A Glimpse of History
By Mrinmoy Bhuyan
The Ahoms were the only sovereign power in Asia to prevent the aggression of the mighty Mughals at a time when no other Indian kingdom could defend their states.
Lachit Borphukan, the great indubitable General (Senapati) of the Ahom kingdom represents a significant aspect of the history of North East India with a larger than life dimension at a broader and international level.
Unfortunately not many in India, let alone the rest of the world, know that the Ahom Dynasty was one of the greatest political entities in medieval Asia, no way less powerful than their counterparts in the Middle East or China or Japan.
The rise of the dynasty itself, in thirteen century, was amazing and unparallel as Su-Kya-Pha, the Tai Prince from Mong Mao of Yunnan Province landed in this part of the world crossing the Irrawaddy river and Patkai hills en-route. His journey through the inaccessible terrains for more than twelve years, and then establishing a kingdom, not by force, but by adopting a too matured political approach to unify and assimilate various ethnic groups in an unknown land were unequivocal milestones of the beginning of a new era on the bank of Brahmaputra.
The Ahoms ruled the land in indomitable terms for six hundred years leaving lots many historical impacts yet to be explored. The most enduring legacy of the Ahoms rested in the fact that they blocked the Mughals, and hence restricted Islam from penetrating into Burma and beyond through conflict, conquest, colonization and conversion- a turning point in seventeenth century to save the religious and indigenous cultural fabrics in South East Asia intact. The Mughals, after capturing almost all the provinces of the Indian sub continent, were in full force to conquer Assam (Ahom) from the west during period from 1527 to 1682, a span of 155 years in which twelve battles were fought between the Ahoms and the Mughals. The Ahoms were the only sovereign power in Asia to prevent the aggression of the mighty Mughals at a time when no other Indian kingdom could defend their states.
It was in 1615 AD when the Nawab of Bengal Seikh Kowasim attacked Assam for the first time following their triumph over the Koch kings. The Nawab failed to progress much and was defeated by the Ahom Swargadewa (title of the King in the name of God) in association with the Koch kings somewhere near Kaliabor (Nagaon). Since then, the Mahammedian rulers, either from Bengal (Dhacca) or from Delhi kept on trying to invade Assam time to time. In fact, the imperialist Mahammedians succeeded in occupying the westernmost part of Assam originally belonged to the Koch. Later on, the suzerainty over that territory fluctuated between the Ahoms and Mughals. A treaty in 1639 handed over the west part of Assam to the Mughals who retained the land between Bar Nadi (great river) on the north bank of Brahmaputra and west of Asurar Ali ( Demon’s Road) on the south bank.
In 1662, Mir Jumla, the Mughal Goverenr of Bengal, made a strong aggression towards Assam and succeeded to reach the Ahom capital Gorhgaon after gaining Guwahati. The Ahom king Jayadhwaj Singha (1648–63) had to take flight and hide in Namrup before agreeing to a humiliating peace Treaty of Ghilajharihat which imposed harsh conditions on the Ahom Kingdom like accepting tributary status. After death of Jayadhwaj Singha, his related brother Chakradhwaj Singha was crowned to the empire. Chakradhwaj was a king of different vein who was not at all ready to be a subdued king under the Mughal losing the esteemed sovereignty of his state, hard earned for long by his predecessors. With a view to regain Guwahati and the rest of West Assam from the Mughals, he appointed Lachit Deka as Borphukan (General) of Guwahati. Lachit was the son of Momai Tamuli Borbarua, who was commander-in-chief of the Ahom Army. Lachit, born in 1622, grew up in an era that saw a continuous Mughal-Ahom conflict that began in 1615. He studied humanities and military strategies in schooling after completion of which was given the responsibility of serving as the Soladhara Barua (a post who carry the scarf for the King, as good as a Private Secretary of modern days). He also held other important positions like Superintendent of the Stable of Royal Horses and Superintendent of Royal Household Guards before being appointed as Commander-In-Chief (Barphukan) of Ahom Army in Guwahati, probably in the year 1665.
Lachit Borphukan, unlike the earlier ones with same capacity, was a military commander with difference, in the sense that, he was a visionary strategic planner to control and depute his force in right place in right time against an aggressive enemy. His every move was well calculated and minutely pre-defined. His experience in royal force, capability to fight in his own with sword and arrows, his physical and mental stamina, and above all – his personality, made him an undisputed leader at war front at a time when a part of his kingdom was at stake. A stone scripture writing near Guwahati reads the appearance of the General as : Borphukan’s body was glorified with ornaments and his inner-self was exposed with vast vocational knowledge. Never disfigured by ageing in Time, he was attractive with immense qualities; he was bright with his strength, and commander of the elephants, horses and soldiers in true sense. He was a complete man with his tolerance, self-respect, bravery, sense of gravity and seriousness and capacity to judge.
He’s never ready to compromise at any cost the orders of his King and call of the nation. The Mughals with a huge force led by Ram Singha were too crooked and mighty in armory. So, to give a fitting reply to such an invading power, the Chakradhwaj Singha, the Swargadew, rightly relied upon Lachit Borphukan and his sincerity. In order to rescue Guwahati and keep it safe guarded from the enemies, the decision to appoint a man like Lachit as Borphukan (General) in charge of Guwahati, was perhaps the best strategic move played by any Swargadew in their reigning history of six hundred years.
Lachit Borphukan made full use of the typical geographical location of Guwahati surrounded by hills, marshy lands and rivers which made it quite difficult for the enemies to make a straight forward move. Lachit Borphukan composed such a prudent plan to attack the Mughals that Ram Singha could hardly imagine the consequences. Being his state situated on both the banks of Brahmaputra, Lachit Borphukan prepared a force with naval flotilla to counter the Mughals. At the same time, his military base camps set up in strategic locations were made secured by digging inaccessible ponds around. To ward off the enemy, a rampart (Garh) was build on the south bank of the river (now located in Lankeswar) by the Ahom soldiers in a single night. History notes the Borphukan got furious to see the slow progress of the construction of the rampart on his sudden visit in mid night while it was extremely crucial and essential to complete the Garh by the next morning. The general took no time to behead his own maternal uncle who was in charge of the troop on that night with his sword, saying, his uncle was not above his kingdom. And hence the rampart name derived, Momai Kata Garh.
No doubt, erection of the rampart was indispensible; but far more significant was the way the general punished a subordinate in odd hours, that too his own uncle, for his negligence of duty. This was tactical as because the war was at peak; nothing less than saving the sovereignty of the kingdom could be the agenda; so by beheading his uncle, Lachit Borphukan sent a clear message to his troops about his uncompromising intention.
The Mughal were defeated in the battle of Saraighat in 1671 and forced to retreat from Guwahati. The Ahom warriors pursued them back to the river Manas, demarcating it as the western boundary of the kingdom.
Lachit Borphukan was just not a mere winner of a battle at Saraighat nor he could be simply credited to lead a more powerful troop over the mighty Mughals. He had lot more wider dimensions to be underlined in the context that the juncture at which the state of Ahom, particularly the western part of it from Guwahati, was in jeopardy vis-à-vis the aggression of the Mahammedians for previous 155 years.
The imperialist Mughal, known for their huge armed forces had an well established, strong and strategic base at Dhacca for long. So, there was every possibility, they could have thrived for expanding their territory with sovereignty over the neighboring provinces towards the South Asia after taking control of the Brahmaputra valley. King Chakradhwaj Singha challenged the intention through Lachit Borphukan, not only to put a brake on the Mughal run, irresistible so far, but taught a lesson unforgettable to them not to look east any more. So, the battle of Saraighat is a historical landmark for the greater South Asia.
His management of the army, considering the topographical existence of Guwahati, punctuated by hills and rivers, particularly the aging waters of Brahmaputra on both banks of which the city situated, was unparallel and extraordinary. It was interesting to see the records that he kept count of the position of every soldier, their stance and distance between, and the action plans with road maps. Everything was minutely defined in details and calculated exhaustively, a tactics adopted in modern day’s war preparations.
He was unquestionable during his exercise, even by the King, for his stunning ability to lead from the front, capacity for strategic planning and after all, his amazing personality.
Lachit Borphukan is more significant in today’s backdrop as the state of Assam, or rather the entire North East, is reeling under threat of losing its existence in terms of indigenous culture and ethnic identity.
There’s too little known about Lachit Borphukan after the battle of Saraighat in 1671. History notes, he died a year later (April,1672) and buried near Jorhat. The winning general of a great battle was reported to suffer a lot from illness after the battle. However the type of his illness, whether any royal treatment he got or not, and finally the cause of his death are not to be found.
