New Delhi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi today unveiled a 125-feet tall statue of famous Ahom warrior Lachit Borphukan in Holongathar during his visit to Assam. It has been named ‘Statue of Valor’. Lachit Borphukan is also called Shivaji of the North-East. Like Shivaji, Borphukan had defeated the Mughals many times during his lifetime. Let us tell you about Lachit Borphukan in detail-
#WATCH , Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveils the statue of Lachit Borphukan, in Jorhat, Assam. pic.twitter.com/oKccvcdrkQ
— ANI (@ANI) March 9, 2024
I have always been an admiring listener to such speech in Assamese by honorable Prime Minister Modiji…! #LachitDiwas #LachitBarphukanDiwas pic.twitter.com/vM0tzWKT77
— Nandan Pratim Sharma Bordoloi (@NANDANPRATIM) November 25, 2022
Lachit Borphukan was born on 24 November 1622 in Assam. At that time Assam was ruled by the Ahom dynasty. His father’s name was Momai Tamuli Barbarua, who was the chief army officer of Ahom king Pratap Singh, Lachit’s mother’s name was Kunti Moran. Through his father, Lachit also got the opportunity to go to the royal court, due to which he started getting experience of governance since childhood. In the year 1665, Lachit was made the Chief of Army Staff of the Ahom Army. This army chief was called Borphukan. At that time, the leader or leader of 10 soldiers in the Ahom army was called Deka. The head of 100 soldiers was called Sainiya. Similarly, the leader of one thousand soldiers was called Hazarika and the leader of three thousand soldiers was called Rajkhowa. The leader of six thousand soldiers was called Phokan. The head of all these was the army chief, who was called Borphukan.
New Delhi: Prime Minister @narendramodi takes a tour of the exhibition on historical perspective.#LachitBarphukan , #LachitDiwas @PMOIndia , @PIB_Guwahati , @PIB_India , @MIB_India pic.twitter.com/JdYJdu1ri4
— All India Radio News (@airnewsalerts) November 25, 2022
Even before Lachit became Borphukan, in the year 1661, the Mughals turned their evil eye on Bengal and Assam and sent Mir Jumla and Dhir Khan to capture them. Then the Ahom kings could not give a befitting reply to the attack of the Mughals and had to compromise. When Lachit became the army chief, Ahom king Chakradhwaj Singa gave him the responsibility to expel the Mughals from Guwahati. They started preparing for war on the orders of the king. Recruited local people into his army. Weapons should be manufactured using locally available resources only. Specially got a fleet of boats prepared and cannons made. After this, Lachit’s Ahom army attacked the fort and liberated Guwahati.
Angered by this, Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb sent 70 thousand soldiers and one thousand cannons in big boats under the leadership of commander Ram Singh towards Guwahati. His soldiers were accustomed to fighting during the day. Taking advantage of this, Lachit started a guerrilla war against the Mughal army at night by sending soldiers in small boats as a strategy. Due to this the Mughal soldiers started panicking and were not able to move forward. This continued for a long time. In the first phase of the battle, Mughal commander Ram Singh failed to achieve any success against the Assamese army. An arrow was shot towards the Ahom camp along with a letter from Ram Singh stating that Lachit had been given one lakh rupees and hence he should leave Guwahati. This letter eventually reached the Ahom king Chakradhwaj Singh. Although the king began to doubt Lachit’s loyalty and patriotism, his prime minister Atan Budgohain explained to the king that this was a ploy against Lachit.
In the final stages of the Battle of Saraighat, when the Mughals attacked from the river at Saraighat, the Assamese soldiers began to lose their will to fight. Some soldiers retreated. Although Lachit was seriously ill, he boarded a boat and proceeded towards the Mughal fleet with seven boats. He told the soldiers, “If you want to run, run. Your Majesty has assigned me a task and I will complete it well. Let the Mughals take me captive, you will inform the Maharaja that his army chief followed his orders and fought well. His troops rallied and a fierce battle took place in the Brahmaputra River. Lachit Borphukan emerged victorious. Lachit Diwas is celebrated every year on 24 November throughout the state of Assam to commemorate the bravery of Lachit Borphukan and the victory of the Assamese army in the battle of Saraighat.