Lachit Barphukan was an Ahom commander, known for his leadership in the

Battle of Saraighat The Battle of Saraighat was a naval battle fought in 1671 between the Mughal Empire (led by the Kachwaha raja, Ram Singh I), and the Ahom Kingdom (led by Lachit Borphukan) on the Brahmaputra river at Saraighat, now in Guwahati, Assam, In ...

that thwarted an invasion by Mughal forces under the command of Ramsingh I.

Biography

Lachit was born to Momai Tamuli, a commoner who rose to the ranks of Barbarua. A few Buranjis briefly describe Lachit's victory over the Mughal naval fleet, led by Ram Singh, in the

. He died soon and was buried at Teok in Jorhat in a

maidam A maidam is a tumulus of the royalty and aristocracy of the medieval Ahom Kingdom (1228–1826) in Assam. The royal are found exclusively at Charaideo; whereas other are found scattered in the region between Jorhat and Dibrugarh towns. Structur ...

Legacy

Beginning in the early twentieth century, a few localities in Upper Assam started to commemorate November 24 as ''Lachit Dibox'' (trans. ''Lachit Day'') as a medium of protest against the pro-migrant policies of the colonial government. The contemporaneous burgeoning of public interest in history meant that the legend of Barphukan had "attained an iconic status" by the first quarter of the century; yet, Lachit was one of the many quasi-historical icons who were appropriated by Assamese elites towards different politico-cultural ends and his popularity remained below

Joymoti Konwari Joymoti Konwari, was the wife of Tai-Ahom Prince Gadapani (later Supatphaa). She was accorded the honorific Mohiyokhi on account of her heroic endurance of torture until the end, dying at the hands of royalists under Sulikphaa ''Loraa Roja'' ...

and others. In 1947, Surya Kumar Bhuyan published Lachit's biography against the backdrop of Ahom conflicts with the Mughal Empire; not only did the work grant a veneer of "academic respectability" to the legend but also "mythologized" his exploits in the Assamese psyche. In postcolonial Assam, cultural heroes like Lachit were largely displaced by anti-colonial activists in Nehruvian nation-building; Jayeeta Sharma notes the legend of Lachit to have "retired into the domain of knowledge, away from activism." However, the legend survived in the backwaters of Assamese sub-nationalism, with the

United Liberation Front of Asom The United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) (Assamese: সংযুক্ত মুক্তি বাহিনী, অসম) is an armed separatist organisation operating in the Northeast Indian state of Assam. It seeks to establish an indep ...

(ULFA) — a secessionist organization seeking the creation of an independent and sovereign Assam — extensively using Lachit's imagery for propaganda. Lachit's memory would be significantly appropriated within a governmental framework only under the governorship of Srinivas Kumar Sinha. With time, Lachit has been appropriated within a Hindu Nationalist grammar as an Indian military hero; Sharma, writing as of 2004, noted that it was no more the ULFA but the Government of Assam that tried the most to bring him into prominence. BJP's rise in Assam has established Lachit as a Hindu defender against Muslim aggression; some historians reject such characterizations and accuse the party of rerouting nativist sentiments to communal faultlines. Not only was Lachit a Tai whose fellow commanders included Muslims but also the Mughal forces were led by a Rajput. File:Lachit Bhawan at Lachit maidam.JPG, Lachit Bhawan inside Lachit maidam. File:Lachit Barphukan's maidam.JPG, Lachit Barphukan's maidam at Hoolungapara,

Jorhat Jorhat ( ) is one of the important cities and a growing urban centre in the state of Assam in India. Etymology Jorhat ("jor" means twin and "hat" means market) means two hats or mandis - "Masorhaat" and "Sowkihat" which existed on the opposite ...

. File:NDA pics 014.jpg, Statue of Lachit Borphukan at

National Defence Academy The National Defence Academy (NDA) is the joint defence service training institute of the Indian Armed Forces, where cadets of the three services i.e. the Indian Army, the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force train together before they go on ...

(NDA),

Khadakwasla Khadakwasla Dam is a dam on the Mutha River from the centre of the city of Pune in Maharashtra, India. The dam created a reservoir known as Khadakwasla Lake which is the main source of water for Pune and its suburbs. In the vicinity of Khada ...

. File:Lachit Borphukon's Statue near Church field, Tezpur.jpg, Lachit Borphukon's Statue near Church field,

Tezpur Tezpur () is a city and urban agglomeration in Sonitpur district, Assam state, India. Tezpur is located on the banks of the river Brahmaputra, northeast of Guwahati, and is the largest of the north bank cities with a population exceeding 100, ...

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Borphukan, Lachit 1671 deaths People of the Ahom kingdom 17th-century births 17th-century Indian people Ahom kingdom