Sahibzada Ajit Singh - Chamkaur, Sahibzada Ajit Singh's Final Battle

Chamkaur, Sahibzada Ajit Singh's Final Battle

When Mughal forces besieged Anandpur in 1705, Sahibzada Ajit Singh again displayed his qualities of courage and steadfastness. After a long stalemate, the Mughal Faujdar gave his assurances that he only wanted the fort of Anandpur and would let the population of the town go unharmed. Anandpur was vacated on the night of 3–4 December 1705. Sahibzada Ajit Singh was given the command of the rearguard. As the besiegers, violating their solemn promises, attacked the column, he stoutly engaged them on a hill-feature called Shahi Tibbi until he was relieved by Bhai Udai Singh. Ajit Singh crossed the Sarsa, then in spate, along with his father, younger brother, Jujhar Singh, and some fifty men. Further reduced in numbers by casualties at the hands of pursuing troops from Ropar, the column reached Chamkaur on the evening of 6 December 1705, and took up position in a garhi(a stockade) and prepared for a fight to the finish. The host, since swelled by reinforcements from Malerkotla and Sirhind and from among the local Ranghars and Gujjars, soon caught up with them and threw a tight ring around Chamkaur. An unequal but grim battle commenced with the sunrise on 7 December 1705 - in the words of Guru Gobind Singh's Zafarnamah, a mere forty defying thousands. The besieged, after they had exhausted the meagre stock of ammunitions and arrows, made sallies in batches of five each to engage the encircling host with sword and spear.

Sahibzada Ajit Singh led one of the sallies and laid down his life fighting in the thick of the battle. Gurdwara Qatalgarh now marks the spot where he fell, followed by Sahibzada Jhujhar Singh who led the next sally. An annual fair is held in the commemoration of their martyrdoms in December - January.