Name: Imdad Ali Ahmed
Country: India

Year: 2026
Volume: Volume-11, Issue-1, January-June 2026
Page Number: 214-218
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19435622

ABSTRACT
This paper critically examines James Johnstone’s account “Captain Welsh’s Expedition to Assam in 1792, 1793 and 1794” and evaluates its importance for reconstructing the political and socioeconomic history of late eighteenth-century Assam. The study aims to analyze Johnstone’s narrative as a colonial historical source, focusing on the Moamoria rebellion, the decline of the Ahom polity, and the nature of early British intervention. The methodology is based on qualitative textual analysis of
Johnstone’s work, supplemented by contemporary official correspondence and supported by modern historiography. A comparative approach is used to identify discrepancies between colonial narratives and later scholarly interpretations. The findings indicate that Johnstone’s account provides valuable empirical details on administrative structures, military developments, and regional instability. However, it is shaped by colonial biases that portray British intervention as necessary and indigenous
rulers as inefficient. His narrative underrepresents socio-economic causes of rebellion and overlooks indigenous agency. The study concludes that while Johnstone’s work is indispensable as a primary source, it must be critically evaluated within its colonial context. Its significance lies in contributing both factual data and insight into colonial knowledge production, thereby enriching the historiography of Assam and early British expansion in Northeast India.

Keywords: Assam history, Captain Welsh, James Johnstone, Moamoria rebellion, Ahom kingdom, colonial historiography