Page 36 - Lohgarh

36 w Lohgarh : The World’s Largest Fort

Pir Budhu Shah and Bhikhan Shah of Thaska too were very friendly.
It was due to his relations with Bhikhan Shah that he first met Guru
Gobind Singh. Soon, Budhu Shah too became an admirer of the Guru.
He would make frequent visits to the Guru. His wife and sons (Ashraf,
Mohammed, Mehmood Bakhsh and Hussain) would also visit the Guru
at Chakk Nanaki, Paonta Sahib and Anandpur. Budhu Shah was married
to Nasiran (sister of Sayyad Begh, a general of the army of Mughal
Emperor Aurangzeb).
Pir Budhu Shah played a noteworthy role in the edifying the Fort of
Lohgarh. As per the known history, he and his father Sayyed Mohammad
Ashraf remained a syndicate of Guru Tegh Bahadur and Guru Gobind
Singh. The sons of Pir Budhu Shah embraced martyrdom fighting along
with Baba Banda Singh Bahadur against the Mughal Emperor Bahadur
Shah, in 1710, at Sadhaura. The family of the Peer Budhu Shah was one
of the main landlords of Sadhaura. But being a God-loving family and a
staunch supporter of humanity, the Sayyed families of Sadhaura were
not happy with the orthodox policies of Aurangzeb and his predecessors.
The mission of Guru Nanak appealed to the ancestors of the Peer Budhu
Shah and they started following the ideology of Guru Nanak. When
Guru Hargobind Sahib started the construction of Lohgarh Fort, Raja
Shah Ibrahim Bala the grandfather of Peer Budhu Shah, accompanied
Guru Sahib in the main survey of Lohgarh Fort. The location of Fort
Lohgarh is near the pargana of Sadhaura and the Sayyeds of Sadhaura
participated in the divine mission of Lohgarh Fort. Later, when Guru
Har Rai Sahib stayed in this zone for 13 years, Sayyed Mohammad Ashraf,
the father of Peer Budhu Shah played a significant role in the
construction of Lohgarh Fort. The Sayyeds were a superior martial race
army-men of the Mughals and their knowledge of the warfare certainly
helped the Gurus for building better defences to fight against the
mammoth army of Mughals. Bhai Lakhi Rai Vanjara and Bhai Makhan
Shah Lubana were working in coordination with the Peer Budhu Shah
and his ancestors for the construction of Lohgar Fort.
According to Nirmala Tradition, when Fateh Shah, the ruler of
Garhwal attacked the Guru at Bhangani, on 18 September 1688, five