Mata Gujri Ji

Mata Gujri Ji was the wife of Guru Tegh Bahadur, the mother of Guru Gobind Singh and the grandmother of the four Sahibzade. She lived through her husband's martyrdom in 1675 and, in old age, through the siege of Anandpur and the capture of her two younger grandsons. She died in the Thanda Burj at Sirhind.

She was the daughter of Bhai Lal Chand Subhikkhi and Bishan Kaur of Kartarpur, in today's Jalandhar district, and was married to Tegh Bahadur on 4 February 1633. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism describes the years of quiet life at Bakala, with Tegh Bahadur in meditation and Gujri doing the humble duties of a devoted wife, and it quotes the Gurbilas Chhevin Patshahi: "like bridegroom, like bride".

Key moments

• 22 December 1666: at Patna she gave birth to Gobind Rai, the future Guru Gobind Singh, while Guru Tegh Bahadur was travelling in the east.
• 11 July 1675: Guru Tegh Bahadur left Chakk Nanaki (later Anandpur) for Delhi, prepared to give his life. The Encyclopaedia says she showed courage at the parting and bore the trial with fortitude. He was executed in Delhi on 11 November 1675. Gobind Rai being very young, the running of affairs at Chakk Nanaki fell first to her, helped by her younger brother, Kirpal Chand.
• 5 to 6 December: when Anandpur was evacuated she was separated from the main body at the Sarsa, with her grandsons Zorawar Singh and Fateh Singh, aged nine and six. The Encyclopaedia's entry on her says seven for Fateh Singh, but its entry on him gives his birth as 25 February 1699, which makes him six. Their servant Gangu, whom the Encyclopaedia's entry on Zorawar Singh calls their cook, led them to his village near Morinda and betrayed them to the local officer.
• 7 to 12 December: the Encyclopaedia's entry on Zorawar Singh says officials at Morinda arrested the three on the morning of the 7th and sent them to Sirhind on the 8th; its entry on Mata Gujri gives 8 December as the date of arrest. They were held in the Thanda Burj, the Cold Tower, of Sirhind Fort. As the boys were called to court day after day, their grandmother kept urging them to stay steadfast in their faith. On the 11th they were ordered to be bricked up alive; the wall crumbled before it covered their heads, and they were put to death the next day. Mata Gujri died in the tower the same day. Seth Todar Mall cremated the three the day after.

She is remembered as the mother and grandmother of martyrs. Gurdwara Mata Gujri (Thanda Burj) at Fatehgarh Sahib marks the place where she spent the last four days of her life, and Gurdwara Joti Sarup, about a kilometre to the south-east, marks the cremation. Sikhs gather there for a three-day fair on 11 to 13 Poh, which falls in the last week of December.

The year: this entry follows the Encyclopaedia of Sikhism, which dates the evacuation of Anandpur and her death to December 1705. Other modern works give 1704, and the year is still debated. The entries on Chamkaur and Sirhind follow the same convention.