EVOLUTION OF THE KHALSA VoL. I TiiE FOUNDATION OF THE SIKH PANTH EVOLUTION OF THE KHALSA Vol. I THE FQVNOATION QF THE .$IKH PANTI-I BY INDUBHUSAN BANERJEE, M.A. PREMCHAND RoYCHAND ScHoLAR, MoUAT GolD ME':DALUST LECTURER JN ·HISTORY, CALCUTTA UNIVERSITY PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF CALCUTTA 1936 PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY BHuf'ENDRALAL BANERJEE UNIVERSITY PRESS, SENATE HOUSE, CALCt.JITA. lleg. No. &H ll-Dor,ember, 1936-A. ST • VERF' 24863 1 1 SEP To · THE REVERED MEMORY OF SIR ASUTOSH MOOKERJEE " There eire ideal series of events which run parallel with the real ones. They rarely coincide. Men and circumstances generally modify the ideal train of events, so that it seems imperfect, and its conse­ quences are equally imperfect. Thus with the Reformation ~ instead of Protestantism came Luther­ anism." -NOVALIS. .PREFACE As the title of the work shows, m it I have set myself the task of tracing the evolution of Sikhism • till Guru Gobind Singh introduced his reforms and brought the Khalsa into existence. For the sake of convenience I have split up the work in two volumes, the present volume covering the period till 1604 when the Granth Sahib was compiled and the peaceful evolu­ tion of Sikhism practically came .to an end., . I have been teaching Sikh History in the Post-Graduate classes for a period of over 15 years and the present work is the outcome of my endeavour to solv~ some of the difficulties that constantly confronted me. How far I have succeeded it is not for me to say but I shall consider myself amply rewarded if my book, in some measure, pave the way to further discussion and clarification. I have never believed that there is much sense in any pedantic insistence on diacritical marks and there­ fore I have avoided them wherever I conveniently could. In transliteration I have followed the Guru­ mukhi spelling and pronunciation and consequently Veda appears in the text as Ved, Yogi as Jogi and so on. My obligations are many a.nd some of them have been noted in the footnotes. But I shall be failing in my duty if I do not acknowledge the assist­ ance that I received from my Gurumukhi teacher, Bhai Ajmer Singh. At the same time I would like to make it absolutely clear that the Bhai Sahib iH in no X PREFACE way responsible for the views expressed in this work. My sincerest thanks are due to my friend and colleague, Mr. Sailendranath Mitra, who. very kindly saw through the proofs, though, needless to say, the responsibility for any errors or faults of expression is entirely mine. For the Index I am indebted to the courtesy of I!'Y pupil and friend, Mr. Anadicharan Banerjee. I would also take this opportunity of e~pressing my thanks to Mr. A. C. Ghatak, the Superintendent of· the Calcutta University Press, and his Staff for the ready assistance that I always received. I have supreme pleasure in dedicating the book to the revered memory of Sir Asutosh Mookerjee, a,t whose instance I took up investigations in Sikh History. My debts to him cannot be expressed in words. SENATE HouSE : INDUBHUSAN BANERJEE CALOUTTA CONTE:NTS CHAPTER I Introduction CHAPTER II ... The Age ofGuru Nanak CHAPTER III ·The Life of Guru N anak CHAPTER IV The Message of Guru Nanak CHAPTER V The Foundation of the Sikh Panth CHAPTER VI Ideals and Institutions APPE~DIX A Guru Nanak and the Caste-system APPENDIX B Hindu Divinities in the Japji ... Bibliography Index APPENDIX C PAGH 1 22 52 94 146 216 267 277 281 293 EVOLUTION OF THE KHALSA CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION The history of Sikhism presents several features of exceptional interest. Originally Sikhism belonged to the great family of popular religions that made their appearance in India in the 15th and 16th centuries. All preached the same message of love and truth, the same message of peace and emphasised, with the same sureness of accent, the great panacea of the Name, Ramananda and Kabir, Chaitanya and N anak, all agreed as to fundamentals, though, no doubt, there were differences in detail. But whereas the other schools developed, more or less, on traditional lines, and after short periods of fruitful activity, quieted down into narrow, hide-bound or at best mystical sects, ? ~khism went off a a tan ent and ultimate! . evolved ,r~ at has been ciU:ed a church-nation; A sim...E!,e monotheistic faith which found its first utterance in the hymns of Guru N anak and which had its origin in an unostentatious attempt at social eman~lE.~1f21l and religious uplift, became. in coutS•QL..1in;J.~Q;ra1UJcal in its aims and ;nilitary in its methq~~:~ It evolved in turn a military theocracy, a confederation and a monarchy and its votaries exist to this day as one or the best disciplined of the minority communities of India.. Further, as Carpenter points out., " starting 2 ElVOLUTION OF THEl KHALSA with a Puritan quietism which repudiated outward rites as in themselves meritorious, and conceived the life of the believer as a continued communion with Go~ •. it developed temple li.n4 se~vice, an,dppserva,rices of ceremonial piety. Rejecting every kind of violence and enjoining the completest forgiyeness of wrongs, it protected itself by military organisation, made disciples into warriors and turned the devotee into the soldier~ saint. ~ . .L~~Sl.;!~:£~~. E~llK~S>,.rt.iR .. Jh.~~l?.U~~.s1_~~~~s, ~!~--~~L~!-Ii~£~,2cLg!!!,~~~~~~ ... :~ce 1 and.~-~t:Jn i.0l;9!~ .. t~~.-oJ?lj{;{a~i2!l,_.Q.,t .. .t]J;l;l_.i,1:W.QJ.'iL~~-!:it.~-c _tl:.::~"''l !O'::"' :-"'"'""'· ""''' "'''' ,." · ' ~~~~. te_e~cracy, .J?E.~!.~.e:~~~ .. ~~"--~~re complex prob L~m~.££ljfiEll!~iJLEl~r£g1if!,¥£!tJg=gp~~r~ ~--_ln tracing the history of- the transf9rmation of Sikhism we .can discern two distinct stages of developrrlent_. ' . ~-~·~e ,.?,:x~ :Kh~lsa ~as ~~;~u~~rx~~.~ existe;es~- -SF~;; the executibli of Guru Arjan · and the sudden transition to militarism undei: ~i! son and succ~ssor Hargobind,~, •. ,~J::t!ch, after some -moderate successes, received a set-back a.nd then again ~trj_~.l:!: .. £Jl~~~ ... 'l~.~~r;. Guru Gobhid Singh. A:nd It · is interesting to note that the more thorough mili- tarism of the tenth . Guru was __ ~~~ed by another execution, viz. that of Tegh BaEadur. It may thus , · . . . II •. ii HIWoP.~ki ~. : .··,~·.~'"~~:~I('~IiiUWC~ .·.··· ~ . . . r,. · appear that Sikhism retained its peaceful character so long as the State did not interfere and that it was only as a reaction to t,~ . martyrdom of Guru f}fj,.,~A~E~!tt Hargobind resorted to the policy of armed resistance. Under Hargobind's successors the new policy relaxed and Sikhism was possibly relapsing to its earlier path when again the execution of Tegh Bahadur brought in its train the more disciplined militarism of his suc­ cessor. 111 .. ot~~r words, t~~ transf()l'I1l!tti()n of Sikhism ~might tliu~ ·~£Ji~~i¥;a ,.U,I;i,wa.rijl~ ihf3'w®~;··C?f · M usli~ 11e,rsecution. _: ,_,,. •• But though it would certainly be a great mistake to belittle the significance of the martyrdom of . two of the greatest leaders of Sikhism, ~~~h a simple state-~ ;:;.~~t ~£ the-~atte;~~n hardiy·b~ ;egard~das"ad.e-quate. It leaves unexplained v,rhat made it possible for Sikhism to react to the Muslim persecution in the manner it . /''(~';anth mean$ a pa.~h. a way, and hence, a religiotliil denomination, INTRODUCTION did, and we have perforce to take a broader view of the affair. Almost all previous writers, who have given more than a passing attention to the subject, have laid stress on certain peculiarities which distinguished Sikhism from the other .reform movements. Cunning­ ham writes, " in · the beginning of the sixteenth '"century, the Hindu mind was no longer stagnant or retrogressive, it bad been leavened with Muhammadan­ ism, and changed and quickened for a new develop­ ment. Ramanand and Gorakh had preached religious equality, and Cbaitan had repeated that faith levelled caste. Kabir had denounced images, and appealed to the people in their own tongue, and Vallabb bad taught that effectual devotion was compatible with ~be ·ordinary duties of the world. But these good and able • men appear to have been so impressed with the nothingness of this life, that they deemed the a.melio­ ration of man's social condition unworthy of a thought . ............ They perfeCted forms of dissent rather than planted the germs of nations, and their sects remain to this day as they left them. It was reserved for Nanak to perceive the true princi'ples of reform, and to lay those broad foundations which enabled his successor G:;;,;o.;.b;;in;,;;d;...;to.,.·· ,.fi.,r.Me..;t;;;;h~e.~ .. :m.,...,..,.1n~d~· s~o,..f..,__.n,;,;hi~~\!.,.J~itfi , a new nationality." 1 This passage has so frequently ___ ..,F&..,J:·,_·'·'·;:•t••,C:i,C.;O·,--_". ,- -- ~- ~~~~!!,~ik~ ... ~~~~2?¢., g!~.~,9lUEr~"'i()~nda­ ~ion · provide.2, .. .2L~!t!~,.=2'~~'"j~"'~~,~ ~~.~"S,,~S!~.!!!.P.hl1t he bad 12Ianted &m,~~.*~"'"g,~J;,~~~""~"~'"'" ... ~'''~··~·"~!!.i~~. : .. . But ' Cunningham's contention seems to be that the· system • of Nanak had some such original distinctiveness which alone could provide the basis of a nation and which was wholly absent in the other reform movements. SuCh a position, however, seems hardly tenable. Some later writers have gone further and they would have us believe that the full-fledged Sikh nation of the future had already been contemplated by Guru Na.nak and that his successors merely turned that contemplation into a reality. The only evidence that these writers adduce to show that Guru Nanak had political ideals is some of his hymns wherein he deplores the barbarities practised by . Babur's soldiers in connec~;ion with the capture of Sayyidpur and the inhumanities perpetrated by the Muham­ madan rulers of the day. It is said that the Guru's heart melted at the spectacle but he was help­ less as he had no nation at his back. " He and his successors had to create it. But he did not sit down in impotent rage and utter idle jeremiads. Being a practical man, be set about doing as much as the circumstances would permit.'' 1 But all these are pure 1 Teja Singh, op. cit., p. 4; see also Ka.rtar Singh, op. cit., p. 6, £. n. ~ Teja Singh's ~~! .. !!.th;;2~anakd,~~~.¥~~~1J: ... \t~l.Hi';!~!J!Jgjl;t~ task. , .Pvreatmg a nlt~!H~.!J¢2Jf.a.JiJP:Ml~J:.,~I5L§~g~,~~.2E@ ,::.~.~.£l~a~~?E ..... was ;::~n the anvil,~:!~i..!ll tE~ .. t~~~'~'~!~.\l',?l!9iL~!l!,.~t;,~2~J2,2~!'1!~il:Jute 2 10 EVOf,UTION OF THE KHALSA assumptions and hardly require any ·1·efutation. The plain fact is that a man of ·Guru Nanak's tempel'ame~t . and character coQld not but be deeply . struck by 'suc:h brutalities and he _ g~tve . vent. to• his·.·.feelin~~ ;iii •his characteristic manner. These instances show how difficult it has become · to study the history. of the -earlier phases of Sikhism in their true historicil>l . .~>~t~.ing. ana , perspective and how the later· political .l).!ld ~.!lit~ri . successes of Sikhism have added largely to the difficul­ ties of the student. Since Browne wrote his India Tracts many have been the writers who have sought to enrich Sikh studies one way or another but it cannot possibly be denied that most of the writings on the earlier phases of Sikhism have been coloured, more or less, by the reflected glory of its later days. Whatever that might be, it appears that Sikhism started with a certain plasticity of character and it is also probable that " though he did not make it the subject of a formal prohibition, .. ~anak had dissuaded his . disciples. fron1 re11ouncil1g a9tE;·]~~·~"< .. ,.B'litthese f~;t~;~; - ~e~~: hy - ~o me~~~. entirely u~iq~e- ·and could not by themselves have meant much. Guru Nanak, however, nominated a successor just before his death and this was, no doubt , a measure of far-reaching consequences. The significance of this memorable step has been fully discussed in its proper place and without anticipating matters it would be enough to say to the making of its character (p. 2)." He proceeds to show hCJw each su~~e~~i~e . Guru contributea ·· some '"es~eiltiB:f't:C~it1ii1";t'~~;aerGuru ,,,·,o:~·.:.·u:<)·"~'(_ , •• .;:.•,. ,.,_;« -·.-_,,-,,,,,.1._ • .. _. ,_,, __ ~,- ,,_ ..... -._•_•:-· ... : :·· :.• _ ·:·.· .,.,_, ..... ,:,:·:.;::' ~-~·-~~'•·:,.•i, ·,l. ~ '"-''->'"""-·' -· ..;,_;_:i':::'-"'·'~1/:~:tc""''-'~'"'':>:!R'.J*'>'""'-':r'~il-'''~~-..,_."'!""~·· ~,o!!~~ ... ~!~.l[e. t.~~ .. f1J.1!·~-~g~~~"P,~-~.~9.Ii ... E~~~ •... i;EJ;~.~.~~l.~~;-.!!.!!!.!.~~!l.~.xi.~w of the matter, ~postulating for Sikhism a deliberate and more .or less conscious development, suffers from over-simplification and can hardly Pe regal'ded as historical. INTRODUCTION ii that it gave Sikhism a definite leadership which could not but be of supreme importance in the history of its evolution. The Guruship came to acgpire in Sikhism q~it:~'~·rtr;;';~"ffi~;;;ca:" '"' fh;·"P~:a;;I;;~~t ·······r;~~~o- lll'l< .• ""·' ·-,~·-~..,-;:.;; __ • __ , ... _ .. ~~- -~ • o•~ -.• -,,.,,,.,,. ,y;!,."'"" ''·'• '--;' ·'··'••·-_; ._, ,~-~· - b O>Ji ··•·T •'JJi ,·c,,,_-_ , :<-•_.: ;:.:,-,,- : :;-\•.• ;> :;-c,---: '.~~r?\b"'' -,:•.0'''''1"''''.'0oTh'>:;tC:.-;J<. -. rc;:~n,·;t,·x:•.•;,-7:c\::•- ;;..J:,; :·;:-.·-•: • -' '-'' ':.C.•:. -;./·''-·'('c; ,,,,,,--<'-~-'l:s;; •_,, _, ,. - .. ~c·~·::·,;o,-,,,_0 ;:L".•.·-•·;·.o;·;;;:L,:; ·, , ,c:·:.-. , , "' .. ,--_o Sikh • PanJl eol1ld,~ra.~.2~Jx=~EJ.se. N anak' s successors effected a separation between the 8ikhs and the Udiis·is, or the followers of Sri Chand and Sikhism became essentially a religion of householders. It was given something of a ' social character in addition to the reli­ gious ties that hE}ld it together ' and a temporal character was added to the Guruship, faint and indirect though it no doubt was. Moreover, under the wise guidance of the successors of Guru N anak Sikhism developed that unique spirit of organisation that made it so definite in its practical results. The compilation of the Granth Sahib completed the separation from mythology and tradition and by the time of Guru Arj an. ~ikhislll.had . come to .. a cq,ui~~;····_p~i~:rutrily through i~S~;g~ts an.d Mas~nds, a far-flung and, at the same tici~~~~:£i~~~~l~~~~ .. 9FS3:PJ~a,tion. And the strength of that organisation, together with the high intensity of the religious ideals of Sikhism, gives us the measure of its reaction to Muslim persecution. That reaction expressed itself in a sudden transition to militariElm, but the militarism, in the first instance, was~~Ty"'defen.si.ve charaCter. '' Arj~nh.~d seen clearly that it was impossible topreserv·~·'tb.';'ioll?wers ~Wi""""".rj~>" :~C~:- ::: ; .~,:n.•,:,; ,<; .. _:' .. .C:;;~ •. -,ru :<:"Cc'~?.f.:l•,t1J:'~~.tii¢l~'l:j _;!'~l;;,: ,.!.~:/c:;;s_:_~:;,_C,•,_ •. _._:.-:-,_,._,_·:No: ... : .-.,_ .. -.-·- ' -.: ,.:.:-·. _. , without the aid of arms ; and his last injunction to his ~'d~~~~s~~·," ·· ··H;':rgDVill::-}.; :,•::c",<:k;:~""".:.';.;:">'~-•'-> .. "'t'_,.,,,. ~.'~ · :.< _:.{'; . , . . ,_co ·-·.-·•J,,._, ·•---: .'i.:•.•-•. ) _·. ?:. ~;>-, ---~ -"'; ,-,,, , ,._,~ , ·~=~~,._,__..__.. he maintained an army about :2,000 strong and his court displayed ' the pomp and magnificence of a semi­ independent military chieftain,' he devoted himself almost solely to the peaceful organisation of his ~ollow~rs. But, for once at least, he di~ not hesitate to INTRC)DUCTION i3 give up his peaceful policy at the call of friendship and the demands of hospitality. He is said to have helped Dara Sukoh when the latter fled to the Punjab after his defeat at the hands of Aurangzib. A period of stress and difficulty immediately ensued and when after the death of the boy-Guru Har Krishan, Tegh Bahadur ~~::~.>:~},"(;1-,t>,;;,;t .. :>c:~"'<::•,:'Y~-':<"t':Ct:;;:'i.:'.~O':c'7:~:-···:--.c:r:~~: · __ 7-_.;"_',--,-".'·.·'"'~--"'''.,,,_, ____ ,:--·-·---·-·-.·-·· .o: :.-·:.:~,e>8;iiii£:>2<>-'w:;.;. ,;c·. came to "'£!.,.,l.~~,?~~i:'~~"~""''~~, .. ,,Eh~ .. J~gt~i!!}~~t~""·'Ql1!1t~.. ~he retired further into the hills and settled at Makhowal in the hill state of Kahlm. But owing to the undis­ guised hostility of the disgruntled Ram Rai, who had never ceased to conspire against the legitimate Gurus since his father nominated his younger brother Har Krishan to the Guruship in preference to him, and of other Soqhi Khatris, notably Dhir Mal, the elder brother of Guru Har Rai, T~~~~"""'~~h~,~.~E •. £9~~~ . his position insecure even at . MakpQWitl and, for a time, ~-~'!ii~;;:~;S{~;];.~:;~,:P~'~YX:'.\y~;:•-·::-:c':e_;.,,_,.,,_,.,._{,~~:'-''··"';...:-'~'·-:C~--·-.;-.,..;..,.~;~-,- ... _._,,_,_,. ·oi:; .... _.,, went £2i..,()~~c·~£~!~I~; ..... Q.J:l ... l:~~~" E~~~! .. T:l,,, .. E2. ~.PEI .. J:>.ur1jab, however, he found it impossible to stand by when he found how the proselytising· zeal of the Emperor was working havoc among the peaceful Hindu population. His lofty . J:~li?io~~. i~~~ls . cf the .S£t,Ithii~·.~ and Kushan Tart,a~s ,was no ne~llgible, f,a,c~o:r..:...:c The history of Islam in Persia affords another striking illustration of the phenomenon in question. As Sir William Muir says, " With the rise of Persi~tn influence the roughness of Arab life was softened ; and there opened an era of culture, toleration and scientific researchc .•... To the same source. may be attributed the ever-increasing laxity at Court of manners and morality ; and also those transcendental views that now sprang up of the divine Imamat or spiritual leadership of some member of the house of 'Ali as well as the rapid growth of free thought.'' 8 The reaction was thus widespread and made itself felt in a variety of ways but it was possibly most striking in the field of religion. Opinions differ as to the nature and extent of Persian influences on such developments as the Mutazila heresy with its doctrine of free will and its rejection of the orthodox view that 'the Koran is uncreate,' or the idealistic and pantheistic mysticism of the Sufis, but at the same time there can be little doubt that there • :"'" (\r HDRt. . ' "'"· ---·- ,y 6' ,::;:: .... ,~/ ----~ ""(\" ~)/ ".,-·~ 1 Bertrand Russel, The Problem of Ohina, pp. 91, 92. . i.~ ( . \'~ 2 Rhys Davids, Buddhist India, p. 320. ~ ( LfB'iU\FY ) .f" 3 ~ir William M;uir, Th~ Oaliphat~J~, Rise, Decline and Fall, p. 434. ··.,. \, J .: 2 4 8 6 3 ', '·,__ '14.~~;,'!/) ' .1 1 SEP 1968 16 EVO.LUTION OF THE KHALSA arose many outward Muhammadan heresies that em­ bodied and revived in • new forms. pre-Muslim<. and non-Muslim ideas. And most of the ultra-Shi'ite sects " do but reassert the same essential doctrines of Anthropomorphism, Incarnation, Re-incarnation or Return and Metempsychosis, which doctrines appear to be endemic in Persia, and always ready to beco~e epidemic under a suitable stimulus. In our own days they appeared again in the Babi movement, of which, specially in its earlier form, they constituted the essential kernel." 1 Whether in all these or in Rome at least we can detect ' the reaction of the Aryan mind against a Semitic religion imposed upon it by force • is difficult to say and must be left to experts. This question of .'r~ce and religion,' however, has of late received some attention in psychological and aocio-anthropological studies and attempts have been made at a scientific and precise statement of the processes involved. McDougall says, " We may in fact regard each distinctive type of civilisation as a species, evolved largely by selection, and the selective agency, which corresponds to and plays a part analogous to the part of the physical environment of an animal species, is the innate mental constitution of the people.'' He then goes on to suggest that ~ these principles .are illustrated, perhaps, most clearly by the spread and modification of religious systems among peoples of different races' and as an example of modification he takes the distribution of the two great divisions of the l Edw!!>rd G- Browne, Literary History of P~rsia, pp. 3081 311. INTRODUCTION 17 Christian religion in Western Europe. We ·are told that among all the disputes and uncertainties of· the ethnographers about the races of Europe it is possible to distinguish a race of northerly distribution and origin, characterised physically by fair colour of hair a:qd skin and eyes and mentally by great independe.nce of character, individual initiative, and tenacity of will. This is known as the Homo Europ(l}US or the Nordic type. The rest of the population of Europe, with certain exceptions in the extreme north and east, are chiefly derived from two stocks, the Homo Alpinus which occupies chiefly the central regions, and the Homo Mediterraneus in the south. Both are of dark complexion and mentally they differ from the Nordic type in having less independence and initiative and a greater tendency to rely on authority. " Now we find that the distribution of. the Protestant variety of Christianity coincides very nearly with the regions in which the fair type predominates ; while in all other regions the Roman Catholic or Greek orthodox churches bold undisputed sway. North and South Germany illustrate the point. And Motley's account of the Nether lands shows how closely the line between Protestant Holland and Roman Catholic Belgium coincides with the line of racial division." McDougall concludes, " It would be absurd to hold that this coin­ cidence is fortuitous. It i~ clearly due to the assimila­ tion of the form of the religious and ecclesiastical system to the innate tendencies of the people. The northern peoples have given the system a turn com­ patible with the independence of spirit which is their leading racial quality ; the peoples among whom the 3 18 EVOLUTION OF TRE KHALSA :other r!J,cial elements predominate have developed . and maintained a religionof authority.'' 1 But such an ' over,simplification of extre!ltely I1Y(3rt­ ed _ .~11ll~~t the entil:'e J.at •· peasantry of the Manjl~a,Jr~ct an.'iltliere c~n be little doubt that by the time of Guru .,.?ffargobind tll~ ... J~~.~ ... f?.rJ:rl~d .. lJY Jart}1e pr(lp?nderant ~~~~-~~ ~£. ~~~.~~~~. c(>~~;~it! ...... Like the Vaishnavism ~ortiier!r - tr1afa: 8ik~'"\1lso could not escape a similar reaction and the character of the Jats imper- cept~b~! ... 1llodified·········tli; '8y8t~ill", ' a;it'w~S"boui'{a't~ ·do. rrseein~ t~ us that th;;orrespondence between certain preponderant traits in the J at character and some of the later developments associated with the Khalsa are remarkably close and that the transformation of Sikhism thus affords a more or less striking example of ' the assimilation of the form of the religious system to the innate tendencies of the people.' But at the same time it is important to remember tba.t we are dealing with a very complex affair and we should take guard against any tendency towards over-simplification lest we perpetrate what bas been called ' the fraud of history made easy.' 1 Glossary of the Punjab Tribes and Castes, Vol. II, p. 507. CHAPTEH II THE AGE OF GURU NANAK Guru Na.nakwas horn at Talwandi in the district 1\of. Lahore in 1.4s9whe'n':Bah1ol :Lodi \Vas ... r~i~nillg ~t; ~:~~~.t"by ;:hu!~: ;;:;:r:~:: :: J~;a~!~~s~f;;r:~ ~be eve of that temporary eclipse of Mu gbal authority \ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . .. . .... . ·~·········"···· ., ~efore it was finally re-~~tablisbed on a surer founda- tion. Guru Nanak tb.'us lived and worked in age of .. •tragsi~io~ w~e~. :N<>rth~:~ !ndia 'ias nl()~iiig""fb~~r~s a ne\V. ~e~a,djust~ent a~a tbE;.?'"Ji! suitauate .. ofifeYhi .was making way for a new imperialism of a somewhat more enlightened character. It was necessarily . an •· age of disintegration, the centriFal1tb.ority wa~:~ .. ~e.ak ~nd tb.e \~~~trifngal tendencies W;ere,, .• m()re ()r)e!>~rp~raiJ10Unt. ) lrhe Lodis, no doubt, had effected a considerable , improvement in the situation and the aln:wst. total 1 anarchy of the Sayyad days was a thing of the past, but the authority of the Sultan still rested on precarious foundations as the Afghan nobles '' were accustomed to regard the prince, as their chief, not as their master ..-as the representative of the national force, raised to power and maintained in it by their support." 1 The unsatisfactory character of the Sultan's authority became clear when Ibrahim Lodi attempted to define the cla.irns of bis prerogative more rigidly a.nd wa.s. met 1 Erskine, History ~~ India under • Babar and Humayun Vol. I, p. 411, THE AGE OF GURU NAN'AK with open .opposition.. ~s .. !rskin.e •points out, the Lodi p;::>'r: "-- - "· .·- : : • · · - · __ : -----. · ·-· - · -- · · --- -• · · - · -- · · -_-- . - •~ prm~lple.of~2~~~lOD.·•• '' '!'~e Inonarchy·.was a.congen~s OT~e~ij-·-·independ~nt ... p;illcipalities, .. jagirsand ······•pro­ vinces:· (:lach ruled by a· hereditary chief, or by a zt;minder or delegate from Delhi ; and the inhabitants looked more to their immediate governors, who l:iad a,bs.Qlute· power in the province, and in whose hands·, consequently, lay. their happiness and misery, thari to a, distan.t and little known sovereign." This unsatisfactory state of affairs was due pri~ marily to the " appalling atrocities '' of Tim1lr's invasion. Since the death of Firoz Tughlak the Sultanate of ·Delhi had been gradually decaying in prestige and power. The provinces were . falling off olJ.~ af.ter another and at the capital the later Tughlaks, who were, without exception, weak, incompetent arid inexperienced, found themselves helpless amidst the machinations of rival factions and unscrupulous chiefs. The ·weakness of the Government and the proverbial opulence 'of.Hindusthan must have been enough to fire the cupidity of Timor, who was a man o£ insatiable ambition and had great confidence in his own tested strength, but the wanton violence of his horrible raid can never be fully realised if we forget that neither conquest nor plunder was the principal object of ·his expedition. 2 The destruction of the infidels, their idols and temples was Timor's primary aim and his fanatical policy was .carried out with a ruthlessness 1 Erskine, op. cit., p. 406. 2 Ishwari Prasad, Mediaeva~ India, p, 291. 24 EVOLUTION OF THE KHALSA which has led some to characterise him as a monster in human form .. I A After the departure of Timur "all semblance of / "" ·• •· .. . .. . . . . .. .... .. ., .. ....... . , .. .. , .,,, .. .... . ' ' ... ' "' ..... ..... ,, .. ,,,,,_ '"'"'' '·' ..... . ''*overnment was .. c1~st.r?~e.d ... J]] 1Jpp~~f])dia '' and ·the extent to which the · Punj~b · s~ffe~~d· d~~ift~~: vailing anarchy may be gauged from the fact that when Mubarak Shah, the second Sayyad monarch, entered Lahore in 1421 he found the city in ruins, " in which no living thing except the owl of ill omen had its abode." 2 This Sayyad monarch appears to have been a man of some ability but the circumstances were against him and he failed totally to stem the tide of disruption. Besides the Mewatis, who held the tract between Delhi and Agra, and the Hindu Zemin­ (lars of Kateber and the Doab, the Turkbachas of Sarhind kept up a continuous opposition and the situation in the Punjab was made hopeless by the constant intrigues of rival governors, the machinations and adventures of Jasrath Khokar and the raids of Shaik Ali of Kabul. This J asrath Khokar, whom Yahya bin Ahmed calls " an impndent rustic," 3 had his headquarters in the hills at Tekhar and as soon as the news of the death of Khizir Khan reached the Punjab, he crossed the Beas and the Sutlej, plundered the country from the town of Ludhiana to Rupar and marched towards J alandhar. " Intoxicated with, 1 Dr. Sachau calls him a monster and Prof. Dowson agrees. Elliott, History of India as told by its own Historians, Vol. IV, p. 560. 2 Elliott, Tarikh·i-Mubarak Shahi, op. cit., Vol. iv, p. 56. This is no doubt an exaggeration but the· extent of the exaggeration gives some measure of the truth. a Ibid, p. 54. THE AGE OF GURU NANAK 25 victory and elated .with the strength of bis. forces, hE! began to have visions about Delhi." His designs failed in the end but his intrigues and adventures made the Punjab a. hotbed of endless strife. Again artd again he descended from his hill retreat, now attacking J alartdhar and now investing Lahore, time and again harrying the open coq.ntry and carrying the peaceful inhabitants away as prisoners, and he continqed in this manner till Bahlol Lodi ascended the throne. On the other hand, " Shail;{ Ali, the lieutenant of the . prince, the son of Sar 'atmash '' l il)vaded the province and for some time his raid became almost an annual affair. The local authorities were so very impotent that Malik Sikandar, the Governor of Lahore; gave Shaik Ali two thousa.nd rupees annually to keep him off. The continued rebellion of Pulad'­ the Turkbacha leader of Sarhind, who invited Shaik Ali more than once to his assistance, strengthened the hands of the invader and he seems to have met with little effective opposition in his deliberate game of harrying and plundering. His methods were so ruthless that even the. Muhammadan historian of the period is constrained to call him an infidel. At Tulamba " he gave his accursed foiJowers permission to take posses­ sibn of the fort. Next day, · all the Mussalmans became the prisoners of the unclean ruthless infidels. Although many good men of the ·place were imams, Saiyids and Kazis, no respect for the .Elliott, op. cit., p. 59. Firishta says that he was a/ MughSJ chieftain in the service of Sharokh Mir~a, Governor of Kabul; Briggs, History .of the Rise of the Mahomedan Power in Inrlia, Vol, I (R. Cambray, 1908), p, 517. 26 EVOLUTION OF THE KHALSA Mussalm'au:religion, no fear :of God, :could restrain that accursed··. wretch, d~void alike of feeiing and shame. Women·,. youths and little children were ;til dragged to his .... house.'' 1 On -another 6ecasiou·rut•·Lahdre ''the accursed Sbaik Ali made all the Mussalmans of the eity, both men arid women, prisoners. Thi~ vvr'etc~ed.I gra.celess fellow had no better object oroccupation than to lay 'waste the seats of Islam and to make Mussal­ mans captive." 2 If such h!lid been the fate of the Mussalmans, what the Hindus suffered at his hands can easily be guessed. Firishta says that on one occasion, after having received two lakhs of tunkas from Pulad, the Turkbacha leader, for the service be rendered in comJ:)elling the royal army to abandon the Siege of Sarhind, Shaik Ali recrossed the Sutlej and realised by plunder ' one hundred-fold beyond the value of what he had received from Pulad.' He con­ tinued his depredations in the districts ··of Lahore and De pal pur ' insorn~ch that 40,000 Hindus_svere com­ puted to have been massacred, besides a great number carried away prisoners.' Even making due allowance for possible. exaggeration it is not difficult to realise the extreme wretchedness of the plight in which the inhabitants of the Punjab found themselves during the so-called Sayyad regime. With the assassin~tion of Mubarak Shah the little vigour that still characterised the Sultanate of Delhi .disappeared and Under his SUCCeSSOr I the busin'ess . of ,the state day by day fell into greater confusiqn, and :.affairs came to such a pass that there were amirs .at 1 Tarikh·i-MubarakShahi, Elliott, op.-cit., Vol. IV, p. 73; ' Ibid, p. 76. THE AGE 0~ GURD NANAK twenty ko~ from J:)elhi who shook off their allegiance, and made pretensions to independence.' In 1441 ·the. Sultan had conferred the country of· Depalpp.r and Lahore on Bahlol Khan and sent.· him against J" asrath Khokar, f who made peace with him and flattered hin:l with hopes of the throne of Delhi .. ' B;thlol now v:irtu.ally ~ade himself independent of Delhi and calling together the Afghans from all . directions organised a strong party. His first attempt failed but with the accession of Alanddin the Sayyad power was weakened still further and finally in 1451 Bahlo1 Khan !Jodi seized Delhi and declared himself Sultan. The situation immediately improved. Bahlol succeeded in subduing the eastern kingdom of Jaunpur, which had always been a thorn on the side of the Sayyads and " he may be said to have recovered a certain amount of control extending from the foot of the mountains to Benares and as far south a.s the borders of Bundelkhand." 1 But as we have said pefor.e, the Lodis could only stern but not turn. the tide oe di~ruption. Under Bahlol and his successors the Afghans of the Lodi, Fermuli and Lohana tribes naturally held the principal jagirs and chief offices of trust; ' which, from the habitual modes of thinking of their race, they considered as their own of right, and purchased by their swords, rather th:w as .due W a.ny bounty pr liberality ·on the part of the soyereign.' BahJol Khan Lodi was too clever a man not to realise ~he situ~tiop anSI he was tactful anp sagacious enough to ~d9pt ,a policy that kept the Afghanuoplesfriendly and, more or less, attached to himself. He is said to have l Yinc,ent Smit,b, Oil?/or;d Hwtl:rry of India, p. 253. 28 EVOLUTiON OF 'fHE KHALSA maintained a brotherly intercourse with ali chiefs arid soldiers. (< In his social meetings he .never sat on a throne ·and :would .riot allow • his. riqbleEI. t(). ~tarid ; arid e'ven during public audiences he did ·riot occupy the throne, but seated himself on a carpet.'' 1 This ingenious policy of disengaging the . suspicion •. and j~al­ ousy of the Afghan nobles was eminently successful. It is remarkable that inspite of the traditional im­ patience of the Afghans of a controlling authority and Bahlol Khan's own preoccupation with the King of Jaunpur for a number of years, the Afghan nobles gave him very little trouble save some minor disturbances, here and there, ;:'"' ' S~k~~.~a~ .•.. l:J()c1i, ... ~h~ . . ~?Il: .. l:l.P..1 .. sucqess()r_ of .Bahlol, '\,pegr~r":W~1{ar{a he :~v~~ · '-eitended ~i~ · .. ~i~~Q!ll . by ~nnexing)3ehar, the last of _th~ Sh\lrki 1?2~-~~§.t>ion§l, in the east, and Dholpur, Chan.deri and Gwalior in the west. But he failed to manage the Afghan nobles and governors as successfully as his ·father had done, H The Afghan nobles chafed and fidgetted ·• under the restraints that had · to b~ · impos~d upon them in the interests of good government, and it was with great difficulty that Sikandar was able to hold in check their turbulent and factious spirit.'' This was clearly illustrated in the attempted rebellion of several Afghan chiefs, who wanted to place Prince Futeh Khan, the Sultan's brother, on the throne when Sikandar attempt­ ed to interfere too closely withthem. The attempt fizzled out but ' the tendency to revolt was so common that the Sultan found it impossible to secure the 1 ',I'arikh·i·Daudi, Elliott, op./.Jit., Vol. tv, pp. 436·37, THE AGE OF GURU NANAK 29 permanent loyalty of .his Muslim vassals, to say nothing of the Hindu chiefs ' and the last years of Sikandar were spent in suppressing ' Rajpu.t revolts and the infructuous attempts at independence made by his own governors.' ~·~·~·.···· ... J?rec~ri()US ~OUl}datiQI1 .. Oil. wh.i8h , .~he Lodi kinga'Vh.()foriJ:lt~· sit at business the whole day long., even after his appointed time for meals and rest." 1 The author of the Tarikh-i-Daudi gives him a very btgh character. '' Sultan Sikandar was a most illustrious monarch and of a benevolent disposition ; he was famous for his liber­ ality.~. honour and politeness ; he bad no · affection for pomp and ceremonies and cared not for processions and magnificent dresses. No one who was a profligate and a bad character had access to him ; he always associated with men of religion and the virtuous, and was both inwardly pious and outwardly handsome ; he did not give way to his desires, and was exceedingly God-fearing and benevolent to the people. He was very just and courageous, his equity beheld the weak and the strong with the same eye, and he was con­ s~antly employed in balancing evidence, deciding suits, 1 Briggs, op. cit., Vol. I, pp. 585, 586, 30 EVOLUTION 0$' THE KHAtsA arranging the affairf1 of the Empire, .. and .. tryi!lK t8 render his subjects happy ; he personally assisted the wretched." 1 But· Sikandar's benevolence and sense of justice had very serious limitations. They stopped short with a section of his subjects, his ovvn co­ religionists. Under him" the. State once more assum­ ed a theocratic· character and officially !rtl.:P.o~~tl.I~!ain upon the Hindus," so that in spite of what th~ M1lhalil.­ madan writers say about Sikandar's justice, we need not be surprised. at G.l1r1J.:N"~nak's corr1plaint tl1~~.i11 his 1'~ge ''.Justic~ .. hath·-ra~e~ ~i~~S.~ ~!l.~fl..ed.'' 2 · ~h~ .G:uru ih ori~ ... P.lace directly refers to the practice of bribery that tainted the administration. We are told : • ' c8J:llP~ssi8:n .is :n?t ~:cercis~d by I1lerel~ beholding IL slli~.81\ Tll~;(; 'fs.ilo 6ne who receiveth or giveth~iJ.~t-brlb~S:'=· · . .):. )T'h; ·ki~gdi~pen~~tb.j~~ti~;;h~·;;,i~i~p·~i~·T~'fi!i;d.'' 3 :'A·/~nd Bhai ~~rdas. also spea~s of the almoAt univers~l ),,vice of bnbe~takmg .. ()f which.,.Vf3ry, J~\Y .Qg,J;b~ ... -~a,zis ;er~ free.-! But apart from these considerations, the fierce bigotry of Sikandar Lodi makes all talk of his sense of justice a cruel mockery. Even before his accession, Prince Nizam Khan, as Sikandar ·was. then called, had given unmistakable proof. of his blind intolerance. It is related by the author of the Tarikh-i-Daudi that on one occasion "when a crowd of Hindus had assembled in immense numbers at Kurkhet, he wishe,d to go to Tbanesor for 1 Elliott, op. cit., Vol. IV, p. 445. i! Macauliffe, The Sikh Religion, Vol. I, p. i7o. a- 'ibid, p. 5 · ·-· , .. , ...... ___ .. · .. · · · · « Bhai !Jurdas, War,.!, 30·. THE AGE OF GURU NANAK :-31 ,the purpose of putting them ~ll to death.'' Even when Miah Abdulla, the Maliku""l Ulma, assured the prince that it would be very improper to destroy an ancient idol temple and that he ought not to forbid the accustomed rite of performing ablutions in the tank, 'a~ the custom was very ancient and bad been. left unmolested by the previous Muhammadan sovereigns, it was with difficulty that the Prince could be dissuaded from his intended project. He placed his hand on his dagger and exclaimed, " You side with. the infidels. I will • first put an end to you, and then massacre the infidels at Kurkbet." Unperturbed the Mian replied that he had given an answer in con­ ,formity with the precepts of the Prophet and if the Prince had no reverence for them, it was useless to ask questions like these. At last the Prince's wrath was appeased and the project was given up.l It can 'easily be seen what the Hindus might expect when such a prince wielded the sceptre of the realm and many · illustrations are available to prove that through· out his reign one of the most cherished aims of Sikandar Lodi was the extirpation of Hinduism. Firishta says that " Sikandar was firmly attached to the Muhammadan religion, and made a point of destroying all Hindu temples,'' 2 and we read in the Tarikh-i-Daudi that " he was so zealous a Mussalman that he utterly destroyed diverse places of worship of 'the infidels, and left not a vestige remaining of them.,. Every city iihus conformed as he desired to the customs 1 Tarikh-i-Daudi, Elliott, op. cit., Vol. IV, pp. 439, 440 ; see also Briggs, op. cit., Vol. I, p. 587. ·. 2 · Briggs, op. cit. , Vol. t, p. 586, · 32 EVOLUTION OF TRE KHALSA of Islam/' 1 In 1504 Sikandar captured Mundril. The Hindu temples-.in the_ place were fmmediately destroyed and mosques - were · built il:l -'til~i~- it~~(f~2 In 1506 Ha.numantgarh was captured, the Rajput _garrison was put tothe sword and the I!indu temples shared the same fate as at Mundril. 3 I11 the same year Sikandar marched against Nurwar, a ettdtl'€; ·fort in the - district of Mal wa, then in possession of the Hindus. After the capitulation of the garrison the Sultan remained at the place for six months, 'breaking down temples and building mosques. He also estab­ lished a college there, and placed therein many holy and learned men.' -! But the greatest havoc that was wrought by the Sultan's fanaticism was in the ancient :S:indu city of Mathrtra. The celebrated temples of Mathura were all destroyed and the Hindu places of worship were turned into caravanserais and colleges. Mosques and bazars were built opposite the bathing­ stairs leading to the river and the Sultan ordered that no Hindu should be allowed to bathe there. "Their stone images were given to the butchers to eierve them as meat-weights, and all the Hindus in -Mathura we:t:e strictly prohibited from shaving their heads and beards, and performing their ablutions ...... and no Hindu, if he wished to have his bead or beard shaved, could get a barber to do it." 5 But even these atrocities seem mild and moderate in comparison with the execution of the Brahman 1 Elliott, op. cit., Vol. IV, p. 447. 2 Briggs, op• cit. ,Vol. I, p._ 578; 3 Ibid, p. 580. 4 Ibid, p. 581, 5 Tar.ikh·i-Daudi, Elliot-t, op. cit., Vol, lV, p, 447, See also B:ri~ga, op._ cit., :Vol, I, p. 586. THE AGE OF GURU NANAK Bndhan'" The sole offence of the Brahman was that he had. declared in the presence of some Muhammadans that ' the religions of both the Moslems and HindP.s, if acted on :with sincerity, were equally acceptable to God.' Two of the local Kazis ' gave fatwaa wbiqh did not coincide respecting the merits of the case. ' aUd consequently the matter was. referred to tbe Sultan. who caused all the wise men of note to assemble. The Brahman and the two Kazis were also brought in and after some disputation the Ulama determin.ed that the Brahman should either embrace Islam or suffer exe­ cution. He refused to apostatise and wa.s consequently put · to death. I If this was justice, Guru Na11ak might very well say that ' J us.tice bath taken wings and fled.' After this incident it is needless to refer to the case of Ahmed Khan,. the Governor of Lucknow. It is said that this man had become a convert to the Hindu doctrines and that as soon as the Sultan heard of this he ordered that Ahmed Khan .should immediate~ Iy be relieved of his government and sent a priso11er to court.~ I Elliott, op. Cit., Vol. IV, pp. 464, 465; Briggs, op: cit., Vol. 1:, pp. 576, 577. The Tarikh·i-Daudi says that the name of the Brahman was Laudhan,, who dwelt in the village of Kaner. Kazi Piyara and Shaikh Badr, who resided &t Lakhnauti, gave fatwas. Azam Humayun, tl!e governor of the district, sent them to the SultaD;'s court. Firishta says that the name of the Brahman was Budhan and he was an inhabitant of Kataeo, near Lucknow. See also, Ishwari Prasad, Mediaeval India, p. 482. 2 Briggs, op. cit., Vol. I, p. !5S2. There !llay be so!llething in tbe suggestion that the Brahman Budhan belonged to the sc40QI ()f Kabira~d in tha.t case his incident might very well be the·.· foundation of the story of Sikandar's meeting with Kabir, which involves an obvious anachronism. The case of the Luckn(!W Governor may also perhaps be attributed to the same influence.' 34 EVOLUTION OF THE KHAijSA The Hindus bad, therefore, no cause for gratifica- tion at the restor~ti~~ ~i~~a~~·· hY t£~ r.;~ar;;:v:~r~Ig~~'~ 4'-_•f':':~"'t'~'"''"'"'~~-·--~'<",~tt~·'';i:>' '~~-' ·~~-,_-;...,.. ,, ... _, ~., .....• ~ ------'< ·~ ---~~, .- .. ,;.:, .~· --~ ---~ ·····£-... ;j~--.,...~ ... ,~ .......... . The • .' pe~ce .and. s~~urity ' .... ~hich. .... t,l1~Y,~~!!,~,E~."~?-~2~e extent, enjoye~c ~asi11.ore tban. couJ)t~rck~l~E£~.g.J>ytpe ! fi.erce religious pers~9l1~i()I1 ... t,() .. !Yll19£. ,c~~~~)i­ jected. But, as .we have seen, the sovereignty of the todis was based on very weak foundations and on Ibrahim's accession the situation immediately • became worse. Ibrahim lacked that tact which had enabled his father and grandfather to keep the greedy and factious Afghan nobles, more or less, in check. The first two Lodis were content to enjoy the reality of power without caring too much to limit its claim to ·definition but Ibrahim was a man of a different mould. " At a very early period, contrary to the custom of his . father and grandfather, he made no distinction among his officers, whether of hi~ own tribe or otherwise, and said publicly, that kings should have no .relations nor dansmen, but that all should be considered .as subjects and servants of the State; and the Afghan chiefs, who had hitherto been allowed to sit in the presence, were constrained to stand in front of the throne' with their hands crossed before them.'' 1 The result was soon perceptible in the conspiracy of a group of Afghan nobles to set up Prince Jalal Khan, a brother ofibrahim, in independent possession of J aunpur. The conspiracy :was · crushed but the • Afghan nobles were alienated for ever, and the rest of Ibrahim's reign was, more or less, occupied in subduing successive rebellions in different parts of his kingdom. The Sultan soon made himself 1 Briggs, op. cit., :P· 590. THE AGE OF GURU NANAK 35 an object of almost universal distrust and the climax was reached when Daulat Khan I.Jodi, the Governor of Lahore, invited Babur to invade Hindusthan and place himself on the throne of Delhi. Even before this Babur had led several expeditions into the Punjab. ~abur s~y~ iJ1hi~ .LV~e1}'bgirs .. ~h .. a,.t ever since .. ~~. caJX1e.to ... l{a,bul it.)ad. bee11 .. his·.:i~t~ntion• • to m(}fe ()il=gi~:4-gstharl .... 1Jt1t ... ~ ........ y~~iety .• ... of.rea.sons bad hitb·~;t~·--.pr~~ented him from carrying out his plan.1 However, in 1519 he found his hands sufficiently free to make a sudden move towards Bhira, ' the borderland of Hindusthan.' The tract was then in the possession of Ali Khan, the son of Daulat Kban Lodi. Babur's object seems to have been to take possession of .the country, if possible by peaceful means, and an order was accordingly issued to his soldiers to the following effect :-" Do no hurt or harm to the flocks and herds of these people, nor even to their cotton ends and broken needles." 2 A sum of 400,000 shahrukh~s was agreed on· as the price of peace and collectors were appointed to realise the arnount. When the news was brought· to. Babur that·'' the soldiery were behaving without sense and were laying hands on Bhira people, persons were sent who caused some of those senseless people to meet their death-doom, of others slit the noses and so led them round the camp.''s On this occasion Babur also sent an envoy to the Afghan Court ' asking for the countries which from of old had 1 Memoirs of Babur, Beveridge's Translation, sec. II, p. 377. 2 Ibid, p. 380. 3 Ibid, p. 383. 400,000 shahrukhis, nearly 20,000 sterling. · See Elliott, op. cit., Vol. IV, p. 233, f. 11. 2. EVOLUTION OF THE KHALSA depetlded on the Turk.' · But the envoy .. was detained by Paulat . Khan at Lahore and returned unsuccessful. Nor did Babur remain. long in .• !Iip~gE!thar1. After having subdued a • Kahar chief he tnade some fl.E~a,pge~ ~ents for holding Bhira and the adjoining. dist:ricts and t4en retraced his steps to Kabul. But he returned soon afterwards. His sect>rl.d expedition seems to b~ve been rather unimportant arid his activities on this occasion were, more .or less, confin'ed in the frontier tract. In his third expedition, however, Babur advanced far into the heart of the Punjab and his objective seems to have been Lahore. ' He mad~ a demonstration in force to strengthen his position in Bhira,' and then marched right up to Sialkot. The inhabitants submitted without resistance but not so the people of Sayyidpur. 1 But the attempted defence proved abortive. The garrison w.as put to the sword 81nd many of the inhabitantsappeared .to have been carried into captivity. A very interesting sidelight is thrown on this incident by the .sikh Janarn~ tHikhis and some hymns of Guru Nan;~~~i~e~~t~d in th~ pranth Sahib. At the time of the capture of ~;y-yldpu'r . by Babur, Guru N anak and· his servant Mardana appear to have been near about the scene of occurrence and from the Guru's hymns we get some additional details about the incident. It is a significant fact that as Babur's ultimate object was dominion and not merely · plunder, he conducted his Indian campaigns with as much restraint as possible. We have ~lready seen how he punished his soldiers for ' 1 The present city of Eminaba.d in the Guiranwala district. See Macauliffe, op. vit., Vol. I, p. 43. THE AGE OF GURU NANAK having taken undue ·liberty with the Bhira people. · It is further stated that when, during his fourth invasion, on Daulat Khan Lodi's surrender at Mulwat, the gates of the fort were opened and the soldiers rushed in without orders, Babur even used violence to prevent outrage. " On the spur of the moment he killed by accident an officer of rank, of his son Huma­ yun's retinue, with an arrow; and though he lamented the circumstance, it is certain his presence alone saved the honour of Daulat Khan's family." 1 In l:lis third expedition Babur seems to have anticipated an easy march to Lahore and the unexpected resistance of the people of Sayyidpur must have upset his balance. The inhabitants, in this case, were given no quarter, Guru N anak says, "it was death disguised as a M ughal who made war on us.'' There appears to have been a general massacre of the people and 'houses, mansions and palaces were burnt.' Even the women were not spared. Says the Guru, " The Wealth and beauty which afforded them pleasure have. now become their bane, The order was given to the soldiers to take and dishonour them." And again, '' There· were the wives of Hindus, of Turks, of Bhattis, and of Rajputs. The robes of some were torn from head to foot ; the dwellings of others r were their places of cremation." i Briggs, op, cit., Vol. II1 p. !~. 38 EVOLUTION OF THE :kHALSA Tlle unequal character of tlie contest· also appears to have grievedthe Guru. On one side fought -a :trained, organised armyund_er the leadership of a veteran, . and on the other, an extemporised defence force mostly composed of the _ non~coJl1batants of a pea~~ful City . . The Guru complains, ,.,_., ,,.n ... w•,.. ·i" :::·· ······ · ·'····- - · ~- ---· · ··-.... -.·: .. ' "yYhenthere was slaughterandlame11tation didst not Tho~-~ () O_~d, ) eel p~in?- - --.--- ,_,,.--'"'·"'·· "'···= --- "''" Cr~ator, Thou belong~st to all. If a tyrant slay a tyrant, one is not angry; But if a ravening lion fall on a herd, its master should show his manliness.'' And the . Guru also saw clearly that by i:regleCti:rlg to take proper steps for the defence of his subjects against the onslaughts of Babur, the LodiSove~eign of Delhi was preparing the way _- fol' his own - ulti'inate:·r:uin. · " The dogs of Lodi have spoiled the priceless inherit­ ance, when they are dead no one will regard them." 1 And very soon circumstances took such a turn that the Guru's prognostication was literally fulfilled.- _..7-' • By. this _time I?rahim bad _made ___ hi1lls~lf ?ompletely / 1:'-,,.pdious to the majo'r!ty of his nobles and soldiers:---Daulat ~-L . ·_...,_ ·- .-' : .. :: -:- --'--· __ · >: _:. •-.. -~ • · .·' ":' ·. ,. ":· . , .... _-... .:·- "·? •- c : ··:·-·: ·-; :• ···: -· · --~- ~ - , - -,_. ·-~ - · ---<: - ,_.·_ ; ·- <• "' '"•'': ~ , .... ,,.~.,..- •;· · .':'. --·-·.-·,_. .-. _ _._,; -~- .•.•• Khan Lodi was summoned to Delhi but be suspected treachery aridac?~r41ngly ~~nt his sol'l bi,Ja~aJ: ~n.stead. This angered . Ibrahim, Dilawar was· badly received and ' was shown a ghastly exihibition of disobedient commanders.' 2 Dilawar fled to Lahore and reported I For the Guru's comments on the incident o.t Sa.yyidpur; see the two hymns in A sa; Mo.cauliffe, op. cit., Vol. I, pp. 115, 119. 2 A n'lllllber of these ha,d been kept hanged in a. room o.!ld Dila'wal' wo.s shown their skele~ops. · Elliot; op. c#., Vol. V, p, 23. THE AGE OF GURU NANAK 39 matters to his father. Daulat Khan became now convinced that no further reliance could be placed on Ibrahim and sent Dilawar Khan to Babur. Alauddin Alam Khan Lodi, the uncle of Ibrahim 1 also joined in the invitation and Babur marched for the fourth time into Hindusthan. He easily came up to. within 1ll miles of Labore when he encountered BibarKhan Lodi, who had been sent by Ibrahim against Daulat Khan. The latter had fled on the approach of Bihar Khan, who now came face to face with Babur. Bih~r Khan was put to flight and ' Babur's troops followed his fugitive men into Lahore, plundered the .town and burned some of the bazars.' Depalpur was next • stormed, plundered and put to the sword,' but Babur's projected advance on Sarhind bad to be given up because of the defection of Daulat Khan Lodi. He was dissatisfied because Babur had not restored him to his old possession of Labore. He cleverly kept his designs concealed but his son Dilawar betrayed him and Babur put him under arrest. He was, however, soon released and placed in charge of Sultanpur but be fled to the hills and there awaited his chance. This made Babur's position difficult and compelled him .to abandon his intended advance. He made arrangements for the government of.the Punjab and retired to Kabul. On Babur's retirement Daulat Khan immediately came down from the hills, 'seized his son Dilawar, took Sultan pur, gathered a large force and defeated Alam Khan at Depalpore.' Next he won over a part and broke up the rest of the army that Ibrahim had sent for the reconquest of tl;le Punjab. Upon this Alam Khan .tied straight to Kabul and Babur was 40 EVOLUTION OF THE KHALSA . . easily persuaded to undertake .his fifth . ant:ll~st invasion of Hindusthan. Before the climax was reac-hed Daulat Khan died .and Babur had an,easy passa.ge till he reached the field of Panipat where the final _battle was fought. Ibrahim was defeated and slain, Babtir · entered Delhi in triumph: a!ld~as •. proclaimed Emperor· of Hindusthan. But the __ M~ghaJs -had yet--to -suifer another eclipse and Upper India h~d stilhti · w~lt:"iiiore'-~ - · than two decades before it got the blessings of a settled and efficient administration. Such, _in o11t!ine, 'Ya~ _ _the . .P2.!i~t9~l ~i~2.~Y}>f the ~ a_~,!~~~~Y-~~~~i -~-~~~-~ife, !!!?~~!.. ~ ... utcb~~~!. and . 1t s~f3,I~::tL.Ph!l .. Pj~ ___ fjtate~ \'~~~~~1~fi~~ii~;;~t~~~~~: ~~ ~~=~-- - - -~~~~ ... c~tl:l!.t_er_?_~!.~~~~!L.2J'_§:..!£~pd~_r' s ·j~_!!lan l\r~.~~~~'!~ J>~;t:s.e,~_~t.ion. Jf the situationis revie\Ved D4?r.e . \~losely the details would _appear sickening, Loyalty to ~ cause, even to a family or person, was rarely ,to be found and everybody seemed to work for his own individual aggrandisement. Shameless opportunism and unscrupulous greed seem to have been the order of the day and the light-hearted manner in -which pledges were given only to be broken at the earliest oppor~ tunity 2 bespeaks a moral decadence which was keeping pace only too well with the political disruptio:q from which the country had been suffering. Gurq j~anak's castigation of_his cont~mpo!ar,ie~ _, i~ .• t~g~?_ugq ·':=.··· ·' ; ' . :r· ; 1 Maca.uli~e. op. cit., Vol. I, p. 170. , 2 A typical illustration of this is found in Bablol Lodi's dealmgs with the Shurki sovereign. THE AGE OF GURU NANAK 41 r? /~~:!.!~~~"~E~~~.: .... ,'::;.!If.~~:·•• })Q)Y~~~X.~ .... ll,r.e. ;~~~1 .. only. in sHape ~~~ ~~JE~.io,,ll?; .. ~.8t~Bct! .• t11.¥.J:"iit~."'~~~~w-· r, .. says he. TEe 'moral . degradation in which the people were ~~~I,W~F"""~-•-·•:·-'·-.:·•-:• , ·: ' ~--~:-:/'-·_·•,··.:::·:·· ... ··:-:- .. _:··--•-:·-··:··:·•_'·_-,- .. ·.:- ....... - ·_;'·•.:.• ... :·-:--•-• :-<,~-:'-,,-c·...;,-.;,-~--·;~;..c"~-. .,:'"''··' steeped becomes more clear when we attern.pt to get .•.. · .. -,~"'"''·"'"'" ' "''''·'"~ '""•'6' •··· ·······""''"'~·~······"··· ···: ~··· .... ~ ··· ···~···· ·· iiito·'-c oser grips with their religious and sociaJ life. It. bas been said that 'rules which human society devises for its protection and conservation soon become fetters which hamper its development and ensure its degeneration,' and nowhere, perhaps, is this more true than in the field of religion. Formalities and observances. ar¥. always }1le rn.ea,~~ to. ,a,~1 ... end. In aTillost··~rc~;e~ ·;;h;y··~-;~··i~p~-~~"a"'~iu~ ···~· ·· ~i~~ ·to ·the creation of a frame of mind favourable to the reception of high spiritual truths. But, as almost alwayshappens, the object behind them is gradually forgotten and they ~ec()Ill~.~l.lds in t~~r:nselves. The mind is securely bou~-t\vitb.Trt ''th~.-il.mlt~ of a close circle and free thinking diswppears. This has happ(:J.q~f! again and .. -.--·;c:·:-.• _;.;l< i'''-";i:'i''·'"'~"-'·._,-.•. ,., ... ,; .•. _.,.,,._-._._ :-.•·:·. :· .. :·· ,·.· ·:-: _,,_ -.: .: ' .. :;:;· ;-., •. -.::· .. ,.; __ ~ aga,iiJ···· .iii ~h~. );istory .•of. .J!i!Jgains~ you: but commit l]Ot the injusti~e of , attacking them first; God lov~tb 'not such irijustlce. "-Koran, II, 186. • Koran, li, 25.7. THE AGE OF GURU NANAK 43 know thf1t " the Amb conquerors notably in Sind, followed the wise and profitable policy of leaving ·the shrines and religious practices of the non-Moslem population practically undisturbed." I But with the advent of the Turkish hordes of Central Asia the more intolerant and iconoclastic tendencies became paramount and ' the destruction of temples _and the slaughter of Hindus sanctified every war.of aggression/ Even when the invaders settled in the country and._ established a government of their .own, this .spirit of intolerance remained the same· and humiliations oL all sorts were imposed upon the Hindus in order ' to. hasten the day of their enlightenment.' ~he _poll-tax, t~e pi~8Ei~ ta,x~ J>nblie degradati()n in . dress and d~~~:~I1~ur, suppression of .religious fairs and processio(IS~ prohibition of the building of new temples and the repairing of old ones, systematic repression of the [i[indu leaders of society and religion, besides ' rewards in the form of money and public employment offered to apostates from Hinduism ' were some of the mean~. adopted by the Government to exterminate the Hindu peop1e.2 It is clear that in a regime like this the_ Hindus had every reason to consider life in a very serious aspect. ':[1?e J?~njab.t . ~or~~ve~' ... . !a~ >particu­ l~;ly ?nf?rtunate " in •. th1s respe~t. ··r( th-e Muslim G~vernment was firmly established anywhere, -it was in the Punjab and 'the wave of proselytism had there spread with an overwhelming force.' It should also be noted that ' equality for all,' that Islam preached, could not but have a great influence on the Hindu 1 Sarkar, op. cit., Vol. III, p. 253. 2 Ibid, p. 254. 44 EVOLUTiON OF Tii:E KHALSA uiind, specially among the lower classes, to vy.hom conversion seemed "to offer ··· a · panacea for all · their grievances. Generally at such crises two ·• different •. parties arise who seem to work for the same purpose, vi~ .• ·self­ preservation, but with metho!ls that are entir~ly different. The conservative become mor~~' conservatl.ve; ~(>re particular about ·ever¥ detail of s~ci~~ l~!e ~nd attempt to save themselves and society by making · it scrupulously exclusive and tabooing every little lapse as unpardonable heterodoxy. Intolerant, uncompromising and necessarily irrational in spirit, exeommunication remains the only weapon of such a class, and society, the !>reservation of which is the motto of the party, becomes more stagnant and sterile through the loss of all those elements that make for reform and progress. The other party is the party · of · reform who wants to move ·· in conformity with the den:la.hd.~· 9!, ~h~ 'J:'ime spirit and give up all those stale institutions that cannot withstand the onrush of new ideas. At the time of which we have been speaking, this latter party bad not as yet made its appearance in the Punjab. It is undoubtedly true that Nanak did not come alone but that be was the member of a family, the great family of -religious teachers who arose in the 15th and 16th centuries. India, at that time, became the scene of a great religious revival, popular in its methods and simple in its characteristics. But we do not know anything definite about the precursors of Nanak inthe Punjab, :ind though it has been suggested that . the echo of Kabir's teachings had reached even the land of the Five Rivers and that for many of h~s. !d~as Nanak r~ ,.- _, ,_,. ~.r. ,~,._ • .-,• - - r ·"' '"·· --- >" ' .,. , . . • - ---- -- >·--.::;.-,~c:::.-~•-- THE AGE OF GURU NANAK 45 was .... i_Il~~l]jJ~d ..... to~ .. tbat grea,t.. t(Oacher, itisllerhaps not ui1£~~£~.f!,~le,J() suppose that at thE) till1(3 . the theme .. t~ all_' i~ordiJ:l[i:te. )~.qg!J: ~~~t~nough , .. ~, has already been said to show that at the time of Guru -'( •./, "''"'''''~'''"'•?•,· "~' " ""''"' "" ' .. - I \{I.~~~rs ad~~nt,_ religi?n ~~--~I-~. ;y~~ . ~8-~f. · 'F~~. spirit of both Hmdmsm and Islam was htdden beneath a mass of formalities and extraneous observanc.e::~. - ·-· - -: -;_ -.,- ~--_-...... ·:·; -: - ·-- - Tyranny reigned supreme, the tyranny of might, the ~yranny of •. forD1s . ar1~. th~ . tyranny of ~ames. The unity of the Godhead was lost in the worship of 1 Bha.i Gurdas, War, I, 21. 2 Macaulitfe, op. ·cit., Votl, p. 80~ 5i numerous avatars and divinities, pirs and da·rgahs ; pilgrim:41ges and empty ritualistic practices had taken the place of the real devotion of the heart ; blind faith and superstition had driven truth away. The Hindus and the Muhammadans quarrelled, the Brahman and the Mulla wrangled; social and political in•equalities reigned rampant and there was strife, eternal strife, everywhere. All aspects of life, sodal, religious and political, presented the same spectacle, ~~~:(:TI~:,i~ d"sggr, " how Mall ""'<,._ CHAPT.ER 1.PHE LIFE OF GURU It is almost a universal experience that the life~ stories of religious teachers gradually become so inextri~ cably mixed up with legends and myths that the real facts become obscured almost beyond recovery. Deifi~ cation and sectarian enthusiasm soon bring about such a transformation that the h mnan element recedes more and more to the background and the picture that emerges can hardly satisfy anybody.outf3ide the circle of the teacher's own .devoted and blind admirers. The result has been that of the many striking ·• personalities who have left their mark indelibly on lnd.ian history we know very little worth the name of history or bio­ graphy. Of course the main thing that mattered about them, viz., their peculiar approach and their ideal of life, survived through their writings or .those of their disciples but our understanding of them and their messages would certainly have been more complete if we stood on surer grounds as regards the details of their lives. But here, in almost every instance, the materials that we possess are scanty when reliable and unreliable when abundant, and any critical account on the basis of these is .almost beyond possibility. Even aeursory review of the . materials that we possess for· the .• reconstruction .. of a. • biography of Guru Nanakwould,.weh()pe, make the point .absoi11tely clear, The oldest of these •·• is most probably. the Janamsakhi .>.-·. , ___ -:-;,,_-_,, .. __ :,:_'_,"_ -' ... :.:·: --':-·-_._::: .. >,,·_ ,. __ : __ ,--_._,._,_,_,_-_. ,·_,.._--,._,·-_::-,:->·-~ ·: .. ··:,;·i.: ;O::: ; -_-,, ~ -" ,,., ,,·r_,_,,_,_·::., c; :-_, ,:~:.:_;.:·i:C.:-:;_:·_.:-:.';;;.:,; ·,; : :.;~·:r ::.o;;;;"'-~-;,-.o""- '"'"'~""'":""""'..,.,.,.,..,.,.~--""'"'"'. , THE tiFE OF GURU NANAK 53 --7 1\ of Sewa Das, -which, accordingto Macauliffe,was com- ' 1 pfgt~if 'iQ :!~§§. 1········•••1:'~.e·~FTJ0~~~§·ar7;tih~t ..•• ])r~y~tihjpp ~~§i~~~:!~!£~"Ipdi~. Pffi9e Library apcL whiQh appears t?b~~~·. ~~gY, oJ S13vva .. pas'.s••. work ,is pJ~g!3cl. by him, 'lf~~f~i~8' to.all e:x:ternal. and ipternal•• I]1!1rks , ' . ip the ltt~t~r ·R~;~ gfth~ ti[lleof~~ru §rian or. in th~ beginning ~f~~f~?§il:l~·~.]?()!ltificate. . Trumpp adds that ' we ~~;'~iiiblectby th~-discovery of this Janamsakhi · to distinguish the older tradition regarding Nanak from the later one, and to fix, with some degree of verisimility the real facts of his life.' 2 Macauliffe also makes the Janamsakhi of Sewa Das the basis of his aecount of G~tti ~!-i~r1~k. Besides this old Jan~'msakhi, 'Vi'~ ha~e the fi;·~t '~TJf.~i~(Bh~iG:~rdas,.in which also a v~ry.~cr~ppy :;:: .. -ii:l£G:.::-·~:~.--~Qt . ._ · ~~· ·--.. "~~· - · "' : .. :.,., ..... -· ~--~--. :..·~-:--:~~:::~of ':~ ;;c~:': -·: c · ·,:- ~ -: · : acco.u1:1.t?f ~llTll ~.an~k .. 's activities is given. It cannot b"e~acliiiif~i{ -said when Bhai Gurdas composed his !.~.rs.. l:le w~~}pe l~arned amanuensis of Guru Arjan ail'd. wrote out the Granth Sahib at the latter's dicta- ···=··'"' 'J:'hi~ .work is. said to. have . been. completed in 1604. Now, it is stated in the Sikh chronicles that ~;:;~;_•J,i';,';c;.c; · ;;z·.:;17'.:~:;;-.:::::,'; '.:_•::"··- ·· - - -·-. when the Guru was selecting the hymns for incor­ poration in the Granth Sahib he highly praised Bhai Gurdas~s work~ and ' offered to insert them in his Gtanth : but Bhai Gurdas said that they were not worthy of such honour. The Guru complimented him on his modesty and ability and said that whoever read the Bhai's writings should il'cquire spiritual profit and instruction and . faith in the teachings of the Holy Gurus.' 3 It would thus appear that portions, at least, I Macauliffe, op. cit, Vol. I, p. lxxxyi. 2 Trunipp, Adi Granth, Introd:uc!Jion, p. ii •. 3 Macauliffe, ibid, Vol. III, pp. 63, 64. 54 EVOLUTION OF TRE KHALSA of Bhai Gurdas's works were extant even i!l1604 and, though internal evidence indisputably proves that some of the Wars were written during • the pontificate of Guru Hargobind, lV.Eacauliffe is . pro?a?ly . ri~ht in thinking that Bhai .Gurdas wrote his accon~i:~~E .·.~~~u Nanak not much more.than sixty years afty"{'t,Q~leent ~r!. ~n~ .. t~e other, ..••• ~ixty • years after.~~~ ~e~tB.· It ls'"iiO'"(l()ubt true that when Sewa Das and Bh~i .Gurdas wrote, 'some of Guru Nanak's conternpomries were still alive, and one of them at least r.etained the vigour of his intellectual faculties.' Macauliffe laments that ' Bhai Gurdas did not write a complete .. life. of the Guru as its details could at that tim.e ..... P.ave been easUy obtained.' ~ At least we might hope that. the fact that Bhai Budha, one of the roost. revered ofthe disciples of Guru Nanak, was still alive, .. would have acted as a powerful check on the introduction of doubtful and exa.ggerated details. But unfortunately, even in these early records, the formation of myths bas already made considerable progress. The account of Bhai Gur