Gurdwara Garhi Sahib commemorates the spot of the bloody Battle of Chamkaur. After the attack at the river Sirsa, Guru Govind Singh, his two eldest sons and 40 Sikhs made it to the town of Chamkaur while being pursued by the hordes of mughals. Guru Govind Singh and the 40 Sikhs sought shelter in a mud-built double story house. They were attacked by the enemy on December 21, 1705.Against these overwhelming odds, the Sikhs ventured our in small groups to fight the enemy and bravely lay down their lives. Thirty Seven Sikhs were martyred that day including Guru Govind Singhs two eldest sons as well as three of the Five Beloved Ones (the first baptized Khalsa).
Guru Govind Singh makes a reference to this battle in his victory letter Zafarnama.
Guru Govind Singh leaving Anandpur Sahib (Makhowal)
Doors of Kot Kapura After Guru Govind Singh left Anandpur on the night of December 5 and 6, 1704, he crossed the Sirsa river and en route from Machhiwara, after staying at Dina, reached Kot Kapura. Chaudhary Kapura Brar was the chief of Kot Kapura and chief of eighty-four villages. Guru Govind Singh asked Chaudhary Kapura for his fort to fight the pursuing Mughal army. Kapura was a Sikh, but did not want to earn the ire of the Mughals by helping Guru Govind Singh openly in his war with them. Chaudhary refused the entry by shutting the doors of the fort to the guru.
Gate of Kotkapura
Chaudhry Kapura, being repentant of his disgraceful act of not helping Guru Govind Singh, later came to see the guru and asked for forgiveness. Later, in the battle of Muktsar in 1705, Chaudhary Kapura helped Guru Govind Singh. In 1708, Kapura was slain by Tse Khan Manj Muslim Rajput chief of Kol Tse Khan in Firozpur district. His grandson, Jodh Singh, built a fort near Kot Kapura in 1766, but fell the following year in a battle with Raja Amar Singh of Patiala. Kot Kapura eventually came under the control of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and was restored to tlie Faridkot family only in 1847.
Dhilwan Sodhian
After refusal from Kot Kapura, Guru Govind Singh reached the village of Dhilwan Kalan (at that time called Dhilwan Sodhian), where his relatives received him with great cordiality. At Dhilwan Kalan, one of the Prithi Chand's descendants, Kaul Sodhi, presented Guru Govind Singh with new clothes. The guru took off his blue robe which he had been wearing since he left Machiwara, and tearing it piece by piece burned it in fire. The historic words that Guru Govind Singhji are said to have uttered on this occasion are memorable: "I have torn the blue clothes which I wore, and with that the rule of the Turks and Pathans is at an end". Descendants of Kaul Sodhi’s family has the possession of a "Selhi Topi" believed to be of the first guru, Nanak Dev-ji, and a "chola" (cloak), socks and turban, two daggers believed to belonging to Guru Govind Singh.
Blue Chola of Guru Govind Singh
Garhi of Chamkaur
A small gurdwara was first constructed here around 1930 by Sardar Bahadur Dharam Singh (1881-1933), a well known philanthropist of Delhi. The present building was raised in 1963 by Sant Piara Singh of Jhar Sahib. It duplicates the design of the central building of the older Gurdwara Qatalgarh Sahib a square sanctum on the ground floor within a square hall, and a domed room above the sanctum with decorative cupolas at the corners. The Gurdwara is managed by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee through a local committee, with offices located at Gurdwara Qatalgarh Sahib.
Guru Gobind Singh arrived at Chamkaur on December 20, 1704. The Guru sent some of his disciples to request Rana Jagat Singh and asked permission of the chief for shelter to rest for the night in their Garhi or haveli. The Garhi belonged to Rana Jagat Singh and his younger Rana Roop Chand. They were Rajputs, who migrated from Aamer near Jaipur in 1134. Their elders were granted rights over 65 villages in the Chamkaur belt by rulers of that time. According to some chronicles, the names of the owners of the property were Budhi Chand and Gharibu. According to Guru shabaci Ratnakar Mahan Kosh, Guru Govind Singh had been here once before when he was on his way to Kurukshetra in 1702.
Chamkaur Garhi - Original State
Rana Jagat Singh, for fear of the rulers wrath, refused, but his younger brother, Rana Rup Chand, asserting his right as a coowner of the house, allowed Guru Govind Singh to enter.
Guru Govind Singh camped in a bagh (garden) that belonged to the Rana family. At that place now, Gurdwara Dumdama Sahib has been built. The elder brother Jagat Singh was worried that the presence of Guru and Sikhs will invite trouble to his fort and family. But younger brother Roop Chand approached the Tenth Guru and requested him to shift from the tent in the garden to their fortress - Garhi.
Battle of Chamkaur
From the garden, the Guru and his men shifted to the Garhi to establish defenses against the invading armies of Malechs. GURDWARA GARHI SAHIB marks the site of the fortress like double storeyed house, with a high compound wall around it and only one entrance from the north, which was used by Guru Gobind Singh as a temporary citadel in the unequal battle on 7 December 1705. On occupying the house during the night of 6-7 December, he had assigned 8 Sikhs each to guarding the four sides, while another two, Madan Singh and Kotha Singh, were posted at the entrance.
Guru Gobind Singh, with his sons Ajit Singh and Jujhar Singh and other disciples, took up position on the first floor of the house in the centre. The imperial army, now inflated with reinforcements from Ropar, Sirhind and Malerkotia, arrived and surrounded the garhi. Mughal now sorrounded the `Garhi'. The battle raged throughout the day. The battle raged throughout the day. Successive efforts of the besiegers to storm the citadel were thwarted. As the ammunition and arrows in the fortress ran out, the Sikhs started coming out in small batches to engage the enemy in hand to hand fight. Sikhs started coming out in small batches to engage the enemy the hand to hand fight. Two such successive sallies were led by the Sahibzada Ajit Singh and Sahibzada Jujhar Singh, 18 and 14 years old respectively, who like the other Sikhs fell fighting heroically. In the battle, that continued for two days, the two elder Sahibzadas — Ajit Singh (16) and Jujhar Singh (14) — attained martyrdom along with three — Bhai Mohkam Singh, Bhai Himmat Singh and Bhai Sahib Singh — of the famed Panj Piaras.
Guru at Chamkaur Garhi with two sons
Poet Sainapat, writes, that Sahibzada Jhujar Singh made such a terribly lightening attack upon the enemy, with such vigorous determination, that it became impossible for hundreds of the enemy to locate his position, as many fell to his sword.
Apart from that, the Bhat Vehi give another good source of information. A number of poets have written poems on this episode, particularly about the two sons of the Guru Sahib.
Guru watching Martyrdom of son - Sahibzada Ajit Singh
Poet Nandlal Nurpuri wrote a blood raising lyric, "chum chum rakho ni ih kalgi jhujar di". It became so famous that many would sing this.
Martyrdom of Sahibzada Jujhar Singh
A Moslem Poet Alah Yaar Khan, wrote a memorable poetry, wherein displayed the valor of the young sons of Guru Ji so poignantly narrated and the same was recited by him in the early quarter of last century. Says he, there is no place more pious than the place where the two young ones became martyrs.
By nightfall Guru Govind Singh was left with only five Sikhs in the fortress. These five urged him to escape so that he could rally his followers again and continue the struggle against oppression.
The Guru agreed. He gave his own attire to Sarigat Singh who resembled him somewhat in features and physical stature, and, under cover of darkness, made good his way through the encircling host slackened by the fatigue of the day\’s battle. Daya Singh, Dharam Singh and Man Singh also escaped leaving behind only two Sikhs, Sarigat Singh and Sant Singh. Next morning as the attack was resumed, the imperial troops entered the garhi without much resistance, and were surprised to find only two occupants who, determined to die rather than give in, gave battle till the last.
Upon the fall of Sirhind to the Khalsa in 1764 when this part of the country came under Sikh domination, the fortress at Chamkaur came to be preserved as a sacred monument. Maharaja Karam Singh of Patiala had a gurdwara constructed here. It was called Garhi Sahib ; also, Tilak Asthan (Anointment Site) in the belief that Guru Govind Singh\’s act of obeying the five Sikhs with regard to his escape and giving his dress, turban and plume to Bhai Sarigat Singh were symbolic of anointing the Khalsa as his successor to guruship.
Gurdwara Garhi Sahib
Gurdwara Garhi Sahib is situated at Chamkaur in Ropar district and is connected by road to Ropar and Ludhiana-Chandigarh highway at Samrala and Morinda. The Gurdwara marks the site of the fortress like double storeyed house, with a high compound wall around it and only one entrance from the north, which was used by Guru Govind Singh Ji as a temporary citadel in the unequal battle of Chamkaur on 7th December, 1705.
Gurdwara Garhi Sahib
Chamkaur Garhi
Today All historical buildings, including Chamkaur-di-Garhi, from where Guru Gobind Singh, his two elder Sahibzadas and other “Singhs” fought a great war against the armies of Turks, have been removed from the scene over the years. They have been replaced by modern Gurdwaras made of marble. No trace of the original history of the Guru’s period has been left by those who were made the custodians of the Sikh heritage. All old buildings surrounding the original Garhi have also been demolished to build a new gurdwara. “Future generations would never forgive those who have played havoc with the Sikh heritage,” says a Sikh historian.
A view of the demolition work at the old Garhi Sahib Gurdwara where a new gurdwara in marble has come up in Chamkaur Sahib. — A file photograph
Kar Sewa to demolish Chamkaur Garhi
Rana Roop Chand’s descendants — Rana Mohinder Singh, his son Bhup Chand and his grandson Arjan Singh — now live here at a short distance from Gurdwara Garhi Sahib. Rana Mohinder Singh is from the sixth generation of Rana Roop Chand. Rana Mohinder Singh’s brother Krishan Kumar and his son Bhim Singh also live here.
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