In the second battle of Anandpur fought between Sikhs and the Mughals, Aurangzeb’s generals Wazir Khan and Zaberdast Khan executed two children of Gobind Singh, the Tenth Sikh Guru. His son Ajit Singh was 17 years old (born 1687)and Jujhar Singh (born 1691) was 13 years old at their execution.
Battle of Anandpur
The battle of Anandpur was fought between Sikhs and Mughals who wanted to arrest the rise of Sikhs. Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb dispatched his three governor-generals Wazir Khan(Sirhind), Zaberdast Khan(Lahore) and Dilwaar Khan(Kashmir) along with the governor of Peshawar to seize Anandpur forts.
The siege took place between May – December 1704.
Their positions were:
- Anandpur – Guru Gobind Singh
- Fatehgarh – Uday Singh
- Holgarh – Mokham Singh
- Keshgarh – Ajit Singh
- Lohgarh – Jujhar Singh
Each fort consisted of 500 men approximately.
Mughal Treachery
The Mughals and their allied, the Hill Rajas swore oath on Quran and cows that if they surrender, they would be unharmed.
Running out of rations and provisions, the Sikh Guru and their men decided for peace but were treacherously attacked when they came out.
Islamic Customs Followed by Mughals
It was a tradition during those times to force captives to accept Islam or face death otherwise.
