Zorawar Singh (Sikhism)

Sahibzada Zorawar Singh (Punjabi: ਸਾਹਿਬਜ਼ਾਦਾ ਜ਼ੋਰਾਵਰ ਸਿੰਘ, 17 November 1696 – 12 December 1705)^[1] was the third of Guru Gobind Singh's four sons. He and his younger brother, Sahibzada Fateh Singh are among the most hallowed martyrs in Sikhism.

A combination of Mughals and hillmen besieged Anandpur Sahib on the orders of emperor Aurangzeb. The stock of food in the town ran out. The Mughals promised to leave the Sikhs alone if they would hand over the fortress of Anandpur. To this Guru Gobind agreed and left the town with his family and a small band of retainers.

They had not gone very far when the Mughals, breaking their promise, came after them. Guru Gobind entrusted his two younger sons, Zorawar Singh and Fateh Singh as well as his mother, Mata Gujri, to the care of a cook in his household named Gangu.

Gangu brought Mata Gujri and the two Sahibzadas to his native village of Sahedi. Bribed by the Mughals, he turned over the three members of Guru Gobind's family to the faujdar of Morinda. They were then brought to Sirhind in the presence of Wazir Khan, the Nawab of Sirhind.

The two sons of Guru Gobind, Zorawar (9 years old) and Fateh (6 years old) were offered safe passage if they became Muslims. Both refused, and so Wazir Khan sentenced them to death. They were bricked alive.^[2]

After Guru Gobind's death, Madhodas Bairagi, a hermit from Nanded, whom the Guru baptised as Gurbaksh Singh, commonly known as Banda Bahadur, besieged the Punjab. After laying waste, the cities of Samana and Sandhaura, he moved towards Sirhind and after defeating the Mughal forces, beheaded Wazir Khan.

The place where the two sons of Guru Gobind were bricked alive is today known as Fatehgarh Sahib.

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