Finding it difficult to administer an unfamiliar region and sensing discontent among the local inhabitants to foreign rule, the British authorities decided to restore Upper Assam to a prince of Ahom Dynasty.

Purander Singha was found suitable for this post and therefore, in April 1833 CE, except for Sadiya and Matak rajya, the entire territory of Upper Assam was formally made over to him, on the condition of yearly tribute of 50,000 rupees.

Later, in 1838 CE, finding him incompetent and a defaulter in payments of revenue, the British formally annexed his kingdom, putting an end to a 600-year reign of the Ahom dynasty.

[1] During the reign of next monarch Gaurinath Singha, Bijoy Barmura plotted against the king, in association with Hangsa Narayan, the tributary ruler of Darrang.

In 1809 CE, Brajanath Gohain went to Calcutta, met with the Governor-General and tried to procure military aid to fulfil his ambition to become king, in exchange for acknowledging British supremacy, but in vain.

He repeated his misrepresentations regarding the conduct of Purnananda Burhagohain, alleging that he had usurped the King's authority, and that owing to his misgovernment, the lives of all, both high and low, were in danger.

[5][8][9][7] Towards the end of the year 1816 an army of about eight thousand men under the command of General Maha Minhla Minkhaung was dispatch from Burma with Badan Chandra Borphukan.

It was joined en route by the chiefs of Mungkong, Hukong, and Manipur, and, by the time Namrup was reached, its number had swollen to about sixteen thousand.

At this juncture Purnananda Burhagohain died or some say, committed suicide by swallowing diamonds,[10][9] leaving the entire Ahom government leaderless.

[14][18] Ruchinath took up the case of Brajanath Gohain, great-grandson of Ahom king Swargadeo Rajeswar Singha, who was leading an exiled life at Silmari in Bengal and invited him to become a candidate for the throne.

[21] Therefore, Brajanath's son Purandar, then only ten years old, was brought from Silmari, who arrived in time and was acclaimed as sovereign of the Ahom kingdom of Assam, in February 1818 CE.

A few days later Biswanath Marangikhowa Gohain, brother of Ruchinath Burhagohain, sliced off Chandrakanta's right ear in order to disqualify him from again sitting on the throne.

They immediately made a clean sweep of all the nobles and officers, including the Borgohain, Borpatrogohain and Borbarua, who were suspected of still bearing loyalty to Chandrakanta Singha.

Bodawpaya, through his marriage to Hemo Aideo, had an alliance with Chandrakanta Singha, and dispatched a fresh army of 30,000 men under Alungmingi, also known as Kiamingi Borgohain.

[26] Purandar Singha, his father Brajanath Gohain and Ruchinath Burhagohain fled to Guwahati taking with them all the valuables from the royal treasury, worth 3.5 million rupees.

Meanwhile, Chandrakanta Singha and his Burmese allies asked the British authorities for the extradition of the fugitives, but to these requests also a deaf ear was turned.

Undaunted by enemy strength, Chandrakanta Singha marched into Upper Assam with approximately 2000 men consisting of Sikhs and Hindustani mercenaries and some local Assamese people recruited around Guwahati.

On 21 June 1822, Chandrakanta Singha made his final stand against Mingi Maha Tilowa Baju and his Burmese forces in the battle of Hadirachowki.

Meanwhile, after receiving the news of Chandrakanta's defeat and threatened by growing Burmese power, Purandar Singha and Ruchinath Burhagohain also withdrew their forces from Assam.

Therefore, in an attempt to pacify the people, in 1832 CE, the British Government considered restoring Upper Assam to the former Ahom royal family as a tributary princedom.

In April 1833, Purandar Singha was appointed as a protected prince in charge of Upper Assam, excluding Sadiya and Matak regions, on a stipulated tribute of 50,000 rupees.

While Purandar Singha had appointed Burhagohain as his Prime Minister, it was actually Maniram Dewan who looked after administration of the state and monitored the collection of revenue.

[51] After his accession as the tributary ruler of Upper Assam under British Government, Purandar Singha began well with his accounts of payments of revenue.

He begged for a considerable reduction in the amount of revenue, as he explained that the country was badly ravaged by the Burmese invaders, affecting all spheres of life of the people, which includes social and economical.

Captain Francis Jenkins, the new Commissioner and Political Agent, held an enquiry into Purandar Singh's administration and found it a hot bed of corruption and misfeasance.

[52] In 1838 a British army surgeon, John McCosh, gave a description of the condition of Purandar Singha and his court officials: "The present representative of this once powerful dynasty (Svargadeo or Lord of Heaven, as he pleased to call himself) now resides in Jorhat in noisy pomp and tawdry splendor; his resources limited to that of a zamindar; his numerous nobility reduced to beggary or to exist upon bribery and corruption; and his kingly court (for he still maintains his regnal dignity) more resembling the parade of a company of strolling players than anything imposing or sovereign.

[55] Fearing outburst and reactions from other princes of the Ahom Dynasty, he spread the news that he had dug the ancestral tombs to recover their bones and other remains, to take them to the Ganges, for spiritual and religious purpose.

He was placed under arrest, with his agent Maniram Dewan Barbhandar Barua who was then in Calcutta petitioning the Governor-General for the restoration of the Ahom kingdom to Kandarpeswar Singha.

[54][50] [58] Contemporary chroniclers are of the opinion that since Purandar Singha had passed his childhood through economic hardships during his father's exile in Bengal, he was very much attracted to money and wealth.

[59] During his second reign, as tributary prince under British, it was found that Purandar Singha was busy gathering personal wealth, instead of taking care of administration, which resulted in the growth of corruption among his officials.