Koch dynasty

Koch Kingdom Koch dynasty
Kingdom
← 1515–1947 →
Flag of Cooch Behar
Historical map of Cooch Behar
Capital	Chikana Kamatapur
Language(s)	Bengali Assamese
Religion	Hinduism
Government	Monarchy
Maharaja	Viswa Singha
	Nara Narayan
	Jagaddipendra Narayan
Historical era	Medieval India
- Established	1515
- Disestablished	1947

Origin of the Koch dynasty, based on the Darrang Raja Vamsavali.

Cooch Behar Palace.

The Koch dynasty of Assam and Bengal, named after the Koch tribe, emerged as the dominant ruling house in the Kamata kingdom in 1515 after the fall of the Khen dynasty in 1498. The first of the Koch kings, Viswa Singha and then his sons, Nara Narayan as the subsequent king and Chilarai as the general, soon occupied the western portion of the erstwhile Kamarupa Kingdom as well as some regions of south Assam. The dynasty forked for the first time into two major branches that controlled Koch Bihar and Koch Hajo. Koch Bihar became a vassal of the Mughals, whereas Koch Hajo came under Ahom control and was subsequently absorbed. Koch Bihar became a princely state during British rule and was absorbed after Indian independence. A third branch of this dynasty at Khaspur disappeared into the Kachari kingdom.

History

Historical background

After the fall of the Pala dynasty of Kamarupa, the Kamarupa fractured into differing domains. In the extreme east the Sutiya kingdom emerged on the north bank of Brahmaputra river. The Ahom kingdom emerged in the south bank and to their west was the Kachari kingdom. Further west was the region of the Baro-Bhuyan landlords and still further west was the Kamata kingdom. The last of the Kamata kings before the Koches emerged was Nilambar, who was defeated and whose kingdom was occupied by Alauddin Husain Shah of Gaur in 1498. After the conquest, he left his son Daniyal to rule over and expand the conquered region. He soon came into conflict with the Baro-Bhuyans led by one Harup Narayan of the Brahmaputa valley, and was defeated, captured and executed.

It was at this historical moment that Bisu, son of a Mech chieftain with a Koch mother emerged as one who could unify different tribal groups and engage the Bara Bhuyans and defeat them to become the sole authority in the erstwhile Kamata region. On coming into power, he assumed the name Viswa Singha.

Beginning of the Koch dynasty

The first ruler of the Koch dynasty was Vishwa Singha, who established himself in 1515 as the ruler of the Kamata kingdom. According to J N Sarkar, Viswa Singha belonged to one of the dominant Koch tribes, which were a collection of Mongoloid tribes, loosely allied to the Meches, Garos, Tharus and also Dravidians. They had adopted Hinduism a few generations before Vishwa Singha and claimed the Kshatriya varna. The earliest known ancestor of Viswa Singha was his father Haria Mandal, from the Chiknabari village in Goalpara district, the head of the twelve most powerful Mech families. He was married to Jira and Hira, daughters of a Koch chief named Hajo, after whom Koch Hajo was named. Viswa Singha was the son of Haria Mandal and Hira.

Viswa Singha sought the alliance of tribal chiefs against the more powerful Baro-Bhuyans and began his campaign around 1509. Successively, he defeated the Bhuyans of Ouguri, Jhargaon, Karnapur, Phulaguri, Bijni and Pandunath (Pandu, in Guwahati). He was particularly stretched by the Bhuyan of Kanrnapur, and could defeat him only by a stratagem during Bihu. After subjugating the petty rulers, he announced himself the king of Kamata bounded on the east by Barnadi river and on the west by the Karatoya river in the year 1515. He moved his capital from Chikana to Kamatapur (also called Kantapur) which is just a few miles southeast of the present-day Cooch Behar town.

Viswa Singha's two sons, Naranarayan and Shukladhwaj (Chilarai), the king and the commander-in-chief of the army respectively, took the kingdom to its zenith. Nara Narayan made Raghudev, the son of Chilarai, the governor of Koch Hajo, the eastern portion of the country. After the death of Nara Narayan, Raghudev declared independence. The division of the Kamata kingdom into Koch Bihar and Koch Hajo was permanent.

Nara Narayan was impressed by the bhakti saint Srimanta Sankardeva who became a member of his court in the last three years of his life and who established a sattra in the kingdom.

Early history of Cooch Behar

The princely state known as Cooch Behar during the British rule was part of the Kamarupa Kingdom from the 4th to 12th century, ruled by the Varman, Mlechchha and Pala dynasties. From the 12th century, the area became a part of Kamata kingdom, first ruled by the Khen dynasty from their capital at Kamatapur. The most important Khen rulers were Niladhaj (1440-1460), Chakradhaj (1460-1480) and Nilambar (1480-1498) The Khens were an indigenous tribe and they ruled till about 1498 CE when they fell into the trick of Alauddin Hussain Shah, the independent Pathan Sultan of Gour and lost their empire. The new invaders came into conflict with the local Bhuyan chieftains and the Ahom king Suhungmung, and lost control of the region.

After the Muslims left the area there was confusion and commotion in the country. During this time independent Bhuiyans started ruling over small areas. Among these a Koch Bhuiyan named Hajo had two daughters named Jira and Hira. On the other side there was a small territory at Chikna Mountains situated between the Sankosh River and the Champabati River, about 80 kilometers north of Dhubri in the present-day Goalpara District of Assam. This territory was ruled by Haridas Mondal, a Mech chieftain. To establish unity with Chikna, Hajo wedded off his daughters to Chief Haridas Mandal. In due time Jira gave birth to Madan and Chandan while Hira gave birth to Sishu (Sisya Singha) and Bishu (Biswa Singha). Among the four brothers Bishu was the cleverest and strongest.

One day the four brothers were praying to Goddess Bhagwati in a playful mood and they offered one of their friends for sacrifice; it is believed that mysteriously the head of the friend was cut off his body. Turka Kotwal ordered their arrest. Fearing capture they took shelter in the forest.

Later they collected soldiers, elephants and horses and attacked the Turka Kotwal. Madan was killed in the battle; to take revenge Biswa Singha killed Turka Kotwal. To please stepmother Jira, whose son Madan was killed instead of becoming himself the king, Biswa Singha enthroned Chandan as the King. In this way in 1510 the Koch kingdom was started.

Kings

Rulers of undivided Koch kingdom

• Biswa Singha (1515-1540)
• Nara Narayan (1540-1586)

Rulers of Koch Bihar

• Lakshmi Narayan
• Bir Narayan
• Pran Narayan
• Basudev Narayan
• Mahindra Narayan
• Roop Narayan
• Upendra Narayan
• Devendra Narayan
• Dhairjendra Narayan
• Rajendra Narayan
• Dharendra Narayan
• Harendra Narayan
• Shivendra Narayan
• Narendra Narayan
• Nripendra Narayan
• Rajrajendra Narayan
• Jitendra Narayan (father of Gayatri Devi)
• Jagaddipendra Narayan
• Virajdendra Narayan

Rulers of Koch Hajo

• Raghudev (son of Chilarai, nephew of Nara Narayan)
• Parikshit Narayan

Rulers of Darrang

Parikshit Narayana was attacked by the Mughals stationed at Dhaka in alliance with Lakshmi Narayan of Koch Bihar in 1612. His kingdom Koch Hajo, bounded by Sankosh river in the west and Barnadi river in the east, was occupied by the end of that year. Parikshit Narayan was sent to Delhi for an audience with the Mughal Emperor, but his brother Balinarayan escaped and took refuge in the Ahom kingdom. The region to the east of Barnadi and up to the Bharali river was under the control of some Baro-Bhuyan chieftains, but they were soon removed by the Mughals. In 1615 the Mughals, under Syed Hakim and Syed Aba Bakr, attacked the Ahoms but were repelled back to the Barnadi river. The Ahom king, Prataap Singha, then established Balinarayan as a vassal in the newly acquired region between Barnadi and Bharali rivers, and called it Darrang. Balinarayan's descendants continued to rule the region till it was annexed by the British in 1826.

• Balinarayan (brother of Parikshit Narayan)
• Mahendra Narayan
• Chandra Narayan
• Surya Narayan
• ...

Rulers of Beltala

• Gaj Narayan (brother of Bali Narayan)
• ...

Rulers of Bijni

The Bijni rulers reigned between the Sankosh and the Manas rivers, the region immediately to the east of Koch Bihar.

• Chandra Narayan (son of Parikshit Narayan)
• Joy narayan
• Shiv Narayan
• Bijoy Narayan
• Mukunda Narayan
• Haridev Narayan
• Indra Narayan
• Amrit Narayan
• Kumud Narayan
• Bhairabendra Narayan

Rulers of Khaspur

• Kamal Narayan (Gohain Kamal, son of Viswa Singha, governor of Khaspur)
• Udita Narayan (declared independence of Khaspur)
• Vijay Singha
• Dhir Singha
• Mahendra Singha
• Ranjit Singha
• Nara Singha
• Bhim Simha (his only issue, daughter Kanchani, married prince Lakshmichandra of Kachari kingdom, and Khaspur merged into the Kachari kingdom.)

Gallery

• 

  Shri Sir Nripendra Narayan, Maharaja of Cooch Behar.

• 

  H.H. Maharaja Shri Sir Jitendra Narayan Bhup Bahadur, Maharaja of Cooch-Behar, KCSI, 1913.

• 

  Maharaja Jagaddipendra Narayan.

References

• Nath, D (1989), History of the Koch Kingdom: 1515-1615, Delhi: Mittal Publications 
• Sarkar, J N (1992), "Chapter IV: Early Rulers of Koch Bihar", in Barpujari, H. K., The Comprehensive History of Assam, 2, Guwahati: Assam Publication Board 
• Royal History of Koch Bihar, http://coochbehar.nic.in/Htmfiles/royal_history.html, retrieved 2007-12-05