Wazir Khan (Sirhind)

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Wazir Khan
وزیر خان
Depiction of Wazir Khan of Sirhind beheaded during the Battle of Sirhind (1710) from an illustrated folio of ‘Tawarikh-i Jahandar Shah’, Awadh or Lucknow, ca.1770
Nawab of Sirhind
SuccessorBaj Singh of Khalsa Fauj
PadishahAlamgir I
BornMirza Askari
تلکس نینی
1635
Kunjpura, Haryana, Mughal Empire[1]
Died12 May 1710(1710-05-12) (aged 74–75)
Chappar Chiri, Punjab, Banda Singh's polity
IssueTulghan Khan
FatherZahir Haram Khan
MotherAmina Begum
ReligionIslam (Sunni)
OccupationMughal Governor

Mirza Askari (تلکس نینی; 1635 — 12 May 1710), better known by his title Wazir Khan (وزیر خان), was the Mughal governor of Sirhind in the present state of Punjab. He administered the territory of the Mughal Empire that laid between the Sutlej and Yamuna rivers.[2][3][4][5]

Biography[edit]

Mirza Askari (Wazir Khan) was a native of Kunjpura in Karnal district of modern day Haryana, according to Sikh sources.[6]

Wazir Khan is noted for his conflicts with the Sikhs and became infamous for ordering the execution of Guru Gobind Singh's young sons (Sahibzada Fateh Singh and Sahibzada Zorawar Singh) in 1704.[7] He was the governor of Sirhind when he arrested the two younger sons of Guru Gobind Singh. Wazir Khan tried to force the young sons of the Guru to embrace Islam. When they refused to accept Islam he ordered them to bricked alive.[8]

Wazir Khan was defeated and beheaded by a Sikh named Fateh Singh, a warrior in the Sikh Khalsa, during the Battle of Chappar Chiri on 12 May 1710.[9] His body was desecrated, dragged by an ox, and then hung onto a tree.[10]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Gandhi, Surjit (1999). Sikhs in the Eighteenth Century: Their Struggle for Survival and Supremacy. Singh Bros. p. 716. ISBN 81-7205-217-0. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  2. ^ Dr Harjinder Singh, 'Sikh History in 10 Volumes', Sikh University Press, Belgium, vol. 2, p. 31.
  3. ^ Dr Harjinder Singh, 'Sikh History in 10 Volumes', Sikh University Press, Belgium, vol 1, pp 64, 259-60.
  4. ^ Tony Jaques (2007). Dictionary of battles and sieges. Vol. 3. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 948. ISBN 9780313335396.
  5. ^ History of Islam, p. 506, at Google Books
  6. ^ William Irvine (1971). Later Mughal. p. 94.
  7. ^ Singh, PrithiPal (2006). The History of Sikh Gurus. ISBN 9788183820752.
  8. ^ Dahiya, Amardeep (2014). Founder of the Khalsa: The Life and Times of Guru Gobind Singh. Hay House, Inc. p. 183. ISBN 9789381398616.
  9. ^ William Irvine (1904). Later Mughals. Atlantic Publishers & Distri.
  10. ^ www.DiscoverSikhism.com. History Of The Sikhs Vol. II Evolution Of Sikh Confederacies (1707-69).