Knowing well that the Ahoms were never defeated in the past, Jumla asked the Mughal forces led by Allah Yar Khan:
‘Why the Ahoms hadn’t been defeated so far?
‘The river’.
The natives did owe their invincibility to the river. ‘The Brahmaputra is the only way anyone from the west can enter Assam.’ On top, the Ahom soldier was very brave and skilled in hand-to-hand combat. Jumla recommended a well-thought strategy to deal with the invincible Ahoms, which will bring the Moghul empire to new heights. The more he thought about the war, the more convinced he became that the emperor perceived him as a threat. Sixty-nine was not a safe age for Aurangzeb to create a new enemy.
Spread across three sections, this is an absorbing book on the sociology and politics of The Sixteenth Invasion. Insightful but provocative, it raises an important question how victory was snatched from the jaws of defeat at Saraighat? Simply put, the Moghuls had brought them to fight an artillery battle, but the Ahoms turned it into an infantry combat on ships. They wrestled, strangled, punched, and bit their enemies, In the process, the Mughals were thoroughly outsmarted by the Ahoms.
The mighty Brahmaputra added to their plight. The majestic river was often in spate. Uprooted trees, random debris, and stinking carcasses were a common sight, as if it had to be removed from Assam. No Mughal soldier ever dared to take a boat into the swollen river. So, from the time the rains started, the peace process was prolonged sometimes a year. The majestic river, forested lowlands, and marsh lands emerged as key allies of the Ahoms against the Mughals?
The Sixteenth Invasion is a debut attempt that weaves many threads of treachery, betrayal, conspiracy and defeat. The story goes old, part of the present-day Yunnan, when the prince Sukapha from the Shan kingdom reached the Brahmaputra valley in 1228 CE. It took him more than three decades before the Ahom kingdom could be established. Over the next two hundred years, Sukapha extended the influence across the north-east. The Ahoms were ruthless but industrious in extending their rule.
The Ahom story is incomplete without the Moghuls. Had the war of succession been long over, Aurangzeb would have dealt with it differently. But with Dara Sukoh dead, Murad in prison, and Shah Shuja in exile in Burma, what different approach Aurangzeb could have followed? With the history of the fifteen invasions on their side, the Ahoms were far ahead of their attitude and approach. Vijay Gogoi brings alive the near-legendary events of the seventeenth century which are an indelible part of Assam’s history.
The Sixteenth Invasion is retelling of the major attempts by the Mughals to conquer the Ahom kingdom, which the natives resisted tooth and nail. This is more than the story of war. The defeat at Saraighat forced the Mughals out of Assam. They gave everything for the war and later gave up the idea of using heavy military against the Ahoms. It is the story of the mighty Brahmaputra and the unforgiving terrain. While breathing life into his characters, Gogoi also brings the ecosystem to life. When large empires routinely devoured small kingdoms, the Ahoms stood its ground for nearly six centuries.
by Vijay Gogoi
Penguin Eight, New Delhi
Extent: 324, Price: Rs. 699.
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