ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>FATEHGA&#7770H S&#256HIB GURDW&#256R&#256 </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="FATEHGAZH,SHIB,GURDWR"> <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">&#65279FATEHGA&#7770H S&#256HIB, GURDW&#256R&#256, 5 km north of Sirhind (30º-37'N, 76º-23'E), marks the site of the execution of the two younger sons of Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh at the behest of Waz&#299r <u>Kh</u>&#257n of Kuñjpur&#257, the <i>faujd&#257r</i> of Sirhind. As Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh evacuated Anandpur on the night of 5-6 December 1705, he was closely pursued by the host. In front ran the Sars&#257 swollen with rain water. Under cover of a quick rearguard action fought on the banks of the stream, he succeeded in crossing it, but the members of his family got scattered in the tumult. Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh's old mother, M&#257t&#257 Gujar&#299, and her two grandsons, Zor&#257war Si&#7749gh and Fateh Si&#7749gh, aged 9 and 7 years respectively, had nowhere to go until their cook, named Ga&#7749g&#363, offered to take them to his own village Khe&#7771&#299. They accompanied him to his house. But he proved deceitful and betrayed them to J&#257n&#299 <u>Kh</u>&#257n and M&#257n&#299 <u>Kh</u>&#257n of Mori&#7751&#7693&#257. The latter at once despatched them to Sirhind where they were consigned to the Cold Tower (&#7788ha&#7751&#7693&#257 Burj) of the Fort. On 9 December 1705, Zor&#257war Si&#7749gh and Fateh Si&#7749gh were produced before Waz&#299r <u>Kh</u>&#257n, who had just returned from the battle of Chamkaur. Waz&#299r <u>Kh</u>&#257n tried to lure them to embrace Islam with promises of riches and honours, but they spurned the offer. He threatened them with death as an alternative to Islam, but they remained firm. A death sentence was eventually awarded. Naw&#257b Sher Muhammad <u>Kh</u>&#257n of M&#257lerko&#7789l&#257 protested that it would be improper to harm the innocent children. Waz&#299r <u>Kh</u>&#257n, however, ordered them to be bricked up alive in a wall, if they still refused conversion. They were kept in the Cold Tower in that severe winter for another two days. On I1 December, they, under the orders of Waz&#299r <u>Kh</u>&#257n began to be paved with bricks standing on the ground. However, as the masonry reached above chest height, it crumbled. The next day, 12 December 1705, the S&#257hibz&#257d&#257s were once again offered the choice of conversion or death. They chose the latter and fearlessly faced the executioner's sword. The cruelty of their murder and their fearlessness of death which they preferred to giving up their faith finds a touching narration in "Gañj-i-Shah&#299d&#257&#7749" an Urdu poem by a Muslim poet, Allahy&#257r <u>Kh</u>&#257n Jog&#299, who used to recite it from Sikh platforms during the second and third decades of the twentieth century. The aged M&#257t&#257 Gujar&#299 who had all along been confined in the Cold Tower, only a little distance away, breathed her last as the news reached her ears.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The dead bodies were kept for the night at a spot now called Bim&#257nga&#7771h, just outside the fort wall, and were cremated the following day by Se&#7789h To&#7693ar Mall, a wealthy merchant of Sirhind.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Sirhind suffered the full fury of Sikh ire when Band&#257 Si&#7749gh Bah&#257dur marched upon it with his daring host. Waz&#299r <u>Kh</u>&#257n was killed and the city was occupied on 14 May 1710. D&#299w&#257n Suchch&#257nand, who had explicitly championed the penalty laid upon the captives by the <i>faujd&#257r</i>, was captured and tortured to death. The town, including the Fort, was razed to the ground. A memorial was raised marking the spot where the S&#257hibz&#257d&#257s were martyred and named Fatehga&#7771h.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Sirhind, however, soon fell back into the hands of the Mu<u>gh</u>als and was later conquerred by Ahmed Sh&#257h Durr&#257n&#299 who appointed Zain <u>Kh</u>&#257n <i>faujd&#257r</i> in 1761. As Zain <u>Kh</u>&#257n was finally defeated and killed in battle on 14 January 1764 by the Dal <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 and as the Sikhs occupied the country around Sirhind, no Sikh Sard&#257r was willing to keep the accursed town. It was consequently conferred upon Bh&#257&#299 Bu&#7693&#7693h&#257 Si&#7749gh, a pious and humble Sikh. He later sold it to B&#257b&#257 &#256l&#257 Si&#7749gh, founder of the Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 dynasty. To honour the memory of the young martyrs, a <i>gurdw&#257r&#257</i> was constructed on the site of the old memorial and named Fatehga&#7771h S&#257hib. Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Karam Si&#7749gh (1798-1845) of Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 had the <i>gurdw&#257r&#257</i> built. He also gave Sirhind Niz&#257mat (district) the name of Fatehga&#7771h S&#257hib. Other shrines were, in course of time, established around the central Gurdw&#257r&#257. For over a century the management of the shrines at Fatehga&#7771h S&#257hib remained in the hands of local priests. In 1906, a committee consisting of custodians of the different shrines was formed. In 1944, Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 government constituted an Interim Gurdw&#257r&#257 Board and an Improvement Committee for Gurdw&#257r&#257s Fatehga&#7771h S&#257hib and Jot&#299 Sar&#363p. After the formation of the Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 and East Punjab States Union (PEPSU) in July 1948, the Interim Board was amalgamated with the Dharam Arth (Religious Endowments) Board. Upon the unification of PEPSU and East Punjab into a single state of the Punjab, the <i>gurdw&#257r&#257s</i> in PEPSU passed under the control of the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee. Renovation and development originally planned by the Improvement Committee of 1944 were taken in hand in 1955-56.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The architectural design of the present building is Indo-Muslim, with its flat-roofed pyramidal construction over a square base, a ribbed lotus dome on top, mosaic floor and a richly patterned ceiling, radiating and cusped arches, and projecting windows. It stands on an extensive mound and commands the landscape for miles around. The three-storeyed edifice on a raised platform has a <i>d&#299v&#257n</i> hall on the ground floor, with a basement below and a central pavilion and dome on top. The basement called Bhor&#257 S&#257hib contains the old brick enclosure believed to be the exact site of the execution of the S&#257hibz&#257d&#257s. The Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib is seated here with holy relics, hilt of a sword and a dagger and a rust-eaten fragment of a double-edged weapon. The <i>d&#299v&#257n,</i> hall has a marble floor and an artistically patterned ceiling with the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib seated in the centre in a gilded <i>p&#257lak&#299</i>, portable canopied seat, on a marble platform. The inverted lotus at the apex of the dome above and the pinnacle are covered with gold-plated sheets and have an umbrella-shaped gold finial. So are the domes of the four kiosks one at each corner of the roof. The three-storeyed gateway is topped by decorative canopied pavilions and a clock-tower.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;GURDWAR&#256 BIM&#256NGA&#7770H is a small, simple hut of baked bricks, 100 metres east of the main Gurdw&#257r&#257. It marks the place where dead bodies of the three martyrs were kept for the night, and their hearses prepared prior to cremation. It is managed by the Niha&#7749g Si&#7749ghs.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;GURUDW&#256R&#256 S&#256HIB JOT&#298 SAR&#362P, about 1.5 km southeast of Gurdw&#257r&#257 Fatehga&#7771h S&#257hib indicates the site where the mortal remains of the mother and two younger sons of Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh were cremated.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; After the deaths of Zor&#257war Si&#7749gh and Fateh Si&#7749gh and of M&#257t&#257 Gujar&#299, Se&#7789h &#7788o&#7693ar Mall, a wealthy and influential citizen of Sirhind, made arrangements to perform the last rites. But no one would give him a patch of land in the locality to be used as cremation ground until one Chaudhar&#299 Att&#257 agreed to sell him a plot. His stipulation was that &#7788o&#7693ar Mall could take only as much space as he could cover with gold <i>mohars</i>. The Se&#7789h produced the coins and bought the piece of land he needed. He cremated the three corpses and a Sikh, Jodh Si&#7749gh living in Attev&#257l&#299 village, buried the ashes.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; At the time of the conquest of Sirhind by Band&#257 Si&#7749gh Bah&#257dur in 1710 or later by the Dal <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 in 1764, no memorial was raised at this place, so that when Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Karam Si&#7749gh of Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 got Gurdw&#257r&#257 Fatehga&#7771h S&#257hib rebuilt, he had to search for and determine the exact spot of cremation. The urn containing the ashes was at last discovered and he got a <i>gurdw&#257r&#257</i> built over it in 1843 and named it Jot&#299 Sar&#363p. A century later, in 1944, Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Y&#257davinder Si&#7749gh set up a committee for the improvement of Fatehga&#7771h S&#257hib and Jot&#299 Sar&#363p. Consequently two upper storeys and a dome were added to the building in 1955. Earlier, when a Jodhpur prince, Himmat Si&#7749gh, married Princess Shailendra Kaur of Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 in 1951, the Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 of Jodhpur donated money for the construction of a separate shrine dedicated to the sacred memory of M&#257t&#257 Gujar&#299. This <i>sam&#257dh</i>, a small square canopied platform built in white marble, stands in the south-western corner of the circumambulatory verandah on the ground floor. During the annual Sabh&#257 festival, the most dramatic event is a mass procession on 13 Poh taken out from Gurdw&#257r&#257 Fatehga&#7771h S&#257hib and ending at Gurdw&#257r&#257 Jot&#299 Sar&#363p. At the latter place, <i>K&#299rtan Sohil&#257</i> and <i>Anandu S&#257hib</i> are recited followed by supplication in memory of the martyrs. With this the programme officially comes to an end.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;GUKDW&#256R&#256 M&#256T&#256 GUJAR&#298 is close to the main Gurdw&#257r&#257 Fatehga&#7771h S&#257hib. Both are, in fact, situated on the same mound of ruins of the old Fort of Sirhind. &#7788ha&#7751&#7693&#257 Burj used to be a high tower built at a bend of the rampart of the Fort. Owing to its exposure to wind currents from all directions and to a water current from below it was a pleasant resort for the <i>faujd&#257r</i> to spend his hot summer afternoons. In winter, however, it was intolerably cold. When M&#257t&#257 Gujar&#299 and her grandsons were brought to Sirhind as captives in the cold season (8 December 1705), they were detained in this Tower.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; When Band&#257 Si&#7749gh Bah&#257dur sacked Sirhind in 1710, the Cold Tower escaped destruction. But in the turbulent times that followed, the water channel running below it was blocked and disappeared, and the topmost portion of the tower fell down. After the establishment of Sikh rule in 1764, it became a revered place of pilgrimage, but its renovation had to wait until the Improvement Committee for Gurdw&#257r&#257s Fatehga&#7771h S&#257hib and Jot&#299 Sar&#363p was constituted in 1944.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Actual work on the implementation of plans prepared by the Committee, however, commenced only in 1955-56. Since then except for a portion of the original Fort wall, the place has been changed into an entirely new building, modest but elegant in design, a noble memorial to the illustrious M&#257t&#257, Mother. The Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib is seated in the room on the ground floor. A narrow winding staircase leads up to the first floor, a bare room with a low platform in the centre and a lotus dome above. There was a tradition, now discredited, that M&#257t&#257 Gujar&#299, on hearing of the execution of her grandchildren, jumped down from the tower over the Fort wall. There is a small room near the foot of the stairs which was believed to be the exact spot where she fell dead. The Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib is installed in this room as well. This shrine was further renovated in recent decades. The top room has been converted into a domed pavilion and the dome is covered with gilded copper plates.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;SHAH&#298D GAÑJ (I) is a low square platform with a flagpost, in the northern part of the inner compound of the main Gurdw&#257r&#257. It marks the site of the cremation of Sikhs who laid down their lives at the time of Band&#257 Si&#7749gh's conquest of Sirhind in 1710. This shrine, too, is attended by the Niha&#7749g Si&#7749ghs.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;SHAH&#298D GAÑJ (II) is a small <i>gurdw&#257r&#257</i>, 300 metres south of the main shrine. In the days of fierce persecution which overtook the Sikhs after Band&#257 Si&#7749gh Bah&#257dur, decapitation of their heads was a favourite sport. It is said that once the Dal <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 captured 40 cart-loads of such heads being carried from Lahore for presentation to the Emperor at Delhi. These heads were cremated on the site now occupied by Gurdw&#257r&#257 Shah&#299d Gañj (II) . According to another tradition, this Shah&#299dgañj is a memorial to Jathed&#257r Mall&#257 Si&#7749gh who fell here fighting against Zain <u>Kh</u>&#257n in 1764. The present building was raised in 1955-56.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;SHAH&#298D GAÑJ B&#256B&#256 SUKKH&#256 SI&#7748GH, half a kilometre north of the main Gurdw&#257r&#257, is a memorial to a Sikh commander, Sukkh&#257 Si&#7749gh, who fell a martyr here in the battle against Zain <u>Kh</u>&#257n in 1764.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;THA&#7770&#256 S&#256HIB P&#256TSH&#256H&#298 CHHEV&#298&#7748, a simple platform inside a low brick-wall enclosure, is dedicated to Gur&#363 Hargobind who, according to local tradition, stayed here awhile during his travels through these parts.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Gurdw&#257r&#257 Fatehga&#7771h S&#257hib, with affiliated shrines, is administered directly by the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee. In addition to the daily programme of morning and evening services and <i>k&#299rtan</i>, largely attended assemblies are held on the first of each Bikram&#299 month. The notable event of the year is a fair, popularly known as Sabh&#257, held on 11, 12 and 13 of Poh, which fall during the last week of December, to commemorate the martyrdom of Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh's sons, Zor&#257war Si&#7749gh and Fateh Si&#7749gh, and M&#257t&#257 Gujar&#299.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> T&#257r&#257 Si&#7749gh, <i>Sr&#299 Gur T&#299rath Sa&#7749grahi.</i> Amritsar, n.d.<BR> <li class="C1"> &#7788h&#257kar Si&#7749gh, Gi&#257n&#299, <i>Sr&#299 Gurdu&#257re Darshan</i>. Amritsar, 1923<BR> <li class="C1"> Padam, Pi&#257r&#257 Si&#7749gh, <i>Ch&#257r S&#257hibz&#257de</i>. Patiala, 1988<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Major Gurmukh Si&#7749gh (Retd.)<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>