BJP president Amit Shah recently made a major faux pas when speaking at a pre-poll speech in Assam.
Shah said that Ahomiya king Sukapha stopped the Mughals 17 times from entering Assam.
“We all know that Assam is the land of the brave. It is the land where Sukapha (Ahom king) had defeated the Mughals 17 times and drove them away. The same land is now being allowed to become the abode of illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators by the Congress government,” said Shah.
But Shah, while trying to play up the Ahom emotions, mixed up facts and changed history by like 300 years!
Here’s how: Chaolung Sukapha, the founder of the Ahom Kingdom, reigned from 1228 AD to 1268 AD. The Mughals Dynasty, on the other hand, began only in the 15th century. So there is no way that Sukapha could have even faced the Mughals – who entered the scene a good three centuries later – for battle, let alone defeating them 17 times.
![](https://wp.scoopwhoop.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/56f7b941fb7785405f44df64_482948601.jpg)
As expected, Twitter was quick to point that out and slam Shah for being so ill-informed when waxing eloquent in public:
Amit Shah says Ahom King Sukapha stopped Mughals 17 times from entering Assam
— Aman Wadud (@AmanWadud) March 27, 2016
मित्रों, हमे न इतिहास पता है, न भूगोल। pic.twitter.com/wLLrxnGnoa
— Narendra Modi (@AwaraBhanvra) March 26, 2016
Joined by Assam CM Tarun Gogoi
#BJP doesn’t even know the history of #Assam & claim to understand the people. BJP Pres recently said Sukapha defeated the Mughals 17 times
— Tarun Gogoi (@tarun_gogoi) March 26, 2016
Now, the top BJP brass should watch out before trying to play up a community’s emotions. Remember a similar faux pas by Modi in Bihar?
“When we are reminded of the Gupta Dynasty we are reminded of Chandragupta’s rajneeti,” Modi had said, to a quick retort by Nitish Kumar: “The BJP has amazing grasp of history. They should know Chandragupta was of Maurya dynasty, not of Gupta dynasty.”