Diwan Todar Mal
Seth Todar Mall was a wealthy merchant of Sirhind, who on the 13 December 1705 performed the cremation of the three dead bodies of the two younger Sahibzade Zorawar Singh, Fateh Singh and their grandmother, Mata Gujari after the Sahibzade had been martyred by the Mughal authorities on the 12 December 1705 and the death from shock of their grandmother. This wealthy merchant had to cover the required ground for cremation with gold coins to get the release of the three bodies.
A wealthy merchant of Sirhind, according to tradition, performed the last rites for the two younger sons of Guru Gobind Singh martyred, on 12 December 1706, under the orders ofWazir Khan, faujdar of Sirhind, and of Mata Gujari, the Guru's mother who died of the shock on the same day. It is said that landowners around the Sirhind Fort would not permit him to hold the cremation in their fields, until one Chaudhari Atta agreed to sell him a plot. The seller's stipulation was that the buyer (Todar Mall) will take only as much of the space as he could cover with gold mohars, he would lay out for the purchase. The Seth produced the coins and bought the piece of land he needed. He cremated the three bodies and putting the ashes in an urn buried them there. The site is now marked by Gurdwara Joti Sarup at Fatehgarh Sahib, near Sirhind. Modern historians have tried to identify Seth Todar Mall as a son or later descendant of Raja Todar Mall, of Sirhind, who won renown as an administrator under the Mughal emperors, Shah Jahan and Aurangzib, and who, according to Shah Nawaz Khan, Ma'asir ulUmara, lived up to 1076 AH/AD 1666. To perpetuate the memory of the nobleminded Seth, a road in Sirhind town and a hall in Gurdwara Fatehgarh Sahib have now been named after him.
The Haveli Todar Mal also known as Jahaz Haveli is situated on the Eastren side of Sirhind-Ropar Railway Line just 1 KM away from Fatehgarh Sahib. These are the remains of the Havaili of Devan Todar Mal, and a fine building it must have been in its hay day. Todar Mal was a true Sikh of Guru Gobind Singh Ji. In the dark days when Guru Sahib Ji made his way through the jungles of Machhiwara, and his younger sons were put on trial by Zikharia Khan many Sikhs betrayed Guru Ji.
As Guru Ji made his may from Machiwara through to Sabo Ki talwandi many so called devotees asked Guru Ji to leave their premises as they were in fear that if the authorities were to hear of it then they would be persecuted. But not Todar Mal, he did not shirk his responsibilities, he put Guru Ji before everything.
With Mata Gujri Ji and the younger sons of Guru Ji – Baba Zorawar Singh Ji and Baba Fateh Singh Ji – shaheed (martyred) at the tender ages of 5 and 7 the despicable Mughal authorities refused their funeral rites on government land, it was decreed that there funeral rites could only be performed on land bought from Chaudhari Atta. Not only this, but the land could only be bought by laying gold coins (ashrifs) on the required area, vertically.
Todar Mal did not shun his responsibility and laid down the required coins and made arrangements for the cremations.
Let us look at this in a little detail, say that a gold coin has a diameter of around 3cm and would take up an area of (3 x 3 ) 9cm squared. The land required for the martyred children would be approximately 2.0m by 2.0m a total area of 40,000 cm squared if laid next to each other. Add to this the area required for Mata Ji (2.0m by 1.5m) if the coins were laid horizontally then to cover this area would require around 7800 gold coins. Now, if the coins had to be stacked vertically then possibly 10 coins would be needed to cover the 9cm squared area, so vertically 7800 x 10 coins would be required, or 78,000. That is an awful lot of gold coins today, one can only imagine how much they were worth three hundred years ago. It is safe to say it was probably his life’s savings. Maybe he had to beg and borrow to raise the total amount, who knows, but the fact remains this was truly a noble deed. Todar Mal forsake everything for his love of Guru Gobind Singh Ji , which is the reason why Sikhs hold Devan Todar Mal in such high esteem.
A splended Gurdwara, Gurdwara Jyoti Swarup, now stands at the place where these three martyrs were cremated. This Gurdwara is at a distance of about a mile to the east of the main Gurdwara at Fatehgarh Sahib and the road connecting the two Gurdwaras is known as Dewan Todar Mal Marg. A spacious congregation hall has been constructed by the sikhs at Fatehgarh Sahib to commemorate his noble service which is a symbol of the great respect the sikhs have for the Dewan.
A point of note.
Since all historic sites have now been destroyed and covered by such beautiful slabs of marble it is hard to envisage the type of Havali that Guru Gobind Singh Ji and his 40 sikhs took over at Chamkaur Sahib. By looking at the above images of Devan Todar Mals havaili one can get an idea of the types of structure they were. This sweeps away the notion that a havaili was some sort of ramshackle building or wooden stables, rather they were solid buildings which could be defended against a potential siege situation, which is exactly what happened at Chamkaur Sahib. It is now easier to see how Guru Ji and 40 Singhs held out in such a building while around them the enemy hoards laid siege.
References
1. Gian Singh, Giani, Twarikh Guru Khalsa. Patiala, 1970
2. Harbans Singh, Guru Gobind Singh. Chandigarh, 1967
3. Macauliffe, M.A., The Sikh Religion. Oxford, 1909
