Veer Bal Diwas

History of the day-

• The two Sahibzade  were killed in 1704, in events sparked by the attack on Anandpur Sahib by the armies of the Mughals and the hill kings of present-day Himachal Pradesh. 
• Guru Gobind Singh’s mother Mata Gujari Ji, and two other sons, Sahibzaada Ajit Singh Ji (18) and Sahibzaada Jujhar Singh Ji (14), were also martyred within a week.
• Shaheedi Jor Mela or Shaheedi Sabha is observed at Fatehgarh Sahib, which is attended by lakhs of people.
• Guru Gobind Singh was raising an army, which the neighbouring hill kings were not comfortable with. 
• In 1699, Guru Gobind Singh had established the Khalsa, which the hill kings and the Mughal empire saw as a threat. 
• The kings had had several battles with the Sikhs in the last decade of the 17th century, but had been unable to dislodge them from Anandpur Sahib.
• The fateful attack of 1704 was led by Bilaspur King Bheem Chand and Handuria King Raja Hari Chand. They cordoned off Anandpur Sahib with support from the Mughal empire. 
• The armies of Sarhand, Lahore, Jalandhar, Malerkotla and Saharnpur also joined the attack. Supplies to Anandpur Sahib were cut off for several months.
• It is said that the Hindu kings and Muslim Mughal governors finally reached an agreement with the Sikhs, and swore there would be no war if Guru Gobind Singh left Anandpur Sahib.
• According to the history published by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), Guru Gobind Singh left Anadpur Sahib on December 20, 1704. 
• However, their opponents violated their oath and the Guru and his followers were attacked near the river Sarsa, at a distance of about 25 kilometres from Anandpur Sahib.
• Battle on the banks of Sarsa
• The river was flooded. Many Sikhs soldiers were swept away while crossing the cold river. In the chaos, Guru Gobind Singh’s family was separated, scattering in three directions. 
• His wife, mata Sahib Kaur, and companion Bhai Mani Singh went towards Malwa. The Guru himself with his two eldest sons, Ajit Singh and Jujhar Singh, and 40 other Sikhs moved toward Chamkaur Sahib. Mata Gujar Kaur ji and the two younger sons started a journey that ended in Sarhand.

• Today, Gurdwara Parivaar Vichhora Sahib stands on the spot where the battle of Sarsa took place and the family was separated.

• Guru Gobind Singh and his band of followers were soon surrounded in a castle at Chamkaur Sahib, where they had taken refuge. The historic battle of Chamkaur was fought here, where a small number of Sikhs took on the huge army of the Mughals and the hill kings. Sahibzada Ajit Singh and Sahibzada Jujhar Singh both sacrificed their lives in this battle on December 22.
• Sahibzada Zorwar Singh and Sahibzada Fateh Singh along with their grandmother were staying in village Kheri at the house of one Gangu, who had served as a cook for the family.
• However, Gangu, tempted by the gold ornaments and coins Mata Gujari ji was carrying and the reward announced by the Mughal governor, handed over the children and their grandmother to Sarhind’s Nawab Wazir Khan.
• The three – the 81-year-old Mata Gujari ji, and the two Sahibzade aged 7 and 9 – were imprisoned in the Thanda Burj (cold tower), which had a river flowing next to it and was thus bitterly cold.
• When the children were presented in court, they were offered riches and gifts and told to convert to Islam. They were told their father and elder brothers had been killed in the war. The Sahibzade refused to convert or to bow to Wazir Khan.
• After efforts to make them give up their religion failed, Wazir Khan decided that the boys would be bricked alive. There was resistance to this from some Muslim courtiers, like Nawab Sher Khan, who said it was against Islam to sentence two children to death.
• However, Wazir Khan prevailed. It is said that even as a wall was being erected around them, the Sahibzada stood unflinching. Two executioners then slit their throats, killing the younger, Sahibzada Fateh Singh, first. The same day, Mata Gujari ji died of shock.
• A few years later, Baba Banda Singh Bhadur avenged the execution of the Sahibzade, by attacking and capturing Sarhand.

• Hence, every December, Sikhs mark the supreme sacrifice made by the children and mother of the 10th Guru, Gobind Singh ji. 

Further reading: https://journalsofindia.com/guru-gobind-singh/