GUWAHATI: Assam is celebrating the 401st birth anniversary of Ahom army general Lachit Barphukan on November 24.
The 400th Lachit Diwas was celebrated last year in a grand way on November 23, 24, and 25, 2022 in New Delhi. Several dignitaries including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and others graced the occasion.
400 students and 300 eminent persons were sent to New Delhi from across Assam. On November 16, 2022, a theme song was launched to commemorate Barphukan by Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma at Janata Bhawan, Dispur, Guwahati. Earlier on October 26, 2022, the Assam Government had also launched an app where people could write about Barphukan.
The Battle of Saraighat was fought between the Ram Singh-led Mughal army and the Lachit Barphukan-led Ahom army in the year 1671 on the banks of the Brahmaputra River. Chao Lachit was the Barphukan (Army general) of the Ahom army. Ram Singh, the elder son of Amber ruler Mirza Raja Jai Singh, was commissioned by Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb to invade the Ahom kingdom. The Mughal army was larger and more powerful than the Ahom army, but Lachit, with his powerful use of terrain, leadership skills, and Guerrilla warfare saved Saraighat from the Mughal invasion, present-day in Guwahati. He died a natural death in April 1672 in Jorhat.