Lachit Barphukan, the war general of the Ahom kingdom in Assam, stationed at Guwahati, valiantly fought back Ram Singha, the war general of Emperor Aurangzeb, in a series of deadly battles, across the river, Brahmaputra, in the years from 1667 to 1671. It was the fierce of battle of Saraighat where Ram Singha, sent by Aurangzeb, was driven back, totally vanquished and demoralized. Two years before 1671, Lachit had to have a fierce fight with the Mughal army in Alaboi. To win the battle, the Mughal army took recourse to fraudulent war tactics, and about 10,000 Assamese soldiers had to sacrifice their lives. Lachit Barphukan pledged to fight back the Mughal army at any cost. In the battle of Saraighat 1671, a strategic naval warfare, the Mughal army under the leadership of Ram Singha, was totally defeated, and forced to get back to Delhi with shame.
The defeat of Aurangzeb in the battle of Saraighat had practically disintegrated the Mughal Empire. Other subjugated kingdoms started dishonoring the imperial dictates of the Mughal Monarch. On the western side of India there was Satrapati Shivaji who went on defying the imperial dictates by all means, and destabilized the Mughal power. From the eastern side, there was Lachit Barphukan, while on the western side, there was Shivaji. Between the two powers, the Mughal power was squeezed, and Aurangzeb failed to keep the empire in unbroken and stable state, eventually leading to its fall.
The government of Assam has taken steps to nationally celebrate the 400th anniversary of the Great War General, Lachit Barphukan, in New Delhi, from 23-25 November 2022. The Prime Minister of India, The Home Minister of India, the central ministers, and the state ministers, high officials, and the intellectuals across the country are taking part in the historic celebrations.
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