First day of the month of Magh (January 14) in the Indian calendar marks, according to many experts including Dr. Ganda Singh, an eminent historian, the day on which Guru Gobind Singh Ji was reunited with the 40 deserters who became the 40 martyrs.
This transformation, from deserters to martyrs gives us a beautiful footnote into the history of the Sikhs. It is a story of human failings, heroism, valor and the devotion of the Sikhs to the Guru.
It has its roots in the Second Battle of Anandpur, in the year 1704. Though heavily outnumbered, the Sikhs drove away the enemy after the first battle, but after regrouping, the unholy alliance of the Hill Rajas and the Muchal forces laid sieve on the fort of Anandnur
As a protracted battle between the Sikhs and the enemy waged on, conditions became very grim since “the siege of the fort was organized in such a perfect manner, all ingress and egress for both goods and persons were completely stopped.” There was an acute shortage of supplies and water and Sikhs would go out in bands of four: two would fight with the enemy and while they laid down their lives, the other two would get some water and supplies for the besieged forces.
There was such a shortage of food supplies that the Sikhs would raid the enemy stores to provide for the beleaguered fort. This relived the situation for some time but the enemy consolidated the stores in one heavily guarded place leading to an acute shortage again.
Eventually the hardships became so unbearable that some Sikhs asked Guru Gobind Singh Ji to accept the terms of the enemy who was offering free and unmolested passage to Sikhs, if they left Anandpur Sahib. A few Sikhs began to clamor for the Guru Sahib to accept the terms, but Guru Sahib refused to do so, at this, 40 Sikhs left him, after writing a letter of renunciation.
We must remember that Guru Sahib had ordained the Khalsa and, by taking Amrit from the Panj Piaras, had proclaimed himself also as a Sikh, as well as the Guru. When the situation became even more desperate and the hill chiefs and the Mughal generals took solemn oaths, the former on the cow and the Salgram, the latter on the holy Quran, promising safe passage to the Sikhs out of the fort. Many Sikhs asked the Guru Sahib to accept the offer. Even though the Guru had misgivings about the honesty of the offer of the safe conduct, he decided to accede to the request of the Sikhs.
Saina Path, one of the 52 bards in the Darbar of Guru Gobind Singh Ji who wrote Gur Shobha, described the event thus, “the Guru said that if the result of abandonment of Anandpur proved to be ruinous, the responsibility would be theirs. The Guru asked and the Sikhs signed a declaration of their request and orders were issued for the evacuation of Anandpur Sahib.” This text is considered one of the most important sources of the history of Guru Gobind Singh Ji since Saina Path either witnessed a number of the incidents or relied on what he considered reliable sources.
“The Guru distributed his treasures and possessions amongst the Sikhs. They were also given arms of various kinds and, when everything was ready, everything which could not be craned was put on fire.”
Mughal and Hindu armies surrounding the fort flagrantly violated their oaths and the enemy forces fell upon the Sikh forces. The rearguard lead by Ude Singh engaged the enemy in fierce combat near Sarsa. Ude Singh and his companions fought with great valor, skill and bravery for about three hours before they were annihilated by the vastly superior army. During this battle, Guru Sahib’s mother Mata Gujri Ji and his younger sons Sahibzada Jujhar Singh and Sahibzada Fateh Singh were separated from the main party.
Guru Gobind Singh Ji and his Sikhs established themselves at village Chamkaur and were surrounded by the Hill and Mughal forces. To quote Indubhushan Banerjee, “For shear valor and endurance the battle that ensued has scarcely any parallel…it was clear that the Guru’s army was infinitesimally small in comparison with the host that had encompassed it, But still there was no defeatism in the Guru’s ranks. Batch after batch of the Sikhs went forward to certain death and never faltered or hesitated.”
It was here that two of Guru Ji’s elder sons, Sahibzada Ajit Singh and Sahibzada Zorawar Singh fought along with the Sikhs and after valiant battle attained martyrdom. As Banerjee states further, “All of them fought and died one after another, wreaking havoc in the allied hands, and lastly the Guru himself engaged in combat, But nothing more could be done and the Guru left the place, throwing dust into the eyes of the allies who were waiting in eager expectancy of his capture or death.”
Gur Gobind Singh Ji eventually withdrew to the jungles of Machiwara where he received the tragic news of the happenings in Sirhind. According to historians, Mata Gujari Ji along with her two younger grandsons, “after getting separated from the Guru’s party had taken shelter at the house of a Brahmin named Gangu, who was a discharged cook of the Guru Sahib and a native of a place called Kheri near Sirhind. With the hope of getting a reward by surrendering the party to the Nawab of Sarhind, the Brahman took the Chaudhri of Kheri into his confidence and then the two of them together went to the next highest official, the Governor of Morinda. The latter came to the Brahmin’s house and took the Guru’s mother and her two grandsons to Wazir Khan of Sarhind who ordered them to be confined in a tower.
“The next day the two boys were brought before Wazier Khan, who asked them to embrace Islam if they wanted to save their lives. The boys gave a reply worthy of their parentage and (old the court “We care not for the worldly wealth, we will not renounce our religion at any cost.” Wazir Khan then ordered them put to death, it is said that the he was incited by one Suchanand Khatri, who had a grudge against the Guru and who now meanly took this opportunity of having his revenge. Thus, though the Nawab of Maler Kotla made an attempt to intercede of behalf of the boys, Wazir Khan stuck to his order and the two boys, aged only 9 and 7, were most mercilessly executed,” by bricking them alive in a wall. Saina Path in Gur Shobha says that the Sahibzada when asked to embrace Islam or die, Jujhar Singh gave a fitting reply which put the Nawab and his courtier into extreme anger. The two chose the path of martyrdom for the sake of their religion as their grandfather (Guru Tegh Bhadur Ji) had done.
Guru Gobind Singh Ji went to Dina where he composed the Zafarnama, a letter to the Mughal emperor ‘Aurangzeb which he dispatched through Bhai Daya Singh and Bhai Dharam Singh two trusted devotees.
It was here that Guru Gobind Singh Ji waged what ‘was to prove the decisive victory against the Mughal forces of Wazir Khan. At the edge of the jungles in a place called Khindrana, in what is now the Ferozepur District of Punjab, near the banks of a levee (dry tank) the Sikh forces engaged the enemy and fought with such intensity that Wazir Khan had to retreat.
‘Che tide of the battle was turned by those very Sikhs who had deserted Guru Sahib at Anandpur Sahib. After they lest Guru Sahib lead by Bhai Maha Singh and reach home, the women at home chided them for deserting Guru Sahib and asked them to lay down their weapons and wear the glass bangles worn on the arm by young lasses.
Struck by remorse at what they had done, and stung by the incessant criticism, the Sikhs, along with Mai Bhago, came to join with the Guru Sahib. Upon reaching Kidrana, the Sikhs joined the battle against the forces of Wazir Khan. They went unfalteringly on to certain death and crushed the will of the numerically superior Mughal forces. Mai Bhago fought along with the men and she was the only survivor of the 40 Muktas. She became an Amritdhari Sikh and was called Bhag Kaur. She lived till the rioz old age in Biddar. The town of Biddar was the site of the killing, by mobs of Hindu Zealots, of a number of Sikh students at the Guru Nanak Engineering College last year.
After the battle, while Guru Gobind Singh Ji was going through the ranks of those who had fallen in the battle, he came across the mortally wounded Bhai Maha Singh. Guru Sahib asked him to name his wish. Bhai Maha Singh asked him to tear the letter of renunciation. Guru Gobind Singh Ji took out the letter which he had carried with him all this time and tore it in front of Bhai Maha Singh, after which the brave warrior passed away in Guru Sahib’s arms.
Article extracted from this publication >> January 26, 1990
