Mata Gujri and her two youngest grandsons Jorawar Singh and Fateh Singh aged 8 and 6 respectively were in the care of their cook Gangu who took them to his ancestral village for safety. But the cook turned into a crook when the greed overtook his conscience. In his charges he saw an opportunity to make a pot of gold.
The crook sold Mata Gujri and the young sons of his master to his enemy the Mogul governor of Sirhind, Vazir Khan. Gangu got his reward and got his name written in the black letters in our history.
Vazir Khan asked the young boys to convert to Islam and lead a life of luxury and riches. The young sons of Guru Gobind spat at the offer. The Moguls as a punishment got them walled in to die a cruel death. Mata Gujri was made to witness the young ones being entombed to death.
She screamed in disgust and frustration. The shock was too much for the old lady to bear with. She died grieving for her grand children.
Guru Gobind learnt about it much later.
Infact Guru’s family had got torn asunder in the developments. He had got separated from his wives also. They, Mata Sundri and Deewan Sahib had been taken to Delhi by Bhai Mani Singh. They had safely escaped.
Chamkaur battle
At Chamkaur Guru and his remaining soldiers regrouped. The enemy arrived soon after. Khalsas faced the enemy bravely. In this battle his two elder sons Ajit and Jorawar died fighting. Two of the five dearest ones also went down fighting.
Guru Gobind shot his arrows fiercely. Mogul commander Nahar Khan got shot to death. Khwaja Mohammad saved his life by hiding behind a wall of the fort. The battle continued and Guru Sahib lost a lot of his soldiers one by one.
When only a few left he decided to leave the Chamkaur fort. On the night of 21 December, 1704 Guru Gobind, Bhai Daya Singh, Bhai Dharam Singh and Bhai Man Singh, left the fort and escaped giving a slip to the Moguls. It is said that there was a look alike of Guru Sahib in the fort named Bhagat Singh who streaked out of the fort and engaged the Moguls. The Moguls thought that they were dealing with Guru Sahib. Taking the advantage of that confusion Guru and his party managed to escape. Guru Gobind was left with only 5-6 soldiers. Two he left behind in the fort. One impersonated him to fool the Moguls. The rest of the three accompanied him.
Chamkaur battle had devastated Guru Sahib’s army. During the escape three also got separated from him. Some believe that they parted and went different ways under a strategy.
Now Guru Gobind was alone on his own. In the cold winter days and nights he roamed in the wilds and the forests of Machhiwara. He lived on wild berries, roots and swallow wort milk. His body got bruised and lacerated. His feet bled and developed boils. The clothes were torn to shreds. He had grown very weak but his determination was as strong as ever.
In those times of extreme hardships his mind created poems full of pathos that became treasured songs of the literature.
One day he was lying in a sick condition when two Pathans spotted him. They were Nabi Khan and Gani Khan who knew Guru Sahib. Those Pathans had grown deep faith in him. The two used to bring horses from Kabul to sell them to Guru Sahib for his Khalsa army. When they learnt that Moguls were after Guru Gobind, the two disguised him as ‘Uchch Ka Peer’ (A holy saint) and got him carried away from that spot.
Near Lull village a Mogul army contingent intercepted them. The leader of the contingent got suspicious and he interrogated the Pathans. Their answers could not satisfy the Mogul. He summoned the Qazi of the village and asked him to take a look at the so called ‘Uchch Ka Peer’.
Qazi Peer Mohammad at once recognised Guru Gobind. He had been the one who had taught Guru Sahib Persian language and literature. The teacher did not betray his old pupil. He lied to the Moguls and helped the Pathans get away with Guru Gobind.
Guru Sahib gave letters of thanks to all Muslims who had helped in his escape. The descendents of those Muslims still treasure those letters as the family legacies.
After recovering some health Guru Sahib went to Jatpura where Muslim chieftain of Rainkot Raikalla welcomed him and played his host. On Guru’s request Raikalla sent his servant Mahi to the village of cook Gangu to fetch the news of Mata Gujri and his young sons. Mahi returned with the shocking news of the tragic fate Mata Gujri, Jorawar and Fateh had met.
Guru Sahib moaned, “No! They are not dead. In refusing to convert they immortalised themselves!” Then he uprooted a plant and spoke, “The tyrants will meet the same fate.”
His next stop was Deena village of Nabha state. Here the three separated companions of Guru Sahib joined him. They stayed there for quite some time. The Sikh soldiers dispersed in the aftermath of Anandpur siege began to rejoin their Guru. Khalsa army was again getting resurrected.
Here Guru Sahib received a friendly letter from Aurangzeb. It was in reply to a letter sent by Guru Sahib during the Chamkaur battle. Aurangzeb had grown very old and tired. The age had mellowed him down. The fanatical edge in him was now blunted. May be, he was feeling sorry for his deeds of fanatic days. The old emperor was trying to make peace with his old enemies he had battled against.
At last Guru Sahib left Deena for Khidrana with his resurrected army.
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