Assam by Tinat

The Falcon King: Bir Chilarai

"A dream that we cherished for a long time. We held onto it and never let it go. So, when we met General Cheema and spoke to him about our dream, he obliged immediately by telling us that he will do something in this regard. We were both thrilled and were excessively excited about the prospects." Indrajit Kr. Saikia and Tinat Atifa Masood.

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A week later, the General told us that the stadium at the Army School, Narangi, Guwahati will be named after one of the greatest generals in history, Bir Chilarai. It will be called the Bir Chilarai Football Stadium. Both of us were besides ourselves with joy as this is what we wanted; the name of Bir Chilarai, Generalassimo of Koch Kamrup, Kamatapur (1510AD to 1571AD) to be known the World over. And so, our dream came true in a matter of a fortnight from when we spoke to the General.

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His real name was Sukladev but he was renamed as Bir Chilarai during his coronation ceremony by King Naranarayan, his brother, because of his agility as a warrior.

Sir Arnold Toynby (1889-1975) wrote about three great warriors of the world with respect to their military strategy, skill and their intension. He selected 1. Bir Chilarai (1510AD to 1571AD) 2.Chatrapaty Shivaji (1639AD-1680AD) and 3. Nepoleon Bonaparte (1769AD to 1821AD).

Bir Chilarai was the unified commander of an army comprising of 600,000 soldiers with 1000 Naval fleet. He was the initiator of guerrilla warfare in the world. He formed his naval fleet much before Emperor Akbar. Having studied in Benares, he was well qualified and much ahead of his time. Chila means Falcon and Rai means King.
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So, on the morning of 16th November, 2013, a function was organised at the Army School, Narangi where the stadium of the Army School was named the Bir Chilarai Stadium while both the General Cheema and the General Secretary of the All Assam Koch Rajbongshi Yuba Satra Sanmilani, Indrajit Saikia unveiled the plaque. A huge tablet was also installed wherein the life sketch of the Falcon King was put up for all to see. The General also presented a book on Bir Chilarai to the principal of the school and said that all students must try and study on this great general of the world. Indrajit Kr. Saikia expressed his gratitude to the army for this generous gesture to the greater Assamese society.