GUWAHATI, June 28 - The 93-year-old Directorate of Historical and Antiquarian Studies (DHAS) is planning to undertake a project to publish historical records and write-ups on the August 5, 1669, Alaboi Battle, in which around 10,000 Assamese soldiers were killed by the cavalry regiment of the Mughals. The battle of Alaboi preceded the famous battle of Saraighat (1671 AD) in which the Mughal forces were conclusively defeated by the Assamese forces.
It is worth mentioning here that the Alaboi Battle was fought by the Assamese soldiers under the generalship of Lachit Barphukan on August 5, 1669, with the Mughal forces led by Ram Singh. The battle took place in the southern fringe of the Alaboi Hill. The Assamese soldiers initially fought valiantly, despite the initial reluctance of their general Lachit Barphukan, who was somewhat bewildered by the strategic drawbacks of his side. The Mughals had the additional strength of a cavalry regiment, which the Assamese side did not have.
Moreover, the Mughals were entrenched in a strategic location. But it was the insistence of the then Ahom Swargadeo Chakradhwaj Singha that compelled Lachit Barphukan to order his troops to attack the Mughals.
During the first half of the day, the Assamese infantry soldiers were seemed to be victorious. But in the second half of the day, when the Assamese troops were returning to their camps, Ram Singh deployed his Rajput cavalry regiment to pounce upon the Assamese soldiers. And, within two to three hours, around 10,000 Assamese soldiers were butchered by that regiment.
Director in-charge of the DHAS Dr Anita Choudhury told this newspaper that besides the publication on the Alaboi Battle, the Directorate is also planning to publish the manuscript �Kitapat Manjari,� as a book. This manuscript written by Bakul Kayastha on �Kaitheli Anka� (the arithmetic of the Kayasthas), contains the methods of land measurement and maintaining the accounts of earnings and spending.
The DHAS is also in possession of a manuscript of a grammar on the Tai-Ahom language written by Late Danda Gogoi, a scholar of the Tai-Ahom language. The Directorate is considering to get this manuscript examined by some renowned scholars of the Tai-Ahom language, Choudhury said.
Meanwhile, a project to digitalise all the records, manuscripts and newspapers available with the DHAS is also in the pipeline, said Choudhury.
