Bhai Bachittar Singh
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Bhai Bachittar Singh (6 May 1664–8 December 1705), often known with the honorific "Shaheed" (martyr), was a Minhas Sikh Rajput hero, a warrior under Guru Gobind Singh. His native village was Padhiana. He is best remembered today as the soldier who drove a spear into the head of an intoxicated elephant at the Battle of Anandpur.
Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji and a small number of Sikhs were defending their position in Lohgarh fort of Anandpur Sahib, which was under attack by numerically far suprior forces under the rule of the Moghul Emperor Aurangzeb and the Hindu rulers of the Hill States. Despite superior numbers, the besiedging forces were unable to penetrate the heavily-defended fort. They brought forth an armoured, druken elephant to batter in the gates. Bhai Bachittar Singh was tasked with stopping the elephant, armed with a nagni barcha, a type of spear. Singh rode out of the fort on horseback and attacked the elephant, thrusting his spear into the animal's forehead and cutting the its trunk with his sword. The wounded elephant retreated, disrupting the attackers' ranks.
Singh was wounded after taking part in the fifth and last battle of Anandpur. The city was evacuated, and Singh safely crossed the Sirsa River. However, he was wounded in a skirmish near Malikpur Ranghran, and died of his wounds two days later, in Kotla Nihang Khan.
[edit] References
- "Regional Briefs: Punjab", The Tribune, 6 May 2001.
- "Punjab places of interest", Indtravel.com. Accessed 4 April 2007.
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