How Guru Tegh Bahadar Ji gave Arrest

The pure belongs to the 'Wonderous Enlightener'. The victory belongs to the 'Wonderous Enlightener'.

Continued from the previous article.

Guru Ji entered a beautiful orchard in which he strolled whilst glancing at it's beauty. Suddenly, ‘Hassan Ali’ (the ‘Ayali’) entered the orchard to graze his goats. Guru Ji called him and asked him to fetch some ‘Mithiyaee’ (sweet puddings) using Guru Ji’s gold ring (‘Mohar Chaap’) as currency. This ring was embedded with an eight-cut diamond. Guru Ji was wearing a luxurious ‘Dushala’ (which can be defined as a shawl made of two sheets of wool with embraided decorative edges), which he removed and gave to the ‘Ayali’ to wrap the puddings in. ‘Mati Das Ji’ was confused as to why Guru Ji gave such valuable possessions away just for food that was worth a few coins. The ‘Sikhs’ accompanying Guru Ji also had ‘Rupees’ (silver coin currency) in their possession but little did the ‘Sikhs’ know of Guru Ji’s plan.

When the ‘Ayali’ visited the shop, the ‘Halvayee’ (chef) thought that the ‘Ayali’ was a thief because of the value that the items had. The chef then grabbed ‘Hassan Ali’ by the arm, and took him to the ‘Adalti’ (the law enforcer/judge) who then questioned the ‘Ayali’. ‘Hassan Ali’ stated that a very wealthy man was present in the orchard, and he had given these valuable items to him. The ’Ayali’ led the ‘Adalti’ back to Guru Ji who questioned Guru Ji for his name. Guru Ji responded by declaring his name as ‘Guru Tegh Bahadar’. The ‘Adalti’ was shocked that he had finally found who the ‘Mughal’ empire was searching for. He then ordered local officials to arrest Guru Ji and escort him to the fort of ‘Agra’ with an army of five hundred soldiers. ‘Gurudwara Guru Ka Taal’ stands tall in Chennai, Agra, Uttar Pradesh to mark the spot where Guru Ji was arrested.

Gurdwara ‘Maithan’ is situated where Guru Ji was first taken after arrest (in the fort). We can understand that Guru Ji decided to give his own arrest through ‘Hassan Ali’ to help this poor man simultaneously (by making him eligible for the reward of five hundred Rupees). Such events could explain why Guru Ji did not travel straight to Delhi. Maybe, Guru Ji also wanted to signify to the ‘Mughal’ empire that they were not as powerful as they may have thought. They were actively searching for Guru Ji whilst he was roaming openly from place to place and even resting under public trees. They still could not track him and the only way they arrested Guru Ji was when he voluntarily chose to be arrested. 

 As ‘Nauranga’ was informed that Guru Ji was respectfully kept at the judge’s station (in the fort), he sent an army of 12,000 soldiers to escort Guru Ji to Delhi. His reason for sending such an army was that he did not want to lose supervision on Guru Ji along the way. He was also scared that other ‘Rajput’ kings (whose fathers were bailed out of ‘Gwalior’ prison by Guru Hargobind Ji) may decide to attack the Mughals and rescue Guru Ji. However, ‘Nauranga’ was unaware that Guru Ji was traveling to Delhi for the sole purpose to sacrifice himself, prioritising the human rights of the nation.

Once Guru Ji was taken to Delhi, ‘Aurangzeb’ consulted his ‘Moulvis’ (Islamic priests) on how they could intimidate Guru Ji. They all agreed to send Guru Ji alone inside an empty ‘Haveli’ (a house that is surrounded by a wall on all four sides) that was believed to be haunted by a ‘Pret’ or ‘Dhanav’ (ghost or demonic spirit). This abandoned house was never entered be it day or night due to the murders that had taken place in it. If the residents were lucky enough, they would be able to escape and live to tell their experience. Hence nobody would enter the house because it had a well-known reputation for being haunted. Guru Ji was locked inside this ‘Haveli’ alone overnight. The five ‘Sikhs’ that accompanied Guru Ji were made to sit outside the house whilst the soldiers supervised outside the wall. This ‘Haveli’ was located where the train lines now exist between the big ‘Wazirabad Signature Bridge’ or ‘Yamuna Bridge’ in north Delhi and the ‘Nanak Piao’ Gurdwara. These railways are constructed beneath the link road that travels to ‘Ambala’ from Delhi. This was where the house once resided. When the British built the train lines in Delhi, the house was demolished and built over to accommodate train journeys. ‘Kavi’ Santokh Singh writes how the spirit (‘Deo’) met Guru Ji, explains why it was given the life of a ‘Deo’ (spirit), and how Guru Ji liberated this soul (to free it from the house). The next morning, Guru Ji was seen sitting inside the ‘Haveli’ peacefully and unaffected.

After the initial idea to test Guru Ji had failed, Guru Ji was taken to the ‘Red Fort’ of Delhi to meet with the ‘Mughal’ emperor in his court. Guru Ji was given a ‘Chounki’ (four-legged stool) to sit on with a white sheet spread beneath it. At this stage, the first ever dialogue between Guru Ji and the ‘Mughal’ emperor commenced face to face. ‘Nauranga’ proposed to Guru Ji that everyone should accept Islam to establish another ‘Islamic’ state. In order to achieve this, the ‘emperor’ suggested that he was willing to give luxuries, money, land, beautiful women, and even help people win any legal cases in court (as a bribe to persuade people into Islam). Even if it meant giving his own daughter in marriage to somebody, he was willing to do it. However, if people rejected his proposal, he would forever have a grudge with them and make life problematic for them. It was now time for Guru Ji to speak.

To be continued...

The pure belongs to the 'Wonderous Enlightener'. The victory belongs to the 'Wonderous Enlightener'.

References: 1. Guru Granth Sahib Ji 2. Sant Gurbachan Singh - (Katha) 'Shaheedi Saka of Guru Tegh Bahadar Ji' Parts 1 & 2 3. Thakur Das - Shaheed Bilas 4. Kavi Santokh Singh - Gurpartap Sooraj Parkash 5. Kahan Singh (Nabha) - Mahan Kosh 6. Giani Pinderpal Singh - (Katha) Jeevan Katha Ate Shahadat Guru Tegh Bahadar Ji' 7. Bhatt Vahi 8. Alphabet.Inc - Google 9. Dr Sukhpreet S - (Lectures) 'Guru Tegh Bahadar Ji' 10. Sant Kartar Singh - (Katha) 'Shaheedi Guru Tegh Bahadar Ji' 11. Punjab Siyan - (Videos) on 'Guru Tegh Bahadar Ji' 12. Jatha Randhawa - Gurbani Arth Bhandar 13. The History of Kashmir (Book) 14. Bhai Vir Singh - Footnote Exegesis of 'Gurpratap Sooraj' 15. www.historicalgurdwaras.com 16. www.discoversikhism.com 17. Google Maps 18. Giani Sher Singh - Katha Sooraj Parkash Chapter 67, 12th Raas 19. Many lectures, discussions and articles of Lakhi Shah Vanjara (found on YouTube and online) 20. Sant Gurbachan Singh - (Katha) '12th Raas, Chapters 38 -68' of Gurpartap Sooraj Parkash 21. Giani Gian Singh - Panth Parkash 22. Giani Gian Singh - Tavarikh Guru Khalsa