LACHIT BARPHUKAN THE GREAT

Dr. B.K. Gohain

During the medieval period, Assam was the only country in the Indian peninsula which was politically not a part of India and was an independent country which did not succumb to the invasions of Delhi Sultanate or the Mogul emperors and kept them at bay. The Indian military system which withstood world conquering forces in the ancient times totally collapsed in the medieval period and invaders like Mohmed Gazni, Mohmed Ghori, Babor, Nadir Shah and Ahmed Shah Abdali decisively defeated Indian armies arraigned against them. Assam’s position, as a result of this unique situation, became striking and its people remained lovers of independence and would not yield to any foreign powers.

In order to understand the greatness of Lachit Barphukan, one must understand the grave dangers faced by the Assamese from Muslim invaders from the days of Siu-Hung-Mung Dihingia Raja. The Muslims were on the lookout for annexing Assam to the Mogul empire as Assam stood out as an independent country with its own sovereign king to rule it. The country of Assam was also El Dorado (the land of gold) for Muslim marauders who used to cast lusty eyes on it. The first invasion was during the reign of Siu-Hung-Mung Dihingia Raja (1497-1539) when one Bar Ujjir attacked the Ahom kingdom for the first time. The Ahoms defeated them in 1527 on the north bank of the Brahmaputra and pursued them up to Buroi.

Assam had to face 17 invasions from the Muslims during the rule of the Ahom kings. The sixteenth invasion of the Muslims led by Mir Jumla, the Governor of Bengal, was very serious and devastating for Assam. Mir Jumla was a despot and exceedingly cruel. He was disrespectful towards Hindus. His success in Assam was because of certain reasons: — firstly, a section of the Ahom army was devastated by cholera and could offer only feeble resistance, always retreating before the invaders or being routed with heavy slaughter; secondly, there was no united opposition by the Assamese force as there was some disaffection amongst Ahom nobles because of the appointment of a favourite of King Jaydwaj Singha, namely Manthir Bharali Barua of Bezdoloi family, as the viceroy and commander-in-chief of the royal army against the existing tradition; another cause, which was religious, was the belief amongst the Ahoms that Jaydwaj Singha stopped practising the traditional and age-old religious rituals professed by the Ahoms. This was commented upon by the successor of Chakradwaj Singha as follows: “During the reign of my brother Siutamla, the rites and rituals as observed by our forefathers (Pulin Puthai) were not followed. Therefore, Pha-Nu-ru Lengdon (the Lord of Heaven) did not favour us. The other gods and the goddess also did not favour us and as a result the Bongals (Mughals) came and destroyed our country. The soldiers and the people also faced hardship. Now Pha-Nu-Ru Lengdon, the Lord of Heaven and the other gods have given me this country for doing good to it. The country should be made better; the rebellions should be quelled. What do you say?”

Mir Jumla desecrated the burial mounds (moidam) of the kings and the queens and of the royal persons by digging the burial mounds of Borjana Gohain, Lachit Gohain, Laluk Gohain from which they found gold and gold coins. The Mughals also dug out the bones from the burial mounds. Mir Jumla dug the Bura Raja’s moidam and found gold and gold coins and bones. He also desecrated the burial mounds of Gorhgoya Khoraraja, Naria Raja and Siurampha Bhogaraja, and did not honour even the bones of these kings. All these developments made King Jaydwaj Singha and his successor Chakradwaj Singha very angry. Jaydwaj Singha’s summer campaigns and guerrilla warfare which inconvenienced the Moguls in no mean measure were inspired by his hatred towards the Moguls as well as his love for the motherland.

King Chakradwaj Singha was a very determined and courageous king. He was also very intelligent and could choose his commanders well. He was a staunch follower of the traditional Ahom religious rites and customs. He, therefore, restored the custom of the ancestor worship, worship of Lengdon, the presiding deity of the Ahoms and of the gods and goddesses of the Ahom religion. While selecting Lachit as the commander-in-chief of the Assamese army, he first ascertained his lineage. Moreover, when he found that Lachit was a descendant of Phima, who came with the first Ahom king Chaolung Siukapha from Mung-Maolung, and earlier in the days of Siu-dang-Pha (Bamuni Konwar), and that the entire clan had been degraded for some offence of the members of the Phima and Tamra clan, he asked the royal astrologers who used to maintain the genealogies of the royal families and of other important persons to find out the lineage by consulting the books. The king got the entire clan of Phima purified by the Ahom ritual in Charaideo. Even after that, the king asked the astrologers and priests to examine the chicken legs in the traditional Ahom way as it was the Tai custom and found the calculations favourable for appointing Lachit as the commander-in-chief of the royal army.

Lachit was a man who was sure of himself. The first proof of his determination and self respect was his submission to his master Chakradwaj Singha, the Ahom king, that the enemies were mere mortals and the king could find a person who would be equal to the immediate task of defeating them if the heavenly king only confers the dust of his feet on that person. This statement is reflective of the traits of his personality which were his supreme loyalty to his king and master and his extreme sense of duty and love for his motherland. When his head dress was suddenly removed from his head while he was kneeling down before the king, he felt so insulted that he charged forward to kill that person when he was dissuaded by the king, saying the person did so on his bidding to test his sense of self respect.

When his elder brother the Naobisa Phukan, on hearing the fall of two Assamese commanders (Rajkhowa) in trying to conquer the Mogul fort of Itakhuli in first attempt, sent messengers to him with the message that it appeared the name of their father Momai Tamuli Barbarua was about to be tarnished. It (this exercise of conquering the Mughal fort) was like carrying a bundle of stones on a reed. Earlier, such a responsibility used to be taken by the three Dangaria (Gohains) but now was shouldered by him (Lachit) alone. It would be wise now to inform the Queen about the difficulty and ask her to request the king to send reinforcements. If the king heard about the fall of the fort, he would take grave offence.

When Lachit Barphukan heard these words conveyed through the messenger, he got angry and dismissed them by saying, “My brother talks about the achievement of our father and our livelihood. If we are defeated, who will spare us? Moreover, I have come for this war after bowing before our heavenly king with his blessings, giving my word to defeat the enemy. Now how can I send any plea to the king when I gave my commitment to the heavenly king to drive out the enemy? If I seek reinforcements, will the enemy be not emboldened? It is not about the affairs of my farm at Meteka that I shall inform the Queen. A lady in the house knows about the household works and to live in comfort. What does she know about warfare? Have I come as the Barphukan depending on her? During the days of our father, did he depend on our sister for anything? Do not dare to say such things in future.” He looked at the messengers and warned them not to come with such message in future, else he would be compelled to cut them into pieces. It is noteworthy that the sister of Lachit was a queen of King Chakradwaj Singha. This speaks volumes about the clear cut idea Lachit had that state matters should not be mixed up with family matters and one should perform the task given to him without fear and favour.

The king who was a very strict and hard taskmaster expressed his anger as Lachit had not been able to conquer the most important Mogul fort of Itakhuli in Guwahati and instead two Assamese commanders got killed. Lachit sent a messenger to the king expressing his determination to occupy Lower Assam. The king did not take offence in view of the expressed determination of Lachit that he would conquer the strategic fort which he did.

The Barphukan was a strategist of the first order and was confident that he could capture the strategic Itakhuli fort by proper planning. He surveyed the area and could realize that this fort which was situated adjacent to the temple of Sukleswar hill, in present Panbazar covering the area from the present Deputy Commissioner’s bungalow extending to the adjacent police residential complex, could be silently entered into from the steep river side of the Brahmaputra. He organized an expert group of chorbosa (spies) to scale the heights from the riverside by ropes. Their main duty was to climb up the ropes very assiduously fixed by the spies and relay jars full of water up the hill so that the unmanned cannons were made ineffective by pouring water through the barrels. Lachit had already got the reports from the spies that riverside defence was practically not there. Thus the cannons were deactivated and the main door of Itakhuli fort was opened by the Assamese spies and Lachit could enter the fort from the road and conquer it. This victory was so important for the Assamese army that it could extend its sway up to the Manas. Swargadeo Chakradwaj Singha was so happy hearing the news of victory, he exclaimed, “Now I can take my morsel of food in peace.”

Lachit’s first task was that the fortifications of Guwahati must be strengthened. After this was accomplished, it was realized by all commanders that the established character of Guwahati had made the place extremely suitable for a war base from where, in the words of Lachit Barphukan, ”They could fight as if they were sitting in their own homes.” Later on, when Raja Ram Singha came to attack Assam, Lachit Barphukan thought it prudent not to engage the enemy in any battle on the ground and rather concentrated all his energy on the defence of Guwahati, knowing fully well that the Assamese were superior in naval strength and the mighty Brahmaputra was a great deterrent. Moreover, he was sure that the Assamese would defend Guwahati effectively if they were successful in the naval battles. The harsh orders of king Chakradwaj Singha to attack the Muslim land force at Alaboi on the north bank of the Brahmaputra and the consequent killing of 10,000 Assamese soldiers were contrary to the planning of Lachit Barphukan and his commanders. However, being extremely loyal and obedient to the king, he had to send the Assamese force to the battle of Alaboi. The king listened to the advice of the Prime Minister Atan Buragohain and did not take any penal action against anybody.

Lachit Barphukan did not spare anybody if his orders were not followed. His maternal uncle was entrusted with the construction of a rampart near Amingaon on the north bank. When on inspection he found the rampart to be not completed, he executed his own maternal uncle uttering these historic words, “My uncle is not greater than my country.” .This rampart is still known as the ‘Momai Kota Garh’. In 1668 after all the nobles prayed to Mother Goddess Kamakhya to eat up all the Mughals (Bongals) and to save them, Lachit Barphukan swore then and there, “Mother, anyone who retreats from battle I shall cut his neck first and inform the heavenly king later”. All the nobles including the Buragohain were afraid at this utterance. When it was reported to the king, he did not take any action as whatever was done and uttered was in his interest and in the interest of the country.

Lachit was a master at diplomacy. He postponed engagements with the enemy by sending messengers to Raja Ram Singha and showing as though he was ready for a negotiated settlement of the dispute between the Mughals and the Ahoms. He was, however, not interested in entering into any negotiated settlement but to expel the Mughals from his motherland. Ram Singha, the main opponent of Lachit was not looked upon well by Emperor Aurangzeb. Sending him to conquer back Koch Behar and Guwahati was, rather, a punishment for him. But the fact remains that Ram Singha was a Rajput, always loyal to the Emperor. He was degraded after his defeat in Assam. Lachit Barphukan outwitted him in diplomacy and defeated him in the famous naval battle at Saraighat, proving that he was far more superior to him (Ram Sigha) in every matter.

Lachit Barphukan is as great a hero of the genre of Chattrapati Shivaji. He is the greatest national hero of Assam and his name has become a household name. The epithet (in Sanskrit) inscribed on a rock inscription in Guwahati speaks of the sterling qualities of head and heart, the meaning of which sums up the character of Lachit Barphukan, the worthy son of the greatest social and administrative organizer during the Ahom rule: ‘Peace to all: The Barphukan of Namjani (Lower Assam), who is famous as the son of the great (Momai Tamuli) Barbarua, attained glory after defeating the Yavanas (Muslims) who were equipped with various war-weapons, elephants, horses and the generals. The person of the Barphukan was adorned with various ornaments and he was endowed with great qualities and knowledge, and was free from the vices of Kaliyuga. He is the greatest in valour. He was ocean- like with great patience, self respect, dignity, valour, prowess and gravity. Saka 1589’.