Lohgarh - Khalsa Rajdhani, Lohgarh fort - Lohgarh Trust, S. Daljeet Singh Bajwa [early reader books .txt] 📗

Guru preferred as there were 49 prisoners who had been given short sentences and 52 were those who were undergone long sentences.

When Guru Hargobind came to know about the orders of the Emperor, he requested the jailor Hari Das Yadav to get him a cloak which had 52 hanging stripes. The cloak was ready by the next morning. The Guru wore the cloak and got all the prisoners released as each was holding one stripe of the cloak. Those who got released included several kings and princes from hill states of the Punjab (Bilaspur, Handur etc.), Rajputana and other zones. The Guru was released on the 26th of October 1619. When Jahangir got this news he was convinced that the Guru was really a genuine pir for whom everyone was equal. After this, Jahangir ordered the arrest of Sheikh Ahmad Sarhandi, who was interned in this Gwalior Fort prison.

 

 

Battle of Ruhila:

Guru Arjan had founded Gobindpur (now Sri Hargobindpur) at the site of the ruins of the erstwhile Ruhila village on the right bank of river Beas. After the arrest of Guru Hargobind, this village had been occupied by Chandu and Bhagwan Das Gherar (father of his daughter-in-law). When Guru Sahib chose to stay at Guru-Da-Chakk, he decided to take possession of Gobindpur. Although Chandu had been killed in the summer of 1620, his son Karam Chand had still not learnt a lesson. When he came to know that the Guru had taken possession of Gobindpur, he collected a large number of men and attacked the Sikhs. A battle was fought on the 27th of September 16211. The Sikhs battled the invaders and gave them a crushing defeat. After their defeat, they approached the police chief of the Jalandhar - Doab and offered him money and requested him to help them. He agreed and sent several Mughal soldiers to help them.

This army reached Ruhila on the morning of the 3rd of October 1621; that day, another battle was fought; this was a decisive battle in which Chandu’s son Karam Chand, his father-in-law Bhagwan Das Gherar and (Bhagwan Das’s son) Ratan Chand were killed. After their deaths, their mercenaries fled the field. After this, none dared to attack the Sikhs. When the news of Guru’s victory at Ruhila reached Kalyan Chand (ruler of Bilaspur), he contacted other hill chiefs and decided to visit the Guru to congratulate him. In fact, they wanted to seek the favour of the Guru in case they had to face an enemy attack or clashes with the Mughal Emperor.

On the 28th of March 1624, a big gathering of the Sikhs was held at Guru-Da-Chakk; those who attended included the rulers of Bilaspur and Handur etc. (whom Guru Sahib had got released from Gwalior Fort prison in 1619). The ruler of Nahan (Sirmaur state) too joined Kalyan Chand. Kalyan Chand, the ruler of Bilaspur, requested the Guru to establish his headquarters in his country; he made an offer of land too. The Guru was already interested in a strategic defense bastion so he agreed to establish a new village, but refused to accept the gift of the land. The

 

 

Guru toured the area around river Satluj and selected some territory of the villages of Kalyanpur, Bhatoli and Jiowal and paid the price of the land. At first Raja Kalyan Chand refused to accept money, but when the Guru refused to accept donations of land, he (the king) had to accept the money.

Purchase of Land For Establishment of Keeratpur

Though the Guru had purchased the land but he could not move to the new place; finally, he asked his eldest son Gurditta to take charge of the land. Gurditta founded the city of Keeratpur on the 1st of May 1624 and began living there.

From 1624 to 1634, Guru Hargobind stayed at Guru-Da-Chakk (now Amritsar). During this period, Jahangir, the Mughal Emperor had died on 28 October 1627; he was succeeded by Shah Jahan. With the passage of time, Shah Jahan too came under the influence of fanatic Muslim clergy. During this the Guru had to face attacks by some minor Muslim generals and chieftains. The Guru had to face three attacks: on 13 April 1634 at Guru-Da-Chakk, on 16-17 December 1634 Mehraj and on 26-

28 April 1635 Kartarpur.

Though the Guru had won all the three battles, he realized that this won’t end anywhere, and there would be further attacks and clashes; so, he decided to leave the plains and move to Keeratpur, a city founded by him in Bilaspur state. Having discussed it with his courtiers, on the 29th of April 1635, he left Kartarpur for Keeratpur.

Guru Hargobind reached Keeratpur on the 3rd of May 1635. Now Keeratpur became the major centre of the Sikhs. Besides the Sikhs, most of the rulers of the hill states too began visiting the Guru. They were pleased to see the Guru near them because they knew that the Guru had defeated the invading armies several times; and they expected the Guru to defend them in case of a Mughal attack.

During the Guru’s stay at Keeratpur, the rulers of Kehlur (Bilaspur), Handur (Nalagarh), Sirmaur (Nahan) and other states used to send regular messages and even paid visits to the Gurus. During this time, several Rajput rulers and princes as well as other political refugees had

 

 

taken refuge with the Guru and had been living at Keeratpur. Bhai Lakhi Rai Vanjara and other major traders like Bhai Mai Das Parmar (father of Bhai Mani Singh) and Bhai Dasa (father of Makhan Shah Lubana) too used to make frequent visits to the Guru. It seems that during this time the Guru planned the construction of a Fort. Lakhi Rai Vanjara was the owner of a great track of land in the Shivalik foothills (between Kala Amb and Yamna river), he might have offered to build a Fort. The construction of the Lohgarh Fort seems to have been begun by Lakhi Rai Vanjara under the instructions of the Guru.

Guru Hargobind breathed his last on the 3rd of March 1644. When his body was cremated, a former Rajput ruler jumped into the pyre and immolated himself (it was a Rajput way of expression of love and devotion); this Rajput ruler had sought asylum at Keeratpur after having killed several Mughals to save the honour of his daughter. At the time of the Guru’s funeral, he became so emotional that he could not bear separation from the Guru; when another Rajput tried to jump into the pyre, Guru Har Rai stopped him; he, however, killed himself with his own dagger; he too was cremated along with the Guru.

Guru Har Rai spent early days of Guruship at Keeratpur. In 1645, Tara Chand, the ruler of Kehlur (Bilaspur) State, stopped paying tribute to the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, and the latter ordered his arrest. The Guru advised him to either declare sovereignty or get ready to fight against the Mughal Emperor or pay him the amount of tribute. But he did not bother for the Guru’s advice (eventually he was arrested and imprisoned). When Tara Chand did not bother for the Guru, the latter left Keeratpur and moved to Thapal (in the old state of Nahan/Sirmaur, in Lohgarh zone). It seems that major work of construction of Lohgarh Fort was done during stay of Guru at Thapal. On the other hand, when Tara Chand was released, he visited Guru Har Rai at Thapal and requested him to return to Keeratpur.

Endnotes

Bhai Nanhu Shah Vanjara was martyred in the battle of Ruhila and he became the first sikh martydom. Bhai Nanhu Shah is the ancestor of Bhai Mani Singh and Bhai Bhagwant Singh Bangeshwari.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 4

 

Banda Singh Bahadur’s Journey from Nanded to Lohgarh Fort

 

 

When Aurangzeb died, there was a war of succession between his sons, in which Muazzam (later Bahadur Shah) became victorious. The decisive battle took place at Jajau, on 8 June1707, in which prince Tara Azam was killed and Muazzam was victorious; a unit of the Sikh soldiers too had fought as allies of Muazzam. Now, Muazzam sat on the Mughal throne as Bahadur Shah; and held a darbar (court) to thank and award his supporters. On 23 July 1707, he welcomed the Guru in his darbar, thanked him for his blessings and help and presented him a diamond- studded khillat (robe of honour). Besides, he (Bahadur Shah) promised to punish those who had perpetrated atrocities on the Guru’s mother, Sahibzadas and the Sikhs. The Guru presented him a list of ten persons, including Wazir Khan1 (the Governor of Sahrind, now Sirhind), who were responsible for the killings of Sahibzadas and Mata Gujri as well as others. But, before he could take any action on his promise made to the Guru, he had to leave Agra to quell the rebellion of the Rajput Rajas of Amber (Jaipur), Jodhpur and Ajmer. He requested the Guru to accompany him during the expedition so that they may finalize the line of action regarding Wazir Khan and others.

According to another tradition, the Guru did not accompany him, but when he remained engaged in Rajput-expedition for about five months, he sent an emissary to the Guru to visit him in Ajmer. The Guru reached Ajmer in the beginning of March 1708; but, before he could discuss further on Wazir Khan’s issue, Bahadur Shah received reports that his second brother Kam Bakhsh too has rebelled; so he decided to go to South to quell his rebellion; he requested the Guru

 

 

too to accompany him so that during the journey they may discuss something.

During their journey towards the South, the Guru had a couple of sittings with Bahadur Shah and discussed the line of action; both the camps reached Burhanpur in May 1708; during those days there was a great flood in the Narmada river so they had to stay back in Burhanpur.2 By this time, Wazir Khan, the Governor of Sarhind, had come to know about Guru’s meeting with the Emperor; and he knew that Bahadur Shah was already friendly to the Guru and some action on him (Wazir Khan) was a must. So, it seems that he planned to create differences between the Guru and Bahadur Shah; and, as a part of this strategy, he sent a big amount (rupees 8 lakh) to Bahadur Shah as his contribution to war expenses. He also sent some Pathans to infiltrate

the Guru’s camp and to eliminate him (Guru) at the first opportunity. Bahadur Shah and the Guru crossed Narmada in the second half of

May 1708 (Bahadur Shah crossed it on 17 May); by this time, Bahadur Shah had received rupees 8 lakh from Wazir Khan; hence there was no question of taking any action against him; as a result Bahadur Shah began avoiding meeting with the Guru; however, after crossing Tapti river, on 25 June 1708, a meeting between the Guru and Bahadur Shah took place at or near Balapur (sometimes in July 1708); and it seems that in this meeting Bahadur Shah gave an indication of his soft stand regarding Wazir Khan. Having smelt Bahadur Shah’s intentions, the Guru, now, decided to forget about him (Bahadur Shah) and to himself take action against Wazir Khan; so, the Guru left the caravan of Bahadur Shah and decided to return to the Punjab; but, before leaving for the Punjab, he decided to visit Madho Das Bairagi, who had established his dera at Nander (Madho Das had met the Guru in 1694 at Rishikesh).

On the other hand, Bahadur Shah crossed the river Ban Ganga, on 24 August, 1708, and went towards his brother’s capital.

Banda Singh Joins Sikh Faith

Guru Gobind Singh visited the dera (camp) of Madho Das on 3 September