I have this uncanny feeling that the Light General has been reading Assam Net posts:-))
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'Assam was more Indian in medieval period'
From Upam Buzarbaruah
NORTH GUWAHATI, May 1 - "Assam was more Indian in the medieval period, when its official language was Sanskrit, than the rest of India," said the Governor of Jammu & Kashmir, Lt Gen (Retd) SK Sinha, in his inaugural speech at the Kanai Barasi Bowa rock inscription (KBBRI) site near the Doul Govinda temple here today. "Can anything betray a greater ignorance of history" than the fact that terrorist organisations claim that Assam was never a part of India, where as in fact, for nearly 400 years, while the rest of India was ruled by foreigners and the official language was Persian, Assam was the only State which thwarted all invasions and remained truly Indian. During that time, Assam was the only State where the official languages remained Sanskrit and Assamese. Only after the Treaty of Yandaboo, Assam came under foreign rule and English was adopted as the official language along with the rest of India.
In his welcome speech, the Commissioner, Cultural Affairs department, MK Baruah, lauded the efforts of the former Governor of Assam Lt Gen (Retd) Sinha to bring Assam and its glorious history into the limelight on a national platform.
The Governor of Assam, Lt Gen (Retd) Ajai Singh, compared the KBBRI site to the fort of Chittor in Rajasthan, which stands for the spirit of patriotism in defending one's homeland against invasion.
He also recalled his days of service in the Indian Army under Lt Gen Sinha and said that whenever Lt Gen Sinha spoke to them, he and his fellow officers used to listen with rapt attention, because Lt Gen Sinha always started his speech with an incident from the pages of history. He recalled that Lt Gen Sinha was the person who taught him that "history teaches us who we are and is not just a subject we should study to get marks in exams."
Earlier, Lt Gen (Retd) SK Sinha inaugurated the site which was in a way, a parting gift from him to the people of Assam. "I feel overwhelmed to be here," were the first words of his inaugural speech in which he enlightened the audience about the glorious military history of Assam.
There are three rock inscriptions in all at the KBBRI site. The first inscription which dates back to 1206 AD, records the total defeat and destruction of the invading Turkish army commandeered by Muhammad-ibn-Bakhtiyar Khilji by King Prithu of Kamrup.
The second and third inscriptions record incidents in the era when heroism crossed all barriers in Assam. The Mughals under the able leadership of Mir Jumla, the Viceroy under Aurangzeb, invaded Assam and laid siege on the Ahom capital at Sivasagar in 1662 AD. But soon they had to retreat as the army was dying under the onslaught of the monsoons, dysentery and guerilla attacks by the Ahom king's forces. But the Mughals retained Guwahati and Lower Assam after signing a treaty with the king.
The second inscription records the defeat and slaying of Syed Sana and Syed Firoz by the Ahom forces in 1665 AD and the setting up of a rampart at this site to commemorate this occasion by the Ahom ministers under King Chakradhwaj Singha.
In 1667, Lachit Borphukan liberated Guwahati. Soon the Mughal forces were defeated, faced with the superior logistics and chivalry of the Assamese military during the battle of Saraighat.
The third inscription records the setting up of a rampart at the site by the Ahom ministers under King Chakradhwaj Singha in 1667 AD to commemorate the liberation of Guwahati.
"My theme as the Governor of Assam was 'the people of Assam need to be proud of themselves and the rest of India need to be proud of them,'" said the former Governor of Assam while speaking about his attachment to Assam, not only because here was his first posting as a young officer in the erstwhile British Indian Army, but also because Assam has a rich and glorious history, which every Assamese should be proud of.
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