Baba Moti Ram Mehra

Baba Moti Ram Mehra is remembered in Sikh tradition as the servant in the Sirhind governor's kitchen who secretly brought milk to Mata Gujri and the two youngest Sahibzade, Baba Zorawar Singh and Baba Fateh Singh, while they were held in the Thanda Burj in December 1704 (some accounts give the year as 1705), and who was put to death for it.

The seva. According to The Tribune, when Mata Gujri and her grandsons refused food from the Nawab's kitchen, Moti Ram Mehra, who worked there, secretly brought them milk and water on three nights. His wife gave him her silver jewellery and some coins, and urged him to bribe the gatemen of the burj to keep the visits secret. Wikipedia names Wazir Khan as the Mughal governor of Sirhind who held the prisoners. The All About Sikhs account says that his mother and wife urged him not to go, warning of Wazir Khan's threat to execute anyone who helped the princes, and that he went anyway.

The punishment. The Sahibzade were martyred and Mata Gujri died; The Tribune gives 27 December. Someone then told the Nawab about the milk. Moti Ram admitted what he had done and said that serving the imprisoned children was his duty. The Tribune says he, his mother, his wife and their young son were sentenced to death. Wikipedia says the sentence was to be crushed in an oil press (kohlu). One devotional account says he and his father were sentenced to the oil press. The accounts therefore differ on which of his family were sentenced and on the manner of death.

What the sources can bear. Wikipedia notes that the Sikh literary sources which mention him are few, and names among them Kesar Singh Chhibber's Bansavalinama and Kishan Singh's Shaheednama. The story rests largely on Sikh tradition and later texts, and details such as who else was sentenced vary from one telling to another.

Key moments

• December 1704: Mata Gujri and the younger Sahibzade are held in the Thanda Burj at Sirhind.
• Three nights: he brings them milk and water.
• After the Sahibzade are martyred: he is denounced, admits the seva and is sentenced.
• The All About Sikhs account adds that Todar Mall performed the cremation and Moti Ram arranged a cart of sandalwood for the cremation.
• Wikipedia says Banda Singh Bahadur was the first to commemorate his sacrifice.

Commemoration. A memorial gurdwara stands near Gurdwara Fatehgarh Sahib, built by the Amar Shaheed Baba Moti Ram Mehra Charitable Trust, and the Punjab government built a memorial gate (Wikipedia). The Tribune reports that lakhs of devotees of the Mehra community gather at Gurdwara Moti Ram Mehra after the Shaheedi Jor Mela.

Remembered for: serving the Guru's mother and sons at the cost of his own life and, in the tellings, his family's, despite the governor's threat to execute anyone who helped them.