New Book Explores Lives of Forgotten Heroes Who Fought To Uphold Their Culture

Vikram Sampath's 'Bravehearts of Bharat: Vignettes from Indian History' speaks of 15 such unsung heroes.

Bravehearts of Bharat: Vignettes from Indian History highlights the lives of 15 unsung heroes and heroines who were forgotten by history. 

(Photo: Vibhushita Singh/The Quint, Illustration by: Amit Srivastava)

(On the occassion of 400th birth anniversary of Ahom General Lachit Borphukan, we revisit this excerpt from historian and political analyst Vikram Sampath's Bravehearts of Bharat: Vignettes from Indian History, published with permission from Penguin Random House India. The sub-headings are not a part of the original text, and have been added by The Quint.)

Before being formally anointed as the Barphukan, the king wanted to test the man whom he had anyway watched closely in a long time. Lachit was asked to present himself in the royal court before the monarch, and as he knelt before him, in a preplanned and staged move, an attendant rushed from behind and snatched away Lachit’s headgear.

This was, and still is, considered as a grave affront to a man’s dignity and self-respect, in Assamese traditions. The king wanted to check Lachit’s sense of self-worth and his reflexes.

The young man leapt from his knees, unsheathed his sword and rushed to cut off the head of the errant attendant, who had by now safely plonked himself at the king’s feet seeking his shelter. The king was deeply satisfied by this act and he formally installed Lachit as his general and Barphukan, presenting him a gold-hafted sword and the customary paraphernalia of regal distinction.

Forging Alliances

As the Ahoms were preparing for the combat, King Chakradhwaj Singha renewed the alliances with the Jaintia and Kachari kingdoms. The Garos, the Nagas and the Rani of Darrang were other allies for the Ahoms.

Singha had also kept a close watch on what all was happening across the country. His spies and emissaries were gathering information of the movements of the Mughal army, their successes and failures in other wars in order to better prepare themselves.

It was the Maratha strongman who later became Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj whose successes against the Mughals around this very time— between 1663 and 1665 CE— attracted the Ahoms the most and gave them a sense of hope for their own fortunes.

Chhatrapati Shivaji became the role model for them to emulate and to similarly vanquish the arrogant Mughal emperor and his army. In a letter written to the Raja of Cooch Behar, dated 24th Magh 1587 Saka, or 7 February 1666, Chakradhwaj Singha said:

You have sent the verbal message informing me that war had commenced between Shewa (Shivaji) and the Moguls, and that Shewa having defeated the Moguls has pushed them back to a distance of twenty days’ march; that Daud Khan has fallen, and Dilel [Dilir] Khan is wounded, and that the Badshah has come from Delhi to Agra. It cannot be predicted as to who becomes vanquished and who becomes victorious. You have further informed me that you are engaged in putting your forts and dikes in order; and you have asked us to strengthen our fortifications and to train our soldiers. It is meet and proper that you should give us such advice and encouragement. Because the Moguls have humiliated us once, does it follow that we should make no attempt to throw off this position of subordination to them? They have discomfited us once, and we have dealt them severe blows on repeated occasions, and of this fact you are fully conversant.

The Battle at Guwahati

By the summer of 1667 CE, the army was completely toned and galvanized and was bursting to set forth once it received the royal orders. On 20 August 1667, the Ahom army under Lachit Barphukan, accompanied by Atan Burhagohain, started from the capital, sailed downstream the Brahmaputra River in two divisions and encamped at Kaliabar at their viceregal headquarters to launch their operations against the Mughals in Guwahati.

After offering prayers at the holy shrine of Goddess Kamakhya, they began their offensive. Syed Firuz Khan, the Mughal governor of Guwahati, and his army were illprepared for this sudden attack and there was no time for them to seek fresh reinforcements from Rangamati or Dhaka.

Dihingia Phukan in the Ahom army led an attack on the Bahbari Fort near the Barnadi, on the northern bank of Guwahati and captured it, along with the fort of Kajali by September 1667. The Shah Buruz and Rangmahal forts, too, fell soon to the Ahom might.

The Ahoms now directed their efforts to the recapture of Guwahati from the Mughals. A fierce battle took place between the Ahoms and the Mughal army detachment issuing out of Itakhuli at Guwahati. Itakhuli was a small hill on the south bank of the Brahmaputra at Guwahati, and it offered a panoramic view and a strategic hold over the valley.

The Mughals had established themselves in a fort atop the hill of Itakhuli and this was attacked by the Assamese army in a daring midnight ambush. The Ahom spies had managed to render several of the Mughal cannon as unworthy by filling water in their muzzles.

This was led by one Bagh Hazarika, whose real name was Ismail Siddique, and so called because he had once killed a tiger barehanded. When the Ahoms attacked, the Mughals realized to their horror that their cannons were all rendered utterly useless.

The Mughals then advanced with a fleet of boats, but they could not stand or defend the incessant cannonade of the Ahoms. By the midnight of 2 November 1667, Itakhuli and the contiguous garrison of Guwahati fell into Ahom hands and the Mughals were chased out of the region to the mouth of the Manaha river, the original boundary of their empire with Assam.

Syed Firuz Khan and several others were taken captive by the Ahoms; many were executed and others sent to the jails in Gargaon. Thus, within a short span of merely two months the Ahoms manage to flush the Mughals out of Guwahati and west Assam and regain their lost glory and possessions. For his chivalry and the first major success, Lachit Barphukan was presented with the Hengdang, a gold-plated sword by the king.

The Ahoms knew that the Mughals would not let go so easily and would come back again. Hence, retaining Guwahati that they managed to wrest was essential. Fortifications in Guwahati were strengthened on a maddening war footing.

Atan Buragohain was appointed to erect the necessary fortifications on both banks of the river, while Lachit Barphukan was asked to post a contingent of soldiers at all the important and strategic locations. On the pretext of going on a hunt, Lachit would often inspect the passes and defiles in and around Guwahati.

Every part of Guwahati was well-covered and protected. Guns were mounted in the ramparts and on hill slopes and valleys in a state of perennial alert. Lachit Barphukan was merciless when it came to dereliction of duty on anybody’s part.

When his own maternal uncle did not complete the construction of a rampart near Amingaon on the north bank on time, he was immediately sacked. Lachit had remarked that his country was more important to him than his own uncle. This kind of military zeal infused a sense of immense responsibility in the army.

The Ahoms thus kept themselves ready for any further eventualities with the Mughal forces.