Later Mughals v1.c6.s17: Sec. 17.—Guru Govind Singh (1675-1708).
Later Mughals v1.c6.s17
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Sec. 17.—Guru Govind Singh (1675-1708).
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We come now to our more particular subject, the life and doings of Guru Govind, and the events which followed on his death. Govind, the son of the ninth Guru, Tegh Bahadur, was born at Patna in Bihar, during his father's temporary exile from the Panjab, and at his father's death was nine years of age.* [According to Macauliffe's Sikh authorities (vol. v), Govind was born on the 7th bright lunar day of Paush, Sambat 1723-January 1666 A.D.] We are told that he remained in obscurity for twenty years. About 1695, then, when he was some thirty years of age, he took the field against constituted authority.† His first campaign was made as the ally of one hill rajah, Bhim Chand, Rajah of Nadon, against another, the Rajah of Jammu, who had been incited by Miyan Khan Mughal, to make an attack on his neighbour.* Where the interval of twenty years, between 1675 and 1695, was passed, we cannot say with any certainty. In one place,† we hear of his leaving a village called Paotah, just before he fought the Muhammadans. This village, where there is now a Sikh temple, lies close to the west or right bank of the Jamuna, in the Kiyarda dun, or valley, which is now part of the hill State of Sirmur or Nahan.‡ From after events, such as the building of a Sikh fort on the outer hills in Nahan territory, and the vengeance taken by Bahadur Shah on the Nahan Rajah, we may infer some close connection between Govind and the ruler of that State. His period of obscurity, in which he is said to have occupied himself with hunting, shooting, and the chase, may have been spent in the Kiyarda dun, or the adjoining hills.§
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∗ J. D. Cunningham, 81, says he was born in Poh, 1718 S. (November 1661); Muin-ud-din, Buta Shah, on the authority of one Shankar Jyotishi, has Sunday, Magh 13th, 1718 S. (January or February 1662). Again, in the Sakhi Book, 37, it is given as a prophecy that Govind would die at the age of forty-three years. Assuming, as we may safely do, that such a prophecy was made after the event, a belief is raised that Govind may have been born in 1666 A.D., his death having taken place in 1708. This would in a great measure dispose of the discrepancy in Dr. Trumpp's chronology (Adi Granth, introduction, lxxxviii and lxxxix).
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† Browne's dates (p. 4) are quite different. He makes Govind a posthumous child, and places his first outbreak in 1114 H. (1704), when he was twenty years of age. In that case, he must have been born in 1684.
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An early adventure was his pursuit by the Muhammadans.¶ He fled to a jungle called Narayanpur, thence he took refuge in a grove at Mani Majra.** His next assailants were the hill rajahs, the original ground of quarrel being obscure.†† Probably its chief cause was the natural hostility of the Rajput ruler and his Brahman counsellor to the head of a heterodox sect. Govind's baggage appears to have been plundered.‡‡ In at least one battle Govind won the day and triumphed over the Hindur, Kahlur, and Nahan leaders.§§
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∗ Malcolm, 58. † Sakhi Book, 41. ‡ J. D. Cunningham, 74, and Indian Atlas, sheet No. 48. § See also the quotation from the Vichitra Natak, in Malcolm, 55, where Govind says he went, on his father's death, to the Kalindi, or Jamuna river. ¶ Sakhi Book, 41. ** Perhaps the Narayangarh, about 18 m. n. e. of Ambala : Mani Majra is about 22 m. n. of the same place. †† McGregor, i. 80, attributes it to an attempt by the Rajahs to appropriate some valuable presents—an elephant, a horse, a tent, a sword, and a hawk—that had been sent to Govind Singh. ‡‡ Sakhi Book, 46. §§ Cunningham, 75, says his first contest was with Nahan, aided by the Rajah of Hindur. Govind was victorious, and he killed Hari Chand, of Nalagarh (capital of Hindur, see Thornton, 681) with his own hand.
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We hear next* of an expedition against Govind, commanded by Saida Beg, but we cannot fix the year. The traditions state that the commander was won over to the Guru's side, while the next in command, Ramzan Beg, was killed. The Muhammadans, who had been encamped at Thanesar, then moved towards Sarhind. The next day their baggage was plundered by the Sikhs during the march to Shamsabad. The Muhammadans returned to Dihli.†
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The hill rajahs were still hostile,‡ and Rajahs Bhim Chand, Madan Pal, Bir Singh and others combined with Dina Beg Mughal, to attack the Guru. In the ensuing battle the Sikhs were victorious, and they pursued the Muhammadans as far as the village Khidarabad, plundering them as they fled. On another occasion,§ however, they were less successful. The Guru was besieged in Anandpur$ by all the hill rajahs. The siege lasted for fifteen days, and the extremity was so great that Govind threw all his treasures into the Satlaj, and his followers began to die of starvation. Pamma, the minister of Rajah Bhim, was sent to negotiate, and as the Sikh story goes, lulled the Guru into fancied security by pretending to become a disciple. His real object was to gain time for the arrival of the Muhammadans, for whom he had sent.¶
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Apparently there was now a combined attack by the hill rajahs and the Muhammadans commanded by a Khwaja.**
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This is the same story as in Malcolm, 55, and note. Hindur and Kahlur are hill States, lying just north of Anandpur, the Sikh Guru settlement on the bend made by the Satlaj, just as it enters the plains.
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∗ Sakhi Book, 59. † Malcolm, 59, 60, names Dilawar Khan and Rustam Khan as commanders of expeditions sent against Govind Singh. Thanesar is 28 m. s. of Ambala, and Sarhind 28 m. n. w. of the same place. ‡ Sakhi Book, 71. § Idem, 73. $ In the Kohlur State, in a bend of the Satlaj (Thornton, 34). The town was founded by Tegh Bahadur, Govind's father. Makhawal and Kiratpur, the homes of previous Gurus, are not far off. ¶ Sakhi Book, 77. Cunningham, 75, says "He (Govind) became the ally of Bhim Chand of Kahlur, then in rebellion against the imperial authorities at Kot Kangra," or perhaps this refers to an earlier event. ** Sakhi Book, 98. McGregor i. 85, says that Zabardast Khan, subahdar
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Terms of some sort were made with the rajahs, after which the Guru, with two wives and forty followers, fled into the Malwa, or country south and east of the Satlaj. The Muhammadans attacked him again near the village of Ghanaula, in the Ambala district. One follower, Ude Singh, who resembled the Guru in features, placed himself in the front of the fight and fought on till he was killed, allowing Govind Singh time to escape. After plundering the Sikh camp, which was near Rupar on the Satlaj, the Muhammadans made a diligent search for the Guru, of whose escape they now heard. Govind fled into the forest, and his wives received shelter in the house of a secret adherent. Next day the Guru reached Chamkaur, a place lower down the Satlaj than Rupar.* He was then alone. The pursuit continuing, he went on with two disciples, who now joined him, and they walked southwards for fifteen miles. He halted to rest at Machiwara, a town with a ferry over the Satlaj, twenty-two miles east of Ludhiana. Disguised as a Muhammadan, he gave himself out as a Haji, or pilgrim from the Arabian holy places, and in this character received assistance from some Pathans. His flight was then continued on a horse brought to him by a disciple, and he was lost sight of for three months.† At length a man of village Kangir, in the Firuzpur district, found him and took him to his house.‡ Govind lived there a
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† Cunningham, 77, gives Bahlolpur as one stage in the flight, and the final refuge was, he says, in the wastes of Bhatinda (about 60 m. s. e. of Firuzpur, and 120 m. s. w. of Rupar; it has now a railway station.) He adds that the Sikhs place these events in 1705-6. McGregor, i. 87, has ‘Belalpore.’ Thence Govind went to Machiwara (91), thence to Kanija, three miles from Ludhiana (92), then to Jalpura, ten miles from Ray Kot (92). His followers now assembled, and he went to Kot Kapura (92), then to Muktsar (93). The Muhammadans followed and Govind defeated them. Being unable to obtain water, they were forced to retreat.
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of Lahor, and Shams Khan, of Sarhind, were the Muhammadan commanders. The hill rajahs had asked Alamgir for aid. The siege of Makhawal (i. e., Anandpur) lasted seven months. Malcolm, 66, gives the names of the leaders as Khwaja Muhammad and Nahar Khan.
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∗ Seven miles s. w. of Rupar (Thornton, 215). Cunningham, 76, and Malcolm 65, say that there was a siege at Chamkaur, and that two sons, Ajit Singh and Jajarh Singh, were killed there.
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year, and afterwards passed nearly three years at Damdama, where he composed his Granth, known as "The Book of the Tenth King."*
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At the time of Govind's investment in Makhawal-Anandpur, he sent away his mother, Gujari, and his two sons, Fath Singh and Zorawar Singh.† They took shelter in the town of Sarhind; or as one account says,‡ they were captured by a force sent out by Wazir Khan, the faujdar of Sarhind, under the command of Khizr Khan, Malner, and his own Bakhshi or chief officer. At first, Wazir Khan is said to have treated the prisoners with kindness. But, at the suggestion of his chief subordinate, Saj Anand, Brahman, who frightened him by a picture of the Emperor's possible displeasure at his mildness, he resolved to put them to death. He asked Khizr Khan to do the deed, but he refused with scorn to undertake an executioner's work. One Karakchi Beg Mughal accepted the office, and although the children clung round their grandmother's neck, he tore them away and cut their throats in the poor woman's presence.§ Overcome with grief and horror, she fell down and expired on the spot.$
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The Muhammadan authors assert** that Guru Govind now sent in petitions to Alamgir, offering to make his submission, coupled with a promise to accept Islam. If this is true, no prospect could be more pleasing to such a bigot as that Emperor: and, as we are told, a confidential messenger, or mace-bearer, was sent to bring the suppliant to the Court. The messenger produced Govind Singh, in the first instance, before Munim Khan, then nazim or governor of Lahor, and diwan, or chief revenue officer, to Prince Muazzam (afterwards, as Emperor, known as Bahadur Shah). Govind Singh was forwarded by the governor to the Dakhin. On the way the party heard of Alamgir's death, which took place at Ahmadnagar, in the Dakhin, on the 28th Zul Qada, 1118 (2nd March 1707); and Govind, believing his star was again in the ascendant, turned his face and hastened back to Hindustan. The story, as it stands, with these details, is not quite credible. Was Govind Singh at all likely to surrender? If in the custody of a Muhammadan mace-bearer, would he be allowed to return home, at his own pleasure, because Alamgir was dead? All we can say is that there may be some foundation for the story.
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∗ E. Trumpp, xcii, Damdama, a residence built by the Guru in a village of the Malwa country. Cunningham, 77, says it is half-way between Hansi and Firuzpur. The Firuzpur Gazetteer (Lahor, 1883-4), p. 41, describes it as "the breathing place, at which Guru Govind halted in his flight from Bhatinda before the battle of Muktsar." A mela or fair is held there. Malcolm, 186, note, quoting a Sikh author, not named, states that the Granth above referred to was completed on the 8th Bhadwan 1753 S. (August 1696, A. D.) † Browne, 6, 7 who says, that the boys were aged six and five years. Malcolm, 65; McGregor, i. 86; Sakhi Book, 102. ‡ Browne, 6. § Browne, 8, and Sakhi Book, 102. $ One version is that they were built-up alive in a wall (McGregor, i. 86), Warid, fol. 29, says that the mother, wife, two sons, and one daughter of the Guru were captured. The two sons and the daughter were subjected to indignities, paraded in derision, and then executed. Age of boys 9 and 3 years, Ijad (136). He says Govind's mother poisoned herself. ** Warid, fol. 116 b.
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Of the next part of Govind's life we know a little more, though not very much more, than of that which had gone before. Dr. Trumpp* seems to look on the evidence for the following facts as slightly doubtful; but I think there is partial confirmation of them from the official history of Bahadur Shah's reign, compiled at the time. It seems certain that Govind Singh joined Bahadur Shah at some point, when that Prince was on his march down country from Lahor to Agra, to contest the throne with his brother, Azam Shah. Govind Singh must have received some rank but what it was is not stated by the Muhammadans. A mansab of 5,000, as stated by the Sikhs, is preposterous, the greatest leaders, at the head of thousands of soldiers, having no higher rank, whereas Govind Singh is reported as having no more than two or three hundred men.† In the same way the Sikhs make the battle, fought at Jajau, between Agra and Dholpur, on the 18th Rabi I. 1119 (18th June, 1707), to be won solely by the marvellous feats of Govind Singh and his Sikhs. This is absurd, and may be summarily rejected. But there is, I think, evidence that Govind Singh was in the Emperor's army at Agra immediately after the battle. I think that he is to be identified in the entry of the *Bahadur-Shah-nama** of the 4th Jamadi I. 1119 (2nd August 1707), when "a jewelled scarf was presented to Govind Singh."
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∗ Adi Granth, xciii.
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† Khafi Khan, ii. 652. Bhimsen (168b) mentions Guru Govind as joining
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The same doubt surrounds the place and time of Govind Singh's death. The Sikhs assign it to Nader, on the Godavari, where they have a shrine called Achalnagar, or the Immovable City.† I think that this tradition must be accepted as historically correct, and the time of death must be taken as November 1708.‡ Bahadur Shah was then on his march from Burhanpur to Haidarabad, as already related, and the Guru was in his train. The tradition says that Govind Singh's death happened on the fifth day of some lunar month.§ Now, in the *Bahadur-Shah-nama*, on the 5th Ramzan, 1120 (17th November 1708) we find that a report was made to the Emperor "as to the disposal of the movable property left by Guru Govind Nanak.$ It was of considerable value, and according to rule ought to be confiscated. The Emperor, with the remark that he was not in want of the goods of a *darvesh*, ordered the whole to be relinquished to the heirs." The death might have just occurred; at any rate, it must have happened quite recently. Unfortunately, Danishmand Khan, in his contempt for all narrative, tells us nothing of the mode of death. One Ajit (or Ajib) Singh, who passed as the Guru's son, was brought to the Emperor, was invested with a robe of honour, and taken into the imperial service.**
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Bahadur Shah, but gives no details except that "he does not follow the ways of a *faqir* and *darvesh* but lays claim to be a soldier."
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∗ Danishmand Khan, fol. 18. † E. Trumpp, *Adi Granth*, xcvi. ‡ McGregor, i. 100, says Sawan 1765 S., which would be July 1708. Cunningham, 81, note, has "towards the end of 1708," and Muin-ud-din fixes it on Katik, Sudi 5th, 1765 S. (November 1708). § *Sakhi Book*, 200. $ As to the use of the name Nanak by each Guru, see Cunningham, 57. ** Mirza Mhd. This Ajit Singh was apparently an adopted son (Rai Chatarman's *Chahar Gulshan*, my copy, fol. 143.) He was executed at Dihli 18 January 1725, (*Tarikh-i-Muhammadi*), by order of Muhammad Shah, for the crime of rebellion.
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There are several accounts of Guru Govind Singh's death, but the two more usually received agree in stating that it was a death by violence.* Of these stories, one is that an Afghan horse-dealer had sold some horses to the Guru. Payment was delayed. One day, the dealer clamoured for his money with angry gestures. Provoked by the man's words, Govind Singh cut him down. Some time afterwards the Afghan's sons found their opportunity and stabbed the Guru mortally, when asleep or unguarded. This story is also slightly varied. The Guru, in this version, is supposed to have repented of his violence and showed favour to the murdered man's son. One day, when they were alone together, the Guru taunted the youth for his cowardice in not revenging his father. The boy struck him with his dagger, inflicting a slight wound, through which the entrails protruded. The wound was sewn up and was healing, when Govind Singh, in attempting to string his bow, burst the stitches, the bowels again protruded, and he died almost immediately.
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The tradition in the Sikh books† is somewhat different. The murderer is stated to be the son of Said Khan, and the grandson of Painda Khan. Possibly the latter was the opponent whom Guru Har Govind slew. In opposition to his own precept, which prohibited all friendship with Muhamadans, Govind Singh allowed this boy to come about him. One day, after they had played at *chaupar*, a sort of draughts, Guru Govind lay down to rest, two daggers recently given to him being by his side. The boy took up one of the daggers and inflicted three wounds. Govind Singh sprang up, crying out, "The Pathans have attacked me." One Lakha Singh ran in and cut off the boy's head. The wounds were sewn up, and for fifteen days all went well. Then, on the 2nd of some lunar month, two bows were brought to the Guru. In trying to bend them, the Guru's wounds opened, during the 3rd and 4th he was insensible, and on the 5th of that month he expired.‡
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∗ McGregor, i. 99, Cunningham, 79. The *Siyar-ul-mutakherin* (Briggs, 114) says that Govind died of grief for his children.
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† Sakhi Book, 198.
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‡ Katik, Sudi 5th, 1765 S., see *ante*, p. 90, note ‡
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Govind Singh had three wives, Jitu, Sahib Kuar, and Sundari.* He had four sons; one, Jhujhar Singh, by Jitu; two, Zorawar Singh and Jit Singh, by Sahib Kuar; and one, Fath Singh, by Sundari. According to the Sikh writings, all his sons pre-deceased him, and according to them he left no male descendants. There was, however, the adopted son, Ajit Singh, of whom we learn from Muhammadan sources.†
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NOTES
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Genealogical Table of the Sikh Gurus. Succession in the same family began with the third Guru, Amardas. Roman numerals show the Gurus and their order of succession.
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(Founded on Cunningham, History, App. xxii. Dr. Trumpp's Introductory Essay) and Malcolm, p. 36.
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∗ Sakhi Book, 97. † See ante, p. 90, n ** See B. M. Addl. 23609 (Rieu. 781) for a portrait labelled Guru Govind Singh. It shows a stout man, with black pointed beard, mounted on a black horse, facing to left, yellow figured coat and turban, striped trousers, a hawk on the right hand, no arms.
Linked texts (2)
- Granth Sāhib — Gurū Arjun 1579, Hindi
- Vicitranāṭak — Govind Siṃh 1675, Hindi