Wazir Khan of Sirhind

Wazir Khan was the Mughal faujdar, or military governor, of Sirhind in the early eighteenth century. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism says he lived at Kunjpura near Karnal, in what is now Haryana. In Sikh memory he is the governor who sentenced Sahibzada Zorawar Singh and Sahibzada Fateh Singh, the younger sons of Guru Gobind Singh Ji, and the commander whom Banda Singh Bahadur defeated and killed.

Key moments

• 1700: the hill rajas of the Shivaliks asked for his help against the Guru. After they failed at Anandpur, his troops joined the attack at Nirmohgarh, where the fighting lasted a week and cannon were used. On 14 October 1700 the Guru's party broke the cordon and crossed the Sutlej.
• Winter 1704: with Zabardast Khan of Lahore he joined the hill rajas at Ropar and besieged Anandpur, then offered, on oath, a safe passage if the Guru would leave.
• 5 to 6 December 1705: the Guru left Anandpur on the strength of those assurances. Wazir Khan pursued him, and fighting broke out at the flooded Sarsa. At Chamkaur, on 7 December, the two elder Sahibzade and most of the forty Sikhs were killed while the Guru escaped.
• December 1705: the two younger Sahibzade, taken into custody at Morinda, were brought before him on 9 December. He offered them wealth and honours if they would become Muslims, and when they refused he pronounced a sentence of death. Nawab Sher Muhammad Khan of Malerkotla pleaded for the children. On 11 December they were ordered sealed alive in a wall, which by tradition crumbled at chest height (Zorawar Singh entry), before it covered their heads (Gujari entry), and on 12 December they were put to death. Mata Gujri died on hearing the news.
• 1706: from Dina, Guru Gobind Singh Ji sent the Zafarnamah to Aurangzeb, rebuking him for broken oaths. The Encyclopaedia says it does not name Wazir Khan.
• Banda Singh Bahadur's campaign: on 26 November 1709 Banda Singh attacked Samana, and Wazir Khan proclaimed a jihad and raised a large army. On 12 May 1710 the two sides fought a day-long battle at Chappar Chiri, in which Wazir Khan was killed and his army routed. The Sikhs entered Sirhind on 14 May.

The Encyclopaedia also says that Wazir Khan, alarmed by Emperor Bahadur Shah's friendliness towards the Guru, hired two Pathans who stabbed the Guru at Nanded, where he died on 7 October 1708. That is the Encyclopaedia's account. It does not say who killed Wazir Khan at Chappar Chiri.

What he is remembered for: the Sirhind sentence on the Chhote Sahibzade. The Encyclopaedia says Banda Singh's first attack, on Samana, was aimed at the executioner of Guru Tegh Bahadur and at executioners who had volunteered to kill the two young sons, and it records that Sirhind was captured and plundered two days after Wazir Khan fell.

Dating: sources differ on the days of December 1705. This entry follows the Encyclopaedia of Sikhism, which gives 12 December 1705 for the Sahibzade.