The Chhibbers

The history of the Chhibbers (also spelled as Chibber) is a saga of sacrifices time after time—from Raja Dhir, the king of Sind in the 7^th century to Bhai Balmukund of the modern times. The only parallel in Indian history is, perhaps that of the militant Peshwas in Maharashtra. With illustrious pre-historic ancestors like Bhrigu, Jamdagini and Parshu Ram, they have a very rich and ancient heritage. They derive their gotra from their celestial forefather, Rishi Bhrigu, and share it with the valiant Chola kings (10^th century) of the south.

There are indications in old textbooks that the Chhibbers lived in Mathura around 250 BC. In the 7^th century AD Rai Narsingdev, a Chhibber patriarch was Dewan in the ruling principality of Mathura. He had two sons named Rai Chach and Nahar Singh. After the death of Narsingdev, his sons became disenchanted with Mathura and migrated to Sind. In Sind, Rai Chach got a job in the court of Raja Sahsi. Raja Sahsi discerned his latent qualities and appointed him as his prime minister. When Sahsi died without leaving any heir to succeed Him, his queen who was secretly in love with Rai Chach, kept the news of his death a closely guarded secret to pre-empt intrigues of the many aspirants to the throne. She later married Rai Chach and proclaimed him as the new ruler.

Rai Chach is considered to be the founder of the Chhibber sect and was the first to use the appellation of Chhibber with his name. Chhibber is believed to be derived from the Sanskrit word `Shivi Var’, meaning a righteous person

Raja Chach died in 674AD after a glorious rule of forty years. His son Raja Dhir took over in 687AD But the peace in his kingdom was shattered by the invasion of the Caliph of Baghdad. He sent his nephew Mohammed Bin Kasim who laid siege to his fort The Raja fought with his back to the wall as his kingdom was in total anarchy. -The Jats sided with the invaders, his trusted councilor, Ilafi, switched over to his co-religionists and even the Brahmins revolted.. Kasim and his men murdered innocent men, converted people to Islam at the edge of the sword, desecrated and burnt sacred Hindu and Buddhist shrines

Sind was lost due to internal dissensions and selfish traitors. Kasim’s next target was Multan and he then reached Kannauj - all in one year.

The exodus of the Chhibbers from Sind took place at about the same time as that of the Datts from Arabia .

After the fall of Sind, the descendants of Raja Dhir moved to Punjab. They were helped in their rehabilitation by the king of Delhi and established themselves in different places.

Timur Lang invaded India in 1398. While on his way to Delhi, he pillaged and plundered Dipalpur and Bhatner, the stronghold of the Chhibbers, and indulged in carnage reminiscent of the killer Mahmud Ghazni. The people fled from here. The Chhibbers fled to Bikaner but finding no means of livelihood migrated to Ujjain. The Brahmin king treated them with great hospitality but for some unknown reason they shifted to Jaunpur

Praga Sain (1507—1638) laid the foundation of Karyala, which remained the home of the Chhibbers for 450 years till the partion of India in 1947. When northern India came under the sway of the spiritual renaissance of Guru Nanak, Praga became a disciple of the Guru and was thenceforth known as Baba Praga. Because of his deep devotion, he became a member of the inner court.

After the death of Guru Nanak, Baba Praga became the power behind the throne during the period of the next five Gurus: Angad, AmarDass, Ram Dass, Arjun Dev andHar Govind. He was the Raj Guru for their instalation ceremonies. He helped Guru Arjun Dev

In the composition of of the Adi Granth. In the year 1638, at the age of 131 , he was called by Guru Har Govind to fight against Shah Jahan. Although crippled with age, he responded to the call and fought with Paindey Khan , the Governeor of Lahore. Paindey Khan along with a large number of soldiers were slain in the battle. Baba Praga himself was greiviously wounded while fighting near Kartarpur and died on return to Karyala. He was truly the ‘Bhishma’ of the Mohyal community. His Mausoleum stands on the outskirts of Karyala and another memorial was raised in Kabul at the site of the ‘Char Bagh’. His memory has been honoured by naming the cross section beyond Sarai Guru Ramdas on the periphery of the Golden Temple complex at Amritsar as Chowk Pragdass.

After the expiry of Baba Praga his son Durga Dass was annointed as the new Diwan of Guru Har Govind and he continued to hold that office upto the time of Guru Har Rai the seventh Guru. On his death , his son Lakhi Dass was annointed to the same post but he died soon afterwards and Bhai Durgamal held that position till he reign of Guru Har Kishan.

Guru Teg Bahadur founded the new township of Anantpur in Bilaspur state on the bank of the river Sutlej in 1665. Bhai Mati Dass (son of Bhai Durga Mal) carried on the administration from there on behalf of the Guru. He also acted as the chief priest of the Vaishnav Foundation at Karyala whose missionaries worked all over Punjab, NWFP, Afghanistan and Iran.

Under the despotic rule of Aurangzeb, the Hindus were subjected to insufferable indignities : they were forced to pay a discriminatory tax (Jazia), their temples were demolished with impunity and mosques built in their place, their sacred threads were snatched from their body and burnt and masses of people were forced to convert to Islam. After witnessing these scenes, Guru Teg Bahadur went on a visit to Bihar , Bengal and Assam with a very heavy heart. It was during these travels that Guru Govind Singh was born at Patna on 26^th December 1666. The Guru was still at Patna when he received a distress call from Bhai Mati Dass in Anantpur about the deteriorating condition in the North, particularly in Kashmir , where the Hidus were groaning under the attrocities perpetuated by its Governer, Iftikhar Khan. The Guru rushed to Anantpur and from there proceeded to Kiratpur to console his people and inspire courage in them. On his return journey in June 1675 accompanied by Bhai Mati Dass, Bhai Sati Dass, Bhai Dayala, Bhai Gur Ditta and a retinue of about 500 followers, he camped at Ropar before going to Agra. While in Agra Guru Teg Bahadur along with his devotees was captured and escorted to Delhi under the survelience of 1200 mounted soldiers to face trial for sedition against the King. At Agra Guru Teg Bahadur parted with his precious ring and shawl to get some sweets for his hungry followers. It is believed that the confectioner from whose these sweets were purchased reported to the police who were in search of the Guru. This led to his arrest.

At Delhi, in a moch trial, the Qazi offered them 2 options viz. to embrace Islam or to pay with their lives. In response, they unanimously agreed to die rather than barter away the faith of their forefathers.

3 saintly men were tortured to death in most savage manner on 3 consecutive days. Bhai Mati Dass was bolted between 2 planks of wood and bifurcated into 2 from top to trunk with a saw by a commander Altaf Khan on 9^th November 1675. It is stated that when the execution began, Bhai Mati Dass started reciting the Sukhmani Sahib and the voice continued to come from the 2 parts of his body till the prayer was completed.

Bhai Dayala was scalded to death in a cauldron of boiling water on 10^th November 1675.

Guru Teg Bahadur was beheaded in cold blood under a banyan tree (the trunk of the tree and well near-by where he took bath are still preserved), opposite to Sunheri Masjid near the Kotwali in Chandni Chowk where he was lodged as a prisoner on 11^th November 1675.

His head was carried by Bhai Jeeta to Guru Govind Singh at Anantpur while the body was retrieved by Lakhi Shah who carried it in a cart of hay and cremated it by burning his hut. At this spot the Gurdwara Rikab Ganj stands today. Later on Gurdwara Sis Ganj was built at Chandi Chowk at the site of Guru’s martyrdom.

In recognition of the devotion and supreme sacrifice made by Mati Dass, Guru Tegh Bahadur bestowed the title of Bhai on him. In course of time all Chhibbers belonging to the village of Karyala adopted this title.

Even after the death of Bhai Mati Das his descendants carried on the fight against the tyrannical Muslim rulers. Bhai Sahib Singh (nephew of Bhai Mati Dass), was picked up Guru Govind Singh to be his Dewan. He fought a tumultous war with Hatai Khan and killed a large number of his soldiers. Ultimately, he fell to the blows of his enemy near Beas and was cremated on the bank of the river by Guru Govind Singh. Impressed by the bravery of Bhai Sahib Singh, Guru Govind Singh sent a reward of one horse and Rs.500 to his son, Bhai Gurbaksh Singh, in 1704. He also sent a letter of eulogy, dated 12 Bhadon Samat1761, signed in his own hand and written with the tip of his sword This citation is preserved by his progenies as a priceless souvenir. Bhai Gurbaksh Singh was appointed as the next Dewan.

When Guru Govind Singh proceeded to the Deccan Gurbaksh Singh retired to Amritsar.At the time of the invasion of Ahmed Shah Abdali, his bandits made an onslought on the Golden Temple and let loose an orgy of loot and mayhem. The Sikhs were hounded out killed on the streets and a reward of Rs.10 yo Rs. 15 per head was offeredfor their slaughter. In the street battles the aged Bhai Gurbaksh Singh was done to death.

A MOHYAL ROBINHOOD
Banda Veer Bairagi was born in a Chhibber family in 1670 in village Mendhar, Distt. Poonch. He met Guru Govind Singh at Nanded in Maharashtra in 1708 and was deeply impressed by his militancy against the Muslim despotism. After the death of the Guru, Banda vowed to continue his nission of avenging the atrocities inflicted on the Hindus by the fanatic Muslim rulers. He roused the Sikhs with the slogan of `Raj Karega Khalsa; Aaki Rahe Na Koey.’( the Khalsa will rule the land and all dissidents will be wiped out.) He raided and ransacked the Muslim strongholds of Ambala, Saharanpur and Deoband. He stormed into Lahore and captured it.On the way he fought a pitched battle with Wazir Khan, thr governor of Sirhind, who had ordered the live burial of the two minor sons of Guru Govind singh,and killed him in May 1710. He razed to the ground the towns of Panipat and Karnal. In less than a decade, he changed the map of centuries and completed the work of Shivaji and other warrior patriots. However, he was defeated in the war with his sworn enemy, Farrukhseiyar, at Amirabad in 1716. About 300 Sikh soldiers were killed in this battle. Banda was captured and brought to Delhi, chained and caged, and paraded in the streets along with cartloads of his beheaded soldiers, their bleeding heads poised on spears.

First his 750 followers were killed at the rate of 20 heads per day near the Harding library in the vicinity of the Delhi railway station and lastly, Banda himself was executed at Qutab Minar on 9^th June 1716. Before his execution, he was asked to kill his infant son with his own hands and on his refusal to do so the child was hacked to pieces and morsels of his flesh were forced into the mouth of Banda. His dead body was cremated at Bara Pula. The great poet Rabindra Nath Tagore has described his martyrdom in stirring words in a poem captioned ‘Captive Hero’.

Although Banda was a great follower of Guru Gobind Singh and was given the title of Banda Bahadur by the Guru, he never converted to Sikhism.