The Battle of Saraighat, fought in 1671 on the Brahmaputra, was won by the Ahoms under which commander?
- A.Chilarai
- B.Lachit Borphukan
- C.Mir Jumla
- D.Ram Singh I
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is B, Lachit Borphukan. Lachit Borphukan commanded the Ahom forces in 1671 and destroyed the Mughal flotilla at Saraighat near Gauhati by fighting a cavalry army on water during the rains; his birth anniversary is kept as Lachit Divas on 24 November, and the best passing cadet of the National Defence Academy receives a gold medal named after him. Option A is wrong because Chilarai was the general and brother of the Koch king Nara Narayan, of the sixteenth century. Option C is wrong because Mir Jumla was the Mughal governor of Bengal who had invaded Assam earlier, in 1662, and died soon after his return. Option D is wrong because Raja Ram Singh I of Amber led the Mughal side that was defeated at Saraighat.
Read the full article: Ahom Kingdom and Medieval North-East India: Exam Notes
Practice Questions
View allWho founded the Ahom kingdom in the Brahmaputra valley in 1228 CE?
- A.Sukaphaa
- B.Suhungmung
- C.Pratap Singha
- D.Rudra Singha
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Sukaphaa was a Tai prince from the upper Irrawaddy region who crossed the Patkai hills with a small following and founded the Ahom kingdom in 1228, settling at Charaideo near present-day Sivasagar; Assam keeps his memory as Asom Divas on 2 December.
Read the full explanation →Which place served as the first capital and the royal burial ground of the Ahom kings?
- A.Garhgaon
- B.Charaideo
- C.Rangpur
- D.Jorhat
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Sukaphaa settled at Charaideo near modern Sivasagar in 1228, and even after the administrative capital shifted the site remained the ritual centre of the dynasty, where the kings and queens were buried under earthen mounds called moidams; the Charaideo moidams were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2024.
Read the full explanation →In the Ahom paik system, how many paiks were placed under an officer called a Hazarika?
- A.Twenty
- B.One hundred
- C.One thousand
- D.Three thousand
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The Ahom administration graded its officers by the number of paiks, the men liable to compulsory service, placed under them, and the Hazarika commanded a thousand, the name itself coming from the word for a thousand.
Read the full explanation →Which Ahom ruler annexed the Chutiya kingdom and was the first to assume the Hindu title Swarganarayan?
- A.Sukaphaa
- B.Suhungmung
- C.Jayadhwaj Singha
- D.Gadadhar Singha
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Suhungmung, better known as the Dihingia Raja, ruled from 1497 to 1539, annexed the Chutiya kingdom of the upper valley in 1523, broke Kachari power, and was the first Ahom king to take a Hindu title, Swarganarayan, which marks the dynasty's entry into the wider Indian religious world; the Bengal…
Read the full explanation →The offices of Borphukan and Borbarua in the Ahom administration were created by which ruler?
- A.Sukaphaa
- B.Suhungmung
- C.Pratap Singha
- D.Lachit Borphukan
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Pratap Singha, also called Susenghphaa, who ruled in the first half of the seventeenth century, created the Borphukan as viceroy of the lower Brahmaputra valley with his seat at Gauhati, and the Borbarua as the chief executive and judicial officer of the upper valley.
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