Battle of Chamkaur

Who: Guru Gobind Singh, his elder sons Sahibzada Ajit Singh (18) and Sahibzada Jujhar Singh (14), and barely forty Sikhs, against the imperial army and the hill rulers who had been besieging Anandpur Sahib.

What: The siege of Anandpur began in May. The besiegers offered the Guru safe exit on solemn oaths, and on the night of 5 to 6 December the Sikhs came out. The hill rulers and their Mughal allies attacked as they left, many Sikhs were killed and most of the Guru's manuscripts were lost. The Guru crossed the swollen Sarsa, and his mother and two younger sons were separated from him. By nightfall on 6 December he reached Chamkaur, about 40 km south-west of Anandpur, and took shelter in a double-storeyed house with a high wall and a single entrance. The imperial army, swelled by reinforcements from Ropar, Sirhind and Malerkotla, surrounded it. The fighting began at sunrise on 7 December. The Guru posted eight Sikhs on each of the four sides. Ajit Singh and Jujhar Singh led two successive sallies and fell fighting. By evening the Guru was left with five Sikhs, who urged him to escape so that he could rally the Panth again, and he agreed. A Sikh who resembled him took his dress and stayed behind. The Guru left with Daya Singh, Dharam Singh and Man Singh. Tradition says he clapped as he went and called out that the saint of India was leaving; Gurdwara Tari Sahib marks the spot. Two Muslim devotees, Ghani Khan and Nabi Khan, later helped him at great personal risk.

Where: Chamkaur Sahib, Punjab. Gurdwara Garhi Sahib marks the fortress and Gurdwara Qatalgarh Sahib the place of the thickest fighting.

Why it mattered: The Guru's own sons fell beside the Sikhs, in the same sallies, and the Guru lived because the five Sikhs around him asked it of him. From Dina he sent the Zafarnama, a Persian verse letter to Emperor Aurangzeb, accusing the emperor and his commanders of breaking their oath and attacking the Sikhs after they left Anandpur. The Shaheedi Jor Mela is held at Chamkaur each year on 6 to 8 Poh, usually 20 to 22 December.

Dating: Sources disagree on the year. This entry follows the Encyclopaedia of Sikhism, which gives 7 December 1705 for the battle, as do the entries on the evacuation of Anandpur, Sirhind and Muktsar. Other modern works, as summarised on Wikipedia, give 1704. Wikipedia also records that Hari Ram Gupta converted the Bikrami date to 22 December 1704, and that Pal Singh Purewal argues the correct date is 7 December. The year is still debated.