Mata Bhag Kaur Ji

Mai Bhago

Mata Bhag Kaur often referred as Mai Bhago was a descendant of Pero Shah. Mai Bhago was born in Jhabel (now in Amritsar district, Punjab). Mai Bhago was married to Nidhan Singh Varaich of Patti. She found the 40 men (called chali mukte now) and made them felt sorry for the act of leaving Guru Gobind Singh Ji when Anandpur Sahib was under attack. She persuaded them to find Guru Ji and reached a dhab near Khidrana. Guru Gobind Singh Ji reached near Khidrana persuaded by the Mughal forces of Aurangzeb. Mai Bhago led the 40 men (chali mukte) to the fight with Mughal forces they encountered. Guru Ji saw this and helped them with the showers of arrows from a nearby high ground. Mai Bhago and chali mukte fought so bravely and inflicted such a huge damage that Mughal forces were forced to retreat their attack. When Guru Ji reached the battlefield, 39 of the chali mukte were dead. One of them, Mahan Singh was about to die. Guru Ji took him into his lap and teared the agreement that chali mukte had signed saying "we are not Sikhs". Since then they are called chali mukte which means 40 liberated ones. After this battle, Mai Bhago was assigned as the bodygaurd of Guru Gobind Singh Ji. She later settled in Jinwara (Karnataka). She lived to attain a ripe old age. Mai Bhago's life teaches us that in Sikhism, women have equal rights as men and Sikh women fight as bravely as men.