Remembering Guru Tegh Bahadur-ji and the ultimate sacrifice – Part II

From the first part of this story:

As Guru-ji returned to Punjab in 1670, news of his increasing influence reached Aurangzeb. Royal reporters mentioned how “For years by now…he (Guru Tegh Bahadur) has been conducting an extensive whirlwind tour of the country. He has been going about with many thousand men. He is also collecting funds”

Aurangzeb received these reports in the North-west where he was dealing with the rebellion of Pathans. As Kartar Singh-ji notes:

He (Aurangzeb) had no time to make intensive enquiries about allegations. Indeed, he did not have even the inclination to make any such enquiries. He was already suspicious of the Sikh movement to which his grandfather had tried to put an end. He himself also wanted to suppress it. But he was then busy at Hasan. Though his fears were aroused by the reporters, yet he took no immediate action. Then he received another report against the Guru. Thereupon he decided to strike, to end the Guru’s life and activities.

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What was this other report? and what prompted Aurangzeb to act so swiftly? To understand this, we have to look north at Kashmir.

The year is 1671. The province of Kashmir has  new governer – Nawab Iftikhar Khan, an enthusiastic follower of Aurangzeb’s attempts at forced conversions. His targets are the Kashmiri Pandits and their families.

Soon after assuming the governership of Kashmir, Iftikhar Khan issues an ultimatum to the Hindu Pandits: Convert to Islam or be prepared to die. The Kashmiri Pandits decide to seek the Guru-ji’s help in saving their faith and their lives. A delegation is sent to Shri Anandpur Sahib led by Pandit Kirpa Ram Dutt of Muttan. Pandit Kirpa Ram had tutored the young son of Guru-ji and knew him well.  The delegation arrived at Anandpur Sahib in May 1975. The Pandits urged the Guru to intervene and save them from being condemned to death or forced into Islam.

Guru-ji had a reputation as “Hind ki Chadar”. This was the time to prove that reputation. And prove he did.

After listening to their plight, Guru Tegh Bahadur-ji asked the Hindus to go and tell Iftikhar Khan: “Guru Tegh Bahadur is our leader and guide. First make him a Muslim. Then we shall follow his example. We shall adopt your faith of our own accord“.   This is what happened next:

The Kashmiri Pandits thanked the Guru for his sympathy, guidance, and promise to sacrifice himself in order to save them. They went to the governor. They said to him what Guru had advised them to do. The governor promptly reported the whole matter to the emperor at Hasan Abdal, and sought his further orders.

Aurangzeb was filled with rage on getting the governor’s report. His own reporters also sent a similar report. They told him Guru’s sympathetic response to the Brahmans’ appeal; of his readiness to lay down his life in their cause. The emperor burst out, ‘He has dared to express sympathy with the infidel Brahmans of Kashmir. His conduct is an open affront to me and my policy regarding the infidels. I cannot brook it. He must suffer for it; he must die for it.’ He at once issued an order to the governor of Lahore to have the Guru arrested, fettered, and detain in prison. Further orders about him, he added, would be given on receiving a report that the first order had been carried out.

The governor of Lahore passed on the emperor’s order to the faujdar of Sarhind, Dilawar Khan; for Siri Anandpur was within his jurisdiction. The latter, in turn, asked the circle Kotwal of Ropar, Noor Mohammad Khan Mirza, to arrest the Guru; for Sri Anandpur lay in his immediate jurisdiction. The emperor’s orders for the Guru’s arrest were kept secret. The Kotwal feared that if the order got out the Guru’s followers and admirers might create trouble. He wanted to wait for a suitable opportunity to effect the arrest without any fuss and difficulty. He did not have to wait long for that opportunity. The Guru, accompanied by a few followers, left Anandpur for another tour. He did so on July 11, 1675. He soon arrived at the village of Malikpur Rangharan near Ropar. He wanted to cross the river Satluj for his onward journey. At that village he stayed in the house of a Sikh named Dargahia or Nigahia.

The Kotwal had deputed special police informers to watch and report the Guru’s movements. They informed him of the Guru’s arrival at Malikpur Rangharan along with a few Sikhs. He hurried to the spot at once. The Jats of the village got news that the Kotwal had come to arrest the Guru. They came out in a body to oppose the arrest. But with the help of local Ranghars and a strong force of additional police, the Kotwal was able to arrest the Guru and his companions. This happened on July 12, 1675. The Kotwal, Noor Mohammad Khan Mirza, sent the Guru to Sarhind. The faujdar of Sarhind, Dilawar Khan, reported the Guru’s arrest to the imperial headquarters and sought further orders. The Guru Ji was kept at Sarhind for some three months and a half, fettered, chained, and detained in prison. Then a parwana was received from the imperial headquarters. As required therein, the Guru was dispatched to Delhi, shut up in an iron cage. He reached there on November 5, 1675. The emperor was informed accordingly, and his further orders were sought about what was to be done to the Guru. He was kept in an iron cage, fettered and chained. Nobody was allowed to meet him.

Continued below…

Image courtesy: GreatSikhism.com

Things were soon to come to a head. Even as the Guru was kept in custody, attempts were being made to persuade him to convert to Islam.

…Finding him unwilling to do so; they tortured him most cruelly for five days with a view to coercing him to agree to their proposal. But he was adamant as a rock. Nothing could shake him or make him agree ‘to abjure his faith or perjure his soul to preserve his muddy vesture of decay.’ He remained firm and perfectly calm. He was willing to lay down his life rather than to give his faith. His tortures were made more and more severe and cruel still. But they failed to shake him. On November 11, 1675, they killed his companions before his very eyes. Bhai Mati Das was bound between two pillars and cut down with a saw. Bhai Dayal Das was boiled to death in a cauldron of boiling water. Bhai Sati Das was roasted alive with oil soaked cotton wrapped round his body.

Thus did the Guru’s companions sacrifice their lives for their faith, with God’s Name on their lips, and their eyes fixed on the Guru’s face. (By) then the emperor’s order had been received about what was to be done to the Guru.

(The order read) “‘Tell him that if he claims to be a true prophet sent by God to preach a religion, he should show some miracles in support of his claims. If he does not or cannot show any miracle, he should be told to accept Islam. if he refuses to do that, he should be executed.”  The emperor’s men informed the Guru of the choice offered to him by the emperor. The Guru replied, ‘True man of God never perform miracles in order to save themselves from suffering or hardship. They do not perform miracles to prove their greatness, either. I will not show any miracles. I will not accept Islam. Do with me as you like. I would prefer to lay down my life in sympathy with the oppressed and helpless Brahmans of Kashmir.”

After the Guru had thus announced his decision about the choices offered by the emperor, he was led out of his cage to an open space near Chandani Chowk. He was allowed to bath at a well nearby. After bathing, the Guru went and sat under a banyan tree. The executioner stood near him with his drawn sword. The Guru said to him, ‘When I conclude my prayers, I shall bow to God. Do you work at that movement.’ The Guru began to recite Japji. Then he offered prayer to God and bowed to Him.

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At the site where Guru Tegh Bahadur-ji was beheaded on the orders of Aurangzeb, stands Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib.

The Guru’s body was publicly exposed in the streets of Delhi, to serve as a warning to the ‘infidels’. It was announced that nobody was permitted to remove the Guru’s dead body. Strong guards were posted to prevent its being taken away. However, a daring Ranghreta Sikh, named Bhai Jaita…managed to take possession of the Guru’s head. Concealing it in a bag he hurried with it to Anandpur….The head was then cremated with due rites. At the place of its cremation stands a gurdwara named “Sis Ganj Anandpur”.

A severe, blinding dust-storm began to blow on the following day. A daring, devoted Lubana Sikh, named Lakhi Shah, decided to take advantage of the storm. Along with some of his tribesmen, he loaded cotton on to some carts and drove them towards the place where the Guru’s body lay. He managed to take up the body and load it on a cart. Thus loaded and concealed, the Guru’s body was taken to the Lubanas’ huts outside the city. Lakhi Shah placed it in his own hut. He made a heap of firewood in his hut. He placed the Guru’s body on the heap. He covered it with more firewood. He then set fire to his hut. He made it known that his hut had caught fire by accident. His hut and few others were reduced to ashes. Thus it was that the Guru’s body was cremated by Lakhi Shah and his companions.

…A grand Gurdwara, named “Rakab Ganj”, stands at the place where Guru Tegh Bahadur’s headless body was cremated.

As many of you know, Guru Tegh Bahadur-ji’s execution was a seminal event in India’s history and led to the creation of the Khalsa – the pure.

But that is a story for another day. For today, please spare a moment to remember the supreme sacrifice of the ninth Sikh Guru and share this story with your friends and acquaintances. And next time you pass by Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib or Gurudwara Rakab Ganj, please try and pay your respects.