Bagh Hazarika according to Assamese Historians

by Muhammad Talha Amin Baruah

Bagh Hazarika (or Ismail Siddiqui), perhaps one of the most important figures of Assamese history who is known for taking part in the Ahom army as a military commander, whose military tactics were partly responsible for the success of the Ahom forces at the battle of Saraighat in 1671 A.D. Though Bagh Hazarika's existence is often questioned and sometimes creates certain controversies. In this very article, we shall discuss the mentions of Bagh Hazarika done by popular Assamese historians in their works. This list comes up with not just small names, but rather comes up with the list of top most revered Assamese historians.

Dr. Surya Kumar Bhuyan, is notably the very first person to introduce Bagh Hazarika into the historical literature, because before this, Bagh Hazarika was someone who survived through Oral traditions passed down from one generation to another and with poems written around 150-200 years ago. Just as there can be no greater general in Assam history then Lachit Borphukan, there can be no greater historian in Assam then S.K Bhuyan.

S.K Bhuyan's translation of Padshah Buranji into English, was titled 'Annals of the Delhi Badshahate' (first published in 1947). The book comes with introduction and notes, basically serving as commentaries. In the portion of notes, in page number 231, S.K Bhuyan has mentioned "This statement is based on the story of the Muhammadan commander Bagh Hazarika whose military genuis was partly responsible for the success of Lachit Borphukan's operations against Ram Singha." He has cited that Mafuzuddin Ahmed Hazarika is the narrator of the story.

S.K Bhuyan later elaborated a little on Bagh Hazarika in his book 'Swargadev Rajeswarsinha' (first published in 1975). He mentions "During Ram Singh's campaign there was a valiant muslim warrior named Bagh Hazarika. He had bare-handedly killed a Tiger, therefore he got the name 'Bagh Hazarika'. This Bagh Hazarika knew the war tactics of the Mughals. He predicted the Mughal tactics to Lachit Borphukan, hence it was easy for Lachit Phukan to defeat the foreign invaders." [Refer it in between page 170 to 171 in the first edition, and page 204 if using the third edition]

Swarna Lata Baruah, or better known as S.L Baruah is another important historian from Assam who immensely contributed to writing Assamese history. Two of her famous works are still cited by many of Assam's historians i.e 'A Comprehensive History of Assam' (1985) and 'Last Days of Ahom Monarchy: A History of Assam from 1769-1826' (1993). In the Journal called 'Proceedings of the Indian history congress' volume 39 issue 1 published in 1978 (see page 576) S.L Baruah has contributed an article titled 'The Muslim population in Pre-British Assam : their social status and role in cultural history'. In this very article, she notes about Bagh Hazarika exhibiting his gallant fighting skills against the Mughals.

Another great Historian from Assam named Prof. Heramba Kumar Barpujari, popularly known as H.K Barpujari. He is popular for editing the five volume series called 'The Comprehensive History of Assam'. He quoted that Bagh Hazarika was Lachit Borphukan's right hand [reference : 'Asomar Musalmansakal' (2013) by Abdur Rahman, page 285]. Bagh Hazarika's mention can also be found in H.K Barpujari's book 'North-East India : Problems, policies and prospects since Independence' (1998), but he merely quoted the words of a man named Ataur Rahman talking about Bagh Hazarika.

One of the important Assamese historians would be Bhuban Chandra Handique, who in his book 'Axomor Musalman' counted the heroism of Bagh Hazarika. Historian Tulan Gohain, in his book 'Dikhowporiya Xanhsora Buranji' noted about Bagh Hazarika's existence in Sivsagar. Similarly Mohini Kumar Saikia (not a Historian by profession, as he was a professor of Assamese, but he is counted as a historian due to his immense knowledge on Assam history) writes about Bagh Hazarika in his book 'Assam-Muslim Relation and Its Cultural Significance' (1967) : "The accounts of the family of the Assamese poet, the late Mufizuddin Ahmed Hasarika, relate how Bagh Hazarika, one of Mufizuddin's forefathers held the command of one thousand unit (unit = 4 men) of soldiers under the great Assamese general Lachit Barphukan during the Assam-Mughal wars which raged from 1667 to 1671 A.D. It is said that this dauntless Muslim hero of Assam, having drenched the soil of his paternal land with the blood spilled from his co-religionists of the Mughal armies, had to a great extent helped his supreme commander Lachit Barphukan to ensure a decisive victory over the invading forces of the emperor Aurangzeb in 1671 A.D." [Refer to page 168-169 in 1967 edition, and page 156-157 if 1978 edition]

Historian Udayaditya Bharali, former principal of Cotton College wrote an article for The Times of India titled 'Barphukan: A true symbol of patriotism'. In this article, Udayaditya writes "His army had many Muslim soldiers and the most famous was Ismail Siddique, locally known as Bagh Hazarika." Historian Dr. Rajib Handique, former HOD of the department of History, Gauhati University, publicly stated that Bagh Hazarika is a real figure from Assam history. He also questioned that why would S.K Bhuyan forge a fictional character in his works.

Historian Nobin Buragohain also mentions Bagh Hazarika in his book ‘Ahom Buranji-Koch'. He has addressed the issue that Bagh Hazarika is an absent figure in the Buranjis and we only know of him from the works of S.K Bhuyan. Nobin Buragohain has mentioned that there were many warriors who fought in the battle of Saraighat, it shouldn’t be surprising if among them was Bagh Hazarika.

Countless Assamese educationalists and Historians wrote books on Bagh Hazarika. We will discuss most of these books and article in a future article, but the honourable mentions would be of Historian Rofiul Hussain Baruah's book 'Saraighat aru Bagh Hazarika' (2013) and Mukut Sarma's 'Bagh Hajorika kalpona ne bastov' (2022). Both books have tried to establish some of the key points regarding the historical authenticity of Bagh Hazarika's existence and the cultural significance. Similar work have been done by historian Dr. Devabrat Sarma on Bagh Hazarika.

Historian Dr. Ripunjay Nath, who is a professor of History at NEHU also wrote about Bagh Hazarika in his thesis submitted to Nalanda university titled 'aspects of Muslim society in Assam (1205 to 1682 A.D.)'. He writes a short paragraph recognizing Bagh Hazarika's valour "Bagh Hazarika alias Ismail Siddiqi played a significant role in the Battle of Saraighat in 1671. In the Padshah Buranji it is mentioned that he migrated from Delhi at the age of twenty-five, married a woman from the Ahom community and settled in the Goriyajan near Dorika River in the Sivsagar district of Assam. Legends about him say that while living in Goriyajan he killed a tiger by hitting it with his fist. As a result the king Chakradhwaj Singha named him Bagh and he was given the post of a Hazarika, a commander of more than a thousand Paiks. From then Ismail Siddiqi is known as Bagh Hazarika. He participated in the Battle of Saraighat when he was 32 years old. He led the army of Gargaon in the battle, so he is also known as the Gargoiya Senapati." [See page 28 & 29]

Historian Dr. Shabnam Bahar Parveen from Silchar also mentions Bagh Hazarika in her thesis submitted to Aligarh Muslim university titled 'Socio-Political Awakening of the Muslims of Assam - 1871 to 1980'. She notes Bagh Hazarika in the context that he fought against the Mughals in the battle of Saraighat.

Kamarupa Anusandhana Samiti (K.A.S.), the oldest antiquarian and research institution in Northeast India, established in 1912 runs a Journal named 'Journal of the Assam Research Society'. In the 2007 volume, i.e the 38th volume contains an article which talks about Bagh Hazarika. Thankfully the education system of Assam has also helped in preserving Bagh Hazarika. The inclusion of Ismail Siddiqui's valour in the SEBA'S class 9 and 10 textbook 'Boichitromoy Akhom' is very important for educating the youth about Bagh Hazarika. AHSEC's class 11 book of History and Geography titled 'Swadesh Adhyayan' also mentions Bagh Hazarika, valiantly fighting the Mughals to defend Assam.

Madhurjyya Mondit Baruah and Dr. Jogendra Nath Phukan are the only two 'historians' who we know of that consider Bagh Hazarika as a non-existent figure. Nonetheless, Historian Zarid Hussain, in his book on Bagh Hazarika, has responded to Jogendra for giving an inadequate statement about history regarding Bagh Hazarika. Not all of Assam's history can be traced in the Buranjis.

In conclusion, it can be said that there is a general consensus among the intellectual Assamese Historians that Bagh Hazarika was indeed a true figure who gallantly fought the Mughals at the Battle of Itakhuli and in the Battle of Saraighat. The statement that Bagh Hazarika is a fictional character doesn't often come from Historians, rather it comes mostly from Non-Historians (with a seemingly vested interest in the topic). The popular Right wing Historian - Vikram Sampath also recognized the chivalry of Bagh Hazarika in his book 'Bravehearts of Bharat' (2022). American Historian Yasmin Saikia - who holds roots in Assam, also mentions Bagh Hazarika in her works.