The tenth and the last Guru or Prophet-teacher of the Sikh
faith, was born Gobind Rai Sodhi on Poh 7, 1723 sk/22 December 1666 at Patna,
in Bihar. His father, Guru Tegh Bahadur, the Ninth Guru, was then travelling
across Bengal and Assam. Returning to Patna in 1670, he directed his family to
return to the Punjab. On the site of the house at Patna in which Gobind Rai was
born and where he spent his early childhood now stands a sacred shrine, Takht
Sri Harimandar Sahib, one of the five most honoured seats of religious
authority (takht, lit. throne) for the Sikhs.
Gobind Rai was escorted to Anandpur (then known as Chakk
Nanaki) on the foothills of the Sivaliks where he reached in March 1672 and
where his early education included reading and writing of Punjabi, Braj,
Sanskrit and Persian. He was barely nine years of age when a sudden turn came
in his life as well as in the life of tile community he was destined to lead.
Early in 1675, a group Kashmiri Brahmans, drivels to
desperation by the religious fanaticism of the Mughals General, Iftikar Khan,
visited Anandpur to seek Guru Tegh Bahadur's intercession. As the Guru sat
reflecting what to do, young Gobind Rai, arriving there in company with his
playmates, asked Why he looked so preoccupied.
The father, as records Kuir Singh in his Gurbilas Patshahi,
replied, "Grave are the burdens the earth bears. She will be redeemed only
if a truly worthy person comes forward to lay down his head. Distress will then
be expunged and happiness ushered in." "None could be worthier than
yourself to make such a sacrifice," remarked Gobind Rai in his innocent
manner.
Guru Tegh Bahadur soon afterwards proceeded to the imperial
capital, Delhi, and courted death on 11 November 1675.
Guru Gobind Singh was formally installed Guru on the
Baisakhi day of 1733 Bk/29 March 1676.
In the midst of his engagement with the concerns of the
community, he gave attention to the mastery of physical skills and literary
accomplishment. He had grown into a comely youth spare, lithe of limb and
energetic. He had a natural genius for poetic composition and his early years
were assiduously given to this pursuit.
Much of
Guru Gobind Singh's creative literary work was done at Paonta he had founded on
the banks of the River Yamuna and to which site he had temporarily shifted in
April 1685. Poetry as such was, however, not his aim. For him it was a means of
revealing the divine principle and concretizing a personal vision of the
Supreme Being that had been vouchsafed to him. His Japu and the composition
known as Akal Ustati are in this tenor. Through his poetry he preached love and
equality and a strictly ethical and moral code of conduct. He preached the
worship of the One Supreme Being, deprecating idolatry and superstitious
beliefs and observances.
The glorification of the sword itself which he eulogized
as
When all other means have failed,
It is but lawful to take to the sword.
During
his stay at Paonta, Guru Gobind Singh availed himself of his spare time to
practise different forms of manly exercises, such as riding, swimming and
archery. His increasing influence among the people and the martial exercises of
his men excited the jealousy of the neighbouring Rajput hill rulers who led by
Raja Fateh Chand of Garhval collected a host to attack him. But they were
worsted in an action at Bhangam, about 10 km northeast of Paonta, on 18 Assu
1745 sk/18 September 1688.
Soon thereafter Guru Gobind Singh left Paonta and returned
to Anandpur which he fortified in view of the continuing hostility of the
Rajput chiefs as well as of the repressive policy of the imperial government at
Delhi.
The Guru and his Sikhs were involved in a battle with a
Mughal commander, Alif Khan, at Nadaun on the left bank of the Beas, about 30
km southeast of Kangra, on 22 Chet 1747 Bk/20 March 1691. Describing the battle
in stirring verse in Bachitra Natak, he said that Alif Khan fled in utter
disarray "without being able to give any attention to his camp."
Among several other skirmishes that occurred was the Husaim battle (20 Februaly
1696) fought against Husain K an, an imperial general, which resulted in a
decisive victory for the Sikhs.
Following the appointment in 1694 of the liberal Prince
Muazzam (later Emperor Bahadur Shah) as viceroy of northwestern region
including Punjab, there was however a brief respite from pressure from the
ruling authority.
In 1698, Guru Gobind Singh issued directions to Sikh sangats
or communities in different parts not to acknowledge masands, the local
ministers, against whom he had heard complaints. Sikhs, he instructed, should
come to Anandpur straight without any intermediaries and bring their offerings
personally. The Guru thus established direct relationship with his Sikhs and
addressed them as his Khalsa, Persian term used for crown-lands as
distinguished from feudal chiefs. The institution of the Khalsa was given concrete
form on 30 March 1699 when Sikhs had gathered at Anandpur in large numbers for
the annual festival of Baisakhi. Guru Gobind Singh appeared before the assembly
dramatically on that day with a naked sword in hand and, to quote Kuir Singh,
Gurbilas Patshahz 10, spoke: "Is there present a true Sikh who would offer
his head to the Guru as a sacrifice?" The words numbed the audience who
looked on in awed silence. The Guru repeated the call. At the third call Daya
Ram, a Sobti Khatri of Lahore, arose and humbly walked behind the Guru to a
tent nearby. The Guru returned with his sword dripping blood, and asked for
another head. At this Dharam Das, a Jat from Hastinapur, came forward and was
taken inside the enclosure. Guru Gobind Singh made three more calls. Muhkam
Chand, a washerman from Dvarka, Himmat, a water-carrier from Jagannath puri,
and Sahib Chand, a barber from Bidar (Karnataka) responded one after another
and advanced to offer their heads. All the five were led back from the tent
dressed alike in saffron-coloured raiment topped over with neatly tied turbans
similarly dyed, with swords dangling by their sides. Guru Gobind Singh then
introduced
These developments alarmed the caste ridden Rajput chiefs of
the Sivalik hills. They rallied under the leadership of the Raja of Bilaspur,
in whose territory lay Anandpur, to forcibly evict Guru Gobind Singh from his
hilly citadel. Their repeated expeditions during 1700-04 however proved
abortive. They at last petitioned Emperor Aurangzeb for help. In concert with
contingents sent under imperial orders by the governor of Lahore and those of
the faujdar of Sirhind, they marched upon Anandpur and laid a siege to the fort
in Jeth 1762 sk/May 1705. Over the months, the Guru and his Sikhs firmly
withstood their successive assaults despite dire scarcity of food resulting
from the prolonged blockade. While the besieged were reduced to desperate
straits, the besiegers too were chagrined at the tenacity with which the Sikhs
held out. At this stagy the besiegers offered, on solemn oaths of Quran, safe
exit to the Sikhs if they quit Anandpur. At last, the town was evacuated during
the night of Poh suds 1, 1762 sk/5-6 December 1705. But soon, as the Guru and
his Sikhs came out, the hill monarchs and their Mughal allies set upon them in
full fury. In the ensuing confusion many Sikhs were killed and all of the
Guru's baggage, including most of the precious manuscripts, was lost. The Guru
himself was able to make his way to Chamkaur, 40 km southwest of Anandpur, with
barely 40 Sikhs and his two elder sons. There the imperial army, following
closely on his heels, caught up with him. His two sons, Ajit Singh (b. 1687)
and Jujhar Singh (b. 1691) and all but five of the Sikhs fell in the action
that took place on 7 December 1705. The five surviving Sikhs bade the Guru to save
himself in order to reconsolidate the Khalsa. Guru Gobind Singh with three of
his Sikhs escaped into the wilderness of the Malva, two of his Muslim devotees,
Gani Khan and Nabi Khan, helping him at great personal risk.
Guru Gobind Singh's two younger sons, Zorawar Singh (b.
1696) and Fateh Singh (b.1699), and his mother, Mata Gujari, were after
the evacuation of Anandpur betrayed by their old servant and escort,
Gangu, to the faujdar of Sirhind, who had the young children executed on 13
December 1705. Their grandmother died the same day. Befriended by another
Muslim admirer, Ral Kalha of Raikot, Guru Gobind Singh reached Dina in the
heart of the Malva. There he enlisted a few hundred warriors of the Brar clan,
and also composed his famous letter, Zafarnamah or the Epistle of Victory, in
Persian verse, addressed to Emperor Aurangzeb. The letter was a severe
indictment of the Emperor and his commanders who had perjured their oath and
treacherously attacked him once he was outside the safety of his fortification
at Anandpur. It emphatically reiterated the sovereignty of morality in the
affairs of State as much as in the conduct of human beings and held the means
as important as the end.
Two of the Sikhs, Daya Singh and Dharam Singh, were
despatched with the Zafarnamah to Ahmadnagar in the South to deliver it to
Aurangzeb, then in camp in that town.
From Dina, Guru Gobind Singh continued his westward march
until, finding the host close upon his heels, he took position astride the
water pool of Khidrana to make a last-ditch stand. The fighting on 29 December
1705 was hard and desperate. In spite of their overwhelming numbers, the Mughal
troops failed to capture the Guru and had to retire in defeat. The most
valorous part in this battle was played by a group of 40 Sikhs who had deserted
the Guru at Anandpur during the long siege, but who, chided by their womenfolk
at home, had come back under the leadership of a brave and devoted woman, Mai
Bhago, to redeem themselves. They had fallen fighting desperately to check the
enemy's advance towards the Guru's position.
The Guru blessed the 40 dead as 40 mukte, i.e. the 40 Saved
Ones. The site is now marked by a sacred shrine and tank and the town which has
grown around them is called Muktsar, the Pool of liberations.
After spending some time in the Lakkhi Jungle country, Guru
Gobind Singh arrived at Talvandi Sabo, now called Damdama Sahib, on 20 January
1706. During his stay there of over nine months, a number of Sikhs rejoined
him. He prepared a fresh recension of Sikh Scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib,
with the celebrated scholar, Bhai Mani Singh, as his amanuensis. From the
number of scholars who had rallied round Guru Gobind Singh and from the
literary activity initiated, the place came to be known as the Guru's Kashi or
seat of learning like Varanasi.
The epistle Zafarnamah sent by Guru Gobind Singh from Dina
seems to have touched the heart of Emperor Aurungzeb. He forthwith invited him
for a meeting. According to Ahkam-i-Alamgiri, the Emperor had a letter written
to the deputy governor of Lahore, Munim Khan, to conciliate the Guru and make
the required arrangements for his journey to the Deccan. Guru Gobind Singh had,
however, already left for the South on 30 October 1706. He was in the
neighbourhood of Baghor, in Rajasthan, when the news arrived of the death of
the Emperor at Ahmadnagar on 20 February 1707. The Guru there upon decided to
return to the Punjab, via Shahjahanabad (Delhi) . That was the time when the
sons of the deceased Emperor were preparing to contest succession. Guru Gobind
Singh despatched for the help of the eldest claimant, the liberal Prince
Muazzam, a token contingent of Sikhs which took part in the battle of Jajau (8
June 1707), decisively won by the Prince who ascended the throne with the title
of Bahadur Shah. The new Emperor invited Guru Gobind Singh for a meeting which
took place at Agra on 23 July 1707.
Emperor Bahadur Shah had at this time to move against the
Kachhvaha Rajputs of Amber (Jaipur) and then to the Deccan where his youngest
brother, Kam Baksh, had raised the standard of revolt. The Guru accompanied him
and, as says Tarzkh-i-Bahadur Shahi, he addressed assemblies of people on the
way preaching the word of Guru Nanak. The two camps crossed the River Tapti
between 11 and 14 June 1708 and the Ban-Ganga on 14 August, arriving at Nanded,
on the Godavari, towards the end of August. While Bahadur Shah proceeded
further South, Guru Gobind Singh decided to stay awhile at Nanded. Here he met
a Bairagi recluse, Madho Das, whom he converted a Sikh administering to
him the vows of the Khalsa, renaming him Gurbakhsh Singh (popular name Banda
Singh ). Guru Gobind Siligh gave Banda Singh five arrows from his own quiver
and an escort, including five of his chosen Sikhs, and directed him to go to
the Punjab and carry on the campaign against the tyranny of the provincial
overlords.
Nawab Wazir Khan of Sirhind had felt concerned at the
Emperor's conciliatory treatment of Guru Gobind Singh. Their marching together
to the South made him jealous, and he charged two of his trusted men with
murdering the Guru before his increasing friendship with the Emperor resulted
in any harm to him. These two pathans Jamshed Khan and Wasil Beg are the names
given in the Guru Kian Sakhian pursued the Guru secretly and overtook him at
Nanded, where, according to Sri Gur Sobha by Senapati, a contemporary
writer, one of them stabbed the Guru in the left side below the heart as he lay
one evening in his chamber resting after the Rahrasi prayer. Before he could
deal another blow, Guru Gobind Singh struck him down with his sabre, while his
fleeing companion fell under the swords of Sikhs who had rushed in on hearing
the noise. As the news reached Bahadur Shah's camp, he sent expert surgeons,
including an Englishman, Cole by name, to attend on the Guru. The wound was
stitched and appeared to have healed quickly but, as the Guru one day applied
strength to pull a stiff bow, it broke out again and bled profusely. This
weakened the Guru beyond cure and he passed away on Kattak sudi 5, 1765 Bk/7
October 1708. Before the end came, Guru Gobind Singh had asked for the Sacred
Volume to be brought forth.
To quote Bhatt Vahi Talauda Parganah Jind: "Guru Gobind
Singh, the Tenth Master, son of Guru Teg Bahadur, grandson of Guru Hargobind,
great-grandson of Guru Arjan, of the family of Guru Ram Das Surajbansi, Gosal
clan, Sodhi Khatri, resident of Anandpur, parganah Kahlur, now at Nanded, in
the Godavari country in the Deccan, asked Bhai Daya Singh, on Wednesday, 7
October 1708, to fetch Sri Granth Sahib.
In obedience to his orders, Daya Singh brought Sri Granth
Sahib. The Guru placed before it five pice and a coconut and bowed his head
before it. He said to the sangat, "It is my commandment: Own Sri Granthji
in my place. He who so acknowledges it will obtain his reward. The Guru will
rescue him. Know this as the truth".
Guru Gobind Singh thus passed on the succession with due
ceremony to the Holy Book, the Guru Granth Sahib, ending the line of personal
Gurus. "The Guru's spirit," he said, "will henceforth be in the
Granth and the Khalsa. Where the Granth is with any five Sikhs representing the
Khalsa, there will the Guru be."
The Word enshrined in the Holy Book was always revered by
the Gurus as well as by their disciples as of Divine origin. The Guru was the
revealer of the Word. One day the Word was to take the place of the Guru. The
inevitable came to pass when Guru Gobind Singh declared the Guru Granth Sahib
as his successor. It was only through the Word that the Guruship could be made
everlasting. The Word as contained in the Guru Granth Sahib was henceforth, and
for all time to come to be the Guru for the Sikhs.
