Sunday Special- Beyond-Wonder -Mighty Female Warrior!

 Beyond-Wonder -Mighty Female Warrior!


Mai Bhago(Circa 1705)
Net picking under the caption ,"Beyond wonder-Mighty female warriors." Google revealed  the following results:-
  1. Fu Hao(Died 1200BC) from China,2.Boudicca(Circa first century AD) from Britan,3.Gudit(circa 10th century AD) from Ethiopia,4.Tomoe Gozen (Circa 1137-1247) from Japan,5.Ana Nzinga(Circa1583-1683) from Angola,6.Khutulum(1260-1306) from Mongolia,7.Mai Bhago(Circa 1705) Punjab India.8.Rani Velu Nachiya(1730-1796) from Tamil Nādu India,9.Micaela Bastidas Puyacahua(1744-1781) from Peru,10.DahomeyAmazons(17th-19th century) from Republic of Benin.
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Mai(Mother) Bhago. Also known as Mata(Mother) Bhag(Destiny) Kaur(Princess)

Mai Bhago, was the first woman in Punjab to lead troops on a battlefield in 1705. Born in the village of Jhabal Kalan in present-day Amritsar district, she was a devout follower of Guru Gobind Singh who founded the Khalsa (the tradition of warrior-saints).

In the midst of this oppression, a spiritual-social movement began that taught empowerment of women, equality of all people and freedom of religion. Today, we know this movement as the fifth largest religion in the world—Sikhism.

Mai Bhago lived under the shadow of the most violent Mughal ruler, Aurangzeb Alamgir. Aurangzeb disliked that the Sikhs had carved out a niche where people practiced equality and felt free to follow their own faith, so he decided to wage a major military campaign against the 10th Sikh leader, Guru Gobind Singh. He sent hundreds of thousands of troops against the Sikhs’ much smaller forces. Slowly, over time, the Sikh soldiers died or deserted. Guru Gobind Singh was forced into hiding. He and a handful of his soldiers became renegades, but the Mughal force pursued them.

Mai Bhago learned military training from her father, Malo Shah. She loved the freedom and equality of her own society. When she learned that some of the soldiers from her own village had deserted Guru Gobind Singh, she took matters into her own hands. Mai Bhago rallied 40 of the deserters to go back into battle with her. The year was 1705.


Mai Bhago led these 40 men against the Mughal troops pursuing Guru Gobind Singh. She and her men set up camp around a dry well. The Mughal troops were dying of thirst and wanted to get to the water. They did not know the well was dry. The Mughals fought bitterly.

They suffered a lot of casualties.

 Every Sikh soldier, except Mai Bhago, died in the fight. When the Mughal troops had broken through the Sikh ranks and realized the well was dry, they mutinied. The troops turned away to look for water and abandoned their pursuit of Guru Gobind Singh


Later, the Guru renamed the forgiven 40 Sikh men chaali mukte (the forty liberated) and the village of Khidrana as Muktsar (the pool of liberation). As for Mai Bhago (the only survivor of the battle), she was so good on the battlefield that he fulfilled her wish to become his bodyguard. After the death of Guru Gobind Singh Ji at Nanded in 1708, Mai Bhag Kaur retired further south. She settled down at Janwada, 11 km from Bidar in Karnataka, setting up her Dera where she immersed in meditation and taught Gurmat (The Guru's way) living a long life.[ Her hut in Janwada has now been converted into a place of worship and learning, Gurdwara Tap Asthan Mai Bhago.


At Nanded, too, a hall within the compound of Takht Sachkhand Sri Hazur Sahib marking the site of her former residence is known as Bunga Mai Bhago.


 Punjab’s Armed Forces Preparatory Institute for Girls in Mohali has been named after her.


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Searched and Illustrated by Tejinder Kamboj

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