When Painda Khan and his son-in-law reached Lahore, no one would allow them to approach the Emperor. They had spent all the money they had brought with them in maintaining themselves and their five hundred horses, and in bribing a courtier called Salamat Khan to procure them an audience ; but the ever-faithful Wazir Khan would not allow any one to poison the Emperor’s mind against the Guru. Painda Khan was consequently reduced to great straits. He could not return home, nor could he gain access to the Emperor. He was in the condition of a snake which takes a lizard into its mouth, and can neither swallow nor reject it.
Qutub Khan soon arrived in Lahore, and listened to the story of his cousin Painda Khan’s disappointment. He advised him to procure a long bamboo, tie a hen to the end of it, and lift her to the royal casement, when her clucking might perhaps awake the Emperor. Should this fail, he was to light torches at midnight and cause his five hundred men to raise a loud shout opposite the Emperor’s apartments, upon which an audience might be vouchsafed him on the morrow. This expedient proved successful. Next morning the Emperor sent for the men who had disturbed his rest over night, but it was not with the object of giving them a satisfactory audience. He peremptorily demanded an explanation of their conduct.
Before Painda Khan or Qutub Khan could address the Emperor on the subject of their grievances, Wazir Khan was ready with his usual pleading on behalf of the Guru. ‘Thy majesty, this is not an age for an honest man. The evils prophesied [ p. 196 ] for the thirteenth century[1] of our era have already begun. He whom thou treatest well doeth thee harm in return. This Painda Khan was a poor unprotected child. His parents were dead. The Guru found him as a waif, took pity on him, and brought him up as if he were his own son. He bestowed on him every valuable present he received for himself. He procured a wife for him and made provision for his family. It is through the Guru’s munificence his daughter’s marriage hath been celebrated. Now when he ought to be satisfied with his position, he hath stolen the Guru’s hawk, denied the offence on oath, and come to complain against the very man who cherished him and made him distinguished among his fellows. He hath thus committed the most heinous sin of ingratitude, the extreme of all wickedness.’
Wazir Khan in thus pleading was actuated as much by his devotion to the Emperor as by gratitude to the Guru. He knew the Guru’s power, and did not wish to embroil the Emperor in further warfare with him. It happened soon after, that there was urgent need of Wazir Khan’s services in a distant part of the empire, and thither he was accordingly dispatched. Painda Khan now found his opportunity of approaching the Emperor in person, and thus unburdened himself: ‘Sire, the Guru hath done me grievous wrong. I have been his servant. I asked him for my last six months’ salary, but, instead of giving it to me, he hath confiscated my clothes and arms, and expelled me with ignominy from his court. Three times hath he conquered in war by my assistance. I have killed a large portion of thine army. Thy chiefs now [ p. 197 ] know my strength.’ The Emperor inquired what wars he referred to, and where they had been fought. Qutub Khan replied, “ First the Guru had an engagement in Amritsar with Mukhlis Khan, who had an army of seven thousand men, secondly at Har Gobindpur with Abdulla Khan, the governor of the Jalandhar province, and thirdly at the Nathana tank with Lala Beg. They with their armies were all vanquished by thy petitioner Painda Khan’s assistance.’
Painda Khan continued, “I am so strong that I can throw an elephant. I can pulverize a rupee under my thumb. I bore with the kicking and cuffing I suffered from the Guru because I had patience and confidence in thy justice. He is thy deadly enemy and hath killed thousands of thine army. Huis robbers have stolen thy horses from thy fort at Lahore. He seized thy white hawk and refused to surrender it. I am in his secrets, and if thou entrust an army to me, thou shalt assuredly succeed in reducing him to submission. I promise to bring him and the horses he stole to thee, or kill him and have my revenge.’ Then spoke the corrupt Salamat Khan in support of the charges: ‘ Painda Khan’s assistance is providential. The Guru hath quarrelled with him without reason, and he hath come to thee for justice. Look at him. He hath the frame of a giant. If thou but order he will catch the Guru by the neck and produce him before thee, and what the Guru hath in his treasury shall become thy spoil.’
By such representations was the mind of the Emperor influenced. He inquired the strength of the Guru’s army and the amount of his wealth. Painda Khan replied, ‘He hath no army. The halt, the cripple, the blind, the deaf and dumb, the diseased, the old, the poor, the lazy, and the goodfor-nothings gather round him. Barbers, washermen, pedlars, strolling minstrels, and similar unwarlike people compose what he calleth his army. As [ p. 198 ] for wealth, he possesseth millions upon millions.’ Salamat Khan chimed in, ‘Such an opportunity as this which God hath given us ought not to be lost.’ The Emperor was worked up to a passion and taking a sword in his hand said, ‘Is there any one of my officers brave enough to go and assist Painda Khan, and subdue the Guru who hath caused all this trouble.’ Kale Khan, governor of Peshawar, desirous of avenging the fate of his brother, Mukhlis Khan, rose and said, ‘May it please thy Majesty, I will capture the Guru and bring him before thee.’
The Emperor gave Kale Khan command of fifty thousand men, bestowed on him, as insignia of his appointment, a necklace of enormous pearls and a robe of gold lace, and ordered him to proceed forthwith against the Guru. Anwar Khan, a confidential officer of the Emperor, friend of the late Abdulla Khan, and anxious to be his avenger, joined Kale Khan with two thousand men. The Emperor decorated him too with a robe of honour worth five thousand rupees. Qutub Khan, Painda Khan, and Asman Khan also received dresses of honour, and were commissioned to fight under Kale Khan. The Emperor on dismissing them said that, when they returned victorious, they should receive further marks of his favour. But the Emperor did not reflect that his army was as the ocean, and the Guru as the barwanal, the fire that consumed it. The imperial troops were in reality like a herd of deer proceeding to engage with a tiger.
‘Kale Khan crossing the Bias proceeded to Jalandhar. Qutub Khan entertained all the generals and provided for the encampment of the troops. During the following night they planned their campaign. While they were so engaged a voice of warning proceeded as from a neighbouring tree, ‘ One of thee hath been untrue to his salt. With him thousands shall perish. These troops which have come in proud array, are like moths hovering round a lamp. [ p. 199 ] The Chaughatta[2] (Chaghtai) monarch too is illadvised, and is sowing thorns for his children.’
When the generals heard this mysterious boding, they came forth from their tents, looked hither and thither and examined the trees in the vicinity, but could not see the speaker. They then said among themselves, “The Guru is a great miracle-worker. This must be a voice from heaven.’ Painda Khan thought it necessary to encourage his brother generals, ‘Fear not; had the Guru the power of working miracles, could he not have made himself emperor of the whole world ? He hath been powerful and victorious only through my assistance. Now victory shall no longer be his. You shall see my strength. If you allow me a free hand to plunder I shall capture the Guru this very day.’ Kale Khan thought it necessary to repress the speaker, ‘ Pride and braggadocio avail not. It seemeth to me it would be well to send an envoy to ascertain what the Guru meaneth—whether he will fight or come to terms with us.’ Anwar Khan suggested that they should make an offering to the Guru, and thus deceive him into believing that they were his friends. They would thus obtain an easy victory and succeed in capturing him. Qutub Khan was for more violent measures, ‘ Deceive him, deceive him! and overpower him in any way you can!’
A faithful Sikh hearing of the arrival of an enormous imperial army in Jalandhar hastened to inform the Guru. Next arrived a masand who said that the imperial army was approaching thick as flies, and suggested to the Guru that he should take measures to protect himself and his followers, as, when it rained iron, the showers would not fall like ordinary raindrops. The Guru replied by a hymn of Guru Amar Das :—
God Himself protecteth His saints; what can a sinner do against them ? [ p. 200 ]
Proud fools practise pride, and die by eating poison.
The few days they had to live are at an end; they shall be cut down like a ripe crop.
They shall be spoken of according to their acts.
The slave Nanak’s Master is great ; He is the Lord of all.[3]
Painda Khan’s voice was soon heard inciting the troops to make a sudden charge and surround the Guru. Qutub Khan again counselled patience and the dispatch of an envoy to endeavour to make peace. This was at last agreed on, and Anwar Khan was the envoy selected. Anwar Khan thought to pitch his tent near the Guru, and thus find a convenient opportunity of treacherously slaying him. The Guru, however, took care that Anwar Khan should not continue long in too close proximity to him. And though Anwar Khan was provided with many presents for the Guru, yet the Guru refused to accept them.
A goldsmith came to the Guru with unusually rich offerings. He presented golden dice set with gems and an embroidered chaupar-board with variegated pieces formed of sapphires, rubies, and topazes. Although the Guru did not approve of such articles as tended to divert men’s minds from God, and were sources of falsehood, sin, and trouble, yet he accepted them, so that he might preserve the goldsmith in his faith and devotion. The imperial envoy on seeing the presents said to the Guru, ‘ Thou acceptest the offerings of all other Sikhs, but not mine. What is the cause?’ The Guru replied, ‘ The Guru’s house ts like a sea of milk. The offerings of the Sikhs are like streams which flow into it of their own accord, and blend with it. But thy heart is not sincere, and therefore, if put into the Guru’s sea of milk, would turn it acid and cause it to ferment.’ Anwar Khan rejoined, ‘ Wazir Khan frequently sent me with gifts to thee, and thou didst [ p. 201 ] always accept them.’ The Guru said that they were gifts of love which easily amalgamated with the Guru’s milk.
When Anwar Khan failed to persuade the Guru to take his presents, he challenged to play him at chaupar. The Guru replied that such play was not suitable for a priest. Anwar Khan pressed his proposal, and laid the chaupar-board before him. He had formed an idea that, if he conquered the Guru at the game, it would be a presage of victory for his army, and if the Guru defeated him, his army would also be defeated. The Guru at last consented to play with the envoy. Anwar Khan lost the first time, the second, and the third also, and then losing his temper with his game said to the Guru, ‘Thou art a cheat, thou hast won by trickery! Why have I always had threes ?’ The Guru replied, ‘Cheating, deceit, and falsehood are the principal stock of thy house, while I am a faqir.’ Anwar Khan retorted, ‘A fine faqir thou art, hunting and enjoying thyself and practising warfare for thine own amusement. Thou art a great deceiver, and so have been all the Gurus from Baba Nanak down.’
The Guru could endure the insults to himself, but not the defamation of his predecessors. ‘If there is any Sikh of the Guru present, let him remove this fellow from my presence.’ Bidhi Chand duly obeyed the Guru’s order. Some Sikhs then on their own account administered Anwar Khan shoe-beatings until he fainted. The Guru interceded for him and allowed him to depart without renewed punishment.
Anwar Khan on his return to his Chief reported the ill-treatment he had received, and advised an immediate attack on the Guru who had not onetenth of the strength of the imperial army. Kale Khan was very pleased with this suggestion. Painda Khan too was for immediate action. Qutub Khan, however, was not so sanguine. The Guru had already had great experience of war; and it was [ p. 202 ] not likely that he would be now off his guard. It was, however, determined by a large majority of the generals to attack his position that very night. The Guru knowing their designs ordered Bidhi Chand to be on the alert. The Guru had by this time eighteen hundred regular fighting men who were supplied by his friends in Kartarpur. The whole force was so marshalled and disposed as to prevent surprise and capture.
Meantime dissension was brewing in the Guru’s camp. Dhir Mal, his grandson, accepting the evil forebodings of the masands, said that the Guru would certainly be defeated. The imperial army had arrived like a flight of locusts. The Guru’s army was insignificant. It did not bear the same ratio to the imperial army as condiment to the viands of a feast. ‘The Guru,’ continued .Dhir Mal, ‘is in one of his fits of obstinacy, and knoweth not the enemy’s prowess and strategy. I shall, therefore, probably attain my object and succeed him in his holy office.’ Dhir Mal’s mind having been thus perverted, he sat down and wrote the following letter :—‘ Brother Painda Khan, my grandfather hath expelled and disgraced thee without cause, but I know thee to be my friend, and I will do the best for thine interests. If thou come to-night and make a sudden attack, the fort and its treasure will fall into your hands, for here there is no preparation made. I will render thee every assistance.’
Needless to say that Painda Khan was highly pleased on receiving this letter. He showed it to the other generals, who were also pleased, particularly when they learned the dissension in the Guru’s family. An immediate charge was ordered. The soldiers, heated with wine, began to boast and use ribald language. Dust arose and obscured the moon and stars. The earth shook beneath the tramp of the army. Sweets and offerings were vowed to Muhammadan saints for success. The [ p. 203 ] Chief ordered that the whole army should assemble near Chhotamir, and thence they would assault Kartarpur and capture the Guru. It happened that, before the imperial army could enter Chhotamir, an earthquake occurred which swallowed the village with the greater portion of its inhabitants. Those who did not perish were plundered by the imperial troops. Painda Khan did his utmost to protect his fellow-citizens, but in vain.
The Guru arose earlier than usual, and after bathing began his devotions. He repeated the Japji, and prepared sacred food. He then read the Anand, the third Guru’s song of rejoicing, and uttered a prayer suitable to the occasion. Sacred food was then distributed, and after partaking of it his soldiers received a substantial meal, upon which arms were served out to them. Jati Mal announced that the imperial army was approaching like a dust storm in an Indian summer. When the Guru heard this and other similar expressions of warning or dismay, he calmly said, ‘ Have no anxiety, stand fast, be united, put on your armour. The Creator will] act for the best.’
On receiving the Guru’s orders, Jati Mal, Ami Chand, Mihr Chand, and Bhai Lakhu, taking five hundred men, advanced and showered bullets and arrows at the enemy. Baba Gurditta asked his father’s permission to enter the battle, but was ordered to keep guard in the village until daylight. The discharges of matchlocks were like fireworks at a wedding. The armies soon came to close combat when, it is said, twelve thousand of Kale Khan’s army slept their final sleep. Twenty thousand imperial troops then advanced. Kale Khan _ told them that the Guru’s army was insignificant, and, if they finished the fighting, they might plunder as much as they pleased. This permission greatly stimulated their bravery. Then ensued the usual carnage. Bows twanged, arrows hissed like snakes, bullets fell like hail. Here and there men engaged [ p. 204 ] in close combat with swords, knives, and daggers. Horses fell or fled without their riders. Elephants wandered in quest of their drivers and stable companions. The wounded became so attached to the battle-field that they could not rise. The dead fell in rows like corn laid by reapers.
Qutub Khan, seeing the destruction of his troops, addressed Kale Khan, ‘We have made a great mistake in engaging at night. Want of sleep hath disabled our brave soldiers. The darkness and the dust, too, have led to our troops turning against one another. Our Pathans are retreating before the Sikhs. Our losses are very serious, while the Guru’s are practically none.’ Painda Khan said, “ Make one charge and the battle shall be at anend. Know ye any men among the Sikhs able to resist vour onset ?’ Kale Khan, the Chief, was not of this opinion, and replied, ‘Are the Sikhs sweet food which we can gulp down ? Our army hath all been slain or routed. The Sikhs have made our teeth so bitter [4] that we cannot eat any more. No Pathan will now advance. Lead thyself.’ Then Painda Khan and his son-in-law, Asman Khan, taking lighted torches advanced at the head of their troops, but they were only seeking their own destruction. Kartarpur was like a lamp round which they were fluttering as moths.
Bidhi Chand, Jati Mal, Lakhu, and Rai Jodh ranged themselves and their troops on the four sides of Kartarpur. Qutub Khan, Painda Khan, Asman Khan, and Kale Khan, at the head of their respective detachments, advanced against them. The Pathans were, however, powerless against the brave Sikhs fighting for their religion and their Guru. Bidhi Chand was seen as usual fighting bravely and practising with signal success the skill in archery which he had acquired during an eventful life of [ p. 205 ] foray and warfare. There was seen the Guru in glittering armour, mounted on Dil Bagh, once the emperor’s pride. Fortunate, says the chronicler, were the Pathan chiefs that they obtained the priceless advantage of beholding the Guru on his beautiful charger with his resplendent armour and trappings.
Bidhi Chand discharged an arrow at Anwar Khan which struck him between the eyebrows, as if it were applying a Hindu sacrificial mark to his forehead. He fell to the earth as if he were doing obeisance to the Guru, or begging his forgiveness and suing for salvation. The Guru’s order went forth that nobody who was fleeing should be put to death. The Sikhs were only to fight after challenging the enemy face to face. The Guru’s arrows passed through the Muhammadan chiefs, Pathans, Mughals, and Saiyids, as if these men were only pancakes. Jati Mal and Qutub Khan encountered each other in the darkness and dust-cloud, but under the circumstances the contest between them remained undecided.
This was a Moslem prophecy which like others has not been fulfilled. The fourteenth century of the Muhammadan era has already begun. It must be stated, however, that orthodox Muhammadans maintain that the prophecies were not for the thirteenth century but for the day of judgement. ↩︎
Babar, the Emperor’s ancestor, belonged to this family. ↩︎
Gauri ki War I. ↩︎
The Sikhs have inflicted such injury on us that we cannot bear to look at them again. ↩︎