Assam Rifles History: Myth of Cachar Levy becoming the Assam Rifles
- Part 1 -

Lt Col M Ranjit Singh (Retd) *

For many years, people have believed that Cachar Levy, an irregular force raised during the early 19th century in the Eastern Frontier of India for a specific purpose, was the forerunner of modern-day Assam Rifles, the oldest paramilitary force in India. The main culprit, if I may use the word, for this myth is Colonel LW Shakespear, the author of “History of Assam Rifles”, published in 1929.

Colonel Shakespear, in his book, wrote, “The first unit of this new organisation was raised by Grange, in civil charge of Nowgong district, during 1835, and was named the Cachar Levy, with a strength of 750 all ranks, viz Inspectors, Head Constables and Constables, as they were called until 1883, in virtue of their being a purely civil force. The Cachar Levy thus formed the earliest embodied unit of what eventually developed into the fine force of the five Assam Rifles battalions of the present day”.

Interestingly, Major General DK Palit, in his book “Sentinels of the North East: The Assam Rifles” (1984), another history book of the Assam Rifles (post-independence period), copied the same narrative as given by Colonel Shakespear on the origin of Cachar Levy. Major General Palit even wrote that the Expedition carried out by Grange was with a small detachment of regular troops from the 1st Assam Light Infantry !

42 Gurkha Rifles (later 6 Gurkhas) were called the 1st Assam Light Infantry from 1844 to 1861 and were not part of Grange’s Expedition. The regular troops that went with Grange were the 1st Assam Sebundy Corps, which, in 1844, became the 2nd Assam Light Infantry.

It is worthwhile to remember that till the middle of the 19th century, any force raised by the British in India, such as Levy, Militia, Local Corps, Irregular Corps, and Extra Regiment were meant to be of a temporary nature. However, some of the Levy like the Sikh, Dogra, Garhwali, and nine Gurkhas became regular army units.

The geopolitical situation in the North East Frontier of India after the First Anglo-Burmese War was that the Burmese, by the treaty of Yandabo, ceded Assam to the East India Company. The British in Assam in 1833 controlled the administrations of Kamrup, Nowgong, and Darrang only. The remaining districts were under the control of Maharaj Purandar Singh, except Lakhimpur, which was under Moamarias.

The British resumed Maharaja Purander’s territories in October 1838, and Lakhimpur resumed in 1842. Earlier, Cachar became British territory on August 14, 1832. However, North Cachar Hills was transferred to Assam and attached to the district of Nowgong. The British administration made elaborate arrangements for the better distribution of justice and revenue collection.

However, organising civil administration in Assam suffered considerably due to the absence of officers. Consequently, there were large-scale postings of Bengal Army officers to Assam, and many junior officers were appointed to work there. Among the new officers appointed were Edmund R Grange, CR Strong, and H Driver, with their date of seniority being November 30, 1838.

They were employed as Junior Sub-Assistant to the Governor General’s Agency, North East Frontiers. Their employment was notified in the Calcutta Gazette of March 28, 1839. Interestingly, Edmund R Grange was employed as an Acting Sub Assistant to the Nowgong Division by F Jenkins, an Agent in NE Frontier, on September 10, 1838, before getting confirmation from the Government.

F Jenkins took ex-post facto sanction from the Government for employing him. In the letter F Jenkins wrote to the Government, he mentions that Grange is a European with good connections (sic), education, and some experience in managing a sugar plantation. Grange had good knowledge of the native language and had been regularly studying lately, which was sufficient to make him conduct the duties that would devolve on himself, he added.

Sugar plantation was a fad in the early 19th century in India, including Assam. F Jenkins personally had 600 acres of sugar plantation farms in Assam. Grange may have been working on Jenkin’s plantation. It is a wild assumption from my side. In the Journal of the Asiatic Society of 1840, there is an article on the Expedition into the Naga Hills on the Assam Frontier by Lieutenant Grange, an Assistant Political Agent.

The Expedition is about the second Expedition undertaken by Grange in December 1840. Whether Grange became a Lieutenant in the Bengal Army is not known, but there are two officers with the surname of Grange on the Bengal Army list of 1840. One is RG Grange (page 104), and the second is Grange (page 138). RG Grange was on extended leave and furlough in Europe in 1840, and R Grange was shown as Quarter Master in some units.

I highlight that Edmund R Grange was employed only in 1838 as an Assistant sub-agent. He, therefore, could not have raised Cachar Levy in 1835 as written by Colonel Shakespear and mindlessly followed by others.

Now, on to Cachar Levy. For many years, the Angami Nagas have been coming down regularly to the plains of Cachar to deprecate the Cacharees. The main aim of their attacks was to extract conch shells, clothes, and any valuable items, and also to seize as many persons as they could, to obtain ransom from their relatives and kill all that attempted to escape, cutting off their heads, which their relatives would then ransom.

The captives were kept as enslaved people to be sold off to the Bengali merchants. The going rate for an enslaved person then was 20 packets of salt, and the cost of seven packets was only Re 1 (one). These details are from the report submitted by Grange. In the middle of 1838, a body of Angami Nagas came down to the village of Bungygram in Upper Cachar. It killed 12 and carried off 13 men.

According to British sources, the probable reasons for the attack by the Angamis were due to long-running feuds arising over the possession of salt springs between the Nagas and Cacharees. The atrocities may also have been the result of a recent expedition carried out by Manipuris against Nagas in the adjoining areas of the sources of the Jiri River, where they burned and destroyed many Naga villages.

The Nagas may have been exasperated and brought on their retaliation to the Cacharee villages as they were friends of Manipuris. This was the appreciation of the local British officers.

The norms of the Government have always been to strike a sudden blow immediately following and caused by such outrage. The Government, also responsible for providing security and protection to its peaceful subjects, decided that it was most necessary to take some immediate measures to retaliate against the Angami Nagas incursions.

The Government of India, therefore, resolved to send a military detachment into the Cachar Hills to institute an investigation into the causes of the recent Angami’s intrusions and to punish the perpetrators, if possible or else to inflict such punishment upon them, by burning their villages and crossings, as this may deter them from future aggressions. The forces available in Assam were then limited, so the Government decided to raise a levy.

On November 21, 1838, the Governor General in Council approved raising 200 Cacharees for the expedition against the Nagas as the mode levying this body of men appears to have been very reasonable and their service indispensable. The Military Board of India was told to issue 200 fusils, 20,000 rounds of ammunition, and 200 pouches and belts either repaired or of an obsolete pattern.

The arms and ammunition were to be sent to Brigadier Little at Sylhet for onward transmission to Cachar. The Superintendent of Cachar, Captain Burns, was made responsible for raising the Cachar Levy as it was thought that Naga locations were closer to Cachar than Assam.

Subsequently, the responsibility for dealing with the Nagas was delegated to Assam as North Cachar Hills, under the administrative control of Assam, was closer. The composition of the troops of this Levy is interesting. There were 30 Manipuris from Cachar, 50 Shans, and the rest were Cacharees. The 30 Manipuris were old soldiers of Gambhir Sing’s Levy (Manipur Levy).

And many of the Cacharees were also old soldiers from Maharaj Govinchandra’s army. The advantage of recruiting these old soldiers was that time would not be wasted on their training on the use of firearms. The Shans were old soldiers of the Burmese army who stayed back in Assam after the First Anglo-Burmese War.

Around 350 Shans settled in Assam during that time. Six Angami Nagas may also have been members of this Levy. These Angami Nagas were held at Sylhet Jail. There is a correspondence from the Superintendent of Cachar specifically requesting these Angamis.

The reply from the Government is not traceable, but Grange used a few Angami interpreters during his expedition. The pay of the Sepoys was fixed at Rupees 5 per month as Barkandazes (Mercenaries) working at Haflong then were paid the same amount. There was one Subedar and one Jemadar in the Levy, and their monthly pay was fixed at Rupees 50 and 20, respectively.

Subadar Dhana Ram Barman and Jamadar Byasa Ram were on loan from Sylhet Light Infantry (later 1/8 Gurkha Rifles). The Government was unsure of the completion of the raising of the Cachar Levy before the expedition; Assam Sebundy Corps (later 2/8 Gurkha Rifles) was told to send One Subadar and fifty Sepoys along with Grange.

To be continued ...

** The primary documents used in writing this article are available at the National Archives of India at Delhi under Political Consultations of Foreign Department (1830–39).