Lachit Borphukan

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About Lachit Borphukan:

Borphukan has always been revered in Assam as the warrior who defeated Mughal armies in the Battle of Saraighat in 1671.
He was chosen as one of the five Borphukans of the Ahom kingdom by king Charadhwaj Singha, and given administrative, judicial, and military responsibilities.
Unlike the Mughals who preferred battles in the open with their massive armies, Borphukan preferred guerrilla tactics which provided an edge to his smaller, but fast moving and capable forces.
Lachit Borphukan died a year after the Battle of Saraighat from a long festering illness.

The Ahom kingdom had been repeatedly attacked by the Turkic and Afghan rulers of the Delhi Sultanate and later by the Mughals.
The Mughal-Ahom wars had been going on since 1615-16, with the first Mughal attack on Assam with a view to capturing the region. The Ahoms had ruled major parts of Assam for nearly 600 years, between 1228 and 1826.
From 1615 to 1639, many battles would be fought between the two, and tired of war, both sides agreed to sign a treaty after the Mughals had advanced into Assam and captured Kamrup.

The Battle of Saraighat was a naval battle fought in 1671 between the Mughal Empire and the Ahom Kingdom on the Brahmaputra river at Saraighat, now in Guwahati, Assam, India.
Borphukan was commander of the Ahom armies during the battle of Saraighat –. The battle, which took place during the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s reign, was seen as a decisive Ahom victory.

Source : Indian Express