Sahibzada Baba Ajit Singh Ji: the eldest son of Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji

This day celebrates the birth of Sahibzada Baba Ajit Singh Ji, the eldest son of Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji, born at Paonta Sahib in 1687 to Mata Sundari Ji. He is the first of the Chaar Sahibzade, the four sons of the Guru whom every Sikh remembers in Ardas.

A youth at Anandpur Sahib

Ajit Singh Ji grew up at Anandpur Sahib, trained in horsemanship, swordsmanship and archery alongside the study of Gurmukhi and the bani. Tradition remembers him as tall, brave and calm. When he was about twelve the Khalsa was created, and he took Amrit with his family. In 1700, still a teenager, he was sent at the head of a band of Singhs to the village of Nuh, where a group of Ranghars had robbed a sangat on its way to Anandpur Sahib, and he returned having recovered what was taken.

The defence of Anandpur

Through the long sieges of Anandpur Sahib by the hill rajas and the Mughal forces, Baba Ajit Singh Ji fought in its defence. When the Guru's household left the fort in December 1704, he rode with his father and his younger brother, Baba Jujhar Singh Ji.

Chamkaur

At Chamkaur, besieged in a mud fortress by a vast army, he asked his father's permission to go out and fight, and the Guru armed him himself. He fell fighting, aged about eighteen. His younger brother followed him into battle the same day. Read the story of the Saka of Chamkaur Sahib.

How the day is observed

Sangats mark his birth anniversary with kirtan and Ardas, especially at Chamkaur Sahib and Anandpur Sahib, and young Sikhs often take part in gatka and kirtan in his memory.