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Bagh Hazarika | |
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![]() Statue near Sivasagar town, Assam. | |
Birth name | Ismail Siddique |
Other name(s) | Bagh Hazarika |
Nickname(s) | Bagh [1] |
Born | Dhekerigaon, Garhgaon, Ahom Kingdom |
Allegiance | Ahom kingdom |
Service/ | Ahom Army |
Rank | Hazarika and military personnel of the Ahom army |
Battles/wars | Battle of Saraighat (1671) |
Ismail Siddique, who is popularly known as Bagh Hazarika, [1] was a 17th-century commander who fought against the Mughals for the Ahom kingdom. He is culturally represented as "Hero of Indigenous Muslim Communities in Assam". [2] [3] He was born in an Assamese Muslim family at Dhekerigaon village near Garhgaon in Assam [4]
The legend about his origin states that there was once a tiger that had entered his village and Ismail Siddique, who was unarmed, killed the tiger barehanded. The news of this valour reached the Ahom king Chakradhwaj Singha and he called the young man to his court to display his strength. The king was impressed by the show of strength and appointed Ismail as a Hazarika , an Ahom office in charge of 1000 paiks. This event marks the beginning of the legend of the brave Bagh ("Tiger" in Assamese language) Hazarika that culminated in his acts of bravery during Battle of Saraighat. [1]
In this first conflict, the Mughal forces were well entrenched on the hills of the north bank of the Brahmaputra River with a chain of gigantic cannons. Bagh Hazarika suggested a plan on how to disable the Mughal guns to the Ahom General Lachit Borphukan, the royal minister Atan Burhagohain and other generals. Impressed by the plan, they entrusted Bagh Hazarika with command to lead the operation.
That night an advance party led by Bagh Hazarika along with a few soldiers crossed the Brahmaputra by boat and landed on the northern bank of the river and laid in wait for the right moment. While the Mughal soldiers were busy saying their Fajr or dawn prayers, Bagh Hazarika and his soldiers climbed the high embankments and poured water into the Mughal cannons, rendering them useless.
Some time later, the Ahom army announced their advance by blowing the trumpets. In response, the Mughal soldiers rushed to their posts and tried to fire the cannons at the advancing Ahom forces. But, the wet cannons would not work. The Ahom forces used their cannons to the full strength and the Ahom army landed safely on the north bank and attacked ferociously as the Mughal soldiers retreated helplessly.
This victory had proved the courage and valour of Bagh Hazarika beyond any doubt and he was felicitated by the King. Bagh Hazarika thus went down in the annals of Assam history as a highly skilled front ranking military officer. [5] [6]
Assam is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of 78,438 km2 (30,285 sq mi). It is the second largest state in northeastern India by area and the largest in terms of population. The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur to the east; Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram and Bangladesh to the south; and West Bengal to the west via the Siliguri Corridor, a 22-kilometre-wide (14 mi) strip of land that connects the state to the rest of India. Assamese and Boro are the official languages of Assam. Meitei (Manipuri) is the official language of Hojai district and the entirety of the Barak Valley region, while Bengali is an official language in the three districts of Barak Valley.
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The Battle of Saraighat was a naval battle fought in 1671 between the Mughal Empire, and the Ahom Kingdom on the Brahmaputra river at Saraighat, now in Guwahati, Assam, India. This was the decisive battle that ended the years long Mughal seige of Guwahati, with the Ahoms pushing away the Mughals west beyond the Manas river.
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