The mere mention of ‘Mughal Rule’ is enough to polarize Indians. Though the empire which ruled most of the today’s geographical India for more than three centuries they are still considered as invaders by many. It’s intriguing as barring Mughal Empire’s founder Babur and his son Humayun all the remaining 16 emperors till the last Mughal Bahadur Shah Jafar II were born in India! At its peak, the empire stretched from Central Asia in the North-West to Bay of Bengal in the East and from Kashmir in the North to Vindhyas in the South. Perhaps their expansionist reign and little respect (Akbar’s rule was an exception) of culture, language, and religion of the territories they conquered didn’t allow them to become regarded as native rulers of the land.

The empire and its mighty military crushed every kingdom and ruler that stood its way and didn’t accept its alliance and subordination. Kings and kingdoms that stood up to them had to suffer heavy consequences and often couldn’t continue to resist the might of the Empire. Those who did became legends and Indians have grown up hearing the valour of Shivaji, Maharana Pratap, Prithviraj Chauhan. But most Indians sadly have never heard the name Lachit Borphukan. They have never heard about the story of this braveheart Ahom who took on the might of the Mughals and defeated them in what became famous (or rather remains in oblivion) as the Battle of Saraighat. 

READ MORE: Battle Of Saraighat – How Outnumbered Ahoms Humbled The Mughals

Even during its heydays of power, the Mughals weren’t able to conquer establish complete control over what is geographically Assam today. But by the time last Great Mughal Aurangzeb acceded to the throne Mughals has already conquered most of Bengal’s plains through their vassal state and wanted to expand into the territory of one of the last remaining empires in the East. Aurangzeb whose reign over the sub-continent was marked by brutal war campaigns and religious subjugation sent it a huge army under the command Mirza Raja Ram Singh I to defeat the Ahoms who were outnumbered badly and didn’t have the matching war-fighting capacity. But under the Lachit Borphukan, they used brilliant guerrilla warfare tactics, diplomacy and exploited the weakest link in Mughal forces their Navy to defeat them on the banks of Brahmaputra in March 1671. 

Born to Lachit Borphukan Momai Tamuli Borbarua who was First Borbarua (Governer) of Upper and also the Commander-in-Chief of the Ahom army Lachit Borphukan was educated in local scripture and military art and scaled up his way serving in different military capacities which turned him into a battle-hardened General who would lead Ahom army into its most glorious victory. His bravery and deep understanding of military tactics made King Chakradhwaj Singha handpick him to lead the Army and reclaim Guwahati and the plains of Ahom Empire which had fallen into the hands of Mughals. Taking charge of the forces he planned every single detail of the defensive strategy and inspired the relatively weak forces to prove their blood and salt in defense of their motherland. 

It was the master strategy of Borphukan which helped the Army thwart the attempts of the Mughal forces to cross the Brahmaputra and enter the plains of Assam. Here carefully chose Saraighat as it was the narrowest point on the mighty river and also surrounded by hillocks which gave the Ahom army the advantage of fighting a guerrilla warfare instead of a battle on the open field where the numerically Mughal forces would have had their advantage. This lead to a decisive victory for the Ahoms as the Mughals retreated not to conquer Guwahati until 1679 after the death of Lachit  Borphukan when his own brother Laluksola Borphukan deserted the city. 

Sadly the story of Lachit  Borphukan and his valor has remained hidden in the pages of local history with the majority of Indians unaware of how Mughals were humbled by a small force of determined people in the East under the command of a brave General and master military strategist.