The Ahoms, smarting from the occupation of the capital by Mir Jumla and the harsh conditions of Treaty of Ghilajharighat, decided to lure a Mughal imperial force to Saraighat and take a stand there.

Though the Mughals managed to regain Guwahati briefly later after a Borphukan deserted it, the Ahoms wrested control in the Battle of Itakhuli in 1682 and maintained it till the end of their rule.

Mir Jumla's invasion had left the Ahom kingdom depopulated, fortifications destroyed, and the treasury depleted due to the conditions of the January 1663 Treaty of Ghilajharighat.

People who had dispersed due to Mir Jumla's invasion were rehabilitated in the appropriate khels, food and military productions were increased, new forts were constructed and garrisoned and an expeditionary army was organized under a new commander—Lachit Borphukan.

During this period Mughal imperial demands were tactfully and diplomatically rebuffed, but when the new faujdar of Guwahati, Firuz Khan, forced the matter in March 1667, the Ahoms were compelled to move.

[16] In August 1667 the Ahom army, under Lachit Borphukan and accompanied by Atan Burhagohain, sailed downstream to retake Guwahati.

On the south bank, the Nausalia Phukan and others, moving on land and water, captured Kajali, Sonapur, Panikhaiti, and Titamara forts between the Kapili river and Guwahati.

The Ahoms then reached Guwahati which was defended by five choukies on each bank of the Brahmaputra (north—Kanai-borosi-bowa, Hillar, Hindurighopa, Patduar and Korai; south—Latasil, Joiduar, Dharamduar, Duarguria and Pandu).

The grand attack was launched on the night of 4 November 1667,[17] when the Ahoms scaled the walls by ladders and after two months of siege, Itakhuli fell in mid-November 1667.

The Mughals, pursued by the Ahoms, managed to fortify the Manahmukh (the confluence of Manas river) and fend off the attackers for some time but Firuz Khan finally surrendered and was taken prisoner.

Along the way Aurangzeb augmented Ram Singh's forces of 4,000 troopers (from his char-hazaari mansab), 1,500 ahadis (soldiers recruited by the Emperor) and 500 barqandezes by an additional 30,000 infantrymen, 21 Rajput chiefs (Thakurs) with their contingents, 18,000 cavalry, 2,000 archers and shieldmen and 40 ships.

[19] When Lachit surveyed the massive Mughal force later, he was moved to tears and he uttered: "It is a tragedy that my country is facing this dire catastrophe during my Phukanship.

Aware of Mughal military might and the weakness of the Ahom militia, especially against the professional cavalry and mounted forces in open fields, Lachit Borphukan and the other commanders decided to choose the terrain of the battlefield with care.

The choice fell on Guwahati, which was hilly, on the way to the heart of the Ahom kingdom and without open fields where the Mughal forces would not have sufficient mobility.

[22] When the Mughal march reached the Manas River in March–April 1669 and defeated Ahom forces, Lachit decided on a strategic retreat to Guwahati.

[24] A period of battles between the Ahom and Mughal forces in the region of Guwahati followed, with varied results with forts changing hands many times.

Aurangzeb received information of the lack of progress in August 1669 and made arrangements with the Subahdar of Bengal, Shaistha Khan, to provide reinforcements to Ram Singh.

Ram Singh protested that these harassing campaigns lowered the "dignity of warfare", and withdrew from fighting (October 1669 – March 1670), to no particular military advantage.

Lachit updated Chakradhwaj Singha about this proposal, who rejected the offer on the ground that it was beneath his dignity to duel a mere servant "who has no umbrella over his head" (who is not a "Chhatrapati").

So instead of 20,000, they sent in 40,000 and using an anti-koch tactic that had worked against Chilarai, they dressed their vanguard archers and musketeers as Brahmans to make the Rajput warriors desist from killing them.

Ram Singh, on the other hand, set a woman, Madanavati, dressed as a man, to command the vanguard to deny the Ahoms any glory in case of a victory.

Ram Singh again put forward his proposal on the 1639 status quo settlement and this time the Ahoms appeared receptive.

[30] Ram Singh now made preparations for his final and direct assault on Guwahati and began moving along the north bank.

The Mughal ambassador, Paditrai, had reported a breach in the embankment at Andharubali a few days earlier, and Ram Singh wanted to exploit this opening.

[32] Lachit Borphukan and their admiral were both seriously ill, which demoralized the soldiers, and the Nara Hazarika, the son of the Miri Sandikoi, was in command.