Brick with brick
Envisioning the Khalsa in a primordial civilisational context, in light of the martyrdom of the Sahibzade and the vengeance that resulted in the decimation of one of the greatest Mughal cities.
“While the heavens would faint to fall from their celestial heights, The earth would faint to crack at such a heinous act of crime.”
- Sri Gur Panth Parkash, Rattan Singh Bhangu, Volume I
The sákā or tale of Sirhind and Chamkaur, the bloody tragedies that watered the ਬੂਟਾ of Sikhi to prosper and spread like wildfire would go on to inspire thousands of warriors who would crave to attain the joyful cup of Shaheedi and reach the metaphysical Durbar of the Tenth Guru, sharing a blissful audience with the Sahibzade and all the Shaheeds.
For the old Sikh warriors fighting from the jungles during a period of intense persecution in the 18th century, the barbaric act of the execution of the Sahibzade was seen as a major cause of the delegitimisation of Mughal rule in both worldly and divine courts. Quoting Rattan Singh Bhangu, who put the chronicles heard from his own elders to pen:
“The (innocent) Sahibzadas had they killed at both the places, No harm had these innocents Sahibzadas caused.
Thereafter, had they laid a seige around the Guru,
The Guru’s proxy had they beheaded in a similar manner. (17)
Neither had Guru Gobind Singh killed Aurangzeb’s mother,
Nor had the Guru killed Mughal emperor’s father.
Himself had Aurangzeb beseached the Guru to leave for the wild, Himself had he despatched an army to slaughter the Guru. (18)
On every count had the Mughals been proved wrong, In both the worlds had they been discredited.
One who gets discredited in the Divine Court,
His words lose credibility everywhere in the world. (19)”1
The last part is very clear, when abuse of power and atrocities abound- the end of such a regime is imminent. This is a pattern that one can see since the earliest civilised cultures. The haughty Assyrians ruled for centuries by dominating other local kingdoms. Their mighty and numerous armies would totally destroy cities and kill, loot and enslave any settlement that their king commanded them to massacre. Be it Elamites, Medians, Babylonians or Persians.2 But when the time came, all of them would unite and rise to crush a superior empire of never-before-seen might into permanent oblivion. ਜ਼ੁਲਮ ਦੀ ਇੰਤਿਹਾ- like they say- ਸੱਚੇ ਦਾ ਨਿੱਤ ਬੋਲਬਾਲਾ, ਝੂਠੇ ਦਾ ਮੂੰਹ ਕਾਲਾ। The belligerents who are proven wrong, as Bhangu explains, are eternally stigmatised.
Epistle of Victory
“What happened that you have killed four children (my sons), the coiled snake (in the form of my Khalsa) still remains.”
- Zafarnama Patshahi Dasvin, Guru Gobind Singh, Sri Dasam Granth Sahib
But Guru Gobind Singh did not sit and mourn, unlike the other kings who submitted themselves only for their people to rise again a few centuries later. He sat, thanked Akaal Purakh for the ਭਾਣਾ and penned a defiant letter to be sent straight to the Mughal emperor. The crux of the full text is aptly summarised in the most well-known laconic phrase: μολὼν λαβέ (molṑn labé) meaning come and take [our weapons] if you want us to submit but we will never.
The Guru totally humbles the proud Islamist emperor and reminds him that he is now doomed in both worlds. He is aging and his empire is crumbling and there is little hope of salvation in the next world owing to all the injustices he has inflicted throughout his lifetime, to secure a golden throne. The throne was now laden with the blood of innocents and the reek was increasingly felt by every observer.
But what the Zafarnama accomplishes most well is the display of how the Sikh concept of accepting the divine will. It is most important because it is an authentic representation of the Guru’s own personal feelings. This is the glorious testament of a victory from a father who just lost his four sons and his mother. A man who was expected by society to be grieving was instead dictating the head of state of the biggest superpower of South Asia existential morality and shaking his total worldview. This is the mindset of ਚੜ੍ਹਦੀ ਕਲਾ taught by the Guru even when facing extreme odds.
The citadel of victory
Sirhind, the cursed city now inhabited by jinns, was sacked twice, in 1710 and in 1763. Sirhind was home to Mughal nobility and influential Islamic clergy particularly the naqshbandi order of Sufis. It was considered to be the greatest city between Delhi and Lahore and boasted close to 400 monuments at one time. All completely razed to the ground by the Khalsa. All relics of the once most important North Indian city were erased, all the population abandoned the city when the Mughal notables were slaughtered in battle by the victorious Khalsa. The once decorated havelis and Mughal imperial buildings would be burnt and erased off the earth, their bricks were used to celebrate a peculiar new ritual. As one British periodical would describe: “Even to this day every Sikh, on passing through Sirhind, carries away a brick, which he throws into the Sutlej in the hope that in time the detested city will thus be utterly removed from the face of the earth.”3
This city was totally devastated and consumed by the weight of it’s own iniquitous violence. It’s ruins would keep perplexing travellers, who even today cannot undermine the architectural aesthetic that once characterised it. Just like the enormous ruins of old Assyrian walls surprised Xenophon’s Greeks4 who came upon the massive abandoned cities of Kalhu and Nineveh in the middle of the Persian empire back in the 4th century BC. Perhaps they questioned, who were these giants who built these walls? What happened to them? What led to their destruction? This is the eternal cycle of civilisations.
Another city was established in place and named Fatehgarh, the citadel of victory. Fateh Singh was also the name of the Sahibzada of Guru Gobind Singh, martyred at the mere age of seven. A first shrine in their memory was immediately built by Sultan-ul-Qaum Sardar Baba Jassa Singh Ahluwalia, leader of the Dal Khalsa, immediately after the victory against the detested Mughal Suba Sirhind, Zain Khan in 1763. This was rebuilt and embellished in 1844 by Raja Karam Singh of the Patiala dynasty, famed for his open inclination towards the Khalsa and deep devotion in the Gurus, and was completed by his grandson, Maharaja Narinder Singh of Patiala.
This shrine only housed several weapons which were decorated on a high platform called the Manji Sahib. The pujaris or caretakers refused to change their age old tradition and allow a manuscript of Guru Granth Sahib to grace the hallowed sanctorum. Indeed this had been a respected custom of the Khalsa, primarily due to a lack of manuscripts in the pre-printing age Punjab, the Sikhs would instead bow and adorn rare swords, shields, muskets and quoits that were once quivered and sheathed on the persons of Gurus and other respected Sikh Shaheeds.
“Whenever the Khalsa Dals marched into a town or city after a victory, the Panj Piare would order the construction of an altar on the relevant spot. Upon this five weapons were placed, which would be the object of worship until the place was fully secured.”
- In the Master's Presence: The Sikhs of Hazoor Sahib, Nidar Singh Nihang & Parmjit Singh, Kashi House
In the 1920s, with increasing pressure stemming from the Gurdwara Reform Movement, the Patiala State Government under Maharaja Bhupinder Singh decided to depute “Lt. General Gurdial Singh Harika and Colonel Raghbir Singh (who) installed the scripture on the Manji Sahib and everted the agitation by accepting this democratic demand of the Sikhs in principle."5
The legacy bestowed upon the Khalsa
“Bhai Daya Singh asked: “Maharaj, why is this humble ruin more beloved to you than the royal palaces of Patna Sahib or the strong forts of Anandpur Sahib? You seem to be examining it with such care and caution..”
Guru Sahib replied: “Yes, Patna Sahib was the cradle of the Khalsa and it is where children learn how to walk. Anandpur Sahib was the elementary school of the Khalsa, where the Khalsa studied in Gurmat. But, Daya Singh, this ruined burg of Chamkaur is the university where all the Singhs will be examined and tested. All my Singhs will be tried in blood and I will stand guard and examine their valour.”6
जिस कीथे थे कहते हम आना, यह वही है। जिस जगह थे हम बैचों को कटाना, यह वही है। मिट्टी भी कह रही है, ठिकाना भी वही है।
My Ajit Singh and Jujhar Singh will display their valour here. The Singhs that I am besotted with, more than my own soul, will be tested here.”7
With these words did the legendary Dhadi, Daya Singh Dilbar describe how Guru Gobind Singh would foresee the legacy of the ruined citadel of Chamkaur where the Khalsa would excel and master in the art of sacrifice. They would go on to mourn the bloodbath of the beloved Sahibzade, but not without a sense of utmost pride, awe and fury that would extinguish all legacy of the Mughal seat that had been responsible for the crimes.
A very graphic story of Sikh warriors who would come upon the camaraderie of executioners who inhabited the town of Morinda. They flaunt about having killed the young children of Guru Gobind Singh and show them black leather ropes saying that they are made of their long hair. The Singhs at once charge upon the walls and crush the skulls of all the Ranghars:
“There were standing a few Ranghars, Who were standing atop the rooftops with weapons.
As they were abusing the Singhs so loudly,
Nobody prohibited them from abusing the Singhs. (16)
As they were indulging in the most vituperative abuses,
They called bad names even to the revered Sikh Gurus. Brandishing a blackish rope made of leather,
Thse Ranghars were (denigrating sacred Sikh hair). (17)
Telling the Singhs that black rope was made of Sahibzada’s hair, They insinuated the Singhs that the rope had become old and worn. Taunting the Singhs to handover a few more Sikh children,
They challenged the Singhs to stand and fight with them. (18)
Curse be upon the Singhs if they failed to fight, said they,
Why should the Singhs turn their back from the challenge.
As they boasted of having slaughtered the Sikh Gurus’ sons, They were desperate to eliminate the Guru’s Singhs’ as well. (19)”
…
As the Singhs shouted the war slogans of Akal! Akal!,
His contingent beat the wardrum and unfurled their flag. The Gharuan Singhs finding it the most opportune moment, They raised a lot of hue and cry (for a confrontation) (25)
…
Many a Ranghars’ heads did they crush with hammers, As they struck the Ranghars with all their might.
Being familiar with the faces of (wicked) Ranghars, They killed those culprits who were their chiefs. (45)8
This brutal chapter of the most significant Sikh warrior chronicle ever compiled is a witness to the psyche of the Khalsa of old. They channeled all the rage and brought it out “like the monsoon rains in the month of Bhadon”, returning the “favours” of retorts with unmatched ferocity.
ਖ਼ੂਨ ਦਾ ਵੈਰ, blood feuds in Punjab were traditionally always solidified when someone would bring disrespect to one’s murshid and would eventually lead to the gory demise of one of the two, the winner proving his Pir to be the highest. Rewind to the ancient Mesopotamian civilisations, where city states raid each other. When the Babylonians lost and their city was sacked by Hittites, the statue of their patron God, Marduk, was stolen. This had immense symbolical value and would affect the psychology of the vanquished.9
ਰੱਖੀ ਧਰਮ ਵਾਲੀ ਸ਼ਾਨ, ਦੁੱਖ ਸੀਨੇ ਲਾ ਲਿਆ।
ਜਾਵਾਂ ਤੇਰੇ ਬਲਿਹਾਰ ਸੋਹਣੀ ਕਲਗੀ ਵਾਲਿਆ।
All Praise to Kalgidhar Patshah Guru Gobind Singh, the protector of the glory of Dharam, who did not hesitate in embracing all pain for the welfare of us all10
ਸਲੋਕੁ ਮ: ੧ ॥
Salok Ma 1 ||
Shalok, First Mehl:
ਬਲਿਹਾਰੀ ਗੁਰ ਆਪਣੇ ਦਿਉਹਾੜੀ ਸਦ ਵਾਰ ॥
Baliharee Gur Apanae Dhiouharree Sadh Var ||
A hundred times a day, I am a sacrifice to my Guru;
ਜਿਨਿ ਮਾਣਸ ਤੇ ਦੇਵਤੇ ਕੀਏ ਕਰਤ ਨ ਲਾਗੀ ਵਾਰ ॥੧॥
Jin Manas Thae Dhaevathae Keeeae Karath N Lagee Var ||1||
He made angels out of men, without delay. ||1||
ਮਹਲਾ ੨ ॥
Mehalaa 2 ||
Second Mehl:
ਜੇ ਸਉ ਚੰਦਾ ਉਗਵਹਿ ਸੂਰਜ ਚੜਹਿ ਹਜਾਰ ॥
Jae So Chandhaa Ougavehi Sooraj Charrehi Hajaar ||
If a hundred moons were to rise, and a thousand suns appeared,
ਏਤੇ ਚਾਨਣ ਹੋਦਿਆਂ ਗੁਰ ਬਿਨੁ ਘੋਰ ਅੰਧਾਰ ॥੨॥
Eaethae Chaanan Hodhiaaan Gur Bin Ghor Andhhaar ||2||
Even with such light, there would still be pitch darkness without the Guru. ||2||
- Guru Granth Sahib, Ang 462-63
Citations
Sri Gur Panth Parkash (Volume II), Rattan Singh Bhangu, English Translation by Kulwant Singh, Institute of Sikh Studies, Chandigarh, page 685
Persian Fire: The First World Empire and the Battle for the West by Tom Holland, Little, Brown Book Group, page 26-27
Census of India, 1911, Volume XIV, Punjab, Part I, Report by Pandit Harikishan Kaul
Xenophon, Anabasis, Book 3, chapter 4
Glimpses of Fatehgarh Sahib (the Light House for the Forlorn), Sirhind Improvement Committee of Gurudwara Fatehgarh Sahib and Jotisarup Sahib, pages 53-54
Translated transcript from a live recorded Dhadi performance speech by Giani Daya Singh Dilbar
Ibid
Sri Gur Panth Parkash (Volume II), Rattan Singh Bhangu, English Translation by Kulwant Singh, Institute of Sikh Studies, Chandigarh, page 540-545
Much Ado about Marduk: Questioning Discourses of Royalty in First Millennium Mesopotamian Literature by Jennifer Finn, De Gruyter
Verse from a poem by Bhai Harjinder Singh Srinagar Wale