As the Fatehgarh Sahib district of Punjab gears up for the annual Shaheedi Jor Mela from December 25 to 27, Punjab Assembly Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan has pledged the Aam Aadmi Party government’s full support for the preservation and restoration of Jahaz Haveli, once the residence of Diwan Todar Mal in Sirhind. But who was Diwan Todar Mal, and how is he associated with the two younger sons of Guru Gobind Singh, the founder of the Khalsa? Who was Diwan Todar Mal? Diwan Todar Mal was a wealthy merchant from Sirhind. Historical accounts suggest that he served as a revenue official (Diwan) under Mughal emperor Shah Jahan but was later removed by Aurangzeb. Todar Mal was in Sirhind when the two younger sons of Guru Gobind Singh—Sahibzada Fateh Singh (9) and Sahibzada Zorawar Singh (7)—were bricked alive on the orders of Wazir Khan, the Mughal governor of Sirhind, on December 13, 1704. Their grandmother, Mata Gujri, 81, died of shock after learning of their horrific deaths. The execution of the two children sent shockwaves through the region. Fear of Wazir Khan’s wrath prevented anyone from performing their last rites until Todar Mal stepped forward to claim the bodies. Wazir Khan imposed stringent conditions, demanding that Todar Mal purchase the cremation land by covering it with gold coins. Moreover, the coins had to be placed vertically. Undeterred, Todar Mal fulfilled the demands, spending a fortune on what is considered one of the most expensive land transactions of that era. Todar Mal cremated the bodies of the Sahibzadas and Mata Gujri with full honours and buried their ashes in an urn on the purchased land. Much later, Maharaja Karam Singh of Patiala (1813–45) built a gurdwara at the site in Sirhind and at other locations where they had stayed. He also renamed the district from Sirhind to Fatehgarh Sahib, after the principal gurdwara, Gurdwara Fatehgarh Sahib, near Sirhind. Why were the two young Sahibzadas executed? According to Koer Singh’s Gurbilas Patshahi Dasveen, Mata Gujri was in the Chamkaur Garhi (fortress) after Guru Gobind Singh had left. She went out in search of the two younger Sahibzadas but was identified by a “Turk.” Along with others, he entered the garhi and found a Sikh with a kalgi (plume). Mistaking him for Guru Gobind Singh, they killed him and took Mata Gujri and the two Sahibzadas to Sirhind. The boys were offered tempting rewards and asked to embrace Islam, but they refused, and were bricked alive. In his historical text Panth Prakash, completed in 1810, Rattan Singh Bhangu provides a slightly different account. He writes that Mata Gujri and her grandsons were separated from Guru Gobind Singh near Ropar. A cook from Saheri village near Ropar took them to his home but, greedy for a reward, informed Jani and Mani, two Ranghar brothers from Morinda. They handed the three over to Wazir Khan, the Iranian-origin governor of Sirhind who asked them to convert to Islam. The boys and their grandmother were detained in a cold tower for two days but did not relent. Bhangu notes that Sher Muhammad of Malerkotla strongly opposed their execution but Wazir Khan paid no heed to him and executed the boys. Six years later, in May 1710, Baba Banda Singh Bahadur avenged their martyrdom by attacking Sirhind and killing Wazir Khan in the Battle of Chappar Chiri on May 12, 1710. What is Jahaz Haveli? Jahaz Haveli was the residence of Diwan Todar Mal in Sirhind, Fatehgarh Sahib district. This 17th-century structure, resembling a ship, is built with Nanakshahi bricks. Despite its historical significance, the haveli has suffered from neglect, with several half-hearted attempts at preservation. In 2009, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) took possession of the haveli. Recently, the Diwan Todar Mal Heritage Foundation Punjab has been working to highlight its restoration. Foundation president Lakhwinder Singh Kahneke announced plans to restore the haveli to its original grandeur using a 1911 photograph from the British Library as a guide. Kultar Singh Sandhwan has assured that the Punjab government will collaborate with the SGPC and the Tourism and Archaeology Department to support the project. In 2021, the Congress government renamed the road connecting Jahaz Haveli to the main road as “Diwan Todar Mal Marg.” How has the Centre commemorated the martyrdom of the two younger Sahibzadas? In 2022, the Government of India declared December 26 as “Veer Baal Diwas” to honour the bravery and supreme sacrifice of Sahibzada Fateh Singh and Sahibzada Zorawar Singh, the younger sons of Guru Gobind Singh. What is the confusion about the dates of the execution? Prof Amarjit Singh, director of the Centre on Studies in Sri Guru Granth Sahib at Guru Nanak Dev University, explains that historians of the time used the lunar calendar, which is 11 days shorter than the Gregorian calendar. The British adopted the Gregorian calendar in September 1752, by which time the difference between the two systems had grown to 11 days.
