Inderjit Singh 
Diwan or Seth Todar Mall is credited with paying huge sums of gold coins or seals to buy land for the cremation of Guru Gobind Singh’s younger sons and mother. He is said to have been asked by Wazir Khan, the Mughal commander of Sirhind, to fill the space with seals that Diwan Todar Mall wanted to buy for cremation, for which gold coins were marked in a row. Thus, it is the most expensive land ever sold or bought.
A few years ago, a hall of the historic Gurdwara Fatehgarh Sahib was named after Dewan Todar Mall. It is worth noting that there are mentions of several persons named Todar Mall in medieval history, which suggests that it was a popular name at that time.
Raja Todar Mall (died 1589) is perhaps the most famous Todar Mall, who needs no introduction. He was the finance minister under the Mughal ruler Akbar.
Raja Todar Mall Shahjahani (died 1666) was an official. He received the title of Rai around 1640 AD and was appointed Diwan (Minister of Imperial Finance), Amin (Supervisor of Cultivation) and Faujdar (in charge of law and order) of Sirhind Sarkar. During the following years, he was given additional charge as Faujdar of Lakhi Jungle. The following year, pleased with the development of the region, Todar Mall was presented with a robe of honour, a horse and an elephant by the Mughal emperor. In 1643, in recognition of his valuable services, his rank was raised several times. Gradually Dipalpur (now in District Okara, West Punjab) and the charge of administration of Parganas Jalandhar and Sultanpur were added to it. He was later promoted to the rank of 2,000 with 2,000 horse and rewarded with the title of Raja. After a very successful life, Raja Todar Mall Shahjahani died in 1665-66 AD. happened in
Pandit Todar Mall Jain (1719–66) was a scholar and leader of the Digambara Terapanti sect of Jainism from Jaipur. The suffix Pandit is used to denote one’s erudition. He belonged to Khandelwal community. Pandit Bakhtram Shah in Buddha Vilas (completed 1770 AD) states that Pandit Todar Mall was arrested on false charges of overthrowing Shivapindi and sentenced to death by the ruler of Jaipur. He was crushed to death by an elephant at the age of 47. It corresponds to the year 1766 and the reign of Raja Madho Singh of Jaipur.
Todar Mall (South) was made Sheristadar (Chief Officer) in 1698 AD under Faujdar Saadtullah Khan of Karnataka. In 1710 AD, Saadtullah Khan was reappointed as Nawab and held the position till his death in 1732 AD. (Lala) Todar Mall acted as Khan’s representative in diplomatic and revenue matters. Todar Mall visited the Tirumala temple (Tirupati district of Andhra Pradesh) and installed idols of himself, his wife and his mother standing with folded hands before the main deity.
None of the above is the Todar Mall who arranged for the cremation of Guru Gobind Singh Ji’s younger sons and their grandmother in December 1704/05 AD. But two accounts from the eighteenth century refer to this todder mall.
Katha Guru Ji K Sutan Ki (c. 1760-65), written by Bhai Duna Singh Handuria, is a mid-eighteenth century poetic account of the martyrdom of Guru Gobind Singh Ji’s younger Sahibzadas, namely Sahibzada Zorawar Singh and Sahibzada Fateh Singh. The poet identifies himself as Dunna Singh, Tarkhan Singh of Hundur. The literal meaning of the title is the story of Guru Ji’s sons. Based on internal evidence, the poem was composed between 1760-65 and consisted of 122 stanzas. Kavi Bhai Dunna Singh accompanied the younger Sahibzades and their grandmother after crossing the Sarsa river after evacuating Anandpur in December 1704/05. According to the poet, he accompanied them to Saheri, where two masands durbar and Dhumma, village Saheri took care of the family. According to the legend, a Sikh named Todar Mall gave the sad news of the martyrdom of the younger Sahibzades to Mata Gujriji and later cremated the three after taking permission from the authorities.
The author of ‘Guru Kyan Sakhiyan’ (year 1790) writes that when Guru Gobind Singh Ji was at Raikot in the hospitality of Rai Kala, Bhai Daya Singh came and told that the younger Sahibzadas had attained martyrdom and this news was conveyed to him. It was given by Dunna Singh Tarkhan. Rai Kala then sends Sirhind to his messenger Noore Mahi to get more details. When Noora Mahi returned, she told Rai Kala that she had stayed at Dewan Todar Mall’s house. Sahibzada and his grandmother were kept in the cold tower, tortured for four days and martyred on the fifth day. After this tragic incident, Diwan Todar Mall Kapur and his younger brother collected the three bodies and cremated them outside the city of Sirhind.
Poet Santokh Singh wrote a poetic work known as Sri Gurpratap Suraj Granth which was completed in 1843. Poets like Guru Kyan Sakhi write that Guru Gobind Singh Ji was at Raikot, the residence of Rai Kala, and sent Noore Mahi to Sirhind to get more information. He comes back and tells that a rich Sikh named Todar Mall wanted to release the Sahibzades and their grandmother by paying money to the Mughals. However, on reaching the scene, he found that Sahibzade had already been martyred. He then cremates the three bodies.
Sumer Singh wrote Sri Gur Pad Prem Prakash in verse in 1881 which was first published in 1939. The author refers to a Sikh Khatri named Todar Mall Kapur who cremated the younger Sahibzades and their grandmother by paying a sum of money to the authorities. It is not clear whether the money was paid to the authorities to release the bodies or whether Todar Mall was asked to pay for the land on which the cremation could take place. This appears to be the first source that states that Todar Mall had to pay the authorities.
Modern historians of the twentieth century (including the Sikhs) seem to have ignored the poet Santokh Singh while writing the history of the Guru period. John Malcolm (1812), JD. Cunningham (1853), and Syed Muhammad Latif (1891) may be forgiven for not mentioning the cremation of the younger Sahibzadas as early non-Sikh writers.
Prominent historians who remain silent about the cremation of Chhote Sahibzades include Khazan Singh, Gopal Singh, Indubhushan Banerjee, Gokul Chand Narang, Teja Singh and Ganda Singh, Khushwant Singh, J.S. Grewal, Surjit Singh Gandhi and some others are involved. Kartar Singh’s ‘Life of Guru Gobind Singh’ (1951) mentions Todar Mall, but this book is also silent about the cremation of Sahibzade.
In 1972 Punjabi University, Patiala published a book titled ‘Sirhind Through The Ages’ edited by Fauja Singh. This book contained some articles in detail about Sirhind by eminent historians.
Gurbakhsh Singh in it has misrepresented Todar Mall Shahjahani under the name of Seth Todar Mall. Fauja Singh and MS. Ahluwalia also makes Raja Seth Todar Mall and Todar Mall Shahjahani the same person. This is perhaps the first time in textual sources (as far as the author of this article is aware) that Chaudhry Atta is named as the person who sold the land for cremation. None of these historians refer to it, but correctly describe Wazir Khan as faujdar, amin and diwan for the Sirhind government. Contrary to the prevailing tradition that Wazir Khan was the Subedar or Governor, Sirhind was not a province during this period.
This leads to the following conclusion: Guru Kiyan Sakhiyan refers to Dunna Singh Tarkhan who is the author of ‘Katha Guru Ji Ke Sutan Ki’. Both sources mention Sahibzada and his grandmother staying at Karim Bakhsh Mashki’s house and then at Saheri, accompanied by two masands although their names are not mentioned in the Guru’s Sakhis.
Katha Guru K Sutan Ki and poet Santokh Singh Todar Mall are called Sikhs. He is later said to be a wealthy Sikh. All sources state or suggest that Todar Mall was Sikh (not Khalsa). If he was not a Jain then this should settle the eternal debate.
Guru Kyan Sakhis addressed Todar Mall as Dewan Todar Mall Kapoor. It is fair to assume that he was an influential person who moved in very inner circles of the government because he earned the right to be cremated modestly and reluctantly. He was allowed to cremate the ‘rebels of the state’ who had been martyred in Wazir Khan’s court. Bhatts are experts in keeping genealogical details. So when Swaroop Singh Kausish describes Todar Mall as Kapur (a Kshatriya) it should be taken seriously.
The interesting thing is that Guru Kiyan Sakhis called Todar Mall Diwan. ‘Sirhind through ages’ correctly states that Wazir Khan was the Faujdar, Amin and Diwan of the Sirhind government. Therefore, Todar Mall cannot be considered a diwan in Wazir Khan’s court. It would be speculative to suggest that he may have been a grandson or descendant of Todar Mall Shahjahani and may have been named after him and that the local people used the Diwan suffix with their names because of his famous grandfather or ancestor. can do
Only in twentieth century sources was he referred to as a moneylender. Speculations about such an important personality of Sikh history should be avoided. It is fair to admit that we have limited information about Todar Mall. By adding myth to any historical figure, we do him and the wider community a great disservice as the validity of his existence may ultimately be questioned.
E-mail: inderjeet08@yahoo.com