Place · victory tower · India
Fateh Burj, Chappar Chiri
A hundred metres of tower on the field at Chappar Chiri where Banda Singh Bahādur beat Wazīr Khān’s Mughal army in 1710 on the march to Sirhind. Completed in 2011 and the tallest victory tower in India, it is dedicated to the establishment of Sikh rule across much of Punjab — the first time the Khalsa held territory rather than contested it.
- Date
- 2011
- Function
- Military & resistance
- Confidence
- Established / referenced
- Location
- 30.704, 76.668
Worth knowing
The dedication dates that establishment to 1711 while the battle it stands on was fought in 1710, which is the gap between winning a field and holding a country. The road to the tower is named for Banda Singh Bahādur, and the village that gave the battle its name is still two villages, Chappar Chiri Khurd and Chappar Chiri Kalan.
Connections (2)
- Site adjacencyChandigarh
Twelve kilometres apart, and both about holding Punjab. Chappar Chiri is where the Khalsa first took territory in 1710; Chandigarh is where the territory left after 1947 is administered from. Mohali grew between them as Chandigarh’s Punjabi satellite after the 1966 split gave the union territory to neither state, so the tower and the capital now sit inside one continuous urban area with three governments in it.
- CampaignAnandpur Sāhib
Banda Singh Bahādur was commissioned by Guru Gobind Singh at Nanded in 1708 and sent north into Punjab, where the grievance was Sirhind: Wazīr Khān had ordered the walling-up of the tenth Guru’s younger sons after Anandpur was abandoned. The field at Chappar Chiri in 1710 is where that account was settled, and the tower is a modern monument to it rather than a contemporary one.
Sources
Wikipedia, “Fateh Burj”, “Battle of Chappar Chiri” and “Banda Singh Bahadur”.
Open Fateh Burj, Chappar Chiri in the repository →