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Did you know the British invasion in Barak Valley started with Dudhpati? Story of Durbintilla, Tea and Brits

The History of British contact with Cachar dates back to 1824, but it was much later in 1832, that the British could annex Cachar. Taking advantage of the assassination of the last ruler of the Kachari Kingdom, Maharaja Gobinda Chandra Dwijnarayan Hasnu in 1830 and the signing of the Doctrine of Lapse back in 1824, the British occupied the Kachari Kingdom. Dudhpatil, on the east bank of Barak, became the first headquarters, eventually, where the first police station, Office of the Collector and Magistrate and even the first tea estate started. Dudhpatil also is the place where the British army built their watchtower, Durbintilla. During the Kachari Kingdom, this was the capital of the Kachari king before moving to Haritikar in 1825. None of the ruins or buildings from this place exist today, except for the written history and oral narratives.

Back in 1824, when the British East India Company found the Kachari King had no heir to the throne, they signed the Treaty of Badarpur under the conditions of Doctrine of Lapse with Gobinda Chandra. He was reinstated as a “Protected King” at Haritikar. The Ahom Kingdom was under Burmese control between 1821-1825, but the Kachari Kingdom was largely unaffected. In 1825, the Burmese Army captured Dudhpatil and built a fort to garrison 2000 soldiers, but they were soon driven away by the British force led by Colonel Innes. Later on February 24, 1826, the Treaty of Yandaboo was signed between the East India Company and Burmese rulers. Under this treaty, the Burmese were forced out of the annexed areas of the Ahom and Kachari Kingdoms. But British could not annex Cachar until the assassination of Gobinda Chandra by Manipuri rebels on April 24, 1830, at Haritikar.

Following his assassination, the administration of the Kachari Kingdom lapsed to the British East India Company. Army officer T Fisher was sent by the company to take charge as a Collector and Magistrate. In June 1830, he officially took charge and set up the headquarters at Cherapunji. The plains of Cachar were finally annexed by the company on August 14, 1832. The headquarters shifted from Cherrapunji to Dudhpatil, Cachar in 1833. The Burmese fort built earlier in 1825, along with some old buildings of the Kachari kingdom was also used to station various offices of the East India Company. Back then, Dudhpatil was chosen as their headquarters because of its proximity to the Barak River and the already existing roads and connectivity infrastructure.

Gradually they also built the first police outpost of Cachar there, along with a watch tower. The watchtower was built on a hillock, today, known as the Chandi Mata Tilla by the locals. The peak of the hillock was the highest point in the entire Dudhpatil and that’s why it was chosen. Also, it provided a bird’s eye view of the valley, which helped them for surveillance and keeping a check on any enemy approaching them. An iron pillar was erected as a watchtower and binoculars (durbin) were mounted to keep an eye on the far-off areas in the valley. Thus the name, Durbintilla. Even today, the dug-out soil to erect the pillar stays as the only remains. After the British shifted to Janiganj, the binoculars were taken away, but the pole was there. If locals of the area are to be believed, the pole was stolen post-independence.

The imagined watchtower, art based on oral narratives of locals. By Korou Moirangthem.

Due to administrative inconvenience, the British headquarters was moved from Dudhpatil to Janiganj. Even though the exact date is unknown, according to a magazine published by Dr Suhash Chattarjee, professor of History, at Cachar College, when John Webb Edger was the Deputy Commissioner of Cachar, he moved the headquarters from Dudhpatil’s fort to Janiganj in Silchar, on November 14, 1867. Treasury, kutcherry, jail and an outpost for Sylhet Light Infantry were immediately built. This was the urban beginning of Silchar.

The first successful tea garden of Cachar was also in Dudhpatil. SG Williamson and Company was the first to cultivate tea as early as 1855 on an experimental basis. Their first estate came up at Barsangan and later at Madhura and Chencoorie. Their experiment could not succeed and later had to sell their estate properties to McLeod and Company. Along with Lord Inchap, Mayor of London, McLeod and Co became successful in tea cultivation. Their tea estate was set up in Dudhpatil. Back then, the Bagan area was the foothill of Durbintilla, Mulidan and Kanaikoorie. Their company came to be known as the ‘Doodhpatlee Tea Company’ established in 1855. Today the tea gardens of Dudhpatil don’t exist, but the area where Doodhpatlee Tea Company had its office and godown is still known as Dudhpatil Bagan, just like how Durbintilla remains just in name.

Credit to Late Professor Jyoti Lal Choudhury, for the book “Glimpses of The British Raj in Barak Valley” and his various published articles, used as source in this story.

Credit to Dr. Shashadhar Malakar’s memoir “Barak-er Tukitaki” was used as a published source for the history of Dudhpatil.

Credit to the people of Dudhpatil.

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