Sahibzade Zorawar Singh & Fateh Singh
The Guru's younger sons, aged about nine and six, executed at Sirhind for refusing to convert. Their week of martyrdom is the Shaheedi Jor Mela.
Zorawar Singh, born in 1696, and Fateh Singh, born in 1699, were the youngest sons of Guru Gobind Singh. In December 1704, in the confusion of the crossing of the flooded Sarsa river after the evacuation of Anandpur, they were separated from their father with their grandmother, Mata Gujri.
Their old cook Gangu took them to his village, Kheri, and betrayed them for a reward. They were handed to Wazir Khan, the governor of Sirhind, and held with their grandmother in the Thanda Burj, the cold tower of the fort, in the bitter December cold. Brought before the governor's court, they refused to bow and refused to convert. The Nawab of Malerkotla, Sher Muhammad Khan, protested that the Quran forbade punishing children for their fathers' deeds. He was ignored.
The boys, aged about nine and six, were ordered to be bricked up alive in a wall; when the wall collapsed they were executed, on 26 December 1704. Mata Gujri died in the tower when she heard. A merchant, Diwan Todar Mal, bought the land for their cremation by covering it with gold coins. Gurdwara Fatehgarh Sahib now stands where they died, and the Shaheedi Jor Mela draws hundreds of thousands each December. In 2022 India declared 26 December Veer Baal Diwas in their honour.
Battles
Connected
Tenth Guru, warrior and poet. Created the Khalsa in 1699, fought a long war with the Mughals and hill rajas, lost his four sons and mother, and named the Guru Granth Sahib as the final Guru.
Wife of Guru Tegh Bahadur and mother of Guru Gobind Singh. Held with her younger grandsons in the cold tower of Sirhind, she died there on hearing of their execution.
The Guru's elder sons, aged about seventeen and thirteen, who led sorties out of the Chamkaur fort and died fighting.
Merchant of Sirhind who bought land to cremate the Guru's younger sons and mother by covering it in gold coins, said to be the most expensive land ever bought.
Nawab of Malerkotla who protested in Wazir Khan's court against the execution of the Guru's young sons, though his own brother had died fighting the Guru.
Mughal governor of Sirhind who besieged Anandpur, pursued Guru Gobind Singh and ordered the execution of his younger sons. Killed by Banda Singh's army at Chappar Chiri.