Later Mughals v1.c6.s15.12

v1.c6.s15.12

From this time the accounts we have become more and more conflicting and obscure.† On Arjun's death his brother Pirthi Mal disputed the succession with his son, the youthful Har Govind. The former was soon deserted and the latter recognized as the true successor. Har Govind was a man of warlike spirit and addicted to hunting, was surrounded by armed followers, and kept eight hundred horses in his stable. He took service under the Emperor Jahangir, but appropriating the pay of his soldiers and refusing to liquidate the fine imposed on his father Arjun, he was made a prisoner and kept in the fortress of Gwaliyar for twelve years. After Jahangir's death, which happened in October 1627, he was employed by Shah Jahan, but soon resigned and raised a petty revolt.* The imperialists having taken Ramdas-pur, Har Govind fled to Kartarpur. Here he was attacked by Painda Khan Afghan, an imperial commander. The Guru gained the day and Painda Khan was slain. The Guru and his Sikhs then advanced to Bhagwara near Lahor, but meeting with resistance fled again to the hills. Finally Har Govind made his home at Kiratpur near Anandpur, a place on the upper Satlaj in the hill State of Kahlur, and there died on the 10th March 1645. This Guru, with no taste for meditation, was a man of war, his disciples (Sikhs) were now soldiers, the hope of booty attracting the sturdy Jat peasantry to his standards in ever-increasing numbers. Their expeditions were as yet on a limited scale and seem to have been treated by the short-sighted local governors with more or less of contempt.