Anglo Khasi War: Guns vs Arrows

As usual, the British enormity was growing in all parts of India. It seized lands, forests, and now the hills. In the middle of the 19th century, Britishers turned their attention toward the hills of Khasi. The local people who were against being under the dominance of the East India Company raised a war against them which is called the Anglo-Khasi War. This is not a victory story but a brave reality of the Khasi people.

Source: Udayavani Tirot Sing

Generally, the law and order of the Britishers in India are not from the British crown but from the generals of the East India Company. The East India Company had forced armies that divided India under three presidencies: the Bengal presidency, the Bombay presidency, and the Madras presidency. North Eastern parts of India come under the Bengal Presidency.

The Hynniewtrep people are the inhabitants of Meghalaya which chiefly includes the tribes of Khasi, War, Bhoi, and Jaintia. They follow the matrilineal system. They were happy with what they had under their tribal leader Tirot Sing. Britishers got a new possession, Guwahati in lower Assam. They already owned property was Sylhet, a part of Burma. To connect both the possession they wanted to construct a road track in order to save weeks of travel. And for this, they choose the Khasi hills as an intervention.

The Britishers found that Tirot Sing was interested in Duars, an alluvial floodplain area. Now they got a grip to start constructing the roads as they wish on the Khasi hills. With a clever and mutual beneficiary, the Britishers proposed the idea of permission for road construction with the surrender of Duars. After a two-day discussion, the assembly agreed to Britisher’s proposal, and the road construction was started.

Invariably, things would not be fine for a long time with Britishers. Balaram Singh, the king of Ranee started a dispute with Tirot regarding the claim of Duars. In 1828, to establish his claim, Tirot Sing appeared with his armed men with excessive confidence that the Britishers would back him up, against Balaram Singh. But Tirot was innocent to understand that trusting the Britishers was like trusting a snake that would not bite. Confronted by a party of soldiers, the Britishers blocked Tirot Sing’s passages. A betrayal faced by Tirot created hatred towards the East India Company.

The news was spreading that the British army was being reinforced in Assam. Tirot again assembled the meeting. When he enjoined the Britishers to evacuate Nongkhlaw they refused. Infuriated Khasis attacked the British garrison in Nongkhlaw in 1829. They killed two British officers that sought reprisal from the British and thus started the Anglo-Khasi war.

Tirot Sing started to plot military operations against the Britishers with other chiefs. But the major drawback was they were out of weapons compared to the English army. They fought with the available native weapons such as swords, shields, and bows and arrows. But later they realized that it was impossible to compete with their well-trained opponent in war and battle. They started guerrilla activity and that lasted for four years.

Chief Tirot Singh was fighting robustly in the war. However, he was shot by a British officer. Without any option, he went inside a cave to hide to tend to his wound. Again he becomes prey to betrayal. This time a man from his own group revealed Tirot’s hiding place for gold coins. On July 17, 1835, this great leader died and his death anniversary has been declared a state holiday in Meghalaya to honour his endless tiresome part.

Source: standout design The guerrilla activity