The Brahmaputra River Heritage Centre has been set up in a nearly 150-year-old bungalow in Guwahati, Assam.
The bungalow used to be the 17th century military office of the Ahom rulers.
It was called Barphukanar Tila, meaning Barphukan’s Hillock.
Barpukhan was a post equivalent to Governor General created by Ahom king Pratap Simha or Susengpha (1603-1641).
The hillock by the Brahmaputra, mentioned in ancient scriptures as Mandrachal, was from where Ahom General Lachit Barpukhan launched the Battle of Saraighat in March 1671 to inflict the most crushing defeat on the Mughals.
Saraighat is regarded as the “greatest naval battle ever fought in a river”.
