The Battle of Chamkaur sahib ( A Story of Bravery and Sacrifice )
The Battle of Chamkaur, also known as the Second battle of Chamkaur was a battle fought between the Khalsa, led by Guru Gobind Singh, against the Mughal army and Ajmer Chand's league of Rajput Hill Chieftains. The period of this Battle in Chamkaur is 21,22 and 23 December 1704 [6,7,8 Poh Samat 1761 Bikrmi]. Guru Gobind Singh with his entourage left Anandpur Sahib at the night of 20 December 1704.
Guru Gobind Singh makes a reference to this battle in the Zafarnamah.
He tells how a huge (Dahlakh) army [attacked his Sikhs
who were only forty in number and without food. In spite of their numerical
strength, the Mughal soldiers were unable to kill or capture the Guru. The Guru
also talks of cowardice of one of the Mughal generals and how he hid himself
behind a wall, not having the courage to face the Guru.
Background
Under the pressure of a prolonged siege with food and ammunition exhausted,
in the early hours of the [intervening night of 20,21,December 1704] at the rivulet Sarsa, at a distance of about 25KM from Anandpur Sahib, the Guru and his Sikhs were attacked by the Mughal army, breaking their oath of assuring safe conduct. In the confusion, which followed the attack in the cold and darkness, many Sikhs became Shaheed (martyrs).
A group of Singhs fought the armies, keeping them back while the rest of the
Sikhs, Guru Sahib and Guru Sahib's family crossed the rivulet in the heat of
the battle. Many Sikhs perished attempting to cross the frigid waters of the
turgid, rain swollen rivulet. Their bodies ware swept away by the swift
current. During the confusion, the Guru's mother and his two youngest sons,
Guru's Mahil got separated from the Khalsa forces. Of the 400 hundred that had
left Anandpur, only the Guru, his two eldest sons, the [Panj Piaras] ( Five
Beloved ones) and 40 Sikhs were able to cross the river and regroup on the
other side.
Gurdwara Parivar Vichora has been built on the spot of the battle, during which the Guru's mother and his two youngest sons got separated from the band of Sikhs.
Chamkaur Sahib
On 21 December 1704, Guru Sahib, Panj piaras and 40 Singhs camped in an open space in Chamkaur. In the evening Guru with his sikhs took control of Kachi Garhi a Mud fortress on a small hill. Kachi Garhi was owned by two brothers Chaudhari Roop Chand and Jagat Singh. They offered their services to Guru. Guru Sahib had visited Chamkaur in 1702 while returning from Kurekshetra. Guru Sahib and 40 Singhs moved into the house of Chaudhari Roop Chand and Jagat Singh situated on a hill. The Haveli with its high paraimeter mud brick wall now became the fort of Guru Sahib.
At the commencement of Amritvela (early hours of the day before sunrise) Guru Sahib woke up Bhai Sangat Singh.
"Wake up Sangat Singh, its time for
What an amazing warrior-saint Guru was! An army of around 1 Million was pursuing Guru Sahib and planning to attack the place where they were staying, and yet Guru Sahib was still blissfully continuing his daily discipline of meditation,
Mugal generals, yelled over the wall, "Gobind Singh! If you and your Sikhs come out now, you will be spared!" Guru Sahib replied to this with a rain of arrows. There was silence now in the cold morning. Clouds filled the sky followed by thunder and lightening. Guru and the Singhs became ready for the battle.
Preparing for Battle
in the chilly hours before sunrise a Mughal messenger came to negotiate with the Sikhs. However, Guru Sahib told the messenger to go away or face death. Inside the four walls of the mud-house Guru Sahib declared war.
First one Singh came out and when he was about to become Shaheed (martyr), he roared the Jaikara (slogan) of "
Baba Ajit Singh enters the battlefield
With Guru ji's blessings, six of the Sikhs, Muhar Singh, Kirat Singh, Anand Singh, Lal Singh, Kesar Singh and Amolak Singh went forth to show their worth. Despite the overwhelming odds the Sikhs inflicted tremendous losses on the Mughals but eventually one by one they were fatally wounded and departed to join Waheguru.
The sun was about to rise. Guru saw Mughal generals intending to seize the fort of
Baba Ajit Singh boldly and valiantly came out of fort, accompanied with 5 other Singhs, which included one of the original Panj Piarey,
The enemy was immediately repulsed and many of the soldiers of thetreacherously deceitful Mughal and Hill forces met their deaths. Such was the fury of the Sikh contingent and the dedicated, continuous and precise support from the haveli-fortress that this small Sikh party of 6 bahadurs (brave men) of the
The enemy in one section was completely paralysed and disabled by the enormous strength and sudden impact of the Khalsa unit. With protection fire from the fort, which kept the surrounding army units in check and blocked their involvement in the battle on the ground.
After killing many hundreds of the enemy, the group began to take casualties. Slowly the impact of the unit began to diminished and after almost an hour, the enemy began surrounding the Sahibzada from all four sides.
Baba Ajit Singh called out, "Come nearer if you have courage." The soldiers ran away frightened. Slowly, they began coming back in a larger group as not a single one of them had the courage to individually fight Baba Ajit Singh ji.
The Singhs' weaponry skill on the battlefield reminded the Mughal soldiers of Ali their fabled warrior, and they feared for their lives. While fighting, Baba Ajit Singh's
However, while killing one Mughal chief, it became stuck in his chest. Even then, Baba Ajit Singh remained in bliss and peace. While fighting, however, one by one the 5 Singhs were overcome and lost their life and became Shaheed (martyrs) of the Guru. One Mughal chief injured Baba's horse.
As a result, Baba ji fought from the ground with his talwar (sword). With each blow of his sword, he split the enemy into two. When he struck the enemy twice with his sword, they got cut up into four pieces. Now as the army surrounded the sahibzada, Guru watched with keen interest to see how bravely his son would live his last few minutes of life.
When Baba attained Shaheedi, Guru Sahib roared a Jaikara of "Sat Siri Akal" full of emotions and courage - a salutation to the Almighty for the blessing of such a brave and noble son.
Baba Jujhar Singh also ready
The news of
He asked Guru Sahib, "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."
Guru Gobind Singh embraced him and said, "Go my son and wed the life-giving bride, Death. May the Almighty be with you always"
Guru Sahib gave blessings to Baba Jujhar Singh just like a father gives blessings to the bride on the day of her marriage. Guru added, "I asked my father to give his life for "dharam" (righteousness and justice). Today, what I told my father, I now tell you son."
"Whoever dies, let him die such a death, that he does not have to die again.
Dead bodies lay everywhere. Baba Jujhar Singh chose to attack another section of the enemy. He had observed the enemy and chose to attack the section who were showing more aggression against the Sikhs in the mud-fort then the rest of the enemy. Initially, the enemy did not have any courage to formulate an attack against this second unit after the fury of the force displayed by Ajit Singh's unit.
To them this appeared like a repeat of the same disaster that had befallen them an hour or two ago. They had not even had time to recover from the previous shock and now they had a second wave of the same enormously vibrant energy. This time the enemy was driven even further back; many just took flight as they thought that the Sikh numbers must have increased and so many of the enemy deserted the battlefield. This new force of six Khalsa soldiers killed many hundreds of the enemy; many simply ran away.
The enemy were stunned by the heavy force and thrust of this second attack and had little choice but to retreat back. The Khalsa unit created a huge void in the enemy territory and a small circle of about 35 metres within the enemy ground was under the control of the Sikhs. No one had the courage to enter into this circle of control. Anyone who entered this area of command was immediately challenged and quickly extinguished. The Khalsa unit, with their backs to the centre of this circular area attacked the enemy courageously and with vigour at the perimeter of the controlled region.
The Guru watched this development with pride and gratefulness to the Almighty and he knew that the Sikhs had learned the lessons of warfare well and would soon join the many hundreds of Sikh martyrs who had attained the highest honour of Dharam. The Almighty had indeed blessed the Sahibzade and the Sikhs with true bravery and deepest understanding of the Guru's message.
Slowly, due to the huge number of the enemy, they eventually assembled around Baba Jujhar Singh. He was now surrounded and had a Neja (spear) in his hand. Wherever the Neja hit, the enemy was destroyed. He also used a Khanda (double-sword), with which he killed the enemy as a farmer mows down his crop. Guru saw that Jujhar Singh was being surrounded and the opportunity to kill the Mughal soldiers was decreasing. For over 2 hours the Khalsa unit had continued to desolated the enemy. They were becoming tired.
So Guru Sahib fired volleys of arrows in the area around the Sahibzada's unit giving 'protection fire' to the Sikh soldiers. The person providing protection fire must be very skilful and precise because if the target is missed, people on the same side can be killed giving rise to 'casualty from friendly fire'. Guru sahib continued to give protection cover with arrows for almost 30 minutes, but none of the 5 Singhs or Baba were hit or injured by the arrows. Baba ji and the 5 Singhs demonstrated the Sikh concept of one equalling the bravery and courage of "Sava Lakh" (125,000) humans.
Baba Jujhar Singh eventually was able to break the ring of the
"That person alone is known as a spiritual warrior, who fights in defence of religion. They may be cut apart, piece by piece, but they never leave the field of battle. 22."
This was truly a sign of a dedicated warrior! By the time Baba Jujhar Singh had attained Shaheedi nightfall had arrived and the moon could be seen in the sky. Guru Sahib wrote in his composition, the
"What trust can I have on your oath on
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