Wazir Khan (Sirhind)

Not to be confused with Wazir Khan (Lahore) or Wazir Khan (Rampur).
Mirza Askari Wazir Khan
میرزا عسکری وزیرخان
Wazir Khan
Faujdar (Commander)
Sarkar (Deputy-Governor)
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
Sarkar (Deputy-Governor) of Sirhind
Holding Office(Late 17th-Centuries) –
12 May 1710
SuccessorBaj Singh of Khalsa Fauj
PadishahAlamgir I
BornMirza Askari
c. 1635
Kunjpura, Delhi Subah, Mughal Empire[1]
Died12 May 1710(1710-05-12) (aged 74–75)
Chappar Chiri, Punjab
IssueTulghan Khan
Names
Mirza Askari Wazir Khan bin Zahir Haram Khan
Farsiمیرزا عسکری وزیرخان بن ظاهر حرم خان
FatherZahir Haram Khan
MotherAmina Begum
ReligionSunni Islam
OccupationDeputy-Governor and Military Commander of the Mughal Empire

Mirza Askari (Persian: میرزا عسکری, c. 1635 — 12 May 1710), better known by his title Wazir Khan, He was the Moghul (Military Commander) Faujdar of the Sirhind region and (Deputy-Governor) Sarkar of Sirhind under the Delhi Subah in the present-day state of Punjab, and administered the territory that lay between the Sutlej and Yamuna rivers, he official notable for his conflicts with the Sikhs,[2][3][4][5] he was the descendant of (Wazir Khan Akbar Shahi) of Persian descent who was the Courtrian to the third Emperor of Hindustan, Akbar I.[5]

Biography

According to Sikh sources, Mirza Askari (Wazir Khan) was born around 1635 and was a native of then Kunjpura and Karnal district of modern-day Haryana.[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 be bricked alive and later beheaded them after knowing that they were still alive inside even though that was not in the order.[8]

Wazir Khan was defeated and beheaded by a Sikh warrior 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

  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. ^ a b 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. Lotus Press. 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. ^ Hari Ram Gupta. History Of The Sikhs Vol. II Evolution Of Sikh Confederacies (1707-69).


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