Gurdwara Chaki Sahib, Eminabadਗੁਰਦੁਆਰਾ ਚੱਕੀ ਸਾਹਿਬ, ਈਮਨਾਬਾਦ

Gurdwara Chaki Sahib, also spelled Chakki Sahib, stands inside the town of Eminabad in Gujranwala district, Pakistan, where a large millstone was long kept as a relic of Guru Nanak Dev Ji. Sikh tradition holds that the Guru was made to work this hand mill as a prisoner after Babur's army sacked the town, then called Saidpur, in 1521, and that the stone turned by itself as he sang. It is one of the three historic gurdwaras of Eminabad in our guide to Gurdwaras in Pakistan.

What is Gurdwara Chaki Sahib, Eminabad?

It is a small historic gurdwara inside Eminabad town, built where the millstone, chakki in Punjabi, linked to Guru Nanak Dev Ji's captivity was preserved and venerated. Its present building is described in the Sikh Encyclopedia as a simple flat roofed room with some ancillary rooms and a brick paved compound. Unlike the larger Gurdwara Rohri Sahib on the edge of town, Chaki Sahib sits in the heart of Eminabad, on the spot tied to the prison story itself.

History: Saidpur, Bhai Lalo and the sack of 1521

Eminabad is an ancient town about five miles south of Gujranwala. In Guru Nanak Dev Ji's time it was called Saidpur or Sayyidpur. According to the Bhai Bala Janam Sakhi account, after leaving Sultanpur the Guru came here with Bhai Mardana Ji before his long journeys, and Bhai Lalo, a carpenter of the town, became his follower. The Guru stayed with Bhai Lalo on several visits, and Eminabad's other shrines still mark that bond: Rohri Sahib, where he rested on pebbles, and the well shrine of Bhai Lalo.

A hymn of Guru Nanak Dev Ji in the Guru Granth Sahib Ji points to his presence in the town when Babur's forces sacked it in 1521. The Janam Sakhis tell that the Guru was taken prisoner with many townspeople during the attack. Eminabad later came under Sikh rule when Sardar Charat Singh Sukerchakia took it in the 1760s, and its historic shrines were administered by the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee from 28 February 1922 until Partition in 1947.

The millstone story: what tradition records

The Janam Sakhi tradition, summarised in the Sikh Encyclopedia, says the prisoners were put to grinding corn on hand driven millstones. The Guru's captors were surprised to see his millstone turning by itself while he only poured in the grain, singing kirtan. When this was reported to Babur, the emperor came to meet him, spoke with him, and set him free, releasing the other prisoners as well, many of whom, tradition says, became the Guru's followers. Jugti presents this as the sacred tradition of the shrine, recorded in the Janam Sakhis, not as a documented court record. The millstone itself was kept as an object of veneration, and a gurdwara was later raised where it was kept. A historic photograph from 4 October 1932 by Dhanna Singh Chahal Patialvi shows devotees gathered around the relic at this gurdwara.

Architecture: a simple shrine in the town

Chaki Sahib makes no claim to grandeur. The Sikh Encyclopedia describes a simple flat roofed room with ancillary spaces inside a brick paved compound, inside the town. That simplicity fits its story: this is a relic shrine, kept for the millstone and the memory it carries, rather than a congregational landmark like Rohri Sahib with its sarovar and multi storey building. Visitors should expect a modest historic site in a working town, and should confirm its current condition and access locally, as published detail on its present state is thin.

Festivals and significance

The Sikh Encyclopedia records that a fair is held here on Vaisakhi, the festival that also draws the large gathering to Rohri Sahib. For Sikhs, Chaki Sahib's significance is the teaching inside its story: honest labour, dignity under captivity, and mercy asked for fellow prisoners rather than favour for oneself. Together with Rohri Sahib and Gurdwara Bhai Lalu di Khoi, Eminabad's well shrine of Bhai Lalo, it completes a small walkable cluster that tells Guru Nanak Dev Ji's Eminabad story in three places.

How do you reach Gurdwara Chaki Sahib, Eminabad?

The gurdwara stands inside Eminabad town in Gujranwala district, Punjab, Pakistan, about 15 kilometres south of Gujranwala city, with Eminabad linked by road to the Grand Trunk Road and served by its own railway station. Most overseas pilgrims visit Eminabad's shrines in organised groups arranged with the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee and the Evacuee Trust Property Board. As at any gurdwara, visitors cover their heads, remove their shoes, and wash their hands before entering.