The Masterplan of the Traders

The Wonderous 1
Jul 7
7 min read

Updated: 4 days ago

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

Continued...

Guru Tegh Bahadar Ji’s body was guarded by the Mughals to deter Sikhs from taking it. Interestingly, a Sikh named ‘Lakhi Shah’ (who originated from Tanda, Gujrat, present day Pakistan*) entered the scene at the ‘Chandni Chowk’ market. He was a ‘Vanjara’ (trader) of various stock and would keep many servants close to him. His wealth spoke for itself, as he owned 10,000 bulls and had many traders working for him. This can be compared to how many companies distribute bulk stock via lorries or trucks today. He had seven sons, was the brother of the famous Sikh ‘Makhan Shah’ (who first discovered Guru Tegh Bahadar Ji) and hailed from the ‘Lubana’ family. As this local Sikh had heard of Guru Ji’s sacrifice, he came to the place of martyrdom (which is marked by the Gurdwara ‘Sis Ganj Sahib’, Maliwara, Chandni Chowk, Delhi in the present day). He was hurt to see Guru Ji’s body lying on the floor beneath the ‘Banyan’ tree and wondered why he did not die himself, before having to see such a sight. As tears filled his eyes, he felt cursed to be a Sikh, that had allowed Guru Ji’s body to remain in such a way. It seemed that nobody dared to challenge the might of the Mughals. However, the great Lakhi Shah decided that he must collect Guru Ji’s body and cremate it without being caught. Such consequences would mean his death and Guru Ji’s body being disrespected further. Hence, he accepted that this task could only be successfully accomplished if Guru Ji accompanied him (divinely).

*Sant Prem Singh (from Murale) was a descendant in the family lineage of Bhai Lakhi Shah Ji and built a school in the very village that his ancestors originated from. This school was a memorial to the great accomplishment of the traders so Prem Singh decided to have it built in the village that the head trader Lakhi Shah Ji was born in. This information is important because historians vary in where they believe Lakhi Shah Ji originated from.

He went back home and after much thought, devised a masterplan to outwit the ‘Mughals’. He disguised his plan very casually by taking many ‘Gade’ (carts) full of wool into the market (where Guru Ji’s body lay) with the help of many ‘Banjare’ (traders). It was normal practice for the traders to take their stock into the main market before commencing their deliveries. In this way, the Mughals did not note anything sinister happening. Many carts surrounded Guru Ji’s body before they were detached from the bulls (that had tugged them into the market). The bulls were then taken to drink water from the ‘Nigam Bodh’ bank of the river ‘Yamuna’ (that still to this day, flows next to the Red Fort of Delhi). Once again, it was normal for the bulls to be taken to the river to fully hydrate them during work. Being local and so wealthy helped Lakhi Shah because his business was well known for providing the Mughal empire with high bulks of stock too. For this reason, he kept his activity very normal and the Mughals thought no different either. This can be directly compared to how Satwant Singh and Beant Singh were not doubted for even a second by any official, before they assassinated Indra Gandhi.

Guru Ji’s body continue to lay under the tree with strict supervision until the (dark) evening approached. The storm that had commenced after Guru Ji’s martyrdom was still blowing strong winds (with dust) so very little could be seen because it had also caused a darkness. After being fed, the bulls were brought back into the area of martyrdom (without any carts being tugged behind them). As the bulls approached with some speed (as per the hints of the traders), the air completely filled with cloudy dust. Seeing the bulls coming towards them in a huge herd, the Mughal guards supervising Guru Ji’s body moved their positions to avoid being trampled over or horned in to. The traders were all shouting aloud to direct the thousands of bulls. In the midst of such dust and noise, five traders lifted Guru Ji’s body and placed it on the nearest cart before covering it with layers of wool. They prayed in their minds for success in this cause before mixing back into the herds of bulls. The idea to use wool was very smart because wool absorbs blood. Letting blood leak would have made the cart stand out and could have left a trail of blood behind it. The wool was also an effective way to hide Guru Ji’s body because this was one of the products that these traders did business with.

As dust blew into people’s eyes from the bull’s hoofs pounding the ground, it became impossible to see what was happening. Soldiers were completely distracted by the sheer number of bulls and carts that were brought into the market. They lost supervision of Guru Ji’s body and were worried more about protecting themselves. Once the bulls came to a halt and the dust settled a bit, the Mughal soldiers realised that Guru Ji’s body had disappeared. They started to stop the traders and searched their carts. This was an almost impossible task (due to the thousands of carts) but one that they were determined to accomplish out of fear for the emperor’s wrath. The soldiers stopped as many carts as they could, threatening the traders verbally and physically. However, the traders were fearless for the carts to be searched. They spoke with courage and challenged the Mughals to search all they wished, knowing that it was virtually impossible for them to find Guru Ji’s body. The soldiers were mentally exhausted and struggled to keep count of the carts that they had searched. They would lose track repeatedly of how many carts were present there. After the soldiers gave up searching in all the surrounding places too, they finally allowed the traders to connect the carts (loaded with wool) to their bulls and leave. The traders seemed relaxed and confident, so they were trusted to leave the market as normal.

From ‘Chandni Chowk’, the carts were tugged by the bulls towards where the rest of the traders were waiting for them. After exiting the gate of the ‘Old Delhi’ wall, they travelled to the spot marked by the current ‘Gurdwara Rakab Ganj’ (where ‘New Delhi’ now exists). Ultimately, the traders agreed amongst them, that they would evacuate their ‘Chapars’ and set fire to them for the cremation to take place. A ‘Chapar’ can be defined as a house with a thatched roof. In this case we can understand a ‘Chapar’ to be a hut or a cottage (a rural/ rustic dwelling). ‘Rakab Ganj’ was the name of the area in which all these traders lived, which is why ‘Gurdwara Rakab Ganj’ has been named after the residence of the traders. They evacuated their homes, and secretly prepared a funeral pyre for Guru Ji’s body in the middle of all the houses. This was so that no trace would remain of the cremation for the Mughals to find later. Also, with the wealth that ‘Lakhi Shah’ had, he could single handedly reimburse these households with finances to rebuild their dwellings. Alongside the funeral pyre, every surrounding house was also set on fire around it. Once the fire had spread to half of the total houses in the vicinity, people from far and close started to gather and questioned why these traders were not trying to extinguish the fire (thinking a genuine fire had accidentally set alight). However, the traders hid the real reason, by saying that there was too much wood in the houses for its extinguishing to even be attempted. In this way, these brave but smart heroes had cremated Guru Ji’s body and caused no casualty at the same time. The whole masterplan was disguised so well that there was no hint of suspicion. After the fire had completely settled the next morning, two ‘Gagars’ (bronze pitchers) were filled with Guru Ji’s ashes and buried into a deep pit (under) where Guru Ji’s funeral took place. Noteworthy here is, that these pitchers are still buried underground at the same spot where ‘Rakab Ganj’ Gurdwara stands tall today.

Out of commemoration to this martyrdom, the local Sikhs built a ‘Chapar’ on top of the cremation spot and lit a ‘Diva’ inside, which to this present day is continuously kept lit. It was at this same spot where Guru Gobind Singh Ji later came in 1707 and built a ‘Darbar’ as a permanent memorial. After helping ‘Abdul-Nasir Muhammad Muazzam’ (better known as ‘Bahadar Shah’) to win ‘the battle of Jajau’ (determining him to be the next Mughal emperor after Nauranga), Guru Ji spent some time residing in Delhi. Guru Ji would visit this place daily and recite the evening prayer ‘Rehras Sahib’ here.

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'