora, on the throne. The Ahom king, Lakshmi Singha, 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 rebels, unexperienced in statecraft, failed to usher in a new order. Instead, they began imitating their erstwhile leaders. Ragh Neog 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. Taking advantage of this, some of the old nobility killed Ragh on April 11, 1770 with the help of Kuranganayani, an Ahom queen from Manipur, and retook the capital. In the purge that followed, Ramananda 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 staff 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,

Some rebels then retreated deep into jungles and continued guerilla warfare under leaders like Lephera, Parmananda and others. An initial royalist force under the Na-Phukan and the Deka-Phukan was defeated, but a later force under the Borpatrogohain was able to eliminate Lephera and Parmananda. Subsequently, the Burhagohain began systematically destroying the villages and along with that the remaining leaders and in a seize many rebels and their families died of starvation. The remaining people were then separated and settled at different places. One of the last holdouts, Nomal, was finally captured and executed. This ended the first phase of the Moamoria rebellion.