01The Chhote Sahibzade
When Anandpur was given up in December 1705 the Guru’s family was scattered at the flooded Sarsa. Mata Gujri, his mother, and the two younger boys were taken in by Gangu, an old servant, who gave them up to the Mughal officials at Morinda. They were brought to Sirhind and held in the Thanda Burj, an open tower, in the cold of Poh. Brought before Wazir Khan’s court, the boys would not accept Islam. They were walled up alive, and when the wall gave way they were put to death. Mata Gujri died in the tower when she heard. A merchant, Diwan Todar Mal, bought ground for their cremation by covering it with gold coins, as Sikh tradition tells.
02Fatehgarh: the fort of victory
In May 1710 Banda Singh Bahadur’s army beat Wazir Khan at Chappar Chiri, where Wazir Khan was killed, and stormed Sirhind. Fifty-four years later, in January 1764, the Dal Khalsa defeated and killed Zain Khan, Ahmad Shah Abdali’s governor, and levelled the town. The place of martyrdom was named Fatehgarh, the fort of victory, after the younger boy. The gurdwara was raised in the 1840s under Maharaja Karam Singh of Patiala; Bhora Sahib, the underground shrine, keeps the wall. Gurdwara Jyoti Sarup, a little away, marks the cremation of the grandmother and the two boys. Each December the Shaheedi Jor Mela brings lakhs to Fatehgarh Sahib.
The life of this place
- December 1705Sahibzada Zorawar Singh and Sahibzada Fateh Singh are martyred at Sirhind; Mata Gujri dies in the Thanda Burj.
- May 1710Banda Singh Bahadur defeats Wazir Khan at Chappar Chiri and takes Sirhind.
- January 1764The Dal Khalsa kills Abdali’s governor Zain Khan and razes Sirhind.
- 1840sMaharaja Karam Singh of Patiala raises the gurdwara.
About 5 km from Sirhind railway station; the Shaheedi Jor Mela falls in the last week of December.
