Mata Gujari, (1624 – 12.12.1705), daughter of Bhai Lal Chand Subhikhi and Mata Bishan Kaur, was born at Kartarpur (district Jullundur). She was married to Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib at Kartarpur, on February 4, 1633. Since then she stayed at Amritsar and Kartarpur. In May 1635, she moved to Keeratpur Sahib. In 1654, she accompanied Guru Sahib on a long tour of Bihar, Bengal, Assam etc. From 1657 to 1670, she stayed at Patna (Bihar). On December 18, 1661, she gave birth to (Guru) Gobind Singh (Sahib). In 1670 she left Patna for Punjab. She reached Lakhnaur on August 28, 1670. (At Lakhnaur a well, known as Mata Gujari Da Khuh is associated with the memory of Mata Gujari). She stayed here for some months and then moved to Bakala (now Baba Bakala). In 1672, she moved to Chakk Nanaki (now Anandpur Sahib). The same year she went to Bilaspur on an invitation from Rani Champa. On November 11, 1675, Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib embraced martyrdom. She joined Guru Gobind Singh Sahib when the latter moved to Paonta in 1685 and returned in 1688. From here she went to Bilaspur to visit Rani Champa. After the Sikh exodus from Anandpur Sahib, on December 5-6, 1705, she, along with her two younger grandsons, moved towards Chamkaur. There, two Masands Dhumma and Darbari met her and took her and her younger grandsons to their village Saheri. At night the Masands stole her money and gold; and, when she protested, they reported her presence to the police at Morinda and got them arrested. They were taken to Sirind and presented before azir Khan, the Faujdar of Sirhind. He got the two children walled alive and later, he ordered that they should be beheaded. After this Mata Gujri was also tortured to death, on December 12, 1705. A Gurdwara Burj Mata Gujari also known as Thanda Burj, at Fatehgarh Sahib, has been built at the sight of her imprisonment and martyrdom.
(Dr Harjinder Singh Dilgeer)