Mai Bhago (Mata Bhag Kaur)
Mai Bhago also known as Mata Bhag Kaur was a great Sikh woman and Sikh warrior. She is well known for leading 40 Sikh soldiers against the Mughals in 1705. She was a staunch Sikh by birth and upbringing.
In the year 1705 at the time of battle of Anandpur Sahib 40 sikh soldiers left 10th sikh Guru Guru Gobind singh. Some of these sikh soldiers belong to the village where mai Bhago was residing. When she heard the incident she inspired those sikh soldiers to join Guru Gobind SIngh and fight with him.
She convinced these 40 soldiers to apologise for leaving Anandpur sahib in hard time and inspired them to find the Guru. Finally she led them to Guru Gobind Singh. She along with 40 sikh soldiers caught Guru Gobind Singh in the area around Malva. Mai Bhago and the men she was leading stopped near the dhab (pool) of Khidrana just as an imperial army was about to attack the Guru.
So despite the fact that they surely faced certain death, the forty (chali) men along with Mai Bhago, waded headlong into the Mughal forces of around 10,000 soldiers and inflicted so much damage that the Mughals were finally forced to give up their attack and retreat as darkness fell in the nearby woods.
With the 40 Sikh men dying on the battlefield, their leader asked for forgiveness for deserting the Guru, and thereby, Sri Guru Gobind Singh blessed the forty men as the forty (chali) liberated ones (mukte) and that is still how the men are known today; the “Forty Liberated Ones”, the Chali Mukte.
He took into his care Mata Bhago who had also suffered injury in the battle. After recovering she thereafter stayed on with Guru Gobind Singh Ji serving as one of his bodyguards, in warrior attire.