Sahibzada Ajit Singh Ji

Sahibzada Ajit Singh Ji was the eldest son of Guru Gobind Singh and Mata Sundari. He was born at Paonta on 26 January 1687 and brought up at Anandpur in the Sikh way: religious texts, philosophy and history, and riding, swordsmanship and archery. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism calls him strong, intelligent and a natural leader of men. He fell at Chamkaur leading one of the sallies from the garhi.

Key moments

• 23 May 1699: soon after the creation of the Khalsa, and barely twelve years old, he led 100 Sikhs to a village across the Sutlej from Anandpur, where Ranghars had looted a sangat coming from Pothohar. He punished them and recovered the property.
• 29 August 1700: he was made responsible for the defence of Taragarh Fort, the first target when the hill chiefs, backed by imperial troops, attacked Anandpur. With the veteran Bhai Ude Singh he beat the attack back, according to the Bhatt Vahis. He also fought at Nirmohgarh in October 1700.
• 1701 and 1703: he led expeditions to punish Gujjars and Ranghars who had waylaid a sangat (15 March 1701) and, on 7 March 1703, to Bassi near Hoshiarpur, where he freed a young Brahman bride taken by a local Pathan chieftain.
• 5 to 6 December: in the evacuation of Anandpur he commanded the rearguard. When the besiegers broke their promise of safe conduct and attacked the column, he held them on a hill called Shahi Tibbi until Bhai Ude Singh relieved him. He crossed the Sarsa in spate with his father, his brother Jujhar Singh and some fifty Sikhs.
• 7 December: at Chamkaur the Sikhs took position in a high-walled fortified house, a garhi, and were soon ringed by a large force. When the arrows and ammunition were gone they went out in batches of five. Ajit Singh led one sally and fell fighting in the thick of the battle. Gurdwara Qatalgarh marks the spot.

The Encyclopaedia notes that the deaths of two of the Guru's sons at Chamkaur are borne out by a contemporary record, an official letter of the emperor's letter writer, Mirza Inayat Ullah Khan Ismi, in Ahkam-i-Alamgiri. It reports Gobind besieged in the haveli of a zamindar of Chamkaur and the killing of his two sons and other companions.

He is remembered with his brother Jujhar Singh at the fair held at Chamkaur on 8 Poh, and, with Jujhar Singh, Zorawar Singh and Fateh Singh, as one of the four Sahibzade.

The year: the Encyclopaedia dates the siege and the battle to 1705, which makes him 18 at Chamkaur. Other modern works place them in December 1704, which makes him 17. The year is still debated; the entry on the battle follows the Encyclopaedia.