He was only 14 years of age when Laluksola Borphukan, the Ahom viceroy of Guwahati and Lower Assam, raised him to the throne, after deposing the former king, Sudoiphaa.
While most of the Ahom princes suffered mutilation, Prince Gadapani, the future king Gadadhar Singha, from the Tungkhungia branch of the Royal Ahom Dynasty, escaped, due to the efforts of his illustrious wife, Joymoti Konwari, who refused to divulge any information regarding her husband's whereabouts even in face of the tortures inflicted by the henchmen of Lora Raja.
After Laluksola Borphukan was assassinated in court intrigues, the nobles at Kaliabar decided to get rid of the incompetent Lora Raja and put an able prince on the throne.
[1][2] After the accession of Sulikphaa to the throne, Laluksola Borphukan became Rajmantri Phukan, or Prime Minister, vested with executive power over the whole administration.
[4] Immediately after consolidating his hold on the court, Laluk Rajmantri Phukan proceeded to execute his archrival Atan Burhagohain, who was held captive in Kaliabar.
“What is Your Majesty’s intention with regard to these prisoners?” Lora Raja, who understood the drift of Laluk's question, had no alternative but to order their execution.
Langkham Deka, son of Atan Burhagohain, was taken as a prisoner to his family residence at Bahgara near Garhgaon, where he was subsequently put to death under the orders of the king.
But before the messengers arrived in Dacca, the Mughal headquarters of Bengal, Prince Azam left for Rajputana under the orders of his father, Emperor Aurangzeb.
The new Mughal Subedar, Nawab Shaista Khan, who happened to be the brother of the famous Mumtaz Mahal and the uncle of Aurangzeb, received the envoys sent by Laluk.
This was a great occasion for Laluk Rajmantri Phukan, since Mughal envoys from the Subedar of Bengal arrived in Assam with letters and gifts specifically addressed to him, but not to the monarch, a very rare action.
Laluk Rajmantri Phukan dressed himself for the occasion in the robes and ornaments worn by Ahom monarchs and decided to receive the Mughal envoy at a place called Sakbari.
[8][9] After the Sakbari ceremony receiving the Mughal envoy, Laluk Rajmantri Phukan decided to take measures to realize his ambition of becoming the king of Assam.
He also knew that Lora Raja was a mere puppet whom he could remove at will, but the other princes of royal blood, all descended from King Sukaphaa, would always be an obstacle to fulfilling his goal of ascending the throne.
In support of his proposal Laluk argued that in the presence of this numerous body of princes, each of whom was a potential center for insurrection and a rallying point for miscreants and rebels, no Ahom king could sit on the throne safely.
In order to escape from the hands of Laluk's agents, most of the princes left their homes, lived in disguise in the houses of their relatives and friends, wandered incognito in remote districts, or even crossed the borders of Assam.
His two sons Lai and Lechai, aged about fourteen and twelve, were kept in a retreat in the Naga Hills out of fear of Laluk Rajmantri Phukan, who would not spare the lives of even minor princes.
His emissaries, led by one Gidagathi Hazarika of Dakhinpat, instituted a more vigorous search for Gadapani and came upon his wife Jaimati, who they thought must be aware of her husband's refuge.
The government was now on the verge of collapse, life and property were insecure, and the Mughals, who were the masters of Guwahati and Lower Assam, pushed the border eastwards into the Ahom kingdom.
The Deodhais therefore advised Lora Raja to offer human sacrifices to the Kechaikhaiti, alias Tamreswari Mandir, or the copper temple at Sadiya.
Having heard of this, Bhotai consulted with two of his colleagues, Madhav Tamuli and Aghona Kachari, saying, “If strong and healthy men are annually sacrificed to the goddess, then how will it be possible for good Hindus to survive?”[17] They then conspired against their master Laluk Rajmantri Phukan and obtained support from one of the prominent ministers, Dighala Burhagohain.
[18][19] Bhotai Deka and Madha Tamuli received universal applause for putting Laluksola Borphukan to death and thereby ridding the country of a common foe and a very sinister influence.
They brought in the personal contingent of the deceased Laluk Rajmantri Phukan and fixed their headquarters in his residence, which had all the attributes of a fortified garrison.
These high-handed actions on the part of Bhotai and Madha militated against the authority of the Swargadeo, but no harsh measures could be adopted, as the two leaders were the idols of the people.
After obtaining the king's permission, Hulou Phukan cut off Bhotai's ears and nose, put out one of his eyes, and let him return to his home in Nagaon.
After the series of events mentioned above, Lora Raja, on the advice of his ministers, shifted his residence from Meteka to Garhgaon, the capital of the Ahom kingdom.
Finally he sought refuge in the house of a Garo woman at a place called Rani in Kamrup, wearing the garb of a common peasant and working in the fields like an ordinary cultivator.
[24] Frustrated by the inability of Lora Raja to deal with these problems, some of the Ahom nobles began to search for a capable prince for the throne.
Having heard of the march of Gadapani and the Kaliabar nobles towards Garhgaon, Ramdev Deka Gosain, the deputy Satradhikar or religious head of Dakhinpat Satra or monastery, tried to persuade the Phukans to abandon the project, to no avail.
The Borphukan pleaded his inability to accede to the request on the ground that Gadapani was supported by the whole body of nobles, and he alone as an individual could not deviate from the unanimous decision of his colleagues.
[26][27] Lora Raja prepared to resist, but he had no real supporters, and as the nobles of Kaliabar and Gadapani advanced towards the Capital his army melted away.