History Revisited in ‘Etihashat Chakaripheti’

K. Prakash Singha

(kprakashsingha123@gmail.com)

The usual dull and dusty evening with gridlocked streets of Guwahati was quite generous on March 2, 2025. It only required a little manoeuvring to reach the splendid Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakhetra at Panjabari, Guwahati, and by the time we hurried to Sri Sri Madhabdeva International Auditorium and grabbed a seat for ourselves, a spectacular show unfurled showcasing a dark chapter in the history of Assam.

The play “Etihashat Chakaripheti” began in a dark theatrical stage, spotlight focused on Raghav Moran, a Moamaria rebel writhing in pain and expressing his deep anguish over the atrocities meted out by Kirtichandra Barbarua. The brilliant light work of Tapan Kumar Baruah and Dhanjit Boro’s music captivated the audience in a flash. The dialogues reverberated through the packed auditorium. Indeed, a stupendous beginning.

Kirtichandra Barbarua, alias Gendhela, was the son of Rupchandra Barbarua, who belonged to the Bakatial clan. A guileful and deceptive politician, he skilfully crafted a conspiracy to deny Mohanmala Gohain’s right to the Ahom throne and instead crowned his younger brother Rajeswar Singha to the throne. Thus began an era where the Ahom king was reduced to a mere titular ruler in his own court while the real power was vested with Kirtichandra Barbarua.

Kirtichandra Borbarua belonged to the Bokotiyal family. A member of the Bokotiayal family was engaged as a tailor who stitched garments for the Goriyas and therefore he was popularly called “jolombota goriya”. The growing prominence of Kirtichandra Barbarua in the royal court was much disliked by Numali Borgohain. He wrote the “Chakaripheti Buranji” where he questioned the immaculateness of Kirtichandra Barbarua’s descent. This deeply concerned Kirtichandra Barbarua and a prospect of conspiracy against him on the grounds of his past loomed large on the Barbarua. The play depicted the Barbarua’s nefarious ways of convincing the king to burn all the existing buranjis which contained objectionable contents.

The play also vividly depicted infamous incidents such as the ill treatments meted out by Kirtichandra Barbarua against Astabhuj Gosain, who failed to greet him while travelling along with the Ahom king Lakshmi Singha, and his barbaric acts, such as chopping off the ears of Nahar Khora when the elephant he offered as annual tax in the royal palace appeared to be weak and gaunt. The play unwound the tyrannical and divisive policies of Kirtichandra Barbarua that left the subjects of the kingdom in utter disdain, besides fanning the fire of the Moamaria rebellion. The Moamoria rebels were imbued with detestation of the Ahom monarchy.

The play delineates how Kirtichandra Barbarua’s hunger for power intertwined with an insecurity of maligning his descent led to the instability of one of the greatest empires of all time through his diabolical plans. His desperate attempt at burning the buranjis is a clear manifestation of historical narratives manipulated around the globe for one’s own personal, political or ideological gains. The artful picking of Persian-origin words by the playwright further connotes the luxuriance of the Assamese language. It was indeed phenomenal to watch each of the actors, viz., Naba Kumar Baruah, Pavan Mahanta, Montu Saikia, Basanta Saikia, Bhaskar Baruah, Montu Gogoi, Pallab Kaushik Baruah, Amrit Pran, Moni Bordoloi and Bipasha Doimari, getting immersed in their respective roles proficiently and in a lucid manner.

 History in itself is an extensive and comprehensive subject, often tedious. The playwright Dr Kula Saikia dexterously carved out a tiny chunk of it and metamorphosed it into an engrossing seventy-five-minute play. Thanks to the entire team which perspicaciously enlivened the pages of history with impeccable composing, direction and acts that compelled the spectators who had thronged the auditorium much before the play began to sit pinned on their seats for the entire duration of the play. “Etihashat Chakaripheti” indeed turned a dull, dusty and lazy afternoon into a memorable experience that shall remain etched in my mind for years.

It may be mentioned here that Dr Kuladhar Saikia’s earlier play “Laluksola” was also spellbinding and well acclaimed by viewers.