It was now abundantly clear to the rajas that the Guru would neither make peace nor surrender. Next morning they beat the drums of war, and, as they had anticipated, large numbers of Ranghars and Gujars under one Jagatullah flocked to their standard. The allied armies then proceeded with banners flying to Anandpur. In the van rode Kesari Chand, [ p. 129 ] the haughty chief of Jaswan, bearing himself, it was said, like a mighty elephant. The Guru prepared for defence and briefly addressed his men: ‘O Khalsa, I am ever your companion and succourer. If you die fighting, you shall enjoy all the happiness reserved for martyrs, and if you survive and gain the victory, empire shall be yours.’ The Sikhs wefe further encouraged by the arrival of five hundred men of the Manjha under Duni Chand, grandson of Bhai Salo, a distinguished Sikh who lived in the time of the fourth and fifth Gurus. Reinforcements from other quarters also arrived at this conjuncture.
The names of the weapons served out by the Guru to the Sikhs are given with minute detail : bows and arrows, teghe (cutlasses), katars (small daggers), jamdhars (two-edged dirks), sarohis (flexible swords), sangs (pikes), lances, bichhuas (daggers, literally scorpions), jambuas (daggers), scimitars, selas (spears), pistols, and muskets.
Within Anandpur were two forts, one called Fatagarh, the other Lohgarh. The Guru ordered his men not to advance beyond the city, but remain as much as possible on the defensive. Sher Singh and Nahar Singh, each commanding five hundred men, were told off to guard Lohgarh. The defence of Fatagarh was entrusted to Ude Singh, who received from Duni Chand command of the reinforcements of the Manjha. Meanwhile the allied armies advanced and fell on Anandpur like a flight of locusts.
Ajit Singh, the Guru’s eldest son, now grown up to manhood, went to his father to offer him military service. He was, however, too shy to speak in his father’s presence, and requested Ude Singh to speak for him. The Guru replied that it was the duty of all true Sikhs to fight for their religion, their country, and a good cause, and he was glad to see his son adopting, their hereditary profession. The Guru conferred on him the command of a company of one hundred, and advised him, as he was still in [ p. 130 ] experienced in warfare, to remain behind cover and await events.
Raja Ajmer Chand, reminding his fellow chiefs that this was really the most important engagement with the Guru, advanced with his troops. The hill chiefs opened fire with large guns on the Guru’s fortresses. Raja Kesari Chand of Jaswan with his troops attacked Ude Singh’s outposts. Arrows and bullets discharged from both sides fell like rain in the Indian months of Sawan and Bhadon.[1] The Ranghars and Gujars, who appear to have fought with much determination, were now reduced to half their numbers, and showed a disposition to retreat. Raja Ajmer Chand went to Jagatullah, their leader, and remonstrated with him. He called on him to avenge the sack and destruction by the Sikhs of the Ranghars’ towns of Nuh and Bajrur. Jagatullah succeeded in rallying his men, and they again began to fight with great valour. Ude Singh on seeing this brought forth the Guru’s son and with a strong force led an attack on the enemy. Ajit Singh displayed great heroism and address, and the Sikhs following his example chopped off the heads of the enemy, as if they were watermelons. The Guru surveyed the battle from an eminence and continued to direct his arrows with fatal precision against the allied hosts.
Several brave Sikhs made a determined stand against the enemy and forced them to retreat. On seeing this the allied chiefs held a brief council of war, wherein it was decided to dispatch Kesar Chand to attack the right flank and Jagatullah the left flank of the Guru’s position, while Ajmer Chand himself and his troops made a front attack on Anandpur. Jagatullah was soon shot in the chest by a bullet discharged from Sahib Singh’s musket, and fell lifeless to the earth. Man Singh, one of the bravest of the Guru’s Sikhs, arrived [ p. 131 ] bearing the Guru’s standard, and planted it on the spot as an indication to the enemy that the Sikhs would not retreat a single pace, or allow them to remove Jagatullah’s body.
Raja Ghumand Chand, now chief of Kangra, came and sought to uproot the Guru’s standard and hinder the Sikhs from taking possession of the body of the fallen chief of the Ranghars. Upon this the allied armies rallied, and then ensued terrific slaughter. Ghumand Chand and his troops plied their arrows incessantly, but failed to cause the Sikhs to retreat. The latter defended themselves until nightfall and retained possession of Jagatullah’s body. The opposing armies then retired to their respective quarters for rest. The Guru complimented his son and Sahib Singh, the slayer of Jagatullah, on their successful valour. It is stated that the leaves of the sal[2] tree were employed overnight to heal the injuries of the wounded.
The hill chiefs were in great dismay at the result of the battle, and held a council of war during the night. Raja Ajmer Chand apprehended from the resistance offered by the Sikhs to the removal of Jagatullah’s body, that it would be useless to prolong the contest. If they had the same ill-fortune on the morrow, there would be little left of the hill armies. The Raja of Kangra professed himself ready to acquiesce in Raja Ajmer Chand’s decision. The Raja of Mandi too was for peace, and advised suing for the Guru’s pardon, seeing that he occupied Guru Nanak’s spiritual throne, and there would be no indignity in appealing to him as suppliants. The Raja of Handur, however, did not consider that any reason for effecting a reconciliation. Raja Kesari Chand of Jaswan affected to despise the Guru’s power, and promised to fight with more determination on the morrow and expel him from Anandpur.
[ p. 132 ]
Next morning, when the hill armies proceeded to re-invest Anandpur, the Sikhs offered valiant resistance. The allied troops contented themselves with concentrating their attack on one particular part of the city. The fighting continued with varying fortune until the afternoon, when Ajit Singh prepared to renew the contest, and requested his father to observe how he comported himself in it. The Guru counselled caution, and forbade him to expose himself unnecessarily. At the same time he sent thousands of Sikhs to support him in what he declared was a war for the defence of their religion. The allied armies rushed against them with the violence of a torrent issuing from the Himalayas in the height of the rainy season.
Whithersoever Ajit Singh discharged his arrows, they were messengers of death. When his horse was killed under him he fought on foot, and inflicted great destruction on his opponents. He communicated his martial enthusiasm to his Sikh warriors, with the result that the hill armies began to retreat. Raja Kesari Chand, seeing this, addressed them severe reproaches, whereat they rallied and again began to ply their weapons. At the same time the enemy now clearly saw that they could not overpower the brave Sikhs, but must trust to time and the starving of the garrison for the success of their enterprise.
The siege lasted for about two months, with the usual incidents appertaining to that mode of warfare. The Sikhs at one time determined to remove the entrenchments of the enemy, and put them all to the sword without firing a shot. They accordingly made a night sortie in which several of the hill leaders were slain.
As the. hill chiefs unsuccessfully prolonged the blockade, Raja Kesari Chand prepared to intoxicate an elephant and direct him against the city. Kesari Chand compared the defences of the city to paper [ p. 133 ] and sand, which would fall to the ground at the touch of the elephant’s trunk. The Raja of Mandi again raised his voice in favour of peace and submission to superior force. Kesari Chand, however, swore that if he did not take the fort by evening, he was no true son of his parents. All the future punishments attaching to great crimes against the Hindu religion should be his, if he failed in his enterprise. He represented that in point of numbers the Sikhs were not even as salt in the porridge of the hillmen.
When the Guru heard of Kesari Chand’s boasts he said’ that Duni Chand, who had brought the reinforcement of Manjha troops, was his elephant, in comparison with whom Kesari Chand’s elephant was as an ant. Duni Chand, however, had no such confidence in his own strength and prowess, and counselled peace with the hill chiefs. He complained that the Guru was violent and quarrelsome, not mild and patient like his father. He therefore advised the Sikhs to fly from such a leader. None of the Guru’s immediate followers would listen to such advice, but Duni Chand succeeded in _persuading the troops he had brought with him to promise to desert to Dhir Mal in Kartarpur and adopt him as their guru. The plan of escape proposed was to descend by scaling-ladders. When Duni Chand was in the act of descending, his scalingladder gave way, and he fell heavily to the ground and broke his leg. This interfered with his design of going to Kartarpur to place himself and his troops under Dhir Mal’s orders, and he consequently thought it advisable to return to his own home in Amritsar.
The next morning the Guru after his devotions observed that no soldier of Duni Chand’s contingent was present. In reply to his inquiries, his Sikhs told him of the flight of Duni Chand and his followers during the night. The Guru calmly remarked, ‘He [ p. 134 ] who hath run away through fear of death shall find death awaiting him at home.’ The conduct of Duni Chand, notwithstanding his efforts to conceal it, became known in Amritsar. All the Sikhs of that city were thus enabled to avoid intercourse with him, and he became an object of social as well as religious detestation. One night as he rose from his bed he was bitten by a cobra, and died almost immediately. His grandsons with his leading soldiers afterwards went to the Guru to pray him to efface the stigma attached to the family—a prayer which the Guru graciously granted.
As proposed by Raja Kesari Chand, an elephant was intoxicated and prepared for the attack on Anandpur. All his body except the tip of his trunk was encased in steel. A strong spear projected from his forehead for the purpose of assault. Thus arrayed and prepared for offence and defence, he was directed towards the gate of the fort. After him came the hill rajas with their armies. They were overjoyed as they joined in the unwonted procession, and made certain that on that very evening the fort would fall into their possession. The Guru asked Vichitar Singh, one of his bravest and most powerful soldiers, to become his elephant, and he cheerfully consented. The Guru gave him a trusty lance and said that as Vichitar Singh was prepared to resist the mad elephant, so some Sikh should now go to cut off Kesari Chand’s head. Ude Singh offered his services for the purpose, and received the Guru’s blessing and a sword. On this he dashed into Kesari Chand’s ranks like a tiger into a herd of deer.
Kesari1 Chand’s elephant was specially directed against the fort of Lohgarh. On his way he killed some Sikhs, and so alarmed the sentries at the gate, that they deserted their posts and fled within the city for protection. Vichitar Singh found means of opening the gates and went forth to meet the furious [ p. 135 ] animal. He raised his lance and drove it through the elephant’s head armour.[3] On this the animal turned round on the hill soldiers, and killed several of them with the offensive weapons attached to his trunk. Some he trod under foot and others he impaled on his tusks, so that he became a powerful ally of the Sikhs. The hillmen made great efforts to stop his career, but in vain.
Meanwhile Ude Singh continued to advance against Kesari Chand, challenged him, called him a great jackal, and asked why he was fleeing from his fate. Ude Singh vowed that he would take vengeance on him for all the Sikhs slain. Kesari Chand, infuriated at his taunts, discharged an arrow which lodged in Ude Singh’s saddle-cloth. Ude Singh on this dashed forward sword in hand, and with one blow cut off Kesari Chand’s head. Then poising the head on his spear, he rode into the fort to exhibit it as a tangible proof of his victory. Upon this the Sikhs rallied, and cut off all the foot soldiers of the hill army within reach. Muhakam Singh, one of the Guru’s five beloved, shore off the mad elephant’s trunk with one blow of his sword. The animal then hastened to the Satluj to bring his pains and his unsuccessful career to an end by selfdestruction.
What remained alive of the hill army now took to flight pursued by the bravest of the Sikh warriors who slew them in numbers. In this retreat the Raja of Handur was severely wounded by the brave Sahib Singh, who thus added another to his long catalogue of triumphs.
On the morrow the hill army rallied owing to the [ p. 136 ] encouragement given it by Ghumand Chand, the Raja of Kangra. He disdained to retreat, and called on Ajmer Chand to witness his prowess. He said that death and life were the ordinary concomitants of warfare, and bravely maintained that neither should be taken into consideration. Ajmer Chand said, ‘ Thou art the pilot to take us across the sea of mourning. We depend on thee to kill the Guru and ‘thus put an end to these protracted and unsatisfactory operations.’ The Raja of Mandi for the third time counselled peace. Meantime the homes of the hill rajas resounded with female lamentation for their husbands slain. Kesari Chand’s ranis plucked out their hair for the loss of their brave spouse, and heaped reproaches on Ajmer Chand as responsible for all this sanguinary and unavailing warfare.
On the following day Ghumand Chand directed the efforts of his troops against the city, but the Sikhs behind their embrasures and defences were fully prepared to withstand them. The horse Ghumand Chand rode was killed by a bullet from the musket of Alim Singh. There was a sharp mélée round Ghumand Chand when he fell, but his party succeeded in keeping the Sikhs at bay and rescuing their chief. The battle lasted with varying success until evening, when Ghumand Chand, as he was proceeding to his tent to take rest after the day’s exertions, was mortally wounded by a chance bullet. All the hill chiefs now became disheartened and demoralized. Raja Ajmer Chand was the last to remain, but he too left Anandpur, and marched home in the dead of night.
Ajmer Chand, notwithstanding the disastrous défeat of the allied armies, determined to allow no reposetothe Guru. As early as possible he dispatched an envoy to Wazir Khan,[4] the Emperor’s viceroy in Sarhind, to complain that the Guru would not suffer [ p. 137 ] His Majesty’s unoffending subjects to abide in peace. He prayed the viceroy to assist the hill chiefs in destroying the Guru’s power and expelling him from Anandpur. Another envoy was dispatched to the viceroy of Dihli to make a similar complaint. The two viceroys then made a joint representation to the Emperor against the Guru. It happened that at that time some wandering mimes visited the Emperor’s camp. He ordered them to imitate the Sikhs, and they accordingly did so. Though their performance was obviously a travesty, the Emperor could very clearly gather from it the love the Sikhs bore one another in popular estimation ; and he concluded that they had become a formidable power, which it would be expedient to crush. The viceroy of Dihli had enough to do to protect the capital during the Emperor’s absence in the distant Dakhan, so orders were issued to the viceroy of Sarhind to proceed at once with his army to expel the Guru from Anandpur.
These are the principal months of the Indian rainy season—from the early part of July to the early part of September. ↩︎
The Shorea robusta. Natural order, Dipterocarpaceae. ↩︎
In former times in India men were trained to contend and grapple even without weapons with elephants. In the Afahabharat such a contest is described. The warrior Bhima is represented as crouching under the body of Bhagadatta’s elephant and causing the animal to whirl round and round by the deft application of his powerful arms. ↩︎
This is, of course, not the old friend of the Guru. ↩︎