Siege of Anandpur Sahib - Eight Months

Dadi: "Guddu, tonight I'll tell you about one of the darkest chapters in Sikh history - and about a letter that turned defeat into victory."

Guddu: "A letter won a battle?"

Dadi: "It won something greater than a battle, beta. It won the moral war. But first, the suffering."

Guddu: "Tell me."

Dadi: "In 1704, Guru Gobind Singh Ji and about 460 Sikhs - men, women, and innocent children - were trapped in the fort of Anandpur Sahib. The Mughal emperor's forces, along with hill kings who had betrayed the Sikhs, surrounded them completely."

Guddu: "Surrounded for how long?"

Dadi: "Eight months, Guddu. Eight long months. They cut off all food and water supplies. Inside the fort, people were starving. Children were crying from hunger. But no one surrendered."

Guddu: "Eight months with no food?!"

Dadi: "The enemy tried a trick. They sent a peace letter, promising safe passage if the Sikhs would just leave the fort. Guru Gobind Singh was suspicious. He ordered cartloads to leave the fort as a test. Do you know what happened?"

Guddu: "What?"

Dadi: "The soldiers attacked! Despite their promise of safe conduct, they tried to capture the carts. But when they opened them, they found only old rags, broken pots, and worn shoes. The Guru had proven the enemy's treachery."

Guddu: "So clever!"

Dadi: "But the suffering continued. One night, forty Sikhs came to the Guru. They were starving, desperate. 'We can't continue,' they said. 'Let us surrender.'"

Guddu: "What did the Guru say?"

Dadi: "He explained that this was a struggle against tyranny and injustice. True victory requires patience and sacrifice. But the forty wouldn't listen. They demanded to be released from their allegiance."

Guddu: "Did he let them go?"

Dadi: "He made them sign documents saying they were leaving by choice, that they were no longer his Sikhs. Then he let them go. But beta - these same forty would return later, as the Forty Immortals, the Chali Mukte, at the Battle of Muktsar. They died fighting to protect the Guru, redeeming themselves."

Guddu: "They came back?"

Dadi: "Honor has a way of pulling people back. But first, more tragedy. Eventually, the Guru accepted the Emperor's peace offer. The enemy had sworn on the Quran - their holiest book - that the Sikhs would have safe passage."

Guddu: "Did they keep their promise?"

Dadi: "*shaking head slowly* That very night, as the Sikhs crossed the swollen Sirsa River, the Mughal forces attacked. In the chaos and darkness, families were separated. Thousands died. Precious scriptures were lost in the river."

Guddu: "*quietly* What happened to the Guru's family?"

Dadi: "His mother, Mata Gujri, and his two youngest sons - Sahibzada Zorawar Singh (age 9) and Sahibzada Fateh Singh (age 6) - were separated from him. They were later captured."

Guddu: "What happened to them?"

Dadi: "*voice heavy* The children were brought before the Mughal governor of Sirhind. 'Convert to Islam,' he demanded, 'and you will live as princes.' Do you know what those brave boys said?"

Guddu: "*holding breath* What?"

Dadi: "They refused. A nine-year-old and a six-year-old looked at the governor and said no. So he ordered them bricked up alive in a wall."

Guddu: "*tears forming* That's... that's so cruel. They were just children."

Dadi: "The two elder sons - Sahibzada Ajit Singh and Sahibzada Jujhar Singh - were killed in battle at Chamkaur. In just a few weeks, Guru Gobind Singh lost all four sons."

Guddu: "How did he survive such grief?"

Dadi: "This is where the letter comes in. After losing everything - his sons, his mother, thousands of followers - Guru Gobind Singh wrote a letter in Persian to Emperor Aurangzeb. He called it Zafarnama - the 'Letter of Victory.'"

Guddu: "Victory? After losing everything?"

Dadi: "That's what makes it extraordinary. He wrote: 'You have killed my four children, but the Khalsa is still alive.' He pointed out every broken promise, every oath violated. He accused the Emperor of lacking morality both in governance and in war."

Guddu: "Wasn't he afraid to write that?"

Dadi: "Fear was not in his vocabulary. He had lost everything a man can lose - but he had not lost his truth. He had not lost his courage. He had not lost his connection to God. That, he said, was the real victory."

Guddu: "Did Aurangzeb respond?"

Dadi: "He invited the Guru to meet him, but he died before the meeting could happen. The letter shook him, they say. Perhaps he realized that he had killed children but could not kill the spirit."

Guddu: "Dadi, this is the saddest story you've told me."

Dadi: "It is sad, beta. But it's also about courage that cannot be defeated. Those little boys - six and nine years old - chose death over betraying their faith. The Guru, after losing everything, wrote words of defiance instead of surrender."

Guddu: "How do people become that brave?"

Dadi: "By believing in something greater than themselves. By knowing that some things matter more than survival. Those children knew their father's teachings. They died as Sikhs, and in dying, became immortal."

Guddu: "*wiping eyes* I hope I can be that brave if I ever need to be."

Dadi: "Pray that you never need such courage, beta. But if you do - remember the little princes of Anandpur. Remember the letter written in loss that declared victory. Remember that the body can be killed, but the spirit - never."

Guddu: "Goodnight, Dadi. May we always have that courage."

Dadi: "*stroking his hair* May we never need it, but always possess it. Goodnight, my brave little warrior."