Today is Lachit Diwas, the Jayanti of the great Ahom general, Lachit Borphukan who inflicted one of the most humiliating routs on the mighty Mughal Army at the Battle of Saraighat. One of the greatest military heroes, known for his wisdom and strategic brilliance.

While a lot is known about the Marathas, and the valor of Shivaji, not much is really known about the Ahoms, and their spirited resistance to the Mughals. From 1615 when the Mughal Army attacked the Ahom Kingdom to the Battle of Itakhuli in 1682 that saw a decisive Ahom victory.

The animosity between the Ahoms and the Mughal empire went long back, one of the primary factors being their alliance with their rival Koch Behar kingdom. Other factor being aggressive Mughal expansionism, that sought to expand right up to Assam and North East.

The Mughals considered the territory east of Barnadi up to Singri as part of their empire, added to it the rich natural resources of Assam too. The very first foray the Mughals made into Assam, at Kajali in 1615, ended in disaster, when the Ahoms beat them back.

While there was a brief lull in hostilities, the conflict again rose it’s head under Shahjahan’s reign. One was the asylum given by the Ahom king to the hill chiefs of Dhanikal fleeing from the tyrannical Bengal subedar Qasim Khan Chisti

Towards December 1636, Kamrup was occupied by the Mughals, though a gallant resistance was put up by the residents of Samdhara fort. . Treaty of Asurar Ali signed in 1639, between the Ahom general Momai Tamuli Borbarua and Allah Yar Khan saw entire Western Assam go to Mughals

When Shahjahan fell ill, and his sons were caught in a bloody war of succession, the Ahom king Jayadhwaj Singha, took advantage of it, and chased out the Mughals from Assam, reoccupied the entire Western region upto Gauhati

Lachit Borphukan, of the greatest warriors Assam, had seen, their own Shivaji and Rana Pratap, was born to Momai Tamuli Borbarua, the commander in chief of the Ahom army. Borbarua was an office created by Pratap Singha, the Ahom king, also known as Sushengpaa

Pratap Singha not only expanded the Ahom Kingdom, he also created it's basic administrative structure, that would be it's foundation. Also forged an alliance with the Koch Hajo, lying between Sankosh and Bareli rivers.

It was Pratap Singha,who created the offices of Borphukan and Borbarua in addition to the existing offices of Burhagohain,Borgohain and Borpatrogohain, collectively called the 5 Patra Mantris

Borphukan- Governor of West of Kaliabor River
Borbarua- Governor of East of Kaliabor
Borgohain- South of Dikhow River
Burhagohain- North of Dikhow River
Borpatragohain-region from Dafala Hills to the Brahmaputra

Momai Tamuli started from very humble origins as a bondsman, and he was noticed by the Ahom ruler Pratap Singha, he soon rose up the ranks, to become one of the foremost warriors of the Ahom Kingdom.

“If the Ahom ruler is a veritable Mahadeva, Momai Tamuli is his Nandi, and with them together, it is impossible to conquer that land”. Was what a Mughal general remarked on Tamuli, it was to such an illustrious man, that Lachit Borphukan was born.

When one writes of the history of resistance to the Mughals, Lachit Borphukan’s name would be there right up with Shivaji and Rana Pratap.Educated in humanities, military skills and scriptures, he was first given position of Soladhara Barua, the scarf bearer of the Ahom swargdeo

Lachit first came into prominence when he recovered Gauhati from the Mughals in 1667, and was presented with the Hengdang a gold plated sword.

Lachit Borphukan would however be come to known due to his valor in the Battle of Saraighat, one of the worst defeats the Mughal Army would ever face.

Saraighat would be remembered for the victory of a much smaller Ahom army over the mighty Mughal Army, through a combination of tactical brilliance, guerilla warfare and intelligence gathering. It also ended the Mughal attempts to expand into Assam, and they gave up here.

The background to Saraighat was the humiliating Treaty of Ghilajarighat, in 1663, which while returning Garhgaon back to the Ahoms, came at a heavy cost. As per the treaty, Jayadwaj Singh had to cede a large amount of silver, gold, elephants to the Mughals

But what was even worse, Jayadwaj Singha had to send one of his daughters to the Mughal harem, as per the treaty of Ghilajarighat. It was total humiliation for him, and he died heartbroken. As also for the proud Ahoms, who had always fought back the Sultanate and Mughals.

His successor Chakradwaj Singha, vowed to regain the honor of the Ahoms, and began a complete overhaul of the kingdom. And it was during this time Lachit was made commander of the Ahom Army, he had to not just restructure it, but also restore it's shattered morale.

The alliances were renewed with the Jaintia and Kachari kingdoms and in August 1667, Lachit accompanied by Atan Burhagohain, undertook a downstream expedition on Brahmaputra, to retake Gauhati.

Making Kaliabor his base camp, Lachit ensured Bahbari was retaken in Sept 1667, while the entire region between Gauhati and Kapili river too was reconquered. Gauhati was attacked from the river banks, and the Shah Buruz, Rangamahal forts were occupied.

On Nov 4, 1667 Itakhuli was taken in a daring mid night assault by the Ahoms, and many of it’s defenders were massacred. Ahoms went in hot pursuit of the Mughal forces and massacred many. Much like the Sikhs, Ahoms too had a "Take no prisoners" policy when it came to war.

Alarmed at the losses, Aurangzeb, sent a huge army under the command of Raja Ram Singh, son of the Amber Raja, Mirza Raja Jai Singh to retake Gauhati. By February 1669, Ram Singh reached Rangamati, accompanied by Rashid Khan

It was a massive Mughal army with 4000 troopers, 30,000 infantry men, 21 Rajput chiefs with their contingents, 18,000 cavalry, 2000 archers and 40 ships. Add to it they had the support of the Koch Behar kingdom, the rivals to the Ahoms.

On getting wind of the information Lachit broke down, wondering how the Ahom kingdom could withstand the assault of such a mighty army. It was in such a dire situation, that Lachit showed his tactical brilliance.

Knowing very well that the Ahoms had no chance in an open plains battle, he choose Gauhati with it’s hilly terrain. The only way up to Gauhati from the east was the Brahmaputra river.

At Saraighat was where the Brahmaputra was at it’s narrowest point just a width of 1 km, ideal for naval defense. While Mughals were strong on land, river warfare, was their weak point, Lachit played right on that.

Lachit set up a series of mud embankments in Gauhati, and ensured that the Mughals would be forced to take the river route to the city. Basically it was a trap into which the Mughal Army was forced to walk in.

Lachit then planned a strategic retreat to Gauhati, ensuring that the Mughal forces were in sight, but their weapons could not reach. Mughals had 4 divisions one headed by Ram Singh( North bank), Ali Akbar Khan headed the South bank

The Ahoms on the other hand were allied with the Jaintias, Garos, Nagas, the Rani of Darrang and above all the monsoon, their best ally, that could deter even the mightiest of all Armies. Atan Burhagohain commanded the North bank, while Lachit himself commanded the Southern bank.

Atan harassed the Mughal army periodically with dagga judha(Guerilla warfare) periodically, in the lead up to the battle. A last ditch attempt to persuade the Ahom ruler Chakradwaj Singha to surrender peacefully failed when Atan Burhagohain rejected it

This was the map for Saraighat, as you can see here, most of the battle took place in the triangle between Ashwakranta, Itakhuli and Nilachal Hills, one of the narrowest points in the Brahmaputra.

Ram Singh now made the final assault on Gauhati, with the reinforcements arriving in the shape of war vessels and imperial officers. Moving along the North bank, he was joined by other ships and archers under 5 Rajput Sardars

Ahoms were already demoralized by the loss of 10,000 of theirs at Alboi, add to it, Lachit was down with a high fever, and the furious assault by the Mughal Army, making it worse.

The battle started on both land and water at Ashwarkanta, Laluk Phukan, pushed back the Mughals, but their naval forces, compelled the Ahom boats to retreat further.

. With the Mughals getting dangerously close to Andharubali, the Ahoms retreated further back to Kajali and Samdhara. And this is when Lachit Borphukan stood up to be counted, disregarding his illness.

“The King has put all the people in my hands to fight the Bongal” Lachit thundered, as he headed towards the battle. He sent orders for all the land and naval forces to attack, ordered 7 war boats for himself. Leading from the front.

Lachit’s entry had an electrifying impact on the Ahom soldiers, who now attacked the Mughals fiercely. Ahom warships now began to attack the Mughal navy from all sides.

Between Itajuli, Kamakhya and Aswakranta, one of the fiercest river battles was ever fought. Using a improvised bridge of boats, the Ahoms, attacked the Mughals from both the rear and front, their admiral Munnawar Khan was shot dead

It was a total rout for the mighty Mughal Army at Saraighat, 4000 dead, their entire Navy destroyed, and they were pursued to Westernmost part of the Ahom kingdom, the Manas river.

Darrang also saw a rout for the Mughals,and ensured that they would not make further inroads into Assam. Saraighat basically put an end to any further plans of Mughal expansion into Assam and North East, one of the greatest victories for Ahoms.

Lachit Borphukan single handedly led an Ahom force to victory over a much larger Mughal Army, it was one of the greatest military victories ever. Salute to a true hero, and one of the greatest warriors ever.

The best passing out cadet at the National Defence Academy is awarded the Lachit Borphukan gold medal, this was instituted by the Assam Govt in 2000. It is a fitting tribute to a brave soldier, a wise man and a brilliant tactician. #Naman