Bir Chilarai

Shukladhwaj Rai, the younger brother of King Nara Narayan of Koch Dynasty, was born in the year 1510. He was the commander-in-chief of the Koch Dynasty and owing to his fast pace and swift movements; he came to be known as Chilarai. Chilarai with his bravery played a major role in the expansion of the Koch Dynasty, which was ruled by his elder brother and made sure that Koch supremacy spread over the Kachari, Ahom and Bhutia kingdom and several battles were fought between the Koch and Ahoms with countable victories for both sides.

Bir Chilarai

After the Khen dynasty declined in the year 1498, Chandan was made the king of Kamata kingdom; however, as he had no heirs to his throne, Viswa Singha was made the King of Kamata, who contributed to making of a glorious chapter in the history of Assam by forming the Koch Dynasty in the year 1515. His wife was Padmavati, who belonged to a place called Gaur, which is a ruined city situated in the Malda district of West Bengal. Viswa SIngha had many sons, of which only four survived and Shukladhwaj, who came to be known as Bir Chilarai was the 3rd son.

Chilarai was born a full moon day and owing to his fair complexion, he was named Shukladhwaj. He along with his brothers were trained in warfare and he together with his elder brother Malla Dev, popularly known as Nara Narayan were sent to Varanasi for higher education, where they were taught subjects such as Astrology, Law, Sanskrit, Grammar and Literature. After the demise of their father, Nara Narayan ascended the throne and became the king of Koch Dynasty and Shukladhwaj was appointed army commander. He was an able warrior and owing to his valor, he conquered the nearby areas and aided his brother in expanding the kingdom and making it a powerful one.

In the year 1562 AD, a battle between the Koch and Ahom kingdom took place and Nara Narayan crossed the mighty River Brahmaputra to assail the Ahoms. Chilarai commanded both the army and the naval forces and helped King Nara Narayan defeat the Ahom rulers by occupying Gargaon, the capital of Ahom Kingdom. Chilarai was helpful in guarding Srimanta Sankardeva and providing him shelter. He married the niece of Srimanta Shankardev Kamalapriya also known as Bhubaneswari and only because of the Royal benefaction Sankardeva was able to start the ‘Ek Saran Naam Dharma’ in the disturbed state of Assam and create cultural renaissance.

Nara Narayan with the help of Chilarai was able to defeat several kings, namely the king of Cachar, Manipur, Sylhet, Jayantia and Tripura and bring their kingdoms under his rule. On scrutinizing the condition of the neighboring states, the rulers of Dimoriya and Khairam surrendered their trivial states to the Koch Dynasty and thus with the help of Chilarai’s valor and intrepidness, King Nara Narayan unmitigated his huge empire and earned revenues from the rulers. Nara Narayan attacked Gour, which was under the rule of Sultan Sulaiman Karrani and in this battle, Chilarai was made prisoner by Kalapahar, the army commander of Sultan Sulaiman Karrani, who also along with his army destroyed many temples including Kamakhya while he proceeded towards Tezpur and Nara Narayan had to face defeat. After this, most part of the Koch Empire was captured by the Afghans but later on the two brothers rebuilt the Kamakhya temple.

In the year 1577 AD, Chilarai left for his heavenly abode on the banks of the holy river Ganges as he was infected by small pox, which was deadly disease then. After his death, King Nara Narayan split his kingdom into two parts, Koch Bihar and Koch Hajo, respectively and kept Koch Bihar, the western part under his authority while he gave Koch Hajo, the eastern part to Raghudev, the son of Chilarai. The contribution of Bir Chilarai towards the history of Assam is remarkable and he shall be remembered by every Assamese for his valor and gallantry achievements.

Photo Courtesy: Assam Tribune