Tempo:
CHAP. Ill
SIKHISM UNDER GOBIND
71
his wrath would not endure. But he still clung to tern- le^s-nos. poral success; the fort of Chamkaur remained in his He himself possession, and he fled during the night and reached flies to chamkaur. the place in safety.
At Chamkaur Gobind was again besieged.^ He was Gobind called upon to surrender his person and to renounce ^^'^^^^^ ^"^''" his faith, but Ajit Singh, his son, indignantly silenced J^'""^ the bearer of the message. The troops pressed upon nos-'e. the Sikhs; the Guru was himself everywhere present, but his two surviving sons fell before his eyes, and his little band was nearly destroyed. He at last resolved upon escape, and taking advantage of a dark night, he treaded his way to the outskirts of the camp, but there he was recognized and stopped by two Pathans. These men, it is said, had in former times received kindness at the hands of the Guru, and they now assisted him in reaching the town of Bahlolpur, where he trusted his person to a third follower of Islam, one Pir Muhammad, with whom it is further said the Guru had once studied the Koran. Here he ate food from Muhammadans, and declared that such might be done by Sikhs under pressing circumstances. He further disguised himself in the blue dress of a Musalman Dervish, and speedily reached the wastes of Bhatinda.
His disciples again rallied round him, and he succeeded successin repulsing his pursuers at a place since called ^""^ resists 'Muktsar', or the Pool of Salvation. He continued his ^'\5'"T^'^ flight to Dam-Dama, or the Breathing Place, half way between Hansi and Ferozepore; the imperial autho- and rests °^™" rities thought his strength sufficiently broken, and they ^* did not follow him further into a parched and barren 2^"l^'i^^^ Bnatinda. .
country.
At Dam-Dama Gobind remained for some time Gobind and he occupied himself in composing the supplemental composes Granth, 'the Book of the Tenth King', to rouse the the vichitr ^****'energies and sustain the hopes of the faithful. This comprises the Vichitr Natnlc, or 'Wondrous Tale', the only historical portion of either Granth, and which he concludes by a hymn in praise of God, who had ever assisted him. He would, he says,^ make known in another book the things which he had himself accomplished, the glories of the Lord which he had witnessed, At Chamkaur, in one of the towers of the small brick shown the tomb of a distinguished warrior, a Sikh of the Sweeper caste, named Jiwan Singh, who fell during the 1
fort, is still
siege.
temple
The bastion itself is known as that of the Martyr. A now stands where Ajit Singh and Jujhar Singh, the
eldest sons of Gobind, are reputed to
have fallen.
Gobind's defeat and flight are placed by the Sikhs in a. d. 1705-6.
SIKHISM UNDER GOBIND
71
his wrath would not endure. But he still clung to tern- le^s-nos. poral success; the fort of Chamkaur remained in his He himself possession, and he fled during the night and reached flies to chamkaur. the place in safety.
At Chamkaur Gobind was again besieged.^ He was Gobind called upon to surrender his person and to renounce ^^'^^^^^ ^"^''" his faith, but Ajit Singh, his son, indignantly silenced J^'""^ the bearer of the message. The troops pressed upon nos-'e. the Sikhs; the Guru was himself everywhere present, but his two surviving sons fell before his eyes, and his little band was nearly destroyed. He at last resolved upon escape, and taking advantage of a dark night, he treaded his way to the outskirts of the camp, but there he was recognized and stopped by two Pathans. These men, it is said, had in former times received kindness at the hands of the Guru, and they now assisted him in reaching the town of Bahlolpur, where he trusted his person to a third follower of Islam, one Pir Muhammad, with whom it is further said the Guru had once studied the Koran. Here he ate food from Muhammadans, and declared that such might be done by Sikhs under pressing circumstances. He further disguised himself in the blue dress of a Musalman Dervish, and speedily reached the wastes of Bhatinda.
His disciples again rallied round him, and he succeeded successin repulsing his pursuers at a place since called ^""^ resists 'Muktsar', or the Pool of Salvation. He continued his ^'\5'"T^'^ flight to Dam-Dama, or the Breathing Place, half way between Hansi and Ferozepore; the imperial autho- and rests °^™" rities thought his strength sufficiently broken, and they ^* did not follow him further into a parched and barren 2^"l^'i^^^ Bnatinda. .
country.
At Dam-Dama Gobind remained for some time Gobind and he occupied himself in composing the supplemental composes Granth, 'the Book of the Tenth King', to rouse the the vichitr ^****'energies and sustain the hopes of the faithful. This comprises the Vichitr Natnlc, or 'Wondrous Tale', the only historical portion of either Granth, and which he concludes by a hymn in praise of God, who had ever assisted him. He would, he says,^ make known in another book the things which he had himself accomplished, the glories of the Lord which he had witnessed, At Chamkaur, in one of the towers of the small brick shown the tomb of a distinguished warrior, a Sikh of the Sweeper caste, named Jiwan Singh, who fell during the 1
fort, is still
siege.
temple
The bastion itself is known as that of the Martyr. A now stands where Ajit Singh and Jujhar Singh, the
eldest sons of Gobind, are reputed to
have fallen.
Gobind's defeat and flight are placed by the Sikhs in a. d. 1705-6.
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