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CHAP. Ill
SIKH GURUS; TEGH BAHADUR
57
tender to power and as a disturber of the peace, but 1664-75. he had found a Hstener in the chief of Jaipur; the Rajput advocated his cause, saying such holy men rather went on pilgrimages than aspired to sovereignty, and he would take him with him on his approaching march to Bengal.^ Tegh Bahadur accompanied the Raja to the eastward. He again resided for a time at Tegh Baharetires Patna, but afterwards joined the army, to bring sue- ^^^ against the expedition cess, says the chronicler, to the ^Q^^png'^i^ He meditated on the banks of the chiefs of Assam. Brahmaputra, and he is stated to have convinced the heart of the Raja of Kamrup, and to have made him a believer in his mission.^
After a time Tegh Bahadur returned to the Pun- Tegh Baha^^jab, and bought a piece of ground, now known as ^^ Makhowal, on the banks of the Sutlej, and close to *JJe"pJ°jab Kiratpur, the chosen residence of his father. But the hostility and the influence of Ram Rai still pursued him, and the ordinary Sikh accounts represent him, a pious and innocent instructor of men, as once more arraigned at Delhi in the character of a criminal: but the truth seems to be that Tegh Bahadur followed the example of his father with unequal footsteps, and that, choosing for his haunts the wastes between Hansi and Leads a life the Sutlej, he subsisted himself and his disciples by "^^'"^^"q''^' plunder, in a way, indeed, that rendered him not un- s^ainedTo popular with the peasantry. He is further credibly appear at represented to have leagued with a Muhammadan Delhi, zealot, named Adam Hafiz, and to have levied contributions upon rich Hindus, while his confederate did the same upon wealthy Musalmans. They gave a give a rupee to each, and to hail him as Guru who should (from intuition) claim the remainder. Tegh Bahadur demanded the balance, and so on. 1 Forster and Malcolm, who follow native Indian account.*;, both give Jai Singh as the name of the prince who countenanced Tegh Bahadur, and who went to Bengal on an expedition; but one manuscript account refers to Bir Singh as the friendly chief. Tod {Rajasthan. ii. 355) says Ram Singh, the son' of the first Jai Singh, went to Assam, but he is silent about his actions. It is not unusual in India to talk of eminent men as living, although long since dead, as a Sikh will now say he is Ranjit Singh's soldier: and it is probable that Ram Singh was nominally forgotten, owing to the fame of his father, the 'Mirza Raja', and even that the Sikh chroniclers of the early part of the last century confounded the first with the second of the name, their contemporary Sawai Jai Singh, the noted astronomer and patron of the learned. Malcolm (Sketch, p. 39), who, perhaps, copies Forster (Travels, i. 299, 300), says Tegh Bahadur was, at this time, imprisoned for two years. - These last two clauses are almost wholly on the authoritj' of a manuscript Gurmukhi summary of Tegh Bahadur's life.
SIKH GURUS; TEGH BAHADUR
57
tender to power and as a disturber of the peace, but 1664-75. he had found a Hstener in the chief of Jaipur; the Rajput advocated his cause, saying such holy men rather went on pilgrimages than aspired to sovereignty, and he would take him with him on his approaching march to Bengal.^ Tegh Bahadur accompanied the Raja to the eastward. He again resided for a time at Tegh Baharetires Patna, but afterwards joined the army, to bring sue- ^^^ against the expedition cess, says the chronicler, to the ^Q^^png'^i^ He meditated on the banks of the chiefs of Assam. Brahmaputra, and he is stated to have convinced the heart of the Raja of Kamrup, and to have made him a believer in his mission.^
After a time Tegh Bahadur returned to the Pun- Tegh Baha^^jab, and bought a piece of ground, now known as ^^ Makhowal, on the banks of the Sutlej, and close to *JJe"pJ°jab Kiratpur, the chosen residence of his father. But the hostility and the influence of Ram Rai still pursued him, and the ordinary Sikh accounts represent him, a pious and innocent instructor of men, as once more arraigned at Delhi in the character of a criminal: but the truth seems to be that Tegh Bahadur followed the example of his father with unequal footsteps, and that, choosing for his haunts the wastes between Hansi and Leads a life the Sutlej, he subsisted himself and his disciples by "^^'"^^"q''^' plunder, in a way, indeed, that rendered him not un- s^ainedTo popular with the peasantry. He is further credibly appear at represented to have leagued with a Muhammadan Delhi, zealot, named Adam Hafiz, and to have levied contributions upon rich Hindus, while his confederate did the same upon wealthy Musalmans. They gave a give a rupee to each, and to hail him as Guru who should (from intuition) claim the remainder. Tegh Bahadur demanded the balance, and so on. 1 Forster and Malcolm, who follow native Indian account.*;, both give Jai Singh as the name of the prince who countenanced Tegh Bahadur, and who went to Bengal on an expedition; but one manuscript account refers to Bir Singh as the friendly chief. Tod {Rajasthan. ii. 355) says Ram Singh, the son' of the first Jai Singh, went to Assam, but he is silent about his actions. It is not unusual in India to talk of eminent men as living, although long since dead, as a Sikh will now say he is Ranjit Singh's soldier: and it is probable that Ram Singh was nominally forgotten, owing to the fame of his father, the 'Mirza Raja', and even that the Sikh chroniclers of the early part of the last century confounded the first with the second of the name, their contemporary Sawai Jai Singh, the noted astronomer and patron of the learned. Malcolm (Sketch, p. 39), who, perhaps, copies Forster (Travels, i. 299, 300), says Tegh Bahadur was, at this time, imprisoned for two years. - These last two clauses are almost wholly on the authoritj' of a manuscript Gurmukhi summary of Tegh Bahadur's life.
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