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Sikhi Explored Sunday 18th December Volume 1 | Issue 3
Battle of Chamkaur: 40 Singhs against 1 Million Moghul soldiers
Waheguru Jee Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Jee Ke Fateh! How can I even begin to describe the heroic story of how forty Sikhs fearlessly went into battle with an army, that was one million men strong? There are no superlatives, adjectives or phrases that could ade-quately depict the bravery and courage these Singhs showed the world, in this one infamous battle. Can we even begin to comprehend the state of mind these men were in, to have knowingly entered a fight where their outcome, death, was inevitable? It is a shuddering thought but at least let us explore this his-toric event, which will forever bear testimony to the saying one singh is worthy of 125, 000 men. Siege of Anandpur Sahib, 1705 Guru Gobind Singh Jee was the tenth guru of the Sikhs and after initiating the Khalsa in 1699, people from all walks of life were leaving the shackles of oppression, discrimination and slavery behind to join the pursuit of religious and social freedom. The Khalsa army was growing daily in strength and as this army was fighting for the truth and protection of the people, rather than for personal wealth or power the Emperor Aurangzeb felt increasingly threatened. The 22 Hill Rajas (kings) also felt their stronghold of their land being weakened and decided to hatch a plan with the Emperor to destroy the Khalsa and kill Guru Gobind Singh Jee. As the imperial forces set out for Anandpur Sahib, Guru Jee heard of this plan and consulted his Sikhs. He told them the situation; and that in a few months time the place they all lived would be under attack and that great difficulties lay ahead in order to protect their faith. Many Sikhs immediately left out of fear and Guru Jee being compassionate had no complaint, allowing them to leave peacefully. But many more remained and in May 1705 the army reached Anandpur Sahib to begin the attack that would shape our very own future as a nation...
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As the battle began, the Moghul forces tried to attack but were greeted by the Khalsa‟s defences. Critically, the Sikhs had the higher ground and so their archers had a greater range and visibility to stop the army from coming near. After inflicting great casualties on the Moghul soldiers, they decided to retreat so they were out of range of the Khalsa‟s marksmen. The generals realised that it would be very costly to try and fight up the moun-tain, and so they decided to adopt a new strategy, laying siege upon An-andpur Sahib. They surrounded the city, stopping importation of food and other supplies to the Sikhs, hoping that they would force them to surrender out of hunger or thirst. However the Sikhs were resilient. They maintained their state of chardhi khalla - „being in high spirits‟ and resisted the onslaught through medita-tion and prayers. But the Emperors army was intent on wiping out the Sikhs and remained camped outside Anandpur Sahib for an incredible 8 months! From May to December the Sikhs starved from a lack of food and they grew exhausted from being on constant alert of an attack. But the Moghuls began to suffer similar problems and during the winter months of November and De-cember the soldiers began to die in the cold and from other diseases. The general of the army decided to issue a statement to Guru Jee and too break the morale and tempt the starving Sikhs into surrender, he said “All of you, who have had enough of this hardship, we will allow you safe passage of escape. All you need to say is that you are no longer Sikhs”. Very few gave in and took this easier option. As more and more time went by the Generals became increasingly frustrated and so tried a new ploy. They sent into Anandpur Sahib a hindu priest and muslim qazi. Upon arriving at the Gurus darbar they took oaths on the Gita (hindu holy scripture) and the Qu‟ran, that if the Guru decided to leave now and not attack the Moghul army in retaliation, Emperor Aurangzeb will allow them to leave peacefully and swore that no Sikhs would be harmed. Guru Gobind Singh Jees Sikhs were on the brink of dying from famine and pleaded the Guru to take this opportunity and leave. But the Guru knew better. He tried to console his Sikhs and told them to remain patient in these tough times but not to surrender and leave their homes. But the Sikhs were adamant to leave and so the Guru reluctantly decided to show them what the oath of Aurengzebs men really stood for. He called for carriages to be filled with all the rubbish and waste material and instructed a few Sikhs to take them away first. As these Sikhs left, they were immediately set upon by the cowardly Moghul army and the carriages were robbed. They were brought to shame when they found what was in them and demonstrated to the Sikhs the temperament and nature of the enemy. Nevertheless the Guru was benevolent and decided to grant his Sikhs wishes to leave the fort. They de-cided that at the cover of nightfall, the Sikhs would leave in groups of 10-15 and make for the river Sarsa
and then to Ropar. But as the Sikhs reached the river in the early hours of 19th of December, the Moghul army were alerted and began to mindlessly attack the Sikhs and kill all they could. In the confusion and utter chaos that ensued, many of the Sikhs were separated at the river and some remained to defend the es-caping Sikhs. One group that was separated, were the two younger sons of Guru Gobind Singh Jee and his mother. (see next weeks Sikhi Explored on their martyrdom). Out of the 500 that had left Anandpur Sahib roughly 40 remained together. Among this party was Guru jee himself, his two older sons, Sahibzadey Baba Ajit and Jujhar Singh and the panj pyaare (Five beloved ones, see story „Birth of Khalsa, 1699‟). These Sikhs who had not slept in days and were already ex-hausted from the lack of food, met a man called Roop Chand, who took them to his house in a plain called Chamkaur. This is where the Singhs made their last stand...
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The house with its high perimeter mud brick wall be-came the fort of Guru ji. And as all the Singhs slept that night, only Guru Gobind Singh Jee remained awake. He sent Bhai Maddan Singh, who was on guard duty to rest and the King himself watched over his beloved Sikhs, taking their care in his own hands. They then all awoke during the holy hours of amritvela and did their Nitnem and sang Asa di Vaar (morning prayers). This was the discipline of the Sikhs of Guru Jee. With an army hot in pursuit, the Sikhs still maintained their daily routine of prayers, disregarding the situation they
were in. In the mean time, Wazir Khan had assembled his troops to take out these singhs. In the Zafar-nama, which is a letter written by Guru Gobind Singh Jee to Emperor Aurengzeb he writes „What can forty hungry men do, when a ten-lak strong army pounces upon them?‟. The word for ten-lak Guru Jee uses is Deh Lak which clearly illustrates that it was in fact 1 million soldiers that his Sikhs were facing. As the battle commenced Nahar Khan an army general stepped out and immediately the true warrior, Guru Gobind Singh took an arrow from his quiver and dispatched it with such force and accuracy, Nahar Khan was hit in the chest and killed instantaneously. The battle of chamkaur had started and the Singhs, were strategically positioned on four corners of the house to defend their make shift fort. They only had basic bow and arrows and soon their ammunition began running low, making it clear the Sikhs only had two options ahead of them: Surrender or step out into the bat-tlefield and leave this world fighting. Needless to say, the Singhs took the second option. They were born warriors who had the strength and teaching of Gurbani running in their veins. Lines from Guru Granth Sahib Jee such as, Aisae Maranee Jo Marai Bahur Na Maranaa Hoe
Whoever dies, let him die such a valiant death, that he does not have to ever die again flowed within them. They were the Khalsa fauj –pure ones, who were never taught to surrender in the face of tyranny and evil. Bhai Sahib bhai Himmat Singh, one of the panj pyaare and four other Singhs were first to enter the battlefield. In this group of five they showed why it was necessary for Wazir Khan to bring out 1 million soldiers to kill them. They gave the oppressors such a fitting response, the soldiers ran scared. The five of them showed their skills of shastar vidya and strength to destroy many of the opposition. But slowly the shear number overwhelmed them and after fighting for many hours, the moghuls were able to break them down and one by one they were killed, attaining shaheedi. But in a similar style the next five singhs were ready to join the fight and they too caused havoc throughout the army. Showing no signs of fear or anxiety, they also eventually suc-cumbed to the vast numbers and were killed.
As the battle raged on Bhai Daya Singh (one of the panj pyaare) then came to Guru Sahib with some of the other singhs, and begged Guru Gobind Singh Jee to escape along with his two sons. They pleaded him to leave and carry on the teachings of Sikhi. But Guru Gobind Singh Jees only reply to his Sikhs was this, “Which two sons would you have me take? Are you not all my children? Do you think I could just leave you here, because I don't love you all as much as my two sons?”. The Sikhs realised the special con-nection Guru Jee has with ALL his Sikh, and Baba Ajit Singh, the Gurus eldest son stepped forward...
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The sahibzada said to Guru Jee “Father give me the power to
go and fight on the battlefield and grace me with the oppor-
tunity to make my life fruitful and worthy in service of the
panth”. Guru ji gave Baba Ajit Singh a Shastr and hugged
him before he went out to the battlefield with 5 other Sikh
soldiers. At the time of the battle Baba Ajit Singh was just
18 years old. He did not enter the fight sheepishly or with
even an ounce of fear but he emerged from the house with
such a roar that it shook the very ground they stood on. The soldiers trembled as Baba Ajit Singh ap-
proached and immediately he greeted them with his arrows. He then took out his spear and anybody who
dared approach him, were ferociously destroyed. The generals knew who this warrior was and urged eve-
rybody to do all that was necessary to kill him. But Baba Ajit Singhs skills and power were well beyond
that of an ordinary soldier and soon Baba Jee even took control of a perimeter around the house and no-
body was allowed to enter. As the fighting continued for some time, Baba Ajit Singhs spear got stuck in
the chest of a soldier and it broke as he tried to pull it out. He was then dislodged from his horse and he
got up, brandishing his sword. With his sword he danced like a warrior and inflicted heavy casualties on
the Moghul. Slowly and surely though, Baba Ajit Singh grew tired and after receiving an estimate of 80
major wounds, the son of Guru Gobind Singh Jee died fighting a soormas death.
Baba Jujhar Singh, the Gurus second eldest son watched from the balcony of the house, his brother being
killed after displaying great heroics on the battlefield. He was 14 and you would expect after seeing this
he would be overcome with fear. But his next action illustrates the character and personality of the
Khalsa. He went to his father and said boldly "Permit me, dear father, to go where my brother has gone.
Don't say that I am too young. I am your son. I am a Singh, a Lion, of yours. I shall prove worthy of
you. I shall die fighting, with my face towards the enemy, with the Naam on my lips and the Guru in my
heart." Upon hearing this Guru Gobind Singh was proud that his son was brave enough to not fear death
and had chosen to die defend-
ing his people. Guru Jee is-
sued him courage and reas-
sured him that when he sees
his brothers body on the bat-
tlefield to not be disheart-
ened but to accept the will of
God. With this Baba Jujhar
Singh leapt out to fight..
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The Moghul soldiers could not believe what they
were seeing. They had been beaten so badly at the
hands of Baba Ajit Singh, that when they saw the
face of Jujhar Singh they thought Baba Ajit Singh
himself had reappeared.
Even though it was the younger brother fighting
now the story was no different for the soldiers. Baba
Jujhar Singh proved worthy of any warrior and displayed the Khalsa‟s characteristic. To never give up, to
never lose heart and to never turn back from the battlefield. He fought like all the other Singhs and he too
breathed his last on the battlefield.
Guru Gobind Singh Jee watched this and was filled with bir raas, a state where this no fear of death but
just an internal, unbroken connection with the naam of God. He put on his shastars (weapons) and pre-
pared to go face the enemy. As night of the first day of the battle had fallen, only 11 singhs remained.
Whilst watching Guru Sahib get ready, the singhs came together and made a collective decision, that they
would not let Guru Gobind Singh Jee be killed and place the future of the community at grave risk. The
two panj pyaare, Bhai Daya and Dharam Singh begged the Guru to change his mind and leave. At first
Guru Jee refused, but slowly the Singhs made it clear that Guru Gobind Singh Jee would be going back
on his own word if he did not listen to them. For when the Khalsa was created in 1699, Guru Jee had
said that whenever the five elected Singhs came together and passed a gurmatta (order) it had to be
obeyed by ALL Sikhs in the Khalsa panth.
A plan was then formulated which would give the Sikhs some hope of keeping the Guru safe. It was de-
cided that Guru Jee accompanied by Bhai Daya, Bhai Dharam and Bhai Mann would all leave that
night but head out in four different directions to confuse the soldiers. As they left they all bellowed ja-
kaaras (bole so nihaal) and one by one shouted "Peeru Hind Ra-
haavat" ("The "Peer" of India is leaving") to cause further confusion
among the troops .
All four of them managed to leave safely. And the soldiers who spot-
ted Guru Gobind Singh jee were no match for his swordmanship.
So it came to be that the Khalsa managed to withstand a force of 1
million soldiers and continued on the task to spread the ultimate truth
among the people of India and the World. We should remember the
sacrifices of not only of the Singhs at Chamkaur but all of those peo-
ple who faced death bravely and emerged forever immortal..
Waheguru Jee Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Jee Ke Fateh!!
References: Zafarnama.org, Katha on Saka Chamkaur by Giani Parminder Singh Jee, Sikhi Wiki