Gold Washing in the Brahmaputra Valley

(1) Brahmaputra in Arunachal Pradesh 

River beds filled with Gold, case of Ancient Kamrupa

The Brahmaputra valley was well known for its river beds filled with auriferous deposits in the ancient and medieval times. Infact gold washing, in the distant past, was a very traditional and lucrative economic activity of this region. Unfortunately, the craft fell into oblivion, like many other ancient crafts of Assam, in the late 19th and early 20th century with the advent of British colonialism, although the role played by this dynamic river system also demands our scrutiny. Today, all that remains of the craft are names of rivers (Subansiri, for instance, meaning 'golden flow') or communities (like the Sonowals) along with tiny flakes of gold which could be found in the alluvial deposits of these rivers.

The Mahabharata, Arthashastra and Tezpur copper plate inscriptions mention gold washing. Some scholars suggest that the Classical accounts - that of Megasthenes (350–290 BCE) and Strabo (64–after 21 BCE) -  mention the presence of gold in Assam. Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, the first-century account of an anonymous Greek geographer pertaining to trade across the Indian Ocean, assumed that gold was brought to India from the places neighbouring the Ganga, presumably from the rivers of Assam. Moreover, we come across several anecdotal references such as Kamrupa king Jayapala gifting 900 gold coins to Bengal's Pala ruler and Turkish conquerors finding numerous gold images of deities which indirectly attest to the widespread use of gold in the valley. We also come across inscriptions from early medieval Bengal (12th century) which refer to churni meaning 'gold dust' used as a medium of exchange, along with cowrie shells and silver coins.

What is definite is that gold washing, as native craft, developed and evolved over two millennia even though we don't have any reliable record of its origin. In the absence of any evidence of import of gold, the mentions and finds of several artisanal products with gold in it would suggest local extraction of gold in earlier times. Subsequently in the Ahom period gold washing was carried out in an elaborate manner, when gold jewellery and other products became a symbol of opulence and affluence of the Assamese elite.

Of the Sonowals and the Kacharis

Tavernier, the 17th century French traveler, writes : "As for the gold, no one is permitted to remove it out of the Kingdom, and it is not coined into money, but is kept in large and small ingots, which the people make use of in local trade, and do not export it." Mughal historian Shahibuddin Talisman and royal chronicles like the Alamgirnamah and the Padshahnama refer to gold tapping in the sands of river beds and a large number of people being engaged in this craft, who paid regular taxes to the state. Thus, one comes across a more concrete picture of gold washing in the region when the craft came to be firmly controlled by the Ahom rulers.

With the coming of British, the East India Company (EIC) engaged Assamese scholars who had knowledge of the region’s geography to chart out its mineral resources. An illustrative, and frequently referred, example was that of Maniram Dewan, a pre-colonial noble who had foreseen opportunities in British capital, but soon explored for his own purposes. It was Maniram who prepared a systematic narrative of local procedures of gold collection from the river-beds. As the EIC administration came to know about this, further explorations to confirm its viability were taken up. 

Maniram’s report on gold washing in Assam was a result of these enquiries. His reports show that the sieving of gold from sand was a laborious task. It involved spooning and sifting using trays and strainers made of bamboo. This was followed by processing the filtered gold using mercury. Sometimes embankments had to be made to facilitate the process. 

(2) Gold Dust

River flows and shifting of courses were a crucial quotient in determining the season of washing. In most cases, gold washing occurred in winter, the lean season of the Brahmaputra’s tributaries. However, the Kacharis preferred to extract gold immediately after the flooding season so as to have access to the fine renewed alluvial sands. Finally, it is to the matured understanding of the rivers and their geomorphology by communities like the Sonowals and Kacharis, the success of this meticulous enterprise must be owed. By the early 19th century, though most gold washers were from the Sonowal community, other paiks sometimes joined them and received their share.

Fading of the Craft

As early as 1773, Hugh Baillie, a far sighted English merchant, wrote a letter to Lord Cornwallis seeking permission to trade with Assam. In his letter, he also suggested the possibility of trading in gold dust along with other commodities. In 1810s, Francis Hamilton notes that gold was imported, as its demand grew among the locals, and it was even paid as tributes by Bhutiyas and Tibetians, a practise which continued till the early 19th century. From the late 1880s onwards, Gold washing rights were auctioned out to private speculators, most of whom were tea planters, with no experience in mining.

The labour intensive nature and risk involved gradually took a toll on the prospect of gold washing. During the closing years of the Ahom monarchy, the burden of taxation increased on the native gold washers which aggravated their plight. We also come across instances of inter-tribal skirmishes over access to gold bearing river beds. To make matters worse, the Marwari traders who gave advances and credits to these native gold washers began exploiting them, leading to further dwindling of this already decaying craft. 

It was Maniram Dewan's report, published in a journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, which prompted the British colonialists to embark on a 'Gold Rush' in the Brahmaputra valley. However, soon the British realised that gold washing and collection would not be a viable project, though further investigations into the gold retaining capacities of upper Assam rivers were also made. A fresh attempt was made by E T Dalton and S F Hannay in 1855 to estimate the auriferous deposits of these rivers, although it didn't produce desired results. 

(3) Subansiri Basin

By the end of the 19th century, British ambitions to utilize the gold yielding potentials of our rivers petered out. Firstly, explorations in the fields of coal, petroleum and other minerals were beginning to make its presence felt, deciding colonial concerns. Compared to gold washing, these minerals began to show far better prospects. Secondly, discovery of new gold mines in the American west and Australia led to major structural changes in the global gold market. This was accompanied by fresh discoveries of gold in India, especially in the south, which began to harbour more profits by the mid 20th century. Lastly, the very nature of the river system, its changing sedimentation and flood regime very likely contributed to the uncertainties of gold washing. The gold washers - Sonowals and Kacharis - who never gave up agriculture, began to completely rely on their agrarian livelihood to sustain themselves.