On the morning of 7th December 1705, the day of the fateful battle of Chamkaur Sahib, Baba Zorawar Singh ji, along with Baba Fateh Singh ji and their grandmother, were taken into custody by Jani Khan and Mani Khan Ranghar, the police official of Morinda. They were despatched on the following day to Sirhind where they were detained and kept in in the Cold Tower (Thandda Burj) of the Fort.

Mata Ji and the Sahibzaadey stayed in the top of the Cold Tower, where there were no four walls to guard them from the winter cold and chill of December. The young children had no extra clothes or blankets to protect them from the winter chill, other than the warmth of listening to Gurbaani and the huddling around their beloved grandmother.

Presented in Court
On 9th December 1705, Baba Zorawar Singh ji and Baba Fateh Singh ji were produced before the faujdaar, Nawaab Wazir Khan, who had just returned from Chamkaur Sahib with his feudal ally, Nawab Sher Muhammad Khan of Malerkotla. Wazir Khan tried to lure the Sahibzaadey to embrace Islam with promises of riches and honours, but they spurned the suggestion.

He then threatened them with death, but they remained undaunted. Death sentence was finally pronounced. Upon Sher Muhammad Khan’s intercession for the innocent children to be spared their lives, they were given some more time to ponder over the suggestion to convert.

Punished with Death
Baba Zorawar Singh ji and his brother spent another two days of the severe winter in their old grandmother’s lap in the Cold Tower. Still adamant to live and die for the Sikh faith and to never turn their back to Guru Sahib, on 11th December 1705 a ‘fatwa’, religious edict, was issued for the Sahibzaadey to be bricked and sealed alive in a wall. Baba Zorawar Singh ji and Baba Fateh Singh ji were martyrd by suffocating in the sealed wall. The aged Mata Gujari Kaur ji, who had all along been kept in the Cold Tower, only a little distance away, breathed her last while joined in the Simran (remembrance) of Waheguru, as the news reached her ears.

Cremation
Seth Todar Mall, a wealthy merchant of Sirhind, risked his life by seeking permission for performing the cremation of the three dead bodies of the great shaheeds (martrys) the following day. With Mata Gujri Ji and the younger sons of Guru Ji – Baba Zorawar Singh Ji and Baba Fateh Singh Ji – shaheed (martyred) at the tender ages of 5 and 7 the despicable Mughal authorities refused their funeral rites on government land, it was decreed that there funeral rites could only be performed on land bought from Chaudhari Atta.

Not only this, but the land could only be bought by laying gold coins (ashrifs) on the required area, vertically. Todar Mal did not shun his responsibility and laid down the required coins and made arrangements for the cremations and paid the heavy sum of 78,000 gold coins. Maybe he had to beg and borrow to raise the total amount, who knows, but the fact remains this was truly a noble deed. Todar Mal forsaked everything for his love of Guru Gobind Singh Ji , which is the reason why Sikhs hold Devan Todar Mal in such high esteem.

In Loving Memory: Gurdwara Fatehgarh Sahib
The site of the fateful happenings, since named Fatehgarh Sahib, close to the old town of Sirhind, is now marked by four Sikh Gurdwara Sahibs. A Jorr-Mela, large religious fair, is held there from 25th to 28th December every year to honour the memory of these great martyrs.

Images and Content Source: manvirsingh’s blog

Tags: Chamkaur, Fatehgarh, Gurbaani, guru gobind singh ji, Malerkotla, Mata Gujari, Sahibzaadey, sikh faith, Sirhind, waheguru