Battle Of Saraighat Guwahati has an interesting connect with Maharashtra! Read on to know…
“You don’t hate history, you hate the way it taught to you in high school” – Stephen Ambrose – American Historian
“At the heart of good history is good storytelling” – Stephen Schiff
I had a moment of realization about both these quotes when I was in Guwahati, on a sunset cruise on the mighty Brahmaputra. Our group was photographing the very beautiful sunset over the River when we saw a bridge on River Brahmaputra, far away, at a distance. It was the “Saraighat” Bridge. The name sounded faintly familiar. I googled for it when I was back at the comforts of my hotel. Then of course I studied a bit more off the internet.
Saraighat Bridge is a new bridge that is made of concrete. Per se, it does not have a history but the region of Saraighat where it is built does! I believe that it’s a bridge that connects Assam with Maharashtra, North East with the West, 700 years of the Ahom Kingdom with Hindavi Swaraj. More common points being exemplary valour and strategic thinking of two of the best sons of Indian soil, Shivaji Maharaj and Lachit Borphukan.
Why do I hate history? I am sure if we all were taught well, I wouldn’t be chancing upon the sight of the bridge, I would in fact have looked forward to seeing it all my life! It’s like everyone loves to visit Sinhagad to visualize the valor of Narveer Tanaji Malusare, Pawankhind for the battle immortalized by Baji Prabhu Deshpande and Haldi Ghati for Maharana Pratap. The more I read about Saraighat, the more I thought that it’s an interesting story that history was not kind enough to teach us, especially the ones who live in Peninsular India.
Read on…
Year is 1663
Our story begins with Shaista Khan who was a General of Aurangzeb. He was tasked to quell the rising power and popularity of Shivaji Maharaj. Armed with better financial resources and military might, he had a strategic advantage for some time. So much so, that he was occupying the Pune Residence of Shivaji Maharaj, the Lal Mahal.
In a daring night attack, Shivaji Maharaj, in the guise of the wedding party, attacked Lal Mahal to kill Shaista Khan. Unfortunately, he escaped but with three broken fingers and badly bruised ego. Shaista Khan was also the maternal uncle of Aurangzeb and he perhaps escaped a capital punishment from Aurangzeb for this very reason. Angry Aurangzeb did not give him an audience and transferred him as Governor to Bengal, a kind of “punishment posting” in today’s lingo. He governed Bengal from 1664-1688.
Shaista Khan is a character in our story…
Angered by this daylight attack and Shivaji Maharaj’s subsequent attack on Surat, an important city for Mughals in the present day Gujarat, Aurangzeb entrusted the job to subdue Shivaji Maharaj to Mirza Raje Jaisingh, his trusted Rajput General. Armed with a big army, he compelled Shivaji Maharaj to take two steps back in his fight for Hindavi Swaraj that resulted in the Treaty of Purandar. The Treaty was signed between Shivaji Maharaj and Mughals in 1665. Shivaji Maharaj had to surrender 23 of his forts. He would wait for an opportune time to get them back into the Swaraj!
The treaty also required Shivaji Maharaj to go to Agra to meet Aurangzeb for political talks. Mirza Raje Jai Singh promised that Shivaji Maharaj’s safety was his personal responsibility. He instructed his son Ram Singh, an equally capable administrator and warrior in his own right, to ensure the same.
Ram Singh, son of Mirza Raje is an important character of our story…
Shivaji Maharaj with his son Sambhaji (Maharaj) escaped Agra and reached to the safety of his land. A version says that detractors of Ram Singh alluded to his role and complicity in this escape. Either Aurangzeb did not trust it or did not find evidence to this effect.
Later he entrusted Jai Singh to move North East to wrest control of Ahom Kingdom.
This ends a part of a story that relates to Maharastra. Now the story of Assam begins…
Jai Singh, who was entrusted to take Ahom (present-day Assam and around), starts with a big Army from Delhi. Shaista Khan is now Governor of Bengal. These two important figures of Mughals would come together to attack the Ahom Kingdom. The Ahom Kingdom, under their General Lachit Borphukan, take on Mughals and show exemplary valour and courage at the onslaught from the Mughals.
Ahom (present-day Assam and around) Kingdom had been in constant battles with the Mughals. Imperialist Aurangzeb had his eyes on this kingdom for a long time but Ahom was resisting. As said, Ram Singh, who was appointed for this task, moved towards Ahom. He was armed with enviable artillery, cavalry, infantry, and navy.
Lachit Borphukan knew that they were not a match for Mughals when it came to the strength of artillery, infantry, and cavalry. The Navy was the weakest link of Mughals. Lachit Borphukan was not only a battle-hardened General but was also a brilliant strategist who knew how to use his limited resources well. Lachit Borphukan decided to fight with all his strength, on water rather than on land. He worked out a naval battle plan on River Brahmaputra that came to be known as “Battle of Saraighat”.
The lack of big open fields in hills around Guwahati also worked in his favour.
The plan was to retreat strategically to Saraighat, the narrowest part of River Brahmaputra, near Guwahati. The decisive battle of Saraighat led by the brave Lachit Borphukan, was a fierce one. It is said that the Ahom Army was losing when Lachit Borphukan, who was not well (Lachit Borphukan died next year because of illness), decided to personally surge ahead. He gave a clarion call of “do-or-die” to his retreating soldiers. The resurgent forces motivated by Lachit Borphukan pushed back the Mughals and had the decisive edge at the end of this battle.
When Ram Singh was not able to make the desired headway into the battle, Shaista Khan, the Governor of Bengal was asked to send reinforcements to help Ram Singh. Their combined might too was not enough to defeat the Ahoms.
Ram Singh went back to Delhi without a decisive victory. After this, having taken a body blow, Mughals could never have a lasting rule on Ahom.
Timeline:
1663: Shivaji Maharaj attacks Shaista Khan. Breaks his three fingers.
1664: Shivaji Maharaj attacks Surat.
1663 / 64 – 1688: Aurangzeb transfers Shaista Khan to Bengal (with base at Dhaka)
1665: Treaty of Purandar between Mirza Raje Jai Singh (for Mughals) and Shivaji Maharaj
1666: Shivaji Maharaj goes to Agra to meet Aurangzeb. After few months, he escapes from Agra.
1667: Ram Singh starts for Ahom
1669: Feb: Ram Singh readies for battle / August: Shaista Khan provides reinforcement to Ram Singh
1671: Battle of Saraighat. Ahoms have an advantage at the end of battle.
1676: Ram Singh gets an audience with Aurangzeb (i.e. mission is over as far as Ram Singh is concerned)
1682: Battle continues between the Mughals and Ahoms. Ahoms emerge as the Winners.
It is because of brilliant sons like Shivaji Maharaj and Lachit Borphukan of India that we can claim of a glorious history.
PS :
Today, a 35 feet statue of Lachit Borphukan with his soldiers adorns the Brahmaputra, a few feet inside from its banks in Guwahati. You can view this from the Brahmaputra Cruise. As mentioned earlier, you can also see Saraighat / Saraighat Bridge from the Cruise.
(Infinite Journeys conducts Fixed Departures and plans customized Holidays to Assam and to all North-Eastern States under its “Initiative North-East”)
Key websites that you can see :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Saraighat
https://aneeshbooks.com/2016/11/23/the-battle-of-saraighat-role-of-the-ahom-river-navy/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lachit_Borphukan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahom_kingdom
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