The birthday of Lachit Borphukan, a legendary Assamese warrior, is observed on November 24. Lachit, also referred to as the “Shivaji of the Northeast,” is renowned for his bravery and his victories over the Mughals. The Lachit Borphukan Gold Medal is given to the top cadet of the Indian Army’s National Defense Academy in recognition of his bravery. To encourage military people to imitate Borphukan’s bravery and sacrifice, this award was established in 1999.

The Mughals were dreaming of conquering all of India in the 17th century. Additionally, he had flown the Mughal flag across a considerable portion of India. The Mughals had already conquered Bengal by the end of the 16th century; their next objective was the formerly inaccessible region of the Northeast. The Mughals were consistently defeated by the Ahom dynasty, which governed the area.

The name of the Ahom kingdom itself means ‘invincible’. The Mughals had suffered the most humiliating defeat on the soil of Assam, and after the Battle of Saraighat, the morale of the Mughals was broken. Some historians believe that only after the defeat on the land of Assam, the roots of the Mughals started shaking. Lachit Borphukan was the great warrior and commander of the same Ahom kingdom, who forced the Mughal ruler Aurangzeb to kneel down. Lachit did not allow any foreigner to step on the land of ‘Ahom’.

The Ahom kingdom’s name itself translates to “invincible.” The Battle of Saraighat destroyed the Mughals’ morale because they had just suffered the most degrading loss on Assamese territory. Some historians think that the Mughals’ foundation began to shake only after their defeat in Assam. The Mughal ruler Aurangzeb was forced to prostrate himself by the famous warrior and commander of the same Ahom realm, Lachit Borphukan. Lachit forbade any outsider from entering the “Ahom” land.

Lachit Borphukan was born on 24 November 1622 in Pragjyotishpur, Assam. His father’s name was Momai Tamuli Borbarua. He was very skillful since childhood and very quickly he had acquired complete knowledge of diplomacy, economics, politics and arms operation. Impressed by his bravery, Ahom King Chakradhwaj Singha gave him many titles, such as Soladhar Borua, Ghoda Borua, Commander of Simulgarh Fort, etc.

In 1663 AD, the Mughal Subedar of Bengal Mir Jumla defeated the army of the Ahom kingdom. After this, there was a treaty of Ghilajarighat between the two kingdoms, according to which the Ahom king Jayadhwaj Singha had to give 90 elephants, 3 lakh tola gold, a large part of the kingdom, and even one of his daughters to the Mughal harem. Raja Jayadhwaj Singha could not bear this insult and die, after which his successor Chakradhwaj Singha vowed to avenge this insult.

It is said that being impressed by the bravery of Lachit, Raja Chakradhwaj made Lachit Borphukan the commander of the Ahom army in August 1667. In a short span of time, Lachit launched several war campaigns and chased away the Mughals from Guwahati. Borphukan made the headquarters of his army at Itakhuli, located south of the Brahmaputra river. Lachit efficiently discharged his responsibility and by the summer season of 1667 made the army of the Ahom kingdom so powerful that even the Mughals were afraid to fight this army.

The war between the Mughal Empire and the Ahom Empire in 1671 AD is called the ‘Battle of Saraighat’. This war was fought because Lachit had recaptured Guwahati from the Mughals and pushed them out of Guwahati. To get back this Guwahati, the Mughals waged a war against the Ahom kingdom.

The Mughal emperor Aurangzeb sent Raja Ram Singh, son of Raja Jai ​​Singh of Amer, with a large army to retake Guwahati. His army consisted of 30,000-foot soldiers, 15,000 archers, 18,000 cavalry, 5,000 gunners, and more than 1,000 cannons, besides a huge fleet of boats, but despite this, Lachit’s strategy did not go ahead and the Mughals had to retreat after defeating.

According to historians, Lachit had fallen badly ill before this war. When the Ahoms began to weaken on the battlefield, Lachit reached the battlefield despite being ill and seeing him, the soldiers were filled with new energy. The Ahom soldiers started giving a befitting reply and forced the Mughals to retreat to the Manas river.

The Mughal army had a large fleet of boats in addition to more than 1,000 cannons. But none of his tricks worked in front of Lachit’s strategy and the Mughals continued to lose. The Mughal soldiers were also impressed by the bravery of the Ahom soldiers, it is said that Ram Singh himself told the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb about the extraordinary bravery of the Ahom soldiers and Lachit. Almost a year after winning the Battle of Saraighat, on 25 April Lachit Borphukan died in 1672.

Historians say that Lachit ordered his soldiers to build a wall in just one night. He had given the responsibility of building this wall to his maternal uncle, as he himself was ill. When Lachit reached there after some time, he found that all the soldiers were full of despair, as they had already assumed that they would not be able to build the wall before sunrise.

Seeing this, Lachit was very angry with his maternal uncle that he could not even encourage his soldiers to work. In this anger, he took out his sword and in one stroke beheaded his maternal uncle. Later, he himself inspired the soldiers so much that they raised the wall before sunrise. As a commander, he maintained this enthusiasm and enthusiasm in his soldiers, after which he won this difficult battle.

16 km from Jorhat, the last remains of Lachit are preserved in the Lachit Maidan situated at a distance. It was built in the year 1672 by Swargadeo Udayaditya Singh at Hulungpara. Lachit Diwas is celebrated every year on 24 November to commemorate the bravery of Lachit Borphukan and the victory of the Assamese army in the Battle of Saraighat. We bow down to this great commander and defender of Hindutva, we have full faith that Lachit Borphukan will always work as an inspiration for our society.

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