ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>WAZ&#298R KH&#256N NAW&#256B (d.1710)</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="WAZ*R"> <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">&#65279WAZ&#298R <u>KH</u>&#256N, NAW&#256B (d.1710), a resident of Kuñjpur&#257, near Karn&#257l, now in Hary&#257&#7751&#257, was the <i>faujd&#257r</i> of Sirhind under the Mu<u>gh</u>als in the opening years of the eighteenth century. The hill chiefs who held territories in the &#346iv&#257lik ranges often sought his help against Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh, then living in their midst at Anandpur. In August of 1700 they invested Anandpur, but found the defences impregnable. Later, Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh moved to a site 4 km south of K&#299ratpur. By this time a contingent of troops sent by Waz&#299r <u>Kh</u>&#257n from Sirhind at the r&#257j&#257s' request joined their forces. A fresh attack was mounted. The encounter that ensued is known as the battle of Nirmohga&#7771h. It lasted a whole week and Waz&#299r <u>Kh</u>&#257n's troops used even cannon fire. On 14 October 1700, however, Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh and his Sikhs broke the cordon and crossed the Sutlej into Basol&#299, a small friendly state. The imperial troops retired to Sirhind.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh soon returned to Anandpur and spent the next few years in comparative peace. In the winter of 1704, Ajmer Chand of Kahl&#363r waited upon Emperor Aura&#7749gz&#299b in the Deccan and secured from him orders for his deputies at Lahore and Sirhind to launch an expedition against Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh. Waz&#299r <u>Kh</u>&#257n advanced from Sirhind and Zabardast <u>Kh</u>&#257n came from Lahore, the two meeting at Ropa&#7771, where they were joined by the hill r&#257j&#257s. A direct assault on Anandpur proving ineffective, they laid siege to the town and its protective fortresses, but were not able to force surrender. Waz&#299r <u>Kh</u>&#257n had recourse to a ruse. He sent messengers to Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh, assuring him, on solemn oath, safe conduct if he would evacuate the town. But no sooner had the Gur&#363 left Anandpur, during the night of 5-6 December 1705, than Waz&#299r <u>Kh</u>&#257n set out in hot pursuit. Severe fighting took place on the bank of the rivulet Sars&#257, which was unexpectedly in spate. The Gur&#363 succeeded in crossing the river, and, accompanied by his two elder sons and forty Sikhs, reached Chamkaur where he stopped in a large vacant house. Waz&#299r <u>Kh</u>&#257n, receiving reinforcements from M&#257lerko&#7789l&#257, closely encircled Chamkaur. In the battle that raged throughout the following day, 7 December 1705, most of the Sikhs along with the Gur&#363's two sons were killed. The remaining five entreated the Gur&#363 to withdraw to be able to reassemble the survivors of Sars&#257 and other followers. Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh escaped through the besieging host into the interior of the semi-desert region of M&#257lv&#257. Waz&#299r <u>Kh</u>&#257n returned to Sirhind where he ordered the execution of Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh's two younger sons, aged nine and seven, who had been betrayed into his hands by an old servant of the Gur&#363. He gave chase to Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh and overtook him at Khidr&#257&#7751&#257, modern Muktsar, in Far&#299dko&#7789 district. But before he could attack him, he was confronted by a small hand of forty Sikhs. The forty fell fighting to a man. Waz&#299r <u>Kh</u>&#257n's troops, worn out by long marches through a waterless tract, retreated.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Waz&#299r <u>Kh</u>&#257n felt especially perturbed when he learnt that Emperor Aura&#7749gz&#299b's son and successor, Bah&#257dur Sh&#257h, had turned friendly towards Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh and that the two were travelling together towards the South. Alarmed at this development, he hired two Pa&#7789h&#257ns, one of them named Jamshaid <u>Kh</u>&#257n, secretly to finish off the Gur&#363. The assassins got their chance at N&#257nde&#7693 where, finding Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh alone in his camp, one of them stabbed him twice in the abdomen. The Gur&#363 died of the wounds on 7 October 1708, but he had already despatched to the Punjab Band&#257 Si&#7749gh Bah&#257dur, newly converted to the Sikh faith, to chastise the persecutors.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Band&#257 Si&#7749gh Bah&#257dur joined shortly after his arrival in the southern Punjab by armed Sikhs from far and near, ransacked Sam&#257&#7751&#257, Ghu&#7771&#257m and Chhat-Ban&#363&#7771. His next target was Sirhind. Waz&#299r <u>Kh</u>&#257n, on his part, proclaimed <i>jih&#257d</i>, and mustered a strong force. A fierce action took place at Chappar Chi&#7771&#299, near present-day Cha&#7751&#7693&#299ga&#7771h, on 12 May 1710. In the day-long battle, Waz&#299r <u>Kh</u>&#257n was killed and his army completely routed.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Bha&#7749g&#363, Ratan Si&#7749gh, <i>Pr&#257ch&#299n Panth Prak&#257sh</i>. Amritsar, 1914<BR> <li class="C1"> Gi&#257n Si&#7749gh, Gi&#257n&#299, <i>Tw&#257r&#299<u>kh</u> Gur&#363 <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257</i>. [Reprint]. Patiala,1970<BR> <li class="C1"> Gupta, Hari Ram, <i>History of Sikh Gurus</i>. Delhi, 1973<BR> <li class="C1"> Harbans Singh, <i>Guru Gobind Singh</i>. Chandigarh, 1966<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Kart&#257r Si&#7749gh<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>