1 Sends out mission-
2 aries to preach to the
3 people the faith of the
4 Uru.
5 Fixes his choice for
6 successorship on Ram
7 Das his son-in-law.
8 Dics, 1574.
9 Ram Das succeeds,
10 Akber bestows a
11 grant of land on him.
12 The Guru restores an
13 old tank which he
14 names “Amritsar,”
15 And butlds a
16 Harmandar.
17 He founds the town
18 of Amritsar,
19 The boon obtained
20 by ham from Akber.
21 252 " HISTORY OF THE PANJAB.
22 Amar Das sent twenty-two of his chosen disciples to visit various parts
23 of the country, and spread the religion of Nanak by peaching and dis-
24 cussion with the people.
25 He had a son, Mohan, and a daughter Mohani, alias Bheni. When
26 the bdéolt of Amar Das was in course of construction, a great number of
27 masons and other workmen were employed on it, and a large multitude of
28 spectators used to assemble to see how the work progressed. Among these
29 was a lad named Ram Das, a Chhatr2 of the Sodhé sect,and a lineal descendant
30 of Sodhi Rao, who bequeathed the throne of Léhore to Kalpat Rao, his
31 uncle. The boy had come from Lahore, and used to sell provisions to the
32 workmen. He wasa handsome youth, and Bheni, the daughter of Amar Das,
33 seeing him, became enamoured of him. He was finally married to Bheni,
34 and this united the family of the Bhalas and the Sodhis.
35 Amar Dds, was particularly fond of his daughter Mohani for her filial
36 love and obedience, for which reason he passed over his son, Mohan, and
37 all his other disciples, and bestowed the apostolic blessing upon his son-in-law,
38 Ram Das, who became his successor in the Guruship.
39 Amar Das died in Gowindwal, on 14th May, 1574, having reigned as a
40 Guru for a period of twenty-two years. His tomb was erected at Gowind-
41 wal, but has since been washed away by the river.
42 4.—GURU RAM DAS.
43 Guru Ram Das, the Chhatri of the Sodhé clan, was a native of Léhore.
44 His parents moved to Gowindwal, where, in consequence of their poverty,
45 Ram Das had recourse to selling boiled grain, on the proceeds of which he
46 managed to support himself and his poor parents. He was a mau of consi-
47 derable merit, well worthy of the choice of his master, and the affectionate
48 regard of his wife. He was of a quiet and peaceful disposition ; and his piety
49 and devotion, combined with his eloquence and energy, ranged hundreds of
50 disciples round his banner. He gave himself up to literary pursuits ; and his
51 poetical effusions, in which he has expounded his doctrines, have been incor-
52 porated in the Granth.
53 In his time, the voluntary offerings of the Sikhs, or disciples, immensely
54 increased, and he was enabled to live in state. At Léhore, he had an inter-
55 view with the tolerant Akber, who was highly pleased with his accomplish-
56 ments, and, as a mark of esteem and approbation, granted him a piece of land,
57 which, from its being of a circular shape, was named Chakkar Ram Das.
58 Here Ram Das splendidly restored an old tank which he called “Amritsar,”
59 or the “pool of immortality,” and in the midst of which he built a temple,
60 which he named Harmandar, or the mandar of Hari.
61 Around this tank were built the huts of faqirs and smaller temples, and
62 the disciples and followers of the Guru came and settled here. The Guru came
63 himself occasionally from Gowindwal to live here, and in time this new town,
64 from Guru ké Chak, came to be called Amritsar (the nectar tank), the name
65 given by the founder, by which name it is known to this day.
66 At an interview, Ram Das represented to the Emperor, Akber, that,
67 owing to the long stay of his majesty with his retinue and camp-followers at
68 Lahore, the price of food had risen greatly, and that now, as the Court had
69 left the place, it would fall and the raiats suffer in consequence. He there-
70 fore begged his majesty to remit a year’s rent to the poor raiats. Akber
71 granted this request, and was strongly impressed with the Guru’s sympathy
72 for the poor. The representation made by the Guru to the emperor,
73 prompted as it was by purely charitable motives, and the success which
74 attended it, is said to have immensely increased the popularity of the Guru
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