Tempo:
— CHAP. Ill
SIKH GURUS; GOBIND
59
Tegh Bahadur seems to have been of a character 1675-1708. hard and moody, and to have wanted both the genial Te^rBaha temper of his father and the lofty mind of his son. Yet dur-s charhis own example powerfully aided in making the dis- acter and ciples of Nanak a martial as well as a devotional people, influence. His reverence for the sword of his father, and his repeated injunction that his disciples should obey the bearer of his arrows, show more of the kingly than of the priestly spirit; and, indeed, about this 'time the Sikh Gurus came to talk of themselves, and to be regarded by their followers as 'Sachcha Padshahs', or as The title 'veritable kings', meaning, perhaps, that they governed 'True king by just influence and not by the force of arms, or that ^pp"^^ to they guided men to salvation, while others controlled ^^^ ^"'""'' their worldly actions. But the expression could be adapted to any circumstances, and its mystic application seems to have preyed upon and perplexed the minds of the Mughal princes, while it illustrates the assertion of an intelligent Muhammadan v/riter, that Tegh Bahadur, being at the head of many thousand men, aspired to sovereign power.^
When Tegh Bahadur was put to death, his only Gobmd son was in his fifteenth year. The violent end and the succeeds last injunction of the martyr Guru made a deep im- *° ^^^ pression on the mind of GolDind, and in brooding over ^^fr!*^?^ ship. 1675 his own loss and the fallen condition of his country, he became the irreconcilable foe of the Muhammadan name, and conceived the noble idea of moulding the vanquished Hindus into a new and aspiring people. But Gobind was yet young, the government was suspicious of his followers, and among the Sikhs themselves there were parties inimical to the son of Tegh Bahadur. His friends were therefore satisfied that the mutilated body of the departed Guru was recovered by the zeal and dexterity of some humble disciples,^ and that the son i, Preface, pp. xiii-xviii related by two Sikh authors.
vol.
and
vol.
iv,
381).
The
story
is
Ed.]
Saiyid Ghulam Husain, the author of the Siar ul Mutak(i. 112), is the writer referred to. Browne, in his India Tracts (ii. 2, 3), and who uses a compilation, attributes Aurangzeb's resolution to put Tegh Bahadur to death, to his assumption of the character of a 'true king', and to his use of the title of 'Bahadur', expressive of valour, hirth, and dignity. The Guru, in the narrative referred to, disavows all claim to miraculous powers. For some remarks on the term 'Sachcha Padshah', see Appendix XIII. Tegh Bahadur's objections to wear his father's sword, and his injunction to reverence. his arrows, that is, to heed what the bearer of them should say, are given on native authority. ? Certain men of the unclean and despised caste of Sweepers were dispatched to Delhi to bring away the dispersed limbs 1
harin
SIKH GURUS; GOBIND
59
Tegh Bahadur seems to have been of a character 1675-1708. hard and moody, and to have wanted both the genial Te^rBaha temper of his father and the lofty mind of his son. Yet dur-s charhis own example powerfully aided in making the dis- acter and ciples of Nanak a martial as well as a devotional people, influence. His reverence for the sword of his father, and his repeated injunction that his disciples should obey the bearer of his arrows, show more of the kingly than of the priestly spirit; and, indeed, about this 'time the Sikh Gurus came to talk of themselves, and to be regarded by their followers as 'Sachcha Padshahs', or as The title 'veritable kings', meaning, perhaps, that they governed 'True king by just influence and not by the force of arms, or that ^pp"^^ to they guided men to salvation, while others controlled ^^^ ^"'""'' their worldly actions. But the expression could be adapted to any circumstances, and its mystic application seems to have preyed upon and perplexed the minds of the Mughal princes, while it illustrates the assertion of an intelligent Muhammadan v/riter, that Tegh Bahadur, being at the head of many thousand men, aspired to sovereign power.^
When Tegh Bahadur was put to death, his only Gobmd son was in his fifteenth year. The violent end and the succeeds last injunction of the martyr Guru made a deep im- *° ^^^ pression on the mind of GolDind, and in brooding over ^^fr!*^?^ ship. 1675 his own loss and the fallen condition of his country, he became the irreconcilable foe of the Muhammadan name, and conceived the noble idea of moulding the vanquished Hindus into a new and aspiring people. But Gobind was yet young, the government was suspicious of his followers, and among the Sikhs themselves there were parties inimical to the son of Tegh Bahadur. His friends were therefore satisfied that the mutilated body of the departed Guru was recovered by the zeal and dexterity of some humble disciples,^ and that the son i, Preface, pp. xiii-xviii related by two Sikh authors.
vol.
and
vol.
iv,
381).
The
story
is
Ed.]
Saiyid Ghulam Husain, the author of the Siar ul Mutak(i. 112), is the writer referred to. Browne, in his India Tracts (ii. 2, 3), and who uses a compilation, attributes Aurangzeb's resolution to put Tegh Bahadur to death, to his assumption of the character of a 'true king', and to his use of the title of 'Bahadur', expressive of valour, hirth, and dignity. The Guru, in the narrative referred to, disavows all claim to miraculous powers. For some remarks on the term 'Sachcha Padshah', see Appendix XIII. Tegh Bahadur's objections to wear his father's sword, and his injunction to reverence. his arrows, that is, to heed what the bearer of them should say, are given on native authority. ? Certain men of the unclean and despised caste of Sweepers were dispatched to Delhi to bring away the dispersed limbs 1
harin
©
2026
Lehal.net