Lachit Borphukan, a legendary military commander of the Ahom kingdom, is remembered for defeating the Mughal army under Raja Ramsingh I in the Battle of Saraighat (1671), effectively stopping their long campaign to capture Assam.

Born on November 24, 1622, Lachit was the son of the distinguished warrior and statesman Momai Tamuli Barbarua. His childhood coincided with a politically unstable phase in Assam’s history.

Under King Charadhwaj Singha, he was appointed as one of the five Borphukans, entrusted with administrative, judicial, and military authority.

From 1615 to 1682, the Mughals, under emperors Jahangir and later Aurangzeb, repeatedly tried to subjugate the Ahom kingdom.

In 1662, Mughal Governor Mir Jumla launched a major offensive, temporarily capturing sections of Ahom territory.

Beginning in 1667, the Ahoms, led by successive rulers starting with Chakradhwaj Singha (1663–1670), initiated counterattacks to regain lost regions.

Similar to Shivaji’s guerrilla tactics against the Mughals in the Deccan, Lachit carried out swift raids on Mughal encampments, targeting unsuspecting soldiers and undermining their massive but slow-moving forces.

Today, Lachit Borphukan stands as a central figure in Assam’s cultural and historical memory, unlike Prithu, another regional hero whose recognition as a defender against invaders has emerged only recently.

Bakhtiyar Khilji, a general of Muhammad of Ghor (credited with laying the foundation of Islamic rule in India), led several expeditions in eastern India. He is most notorious for the attack on Nalanda University, although historians note that his role in its decline may be overstated.

In 1206 CE, the earliest Turko-Afghan incursion into Assam was successfully repelled. However, the exact identity of the Assamese ruler who defeated Khilji remains uncertain due to limited evidence.

The Persian chronicle Tabaqat-i-Nasiri mentions a defeat at the hands of the “Rae of Kamrup,” with reference to a ruler named