|
Was born to Mai Jitoji at Anandpur on 25 February 1699. After the
death of his mother, on 5 December 1700, he was brought up under
the care of his grandmother, Mata Gujari, with whom he remained
till the last.
At the time of the evacuation of Anandpur on the night of 5-6 December
1705, Mata Guujari took charge of both younger sons as the column
moved out of Anandpur. While crossing on horseback the rivulet Sarsa,
the three were separated from Guru Gobind Singh. Their cook, Gangu,
who had also succeeded in crossing the stream, escorted them to
his own house in the village of Kheri, now known as Saheri, near
Morinda in presentday Ropar district. While unsaddling the horse
he saw that there was some cash in the saddlebag. This tempted him
to treachery. He not only stole the saddlebag during the night,
but also planned to betray the fugitives to the government in hope
of a reward.
On the morning of 7 December 1705, the day of the fateful battle
of Chamkaur, Zorawar Singh, along with Fateh Singh and their grandmother,
was taken into custody by Jani Khan and Mani Khan Ranghar, the officials
at Morinda. They were despatched on the following day to Sirhind
where they were consigned to the Cold Tower (Thanda Burj) of the
Fort. On 9 December 1705, Zorawar Singh and Fateh Singh were produced
before the faujdar, Nawab Wazir Khan, who had just returned from
Chamkaur with his feudal ally, Nawab Sher Muhammad Khan of Malerkotla.
Wazir Khan tried to lure the Sahibzadas to embrace Islam with promises
of riches and honours, but they spurned the suggestion. He then
threatened them with death, but they remained undaunted. Death sentence
was finally pronounced. Upon Sher Muhammad Khan's intercession for
the innocent. children to be spared their lives, they were given
some more time to ponder over the suggestion to convert. Zorawar
Singh and his brother spent another two days of severe winter in
their old grandmother's lap in the Cold Tower.
Still adamant, they were, on 11 December 1705, ordered to be sealed
alive in a wall. According to tradition, as the masonry around their
tender bodies reached chest-high, it crumbled. The Sahibzadas were
sent to the Cold Tower again for the night. The next day, 12 December
1705, the alternative of conversion being again turned down, Zorawar
Singh and Fateh Singh were put to death by execution. The aged Mata
Gujari, who had all along been kept in the Cold Tower, only a little
distance away, breathed her last as the news reached her ears. Seth
Todar Mall, a wealthy merchant of Sirhind, performed the cremation
of the three dead bodies the following day. The site of the fateful
happenings, since christened Fatehgarh Sahib, close to the old town
of Sirhind, is now marked by four Sikh shrines. A religious fair
is held here from 25 to 28 December every year to honour the memory
of the martyrs.
|