1 Ip
2 96
3 HISTORY OF THE SIKHS.
4 This poem was finished in a few days, and the
5 substance of it may be shortly recapitulated. He
6 stated that the Emperor Akhbar had given his an¬
7 cestor, Ram Bass, a certain grant of land, and that,
8 at that time, no cause of quarrel existed between the
9 Gooroo and the Emperor, who, on every occasion,
10 befriended the poor fufccers. His predecessor
11 Nanuk believed in one God, and never swerved
12 from that belief. At length, a Hindoo named Chan-
13 dooshah, quarrelled with Gooroo Urjun, and the
14 royal army afterwards attacked Hur Govind, and
15 there were several battles fought between them.
16 The Gooroo was obliged to flee to the hills; but
17 even there he was persecuted. The poem goes
18 on : '
19 “ At the instigation of Ram Rao, my father,
20 Teghbuhadur, was sent for by your'majesty ; and,
21 through the deceit of Ram Rao, was cruelly mur¬
22 dered in your presence. He had gone to Patna for
23 the purpose of worship ; and, on his return to
24 Delhi, was again oppressed, and obliged to take
25 shelter with a hill rajah. There he remained some
26 time unmolested; but at the instigation of iris
27 cruel and unrelenting brother, he was once more
28 ordered to proceed to Delhi. From long suffering,
29 oppression, and tyranny, my father had become
30 tired of life/and longed for death ; which he, at
31 length, obtained by an ingenious contrivance, and
32 his head was severed from his body in your royal
33 presence.
34 “I was then a mere youth, and nearly died of