…Bibi Pritam Kaur and her two younger children helped the defence by refilling the ammunition for the the civilian defenders, and brought in food and water for the civilian defenders…

On the 6th of June, Bhai Mohar Singh recited his final Ardass to Guru Ji. It has been said, Bhai Mohar Singh, Bibi Pritam Kaur, and their two young children fell onto the army tank near where Shaheed Baba Deep Singh Ji fell.

…Bhai Mohar Singh and his whole family stopped the tank in its tracks and joined the long list of martyrs of 1984…

After the attack, oppression was leashed on to villagers by state officals, as a result, Bhai Mohar Singh’s family became a target of the army. Bhai Mohar Singhs nephews Bhai Bakshish Singh ‘Kalyug’ and Bhai Parmjit Singh ‘Pama’ decided to participate in the freedom struggle that took place post Operation Bluestar. They too took amrit, and as their Uncle, Bhai Mohar Singh, they as well joined the the long list of martyrs.

Khalsa Ji, today, we bow our heads to this great family who scarficed their lives for our Khalsa Panth. Dhan Dhan Guru Ke Sikh. Bhai Mohar Singh, Bibi Pritam Kaur, Bhenji Satnam Kaur, and Bhenji Vaheguru Kaur will be honoured for their mutual acts of bravery, in essence, for saving the Khalsa Panth. They will be remembered in our ardass eternally.

Pappi Kaur and her family had rushed out for safety when they saw the rioters closing in. But the police made them return home. Then she saw her father being dragged out of their home, tortured and burned to death by men who claimed to be avenging the killing of Indira Gandhi. She saw the murderers dilly-dally with her uncle, then burn him too. She was six years old. As they rebuild their lives in the neglected and almost forgotten colony for widows of the 1984 riots, Pappi, 25, cannot help feeling bitter about the administration that let them down twice, “I was very young in 1984. But how can I forget the day on which all the men of my family were ruthlessly murdered?”

At the time, we were staying in Chilla village, near Trilokpuri in east Delhi. My father came back early from work, looking very tense, and told us about the riots in the city, that people were killing Sikhs all over Delhi. But it was not as if he, or the neighbourhood, felt that everything around us would change in the next few hours.

We went up to the terrace and saw that our neighbourhood gurdwara had been set on fire. That was when we felt the first jolt of panic. The rioting was no longer ‘in the city’. It was coming nearer home.

We decided to go to the gurdwara to protect it as best as we could. There was my father, his younger brother, my mother and grandmother and we, the children.

On our way, we saw hordes of murderous-looking people and fierce fighting. The police stopped us and told us to return home.

We did, but that was a mistake. At home, we were sitting ducks. A mob broke down the wooden door of our house, dragged out all the menfolk one by one, beat them up and then set them on fire.

My father was first. We couldn’t see what happened, because they took him out of the house. Then it was his younger brother. He had shorn his hair. At first, they were willing to let him go. But then they changed their mind, dragged him out again, beat him up and set him on fire as well. The attackers did not even spare my poor old grandmother. They broke her arm and abused her. They told her that she should leave the neighbourhood immediately or they would kill all the children. I can still see their vicious faces. They were shouting, “Tune hamaari maa ko maara hai. Hum tujhe maarenge! You killed our mother (Indira Gandhi), we will kill you!”

They put burning tyres around the necks of the Sikhs they were torturing before the slaughter, and shouted, “Dekho sardaar kaise naach rahe hain! Look how the Sikhs are dancing!”

My grandmother and mother ran away with the children. We hid in a wilderness, away from the residential colonies. For three days and nights, we stayed in hiding. On the fourth day, the army came in and took over from the police. That was the first time we felt safe.

Later, we were informed that we would be resettled and awarded compensation. It is true that we were given a one-time compensation. Widows were given jobs, but not near their homes. Their places of work were scattered all over Delhi. And they have to raise their families on the pittance they make in these ‘Class IV’ jobs. There is an area here in Tilak Vihar called the Widows’ Colony. It’s only for the widows of the 1984 riots. That’s where we were shunted. There was no other attempt to reach out to us in any way. Not one leader, from any community or political party, ever comes this way.

Mata Sundari ji was wife of Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708), was the daughter of
Bhai Ram Saran, a Kumarav Khatri of Bijvara, in present-day Hoshiarpur district of
the Punjab. She was married to Guru Gobind Singh at Anandpur on 4 April 1684. On
26 January 1687, at Paonta, she gave birth to Sahibzada Ajit Singh, the eldest son of
Guru Gobind Singh. Consequent upon the evacuation of Anandpur on the night of i6
December 1705, Mata Sundari, along with Mata Sahib Devan, was escorted by Bhai
Mani Singh to Delhi.

She rejoined Guru Gobind Singh in 1706 at Talvandi Sabo, where she heard the news
of the martyrdom of her son and the other Sahibzadas as also of the death of her aged
mother-in-law, Mata Gujari. She went back to stay at Delhi while Guru Gobind Singh
left Talvandi Sabo for the South. At Delhi, Mata Sundari adopted a young boy whom
she named Ajit Singh because of his resemblance to her own late son. After the
passing away of Guru Gobind Singh at Nanded in October 1708, the Sikhs looked up
to her for guidance. She appointed Bhai Mani Singh to manage the sacred shrines at
Amritsar and also commissioned him to collect the writings of Guru Gobind Singh.
She also issued under her own seal and authority hukamnamas to sangats. The
hukamnamas since discovered and published bear dates between 12 October 1717 and
10 August 1730.

Mata Sundari was disappointed in her adopted son, Ajit Singh. Emperor Bahadur
Shah treated him as the successor of Guru Gobind Singh, called him to his court and
gave him a robe of honour in September 1710. This went to his head and he started
living in style as a courtier. He grew arrogant and haughty even towards Mata
Sundari who disowned him, and migrated to Mathura. Ajit Singh was later convicted
for murder and was put to death on 18 January 1725. Mata Sundari returned to live in
Delhi where she died in 1747. A memorial in her honour stands in the compound of
Gurdwara Bala Sahib, New Delhi.

Taken from: Encyclopedia of Sikhism edited by Harbans Singh ji.
Submitted by: A. Kaur

Three sons, Prith Chand (1558), Mahadev (1560) and (Guru) Arjan Dev (1563) were
born to her. A popular anecdote mentioned in old chronicles describes how devotedly
Bibi Bhani served her father. One morning, it is said, as Guru Amar Das was absorbed
in meditation, Bibi Bhani noticed that one of the legs of the low wooden seat on
which the Guru sat was about to give way. She at once put forward her hand to
support the stool. As the Guru ended his devotions, he discovered how her hand was
bleeding from the injury it had sustained. He blessed her saying that her progeny
would inherit the guruship. Bibi Bhani died at Goindval on 9 April 1598.

Bibi Bhani was mother of Guru Arjan Dev, the Fifth Guru. Undoubtly Guru Arjan
Dev was brought up as model GurSikh. Guru Arjan Dev was the first Sikh Martyr.
Guru Arjan Dev compiled Adi Granth by collecting all the writings of gurus before
him and installed it at Golden Temple, which is now The Guru Granth Sahib jee. Guru Arjan
Dev completed the construction of Golden Temple.

Submitted by: R. Kaur
Taken from The Encyclopedia of Sikhism, Edited by Harbans Singh

Her girl friends were afraid of Afghan soldiers, but she always told them that they could not live like cowards and they would have to face these tyrant invaders. Once she was returning late at night from the house of a girl friend where she had gone to participate in a singing party held before a marriage. On her way back, she met two drunken Pathan soldiers who ordered her to stop. Before stopping, she drew her sword and cut the right arm of the soldier who stepped towards her. Seeing this, the second soldier ran away. Her sword was still red when she reached home. Her father praised her for her bravery and presence of mind.

Sodhi Wadbagh Singh was the chief of the territory of Kartarpur, near Jullundhar and proprietor of land worth a lot of revenue. He was also a respectable religious guide of the Sikhs and in charge of Gurdwara Tham Sahib, built by the Fifth Master, Guru Arjan Dev. Sodhi was informed by Janhan Khan, commander-in-chief at Lahore that an Afghan soldier, who was coming from Sirhind to Lahore, was killed by somebody in the territory of Kartarpur. He compelled Sodhi to produce the culprit at once. Sodhi could not find the culprit. Jahan Khan ordered the governor of Jullunder to finish Sodhi Wadbhag Singh and loot Kartarpur after killing all those who refused to embrace Islam. In fact, Jahan Khan was under instruction from Abdli to crush the Sikhs as they always harassed him when he returned after looting Delhi.

The governor of Jullunder, with a large force, attacked Kartarpur at midnight and burnt most of the city. Sodhi, who had a small army, was caught and shut in a room. Even the 250 years-old sacred Gurdwara, Tham Sahib, was not spared and burnt to ashes. In the meantime, some soldiers brought four young girls and presented to the commander as a gift. Their clothes were torn. It seemed that they had fought with the soldiers to save themselves.

The soldiers reported that one of the girls, whose hands were red with blood, had killed two soldiers and was caught after a great struggle. The lustful and sexual commander praised the beauty of the girls. He said to one of them who seemed very angry, “What is your name?” He also tried to touch her cheeks. She thundered and asked him to keep away his hand. She told him that her name was Death of the Enemy, who was standing in front of her. A soldier admonished her to behave if she wanted to live. She fearlessly replied that the Death did not want to live. The governor was surprised to hear that these Sikh girls called themselves daughters of Death and they could use arms and kill a person to save himself or herself. He ordered that all the four be taken to his camp as he would like to enjoy their company at night. The girls were helpless as they had been unarmed.

The governor started towards the city to inspect the destruction, massacre of the citizens, and the property looted. There were a number of dead bodies. Some persons were being thrown in the fire. At the same time, a soldier came on a horse and informed the governor that Sodhi, along with his head of the army, had escaped on horseback. The governor and some soldiers chased Sodhi, but they failed to catch him. When they were coming back, they saw one young girl, taking another young girl on her horse, leaving the camp. Her horse was running so fast that the soldiers sent to chase her failed to trace her.

The governor saw that one of the soldiers deputed to watch the girls was lying dead at the door of the camp and the other was bleeding profusely. The bleeding soldier said to the commander, “One of the girls who told that her name was Death jumped over the soldier, snatched his sword, and killed him in the twinkling of an eye. When I went to catch her, I was also injured. The other soldiers were away at a distance. When they came to our rescue, the girl had put another newlywed girl on one of our horses and had disappeared.”

It was Nirbhai Kaur who after killing a soldier and injuring another had taken with her one of her girl friends. She with her girl friends was attending the marriage of one of them when the marriage was disrupted and the house was set on fire. She along with her girlfriends was caught and presented to the chief. On her way, Nirbhai Kaur met her fiancé, Harnam Singh, a young baptized Sikh of twenty-four. She told him the whole story and asked for help to rescue her remaining two friends from the chief. He told her that her father had left with Sodhi Wadbhag Singh and her mother was burnt alive when her house was set on fire by the invading soldiers. She was red with rage on hearing all this and made up her mind to take revenge for all the atrocities.

At midnight, she and her fiancé turned their horses towards the camp. Reaching there, they found that all the watchmen were enjoying a sound sleep. They had eaten to their fill and drank a lot to celebrate their victory. She and her fiancé left the horses and her girlfriend at a distance from the camp and walked towards the camp. As they reached near the camp, they heard the cries of a girl.

Harnam Singh tore the cotton wall of the camp with his sword and they entered the camp from the back. They saw that the chief was throwing the girl on his bed and she was struggling to save herself. At once, Nirbhai Kaur cut the arm of the chief with her sword and, before he could come to his senses, she cut his head and separated it from his body. Another girl was lying unconscious. Harnam Singh carried her and Nirbhai Kaur put the whole camp on fire with the help of the camp lamp. Now all the soldiers were awake and there was confusion everywhere. Fire was spreading to the other camps and everyone was trying to save himself.

Now all the five rode on horses and disappeared in the thick forest before they could be chased. They took rest for a few hours under a tree. At daybreak, they cooked whatever vegetables they could find in the fields and saved themselves from hunger. Nirbhai Kaur’s girl friends wanted to accompany them, as they were afraid that their families would not accept them because they had spent some time with the chief. They started towards the hills, as they were sure that other Sikhs would be there. At Anandpur, they met Sodhi Wadbhag Singh and Jang Bahadur Singh. Here the girl friends of Nirbhai Kaur were baptized to fulfill their desire.

Adina Beg, ex-chief of Jullunder, had revolted against Jahan Khan, the present chief, and was passing his time in those hills. He told Sodhi Wadbhag Singh that he was ready Jullunder if the Sikhs agreed to help him. Sodhi Wadbhag Singh approached the Sikh chief, Jassa Singh Ahluwalia, who agreed to the proposal. Now a huge force of Adina Beg, with the help of the Sikh forces, attacked Jullunder. The Jullunder chief gathered a large force and ammunition, but was defeated. Jullunder was destroyed and Nirbhai Kaur’s desire of taking revenge was fulfilled. It all happened in December 1757.

The hardships faced by Sikh women detained in Mir Mannu’s Jail in the 1700s are of the most horrible crimes commited in our history. Mir Mannu, desiring to destroy the Sikh nation, issued for Sikh men to be beheaded and Sikh women to be imprisoned. These women were given forty pounds of grain to grind daily with a quarter of bread and one bowl of water to survive on. The barbaric workers of Mir Mannu told the Sikh women that they could become Muslim begums, possessing all of the wealth, honour, and riches in the world – if they decided to desert the Sikh faith. The Sikh women continually chanted, “the more he cuts us, the more we grow”, laughing in the faces of those mislead workers. “Our lives may leave us, but we shall never leave our Sikh faith!” These women, resisting to become begums, even had their babies torn open with spears through unspeakable torture. Not only did the barbaric workers torture the tiny children, but upon martyrdom, the babies’ remains were cut into peices to be hung around their mother’s necks as a punishment for keeping their faith. Oh Khalsa Ji, should we not become steadfast in our faith after recognizing the sacrifices our mothers made?

The strength of Sikh women is everlasting and the legacy of the female detainees of Mir Mannu’s jail was fully practiced on October 23rd, 1993 by Shaheed Bibi Resham Kaur. As the Muslim government of the 1600s and 1700s in India desired to eliminate Sikhs from India, so too have modern regimes aimed to eliminate the Sikh spirit. Bibi Resham Kaur was detained with her 8-month-old child, Simranjit Singh. The torture faced by Bibi Resham Kaur and her child would even compel stone-hearted souls to shed tears. In order to weaken the Sikh spirit, the police exhausted several efforts against Bibi Resham Kaur. To weaken her, they went as far as lying her 8-month-old child on ice, as the child cried in pain. Bibi Resham Kaur, to the utter shock and speachlessness of the entire regiment, put a stone on her heart and did not give up her Sikh spirit, refusing to give in to the demands of her torturers. The torturers, in utter confusion and anger at their defeat, martyred Bibi Resham Kaur, after she had re-lit the lamp of Sikh spirit and acceptance of God’s will as ever-sweet.

A Modern Day Legend: Shaheed Bibi Resham Kaur Ji
Submitted by: Kaurs United Sevadaars

HER nine-year-old granddaughter Kuljeet Kaur’s poem shares wallspace with images of the Gurus in Baksheesh Kaur’s two-room apartment, twin reminders of the faith and optimism that saw her family through its darkest hours. Dressed in white, stark in the dingy surroundings, she listens silently as her son Harpal recounts the night of October 31, 1984.

“They dragged out my father—he had retired by then from the army as havildar-major—and killed him. My 21-year-old brother Harkirat was up on the terrace, he saw the murder and cried out. So they went up and killed him too,” remembers Harpal, 35. His mother, with the curious resignation of the very old or the very helpless, adds in a whisper, “Teen tukde kar diye.”

The other family members fled in time to escape the carnage, but were refused shelter by almost every neighbour in their Laxminagar locality. Finally, 50 of them found refuge with a washerman in an adjoining street. “For three days, we huddled together in one room, till we were rescued by the army,” remembers Baksheesh Kaur.

Apart from the death of his father and brother, Harpal recalls little of those days. “But the image of bodies littering the streets is something that has stayed with me,” he says.

Putting behind those memories, burying the searing grief, Baksheesh then had to lead the family in the painful task of reconstructing their lives. They moved in with a son who had largely escaped the riots in his South Delhi residence; later, they shifted to the DDA flat in East of Kailash, where they now reside.

By the time they managed to get their share of compensation—Rs 3.3 lakh—eight years had passed by. Harpal had had to give up his studies to support his family; today, he drives taxis and does other odd jobs.

Just as life seemed to be coming together, calamity struck again. In 1992, Baksheesh’s son Harbhajan—Harpal’s elder by two years—was shot dead in an encounter with the police on the outskirts of Delhi. “He was with a friend, who was a militant. Harbhajan was caught in the crossfire and paid with his life,” says Harpal.

Forgiveness should not come easily to people like Baksheesh, but it does. “I hope the people who incited the mobs get punished, but I bear no hatred towards anybody anymore. I just wish no one has to go through what I went through,” she says.

By: Siddharta Sarma, Sunday Express, Sunday August 5th, 2005.

Mir Mannu became the new governor of Lahore and Multan on the 9th of April 1748AD. He appointed Kaura Mal as his new poet. After setting right the administration of his province, he deployed army patrol to finish the Sikhs off his province. The Sikhs left his territory and moved to other states. Sardar Jassa Singh Ramgarhia and his group of Sikhs joined the army of the Commander of Jalandhar. The Sikhs gathered at Amritsar on the occasion of Diwali or Bhandi Shor in 1748AD. When Mir Mannu came to know of the gathering Sikhs, he sent his general with an army to blockade Amritsar and sent words to the Commander of Jalandhar, Adina beg to take his army to help his general in finishing the Sikhs. Five hundred Singhs took shelter in the fort of Ram Rauni and the rest moved to forests. The combined forces of Lahore and Jalandhar surrounded the fort. The Singhs inside the fort did not surrender even after two months of siege, which shows the immense courage and how strong their will was not to give their Sikhi even if death was imminent. Sardar Jassa Singh Ramgarhia was in an army who was in siege of the fort, with his Sikhs.. One day, he deserted the royal army and joined the Singhs inside the fort with his squad. The commander of Jalandhar felt the departure of the Singhs in this manner very much but could not do anything. Hearing this news of the second invasion of Abdali, Mir Mannu made peace with the Sikhs and sanctioned an estate in Patti area for the livelihood.

During the third invasion of Abdali, one day in December, 1751AD when the party of Sardar Sukha Singh was returning to his camp in the evening after a fight with a detachment of Abdali’s troops, the artillery of Lahore made the party a target of their gun-shells. In this invasion of Abdali, all the Punjabis under Mir Mannu were together to face him. But when Mir Mannu’s army of Lahore started attacking Dal Khalsa, the army of Dal Khalsa left the company of Mir Mannu after this mishap. The commander of Jalandhar got Kaura Mall murdered at the hands of a Pathan on the 6th March 1752AD that resulted in Mir Mannu’s defeat in the battle. Mir Mannu held the desertion of Dal Khalsa responsible for his defeat. He again planned to finish the Sikhs off in his province.

Mir Mannu confiscated the estate of the Sikhs and deployed army patrols to eliminate them. He announced a reward of ten rupees for a person who brought a Sikhs head. He also began to reward the informers for giving whereabouts of Sikhs and their families. People in greed were getting Sikhs and their families arrested.

They were brought to Lahore where the Singhs were beheaded and their families were put in jails. Every woman was given forty pounds of grain to grind for each day in jail. A very heavy stone was placed on the chest of one who could not grind. Their children were mutilated on javelins before their very eyes. Their children were also cut into pieces and made into garlands which were then put around the necks of the mothers. Even then, they refused to give up their faith.

In the jails they were given a quarter of bread to eat and a bowl of water in the whole day. Bowing to the will of God, those tolerated it all. On the 4th November 1753AD, Mir Mannu died. After his death, Singhs set the prisoners free and took them away.

The term that Sikhs have adopted to describe their Martyrs is from the Arabic word Shahid (pl. Shuhuada). The primary meaning of this term in the Qur’an is as “witness” the one who testifies for Allah and the prophet Mohammed. The Muslims used the word Shaheed for fallen warriors in battle.

The Sikh women never gave up their Sikhi even thought they saw their own sons and daughters being murdered and tortured in front of their eyes. Reading about this brings tears to my eyes but yet our mothers and sisters kept up their heads and lived their Sikhi to their Last Breath!

As Bob Marley says: “Many people will have to suffer, many people will have to die”. This will happen as it is the will of God. We have no real control over what has happened but we can change what may happen in the future. We should be helping other women not to be in similar circumstances as the ones our mothers and sisters had to go threw, such as helping women who are forced into prostitution because of their circumstances, or we should help women who are being beaten at home because their husband or father is either drunk or high on drugs. I wouldn’t be able to watch my family be killed. If that happened to me, i would end my life but we must remember our mothers and sisters carried on fighting even in the hardest of times. A Shaheed for me is someone who has seen the truth and the truth is death, someone who has lived the truth and has even died the truth. Truthful living is higher than the truth but truthful death is also higher then the truth.

Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh

The plight of the Sikh ladies detained in the camps of Mir Mannu was miserable. They were tortured and kept thirsty and hungry as they refused to be converted to Islam. Every one of them was allotted a small millstone to grind a fixed quantity of wheat. It was ordered that the children of these ladies be snatched. One soldier threw a child up in the air and the other killed him with his spear before he could touch the ground. The dead bodies of these children were cut into pieces and the ladies were garlanded with those pieces. Pieces of flesh of the children were thrust into the mouths of their mothers. In spite of all that, none of the ladies cried or yielded to embrace Islam. Once this horrible scene stunned Mir Mannu. When he reached the palace after visiting the camp, he did not talk to anybody. It seemed he repented. He left for hunting with only four soldiers. While he was hunting, his horse was scared, ran very fast and jumped so high that Mir Mannu could not control it. He fell down, and his feet got entangled in stirrip. Mir Mannu’s cries further scared the horse and it ran faster. It was dragging Mir Mannu and none could stop it. Mir Mannu was badly injured and died in the forest.

Mir Mannu’s sudden death had emboldened the Sikhs and they were settling in their villages. A group of Sikhs, under the command of Baghel Kaur, attacked the Lahore camp at midnight, killed 25 Muslim soldiers who were unprepared, and got the captive ladies released and escorted them to a safer place. After Mir Mannu’s death, his queen invited Ahmad Shah to help her and capture the Sikhs. At this time, Baghel Kaur was living in her village along with her four-year old son and her husband. She wanted to save the ladies who were forcibly being taken to the camp. She asked her husband to take the child and leave for the forest. She herself started to rescue the ladies being taken forcibly by the Muslim soldiers. She saw one such lady who was being taken to the camp, but Baghel Kaur did not slip away. All of a sudden, she injured with her spear the two soldiers who were taking the lady, but she was caught by their companions. Now she herself was a captive with the other ladies in the camp.

Every lady in the camp was given a piece of bread. Some injured and hungry ladies were lying half-dead on the ground and their children were crying for food. Baghel Kaur gave her own piece of bread to the crying children and she remained hungry. The ladies in the camp were whipped, insulted, and taunted by the soldiers so that they might embrace Islam to get rid of this hell. Baghel Kaur protested against ill treatment, but she was ordered to grind wheat for the whole night without rest.

At midnight, the camp-in-charge sent for Baghel Kaur, but she refused to move out. The drunken soldier caught her by the wrist and dragged her. She took courage and slapped the soldier. She took his sword, which was tied to his belt, and injured him. The other ladies came to her help and the soldier had to run away. In the morning, all the ladies were assembled at one place, and the camp-in-charge told them that anyone who agreed to marry a soldier of her choice would be set free and allowed to lead a happy and prosperous life. Baghel Kaur stood up and said that none would agree to be converted as their own religion was dear to them and they would die rather than lead an immoral life of a coward. Her bold and frank talk made the camp commander speechless.

She was taken to a pillar so that her hands should be tied and then whipped to death. On her way to the pillar, she took courage, pushed the soldier who was taking her to the pillar and snatched his sword. Now the whole camp was surrounded by the other soldiers and many ladies were murdered. Baghel Kaur fought bravely, but was killed by armed soldiers who were surrounding her. The next day, about 8000 Sikhs attacked the camp at midnight, killed the camp commander and freed the captive ladies.

Late one afternoon I dropped by the house of my old friend, Satwant Singh Khalsa, to return the handgun I had borrowed from him to teach a shooting course at a local martial-arts school.  The shiny metal weapon had been cleaned and oiled, and was now carefully wrapped in a cloth and tucked under my arm as I knocked on his door, his smiling face appeared and he greeted me as I walked into his home.  I handed him the gun with a profusion of thanks, and turned to leave when his young daughter of six, Amrit Kaur, came up and grabbed her father by the leg.

“Papa, can I see that?” she asked.  “Of course”, Satwant Singh replied, and he began to unwrap the gun with great reverence.  Her eyes grew as big as blue moons reflecting the glint of the handgun as her father explained to her what it was.  She looked at the gun then looked at me, a Khalsa woman in a turban, and her face clouded with confusion.  Again she looked at the gun and then up at me and began to smile shyly.  Finally she said with expectant wonder in her voice, “Papa, can girls shoot guns too?”

Actually, Khalsa women have been shooting ever since guns were first introduced to India.  Many of the old stories have been lost, and those that remain are scant in detail and description.  But the fact is that the Tenth Master, Siri Guru Gobind singh Ji Maharaj, encouraged and promoted women in martial training in the army of the Khalsa.  The Khalsa has no gender, neither male nor female, so those women who were inclined to study the martial tradition found their places in the ranks of the Khalsa Fauj (Army). Mai Bhago Kaur is an outstanding example of a woman warrior in the Sikh tradition.

In 1705 the Mughal forces under the direction of the emperor Aurangzeb laid a deadly seige on the fort of Anandpur Sahib in a desparate effort to destroy Guru Gobind Singh Ji and the Khalsa.  As food and water were exhausted, the conditions became unbearable and many Sikhs deserted the Guru.  The Sikhs from the Majha area of Punjab, belonged to a tradition of gallant warriors, but they also chose to abandon the Guru and return to their villages.  Before he left the fort, Guru Gobind Singh Ji asked them to put their denouncement on paper : they wrote that they were no longer Sikhs of the Guru.

When the women of the viallage heard that their men were returning home, traitors to the Guru’s cause, they were incensed.  Bhago, a lady from Jhabal, spoke to the women and together they resolved to reverse the situation.  As the men returned, hungry, tired and depressed from their experience at AnandPur Sahib, the women would not let them enter their homes.  They said to their husbands and sons,  “Either go back and make amends for your cowardly behaviour, or exchange your dress with ours, stay at home act as housewives in our place.  Dressed in your clothes we will go and fight for the Guru, lay down our lives for him, and wash away with our blood the shame which you have brought on us all, nay the whole of Majha itself.”

Shamed by the courageous response of their womenfolk, a band of forty Sikhs started back towards the Guru under the leadership of Bhai Mahan Singh and Mai Bhago.  Dressed in soldier’s battle-gear, Mai Bhago struck a fearsome pose and was respected by the Sikh soldiers for her spiritual clarity and her courageous nature. As they made their way toward the Guru, groups of Sikhs from various villages along the way joined them in support of the great Guru Gobind Singh Ji.

By that time, Guru Gobind Singh Ji and the Khalsa army had left the fort of Anandpur Sahib with the promise of safe passage from Emperor Aurangzeb.  But his promise proved to be a cruel deception and the Khalsa suffered devastating battles in which the two elder sons of the Guru were killed.  Now they were being pursued by Wazir Khan, the Nawab of Sirhind with over 5000 Mughal soldiers.  Having already captured and bricked alive the two young sons of the Guru, Wazir Khan was eager to kill the Guru himself and gain favour with the Emperor in Delhi.

The Sikhs from Majha met with the Guru-Master between Ramiana and Khidrana.  With Bhai Mahan Singh as their spokesman, the forty Sikhs begged the Guru to forgive their desertion and to bless them with his grace.  Together they rode with the Guru to Khidrana where there was a large water tank to slake the thirst of the guru’s army.  But at this time of May, the plains of Punjab were already scorched by the summer heat, and when they arrived they found the tank nearly dry.  Guru Gobind Singh Ji signalled for his army to continue on in search of water.  Bhai Mahan Singh proposed that his group stay behind and engage the enemy there, allowing the Guru time to reach a place of safety.  Guru Gobind Singh Ji agreed to the strategy, and rode about two miles forward with the bulk of the Khalsa army.

Big white sheets of Khaddar, the course woven cloth, were spread out on the shrubs so that the Mughal army would think that the full army of Sikhs were camped there in great numbers.  Fearlessly, the small band of Sikhs waited in ambush for the huge army of Wazir Khan to approach the tank in search of water.

The battle of Mukhtsar began on the 8th of May, 1705. Under the leadership of Mai Bhago and Bhai Mahan Singh, the Sikhs from Majha fell upon the advancing Mughal forces with a fury free of petty revenge.  Mai bhago was seen fighting in the first rank, firing her long-barrel musket with the skill and precision of a true soldier.  The Mughal army rushed forward several times in an attempt to dislodge the Sikhs and capture the tank, but had withdraw each time under the fierce volley of bullets and arrows.  When at last the Khalsa’s ammunition was all used up, they advanced forward in small groups to engage the enemy in hand-to-hand combat.  When her time came, Mai Bhago charged into the enemy ranks with a long spear, creating havoc and killing many Mughal soldiers.

They were not fighting for victory that day, as the Mughal army out-numbered the Khalsa by about 500 to one.  They had no thought of saving their lives.  They only wished to win time, to stall the Mughal forces long enough so that Guru gobind Singh Ji and the rest of the Khalsa might advance to a better field of battle.  By day’s end, all the Khalsa lay dead in the battlefield.

Nearly 300 of the Turks lay with them in the same bloody bed.  The battle had taken it’s toll and now the Mughal Army cried desparately for water.  When Wazir Khan advanced forward to take possession of the water tank, he was shocked to find that it was bone dry.  Morale had shrivelled in the blistering heat of the Punjabi heat and discipline in the ranks was quickly dissolving.  Abandoning the dead and wounded where they lay, Wazir Khan and his army beat a hasty retreat in search of water for his despairing men.

As evening fell, Guru Gobind Singh Ji rode back to the battlefield of Khidrana.  He got down from his horse and surveyed the bloody carnage that stretched before him.  With a deep affection that he felt for his Khalsa, he knelt by each fallen soldier and blessed him.  Coming to Bhai Mahan Singh, the Guru saw that he was not yet dead.  He lifted his head gently and wiped the blood from his face.  Mahan Singh opened his eyes and saw the beautiful face of Guru Gobind Singh Ji.  The Guru asked him if he had any last wishes, and Mahan Sinigh begged him to tear up the document that he had signed renouncing the Guru.  The Guru said, “You have done a great deed.  You have saved the root of Sikhism in Majha.  You are the Muktas, the liberated ones, delivered from the round of  birth and death forever.”  Saying this, he reached in his belt and pulled out the paper they had signed in Anandpur and tore it up into little pieces that floated away on the wind.

Continuing on, the Guru came to where Mai Bhago lay in the blood soaked grass.  Dozens of Mughals lay dead around her where they had fallen in mortal combat.  He was surprised to find a woman here on the batlefield.  When he knelt to lift her head he saw that she too was barely alive, and he washed her face with cool water.  She opened her eyes and saw the Guru’s face in all his radiance.  Such a beautiful sight, after such a brutal day, lifted her soul into spiritual ecstasy.

Guru Gobind Singh Ji had her removed from the battlefield and her wounds were tended to by his physicians.  When Mai Bhago recovered from her injuries, the Guru gave her amrit from his own hands and she became Mai Bhago Kaur.  Having dedicated her life to the Khalsa, she stayed with Guru Gobind Singh  Ji and served him as one of his personal guards.  Dressed in male attire, she was one of only 10 Sikhs who were permitted to guard the Guru when he slept.  She lived to be an old woman and died in Hazoor Sahib (Nanded, India) where she remained after the Guru’s death.

The legacy of Mai Bhago Kaur lives in all of us.  She showed the way for feminine strength to be courageous, powerful and dynamic.  Her actions turned the course of history, and her courage under fire won her the love and respect of Siri Guru Gobind Singh Ji Mahahraj.

The wives and daughters of today’s Khalsa should be given encouragement and support to pursue martial arts training.  It is not always easy for women, as it goes against the social programming and expectations of our culture.  It requires building physical strength that women often lack in childhood, and which is often difficult to acquire later on.  Yet it is not only possible for women to become proficient in the martial arts, when given the chance we often excel.  More importantly, it builds discipline, confidence and a strength of character that serves a women her entire life.

“Papa”, said little Amrit Kaur shyly, “Do girls shoot guns too?”  Satwant Singh was surprised at his daughter’s question and he looked to me for a reply.

“Of course”, I said with a smile, “Girls shoot the best!  When you get older I will teach you myself.”  On hearing this she put her hand to her mouth and giggled with great exitement and expectation.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

I live in New Mexico, USA.  We have a community of  about 200 Sikh families who live in the area right around our Gurdwara.  It  is very nice.  We have Nam Simran in the Amrit Vela each day … daily langar in the Gurdwara … weekly Siri Akand Path (no paid readers or sevadars).  In fact, we have no paid ANYONE – accept one lady who answers the phone in the Gurdwara office during the day.  The Gurdwara has about 20 acres of land – some rental properties, some just fields … it is beautiful.  We have a council of people who manage the affairs of the community and the Gurdwara,  and I am the Executive Secretary for the Council.  It is a lot of work, but  it is my lifes work and I love it.  I have been in that position since 1974 (I was 19 back then and the Gurdwara was a little room in a run-down house … with 15 people in the Sangat).

For my livelyhood, I work for Akal Security – a private security firm with about 2,000 employees all over the world (which is fully owned by Sikh Dharma of New Mexico – the Gurdwara).  I manage operations and special projects.  I am a pistol expert, and I teach shooting.  For the Siri Singh Sahib, I travel  with him as his personal security along with Gurutej Singh Khalsa. I also love Gurbani Kirtan, so I come in handy when the Siri Singh Sahib is on tour.  I am married to Tyaga Singh Khalsa for the last 21 years, and I have a nineteen year old son – Bhai Daya Singh Khalsa.