Koch were mentioned as Kavacha in Puranas and Tantras
The language they used was very similar to the Garo language
The Bansabali of Darang kings is one of the most important source for history of this period

• Hariya Mandal married Hira and Jira
• Bisu was born to Hira
• Sisu was born to Jira

Bisu was very courageous.
He started defeating the Bhuyans
By 1515, he occupied a large area from Karotaya river to Bornadi
Bisu changed his name to Biswas Singha
He became a patron of Hinduism
He rebuild the Kamakhya temple
Also brought a number of brahmins from Benaras, Kanauj etc
Shifted his capital from Chinakgram to Koch Behar
He took cencus
Decided the people (Pike system) – Thakurai (3,000) Nawab (60,000)

Biswa Singha had 18 sons.
He sent the eldest two son (Malla Dev and Sukladhvaj) to Benaras to study

When Bishwa Singha died, eldest two sons were in Benaras. The third eldest son, Nar Singh, became the king.
The elder two sons then returned from Benaras and defeated Nar Singh
Malla Dev became the king
Changed his name to Nar Narayan
Sukladhvaj became the Commander-in-Chief
Sukladhvaj was popularly known as Chilarai

Suklengmung attacked Nar Narayan, but Ahoms were not successful
Ahoms finally lost in Kaliabor in 1546

In 1547, Nar Narayan constructed a road from Koch Behar to Narnarayanpur, about 350 miles
Supervised by Gosai Kamal, as such the road came to be known as Gosai Kamal’s Road

Nar Narayan build a fort at Narnarayanpur
Ahoms attacked at defeated the Koch

The Ahoms and Koch again met at the mouth of the Dikhow river in 1502.
Ahoms lost again

In 1503, Chilarai attacked Ahoms,
Ahoms greatly lost
Koch occupied Gargaon

Narnarayan then annexed
Kachari kingdom
Manipur kingdom
Jatinga kingdom
King of Tipara
Sylhat king
Dimoria kingdom

Padshah of Gaur attacked the Koch kingdom
Chilarai was taken prisoner
Koch lost

Nar Narayan made alliance with Akbar
Attacked Padshah of Gaur and defeated him

Chilarai had smallpox and died
Nar Narayan died in 1584

RELIGIOUS POLICY:

• Tantrik Hinduism was getting popular
• Human Sacrifice was done
• Nar Narayan gave patronage to Srimanta Sankardev and Vaishnavism
• Srimanta Sankardev was born in 1449
• After Srimanta Sankardev, the successor was Madhav Dev.
• A sum of people did not accept Madhav Dev. They were known as Bamunia Gohain.

EDUCATION

• Nar Narayan was interested in learning
• Ananta Konduli translated Bhagavat Gita to Assamese
• A number of Vaishnavism hymes were written
• Purushyuttam Bidyabagish wrote a grammar

CONSTRUCTION

• Gokhai Komol Ali
• Straighten the Brahmaputra near Pandunath

FOREIGN VISITOR

• Ralph Fitch visited Koch kingdom during the time of Nar Narayan

• Raghu Deb, the son of Chilarai, was given a part of Nad Narayanas kingdom that lied east of the Sankosh river – present day Mangoldoi, Kamrup and Goalpara districts
• Raghu Deb rebuild the Hayragriva temple at Hajo
• Isa Khan, an Afghan, attacked Raghu Deb and occupied Rangamati in Goalpara district
• After Nar Narayan, his son Lakshmi Narayan became the king and Raghu Deb refused to pay any tribute. He declared himself independent.
• Raghu Deb’s son Parikshit, rebelled against Raghu Deb and had to flee away to Lakshmi Narayan and was well accepted.
• When Raghu Deb died, Parikshit became the king.
• He shifted his capital to North Guwahati and build a palace near Asvakranta hill.
• Conflict started between Parikshit and Lakshmi Narayan. Parikshit asked the Ahoms for help and Lakshmi Narayan went to the Mughals.
• Mukkarram Khan was sent by Jahangir to invade the Koch kingdom.
• Parikshit lost and was taken prisoner. He died on his way back from Delhi.
• Mukkarram Khan was made the Governor.
• War started again between Ahoms and Mughals.
• Ahoms won and Bali Narayan was installed as the Raja of Darrang.
• After Bali Narayan, Dharma Narayan and Sundar Narayan became the king. However they had to consult the Bar Phukan for all important matters.