Celebrating the 400th Birthday of Lachit Borphukan

Context

India will celebrate the 400th birthday of Lachit Borphukan, a great military warrior from Assam in New Delhi from November 23 to 25, 2022.

Probable question

Mentioning Lachit Borphukan’s military achievements, describe the political and administrative setup of Ahom Kingdom. (150 words, 10 marks)

About Lachit Borphukan

• Borphukan, who was born on November 24th 1622, is most known for his leadership during the Battle of Saraighat in 1671, which prevented Mughal armies from capturing Assam.
• On the banks of the Brahmaputra in Guwahati, the battle of Saraighat took place in 1671.
• The Ahoms' triumph over the Mughals is regarded as one of the greatest naval battles to have taken place on a river.
• Due to his brilliant naval strategies, he served as an inspiration for the development of India's naval force, inland water transport, and infrastructure.
• The National Defense Academy's top cadet receives the Lachit Borphukan gold medal.
• The medal was established in 1999 to encourage military people to imitate Borphukan's bravery and selflessness.
• He died on 25th April 1672.

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About the Ahom Kingdom

• The Ahom empire, which was founded in Assam's Brahmaputra valley in 1228, remained in power for 600 years.
• A king from the 13th century named Chaolung Sukapha established the kingdom.
• Up until the signing of the Treaty of Yandaboo in 1826, when British India acquired the province, the Ahoms dominated the region.
• The renowned valiant Ahoms didn't even submit to the might of the formidable Mughal Empire.

Military

• The Ahom king served as both the military's and the state's ultimate commander.
• During the conflict, the Ahom king personally oversaw the state's military forces. The Paiks served as the state's principal military force.
• Paiks came in two varieties: serving and nonserving. The kheldar could summon the non-serving Paiks, a standing militia, at a moment's notice (an expert military organizer).
• The Ahom Army's whole contingent included infantry, the navy, artillery, elephantry, cavalry, and spies. Bows and arrows, swords, javelins, discuses, guns, matchlocks, and cannons were the principal types of weapons used in battle.
• Before undertaking an expedition, the Ahoms despatched spies to the enemy's camp to assess their capabilities and battle plans.
• The Ahom troops were skilled at engaging in guerilla warfare. They occasionally let the adversaries enter the nation, cut off their communications, and then attacked them from the front and the back.
• Chamdhara, Saraighat, Simlagarh, Kaliabar, Kajali, and Pandu are a few significant forts.
• In the Brahmaputra, they also learned how to build boat bridges.
• Above all, the Ahoms' strongest weapons have always been their mutual understanding between the civil and military wings and their cohesiveness among the nobles.

Polity

• By repressing the more established bhuiyan(landlords) political structure, Ahoms established a new state.
• Forced labor was essential to the Ahom state. People who were made to work for the state were referred to as paiks.

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Society

• The Ahom people were organized into clans or khels. Often, a khel was in charge of numerous villages.
• Ahoms accepted the Hindu faith and the Assamese language while continuing to worship their own tribal gods.
• The Ahom monarchs adopted Hinduism, although they did not totally renounce their old religious practices.
• Intermarriage with locals accelerated Ahoms' cultural assimilation processes.

Culture

• Land grants were granted to academics and poets, and the theatre was promoted.
• Important Sanskrit literature has been translated into the native tongue.
• Buranjis, or historical writings, were also produced, initially in the Ahom and then in the Assamese languages.

News  Source: The Hindu  https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/400th-birth-anniversary-of-assams-war-hero-lachit-borphukan-to-be-celebrated/article66160201.ece    

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