ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>AJ&#298T SI&#7748GH S&#256HIBZ&#256D&#256 (1687-1705)</TITLE> <style type="text/css"> .BODY { background-color: #EAF1F7; background-image: url('images/gtbh.jpg'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed; background-position: center; color: #0066CC;} .C1{text-align: justify;color: #0066CC;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .BIB{text-align: center;color: #000099;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .CONT{text-align: right;color: #FF0000;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} </style><META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="AJ*T,SIDGH,SHIBZD,Person,Person"> <META http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></HEAD> <BODY class="BODY" oncontextmenu="return false" ondragstart="return false" onselectstart="return false"> <FONT ALIGN="JUSTIFY" FACE="Tahoma"> <p class="C1">&#65279AJ&#298T SI&#7748GH, S&#256HIBZ&#256D&#256 (1687-1705), the eldest son of Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh, was born to M&#257t&#257 Sundar&#299 at P&#257o&#7751&#7789&#257 on 26 January 1687. The following year, Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh returned with the family to Anandpur where Aj&#299t Si&#7749gh was brought up in the approved Sikh style. He was taught the religious texts, philosophy and history, and had training in the manly arts such as riding, swordsmanship and archery. He grew up into a handsome young man, strong, intelligent and a natural leader of men. Soon after the creation of the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 on 30 March 1699, he had his first test of skill. A Sikh <i>sa&#7749gat</i> coming from Po&#7789hoh&#257r, northwest Punjab, was attacked and looted on the way by the Ra&#7749gha&#7771s of N&#363h, a short distance from Anandpur across the River Sutlej. Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh sent S&#257hibz&#257d&#257 Aj&#299t Si&#7749gh, barely 12 years of age then, to that village. Aj&#299t Si&#7749gh at the head of 100 Sikhs reached there on 23 May 1699, punished the Ra&#7749gha&#7771s and recovered the looted property. A harder task was entrusted to him the following year when the hill chiefs supported by imperial troops attacked Anandpur. S&#257hibz&#257d&#257 Aj&#299t Si&#7749gh was made responsible for the defence of T&#257r&#257ga&#7771h Fort which became the first target of attack. This, according to the <i>Bha&#7789&#7789 Vah&#299s</i>, happened on 29 August 1700. Aj&#299t Si&#7749gh assisted by Bh&#257&#299 Ude Si&#7749gh, a seasoned soldier, repulsed the attack. He also fought valiantly in the battles of Nirmohga&#7771h in October 1700. On 15 March 1701, a <i>sa&#7749gat</i>, column of Sikh devotees, coming from Da&#7771ap area (present Si&#257lko&#7789 district) was waylaid by Gujjars and Ra&#7749gha&#7771s. S&#257hibz&#257d&#257 Aj&#299t Si&#7749gh led a successful expedition against them. As instructed by Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh, he took out (7 March 1703) 100 horsemen to Bass&#299, near Hoshi&#257rpur, and rescued a young Br&#257hma&#7751 bride forcibly taken away by the local Pa&#7789h&#257n chieftain. In the prolonged siege of Anandpur in 1705, S&#257hibz&#257d&#257 Aj&#299t Si&#7749gh again displayed his qualities of courage and steadfastness. When, at last, Anandpur was vacated on the night of 5-6 December 1705, he was given command of the rearguard. As the besiegers, violating their solemn promises for a safe conduct to the evacuees, attacked the column, he stoutly engaged them on a hill-feature called Sh&#257h&#299 &#7788ibb&#299 until relieved by Bh&#257&#299 Ude Si&#7749gh. Aj&#299t Si&#7749gh crossed the Sars&#257, then in spate, along with his father, his younger brother, Jujh&#257r Si&#7749gh, and some fifty Sikhs. Further reduced in numbers by casualties at the hands of a pursuing troop from Ropar, the column reached Chamkaur in the evening of 6 December 1705, and took up position in a <i>ga&#7771h&#299</i>, high-walled fortified house. The host, since swelled by reinforcements from M&#257lerko&#7789l&#257 and Sirhind and from among the local Ra&#7749gha&#7771s and Gujjars, soon caught up with them and threw a tight ring around Chamkaur. An unequal but grim battle commenced with the sunrise on 7 December 1705 - in the words of Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh's <i>Zafarn&#257mah</i>, a mere forty defying a million. The besieged, after they had exhausted the meagre stock of ammunition and arrows, made sallies in batches of five each to engage the encircling host with sword and spear. S&#257hibz&#257d&#257 Aj&#299t Si&#7749gh led one of the sallies and laid down his life fighting in the thick of the battle. Gurdw&#257r&#257 Qatalga&#7771h now marks the spot where he fell, followed by S&#257hibz&#257d&#257 Jujh&#257r Si&#7749gh, who led the next sally. An annual fair is held in commemoration of their martyrdoms on the 8th of the Bikram&#299 month of Poh (December-January). The martyrdom of two of the sons of Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh in the battle of Chamkaur is substantiated by a contemporary record in the form of an official letter preserved in a MS. , <i>Ahk&#257m-i-&#256lamg&#299r&#299</i> by Emperor Aura&#7749gz&#299b's official letter writer, Mirz&#257 'In&#257yat Ullah <u>Kh</u>&#257n Ismi (1653-1725). The relevant extract from the MS. , translated into English, reads :</p> <blockquote class="C1"><p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Received the letter containing miscellaneous matters including the arrival of Gobind, the worshipper of N&#257nak, to a place 12 <i>kos</i> from Sirhind; the despatch of a force of 700 with artillery and other material; his being besieged and vanquished in the<i>havel&#299</i> [i. e. large walled house] of a <i>zam&#299nd&#257r</i> of village Chamkaur and the killing of his two sons and other companions; and the capture of his mother and another son&#8230.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</blockquote></p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Chhibbar, Kesar Si&#7749gh <i>Ba&#7749s&#257val&#299n&#257m&#257 Das&#257&#7749 P&#257tsh&#257h&#299&#257&#7749 K&#257</i>. Chandigarh, 1972<BR> <li class="C1"> Padam, Pi&#257r&#257 Si&#7749gh, <i>Ch&#257r S&#257hibz&#257de</i>. Patiala, 1967<BR> <li class="C1"> Kuir Si&#7749gh, <i>Gurbil&#257s P&#257tsh&#257h&#299 10</i>. Patiala, 1968<BR> <li class="C1"> Harbans Singh, <i>Guru Gobind Singh</i>. Chandigarh, 1966<BR> <li class="C1"> Macauliffe, M. A. , <i>The Sikh Religion</i>. Oxford, 1909<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Shamsher Si&#7749gh Ashok<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>