By Muhammad Talha Amin Baruah
During the famous battle of Saraighat, when the Ahoms defeated the Mughals, Lachit Borphukan was very ill. Lachit couldn’t lead the army personally due to his sickness, he could barely walk properly. Ram Singh was thus encouraged to keep fighting against the Ahoms when he learnt about Lachit’s conditions. The new reinforcements of Mughals came and the Ahom forces had to retreat. Lachit Borphukan was seeing all this from his sick bed. He could see that the spirit of the Ahom soldiers to fight against the Mughals had vanquished. The ships of Buragohain and Borphukan were prepared for departure, which was unacceptable for Lachit. He could no longer bear it and without taking much consultation with the astrologers, he rushed upon the battlefield.¹
At this moment, Lachit, who was unable to walk, put his arms around the shoulders of a man named Nadai Kharangi. Nadai was Lachit’s support to stand and March into the battlefield.² With Nadai’s help, Lachit came down the steps of the gate house and boarded a war boat along with Nadai. The boatmen thought that the Borphukan was fleeing and hence turned the boat against the battlefield. Lachit was enraged and with the blunt edge of his sword, threw 4 shipmen into the river. This immediately spread among the soldiers of the Ahoms that Lachit Borphukan was throwing those soldiers into water whoever was trying to flee the battlefield. By that time, Lachit appeared into the battlefield and the Ahom soldiers became uncouraged to continue fighting. The Ahom forces turned their boats towards the Mughals, giving them a crushing defeat.¹
This Nadai of Kharangi, who is mentioned in the event was a Muslim paik serving in the Ahom administration as a Barua.³ we don’t know much about him only except that he was from Kharangi as his name itself suggests and also the fact that he was indeed present in the battle of Saraighat, struggling against the Mughals.
We can also come to know that he was one of the trusted men of Lachit and that he was a master spy who could infiltrate any camp of the Mughals⁴ (possibly because he was a muslim). Nonetheless it’s a shame that Nadai of Kharangi is lost in the pages of history even though he is such an important figure from history. Nadai’s life serves as evidence that the battle between Ahoms and Mughals was never a conflict about religion.³
References :
- Lachit Borphukan : Assam’s hero who halted the Mughals (2022), edited by Rajib Handique & Wasbir Hussain, page 79-82
- Lachit Borphukan : the Victor of the battle of Saraighat (1983), by Maheshwar Neog, page 79
- Smritir jilingonit keigorakiman axomar musolman (2011), page 29-30
- The hero of Saraighat (1990), by Satish Bhattacharyya, page 26