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The genre of historical-fiction is always fascinating for its frequent movement between the historical and the fictional. A complex web of characters, their emotions, expressions and lives are depicted against backdrops of events that can be verified as actually having taken place in the past. This intriguing genre of literature makes episodes of the past more enjoyable, memorable and easy to recount. Often it also creates space for characters that had hitherto been ignored in the official pages of history. While reading a historical fiction, nevertheless, one needs to be cautious to not treat the work as an authoritative production of the discipline of history and thus, be careful to not believe everything described herein as absolute truths. These works, instead, provide a sense of the societies and people who may have lived during those times, and how their lives might have unfolded as they stood at crossroads of elemental, consequential changes in the society.
Laidhan Khan by Pulin Kalita is one such work set in the 17th century Ahom kingdom. It is a voluminous saga of the times that led to the historical Battle of Saraighat between the Ahoms and the Mughals, its unfolding and aftermath. The title character, Laidhan, is a young man, with humble origins, who finds his life unrecognizably changed in a short span of time under the Ahoms. From being a simple paik, a common subject in the kingdom, the author shows Laidhan as becoming an integral part of the Saraighat Battle. The narrative further meanders and takes the readers to multiple branches of stories, all happening around or relevant to the times that Laidhan is placed in. The book is much more than its title, and what would have been an alternate, perhaps a more suitable nomenclature is hard to determine.
The book opens with a scenario, which gives a sense of a major war being brewed between the Ahoms and the ‘Bongal’. The latter is a reference to the soldiers of the Mughal Subbah of Bengal, who had fought with the Ahoms before under the leadership of Mir Jumla. The readers get a sense that this battle had been lost in the past, and another was now going to be fought to regain the dignity and independence of the Ahoms. The narrative primarily dwells in the times of the Ahom king Chakradhwaj Singha, in whose reign the war begins. It is made clear at the very outset that the two most important pillars of the war that the Ahoms are preparing to fight are Lachit Borphukan and Atan Burhagohain. The arrangement and structure of the Ahom army creates the base for the story. Multiple ministerial positions, and the hierarchy and rules to be observed when functioning within the system are constantly providing the backdrop through which the various characters are introduced. It is also full of details of myriad communities including the Ahoms, Dimasas, Koches, and the Marias or the Muslim population in the Ahom kingdom, who were not quite sure what it meant to be followers of the Quran. The author skillfully highlights how the structures of these social groups and their traditions were designed around their needs of resource mobilization and social organisation.
While this book was released in 2022, keeping in mind the declared year of Lachit Borphukan’s 400th Birth anniversary, it is certainly not a story that belongs to Lachit alone. It belongs to all the lead characters, be it Burhagohain, Laidhan, Pahiti (Laidhan’s love interest), Kaliabariya Phukan (an official in the army and Pahiti’s father), Baduli Phukan (a former Ahom army official, who joined the Mughals after Mir Jumla defeated the Ahoms) and many others. Most of these characters have been fleshed out with their own background stories that explain what led them to where they were in life at the time when the war unfolds. Laidhan Khan’s journey is a story of upward socio-political mobility that takes him to a place where he becomes one of the most trusted men of both Barphukan and Burhagohain. However, the author does not seem to have constructed it as an inspirational tale. Laidhan, though possessing immense physical strength, sincerity, intelligence and grit, is developed as a character who is not sure if he is where he wants to be in life. The war exposes him to diplomatic techniques, wherein he is negotiating with the probable allies, he is being trained as a spy that brings crucial information while also enthralling the people that he spies on, he fights dilemma that concerns the matters of the heart, and he is a human that questions his purpose of life in the times of war. Nevertheless, the author has painted Laidhan as someone who is capable of no vice. Despite what goes on inside his mind, Laidhan’s conduct is always perfect.
Unusual for a war narrative, the author does not portray official intrigues, personal or professional jealousies, ploys and deceptions within the Ahom army. There are references to differences between the senior officials as the main cause of the Ahom defeat in the hands of Mir Jumla, and also details of Baduli Phukan’s treachery. However, for most part, the narrative only shows unconditional support and understanding between the officials and soldiers and their trust on each other in the war that the Ahoms are set to fight now. It is only towards the end that the author writes of suspicions and distrust among the army as the frustrations of a long war sets in. Dealt with more nuance are actually the two most prominent female characters in the story - Pahiti and the Rajmata of the minor king of Darrang. Both of them have not been given many words to speak, but their characters have space and agency. They are shown as people who had their own desires that defined their actions, and were not just puppets in the hands of the society. Both, of course, are pertinent to the story primarily through the character of Laidhan, but are not irrelevant without him.
The narrative tends to be repetitive, and too stretched for the reader to stay with it completely till the end. It also branches out way too many times, to explore sub-plots and characters’ backgrounds, which at places feels like forceful insertions of details. With too many people and stories, the reader may feel a little confused as to what to hold on to, as they try to reach the end. Yet the thread that binds all of these together ultimately is the whole question of war. What it brings to the people of the land. The reader is left dwelling about the futility of war and the sense of dismay that it brings with it. It is an interesting presentation of a story that deals with multiple heroes and yet does not leave the reader idolizing warriors. Most importantly, it is an intelligent telling of a war that is being increasingly painted today with a communal hue. The war was about land, taxes and status of the ruling parties, and had more loss than benefit for the common people. Nowhere is the religion of the Mughals and Ahoms shown as playing a determining role in the events that led to the war. The portrayal of this itself is an appreciable feat given the current political times.
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