Commemorating Lachit Barphukan: Distortion and rectification

The inseparability of historiography from current ideology and politics opens the way to the misuse of history as a discipline. Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaking at the 400th birth centenary of the 17th century Ahom warrior Lachit Borphukan lamented, "For centuries, it was attempted to tell us we're people who always get looted, beaten and lost. India's history is not just about colonialism; it's a history of warriors. India's history is about displaying valour against oppressors, about victory, sacrifice and great tradition."

An iteration of this regime's penchant for Indian history distorted under a colonial conspiracy, and the national psyche has now broken the shackles of its colonial mindset and is now globetrotting with pride for its rich heritage. The Indian Council for Historical Research (ICHR), the nodal agency for funding historical research in India, has commissioned a new project to produce a comprehensive history of India. "The project will focus on representing the pride of India and present Indian history through a geocultural perspective and not with a geopolitical perspective," says the communique.

After the fortitude of Shivaji, India has brought to the fore another valiant general relegated to footnotes and addenda. The incessant rectification of distorted history, as many critics opine, has a lesson for us. We may be desirous of interpreting the past in a way favourable to us and tempted to abstain from annals which have a silhouette over them, albeit harsher than reality. To the curious onlooker, the billboard at Delhi's Rajiv Chowk Metro station brings to focus a neglected iconic figure in India's history, Lachit Barphukan. The valiant Ahom combatant who had the guts to repel the Mughals in North East India but rarely figures in national discourse and whose campaigns deserve to be commemorated.

The 331st Report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education specifically recommends the inclusion of content on unsung heroes to make their stories instill righteousness and patriotism in the minds of students. In celebrating the coveted Barphukan or field marshal's life, numerous bravehearts who fought the oppressors and sacrificed their lives have come to the limelight, tales of fierce resistance and victory over tyranny.

The Lachit saga serves another strategic purpose. During the crucial Battle of Saraighat, Lachit Barphukan asserted, 'dexotkoi momai dangor nohoi' (My uncle is not greater than my motherland) and punished his uncle for compromising the Ahom kingdom's defence. In doing so, he sowed the seeds of the 'nation first' doctrine setting an example of the country over family. Since India's triumph at Kargil in 1999, the best cadet from the National Defence Academy has been conferred the Lachit Barphukan gold medal to emulate Borphukan's heroism and sacrifices.

But there are dissenting voices too. Contrary to the BJP government's claims, Lachit Divas or Barphukon's birth anniversary has been celebrated on November 24 in Assam since the 1930s. He has been invoked under the Congress governments too. The difference between the Assam CM and BJP's national leadership going euphoric is the party's celebration of Lachit Barphukan as a Hindu warrior. Perhaps, the lexicon, identity and narrative suit the anti-Mughal loathing. It fits an iconoclastic schema where notions about Mughal advances in North East India gets a proper denouement. But this misses the fact that many Muslims were part of the Ahom army, including naval commander Ismail Siddique, with the pseudonym Bagh Hazarika. Interestingly, the Mughal attack on the Ahoms was led by Raja Ram Singh of Amber, Emperor Aurangzeb's key Rajput ally.

Every culture and community has its heroes. For the Assamese, Lachit Barphukon has acquired iconic stature. His exploits have become a symbol of resistance and, to this day, define the Assamese self-identity. Hence the Assam government pushing for national recognition for its son of the soil is a justified expectation. Unlike the Mughals, who preferred battles in the open, Barphukan preferred guerrilla trenches which provided an edge to his swift forces. Akin to Shivaji's encounters with the Mughals in Marathwada, Lachit inflicted massive damage on Mughal static positions. In The Comprehensive History of Assam, noted
Historian H K Barpujari narrated how Lachit, a great naval warrior and strategist, created an intricate web of improvised and surprise pincer attacks. The Ahom forces had a lethal combo and lured the Mughal fleet into moving ahead by feigning an attack with a few ships from the front. The Mughals vacated the waters behind, and the Ahom fleet struck torridly.

As with the effort to decolonise India's past, there may be pitfalls in gerrymandering history. All regimes have shown their obsession to politicise history while garbing them in the jargon of national priorities. The Left or the Right are no exceptions. Barphukan's cult status in Assam is rooted in the regional pride of a local warrior successfully combating a formidable, much stronger adversary, the Mughals. More than historical rectification, Lachit Barphukon's valour and the crucial Battle of Saraighat is important for its context and place in history. He defeated the invaders and nipped their North Eastward expansion in the bud. In doing so, he prevented the pillaging of an entire culture, perhaps one of the most pristine and diverse we acknowledge even today.

(The writer is a commentator on society and politics)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author’s own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.