1 GURU HAR GOVIND. 955
2 his own right to succeed to the gadi; hut the Sikhs deserted him in disgust,
3 suspecting him of intrigue with the hated Chandu Shah, and Har Govind
4 was acknowledged as the Guru. : ;
5 Har Govind combined the qualities of a warrior, a saint and a sportsman,
6 While Ndnak abstained from animal food, Har Govind took delight in hunt-
7 ing and in eating flesh. He was the first Guru who organized a military
8 system, and, arming his followers, made them buckle on the sword, and prepared
9 them for action in the field, He was induced to resort to arms in order to
10 chastise his enemy, Chéndu Shah, and, having secured the confidence” of the
11 emperor, obtained possession of Chandu’s person, and was thus able to avenge
12 himself as he thought best. Har Govind took him to Amritsar, and there had
13 him dragged through the streets with a rope round his feet, and made to sit
14 on heated frying-pans and hot sand, as he had done with Arjan. Thus he
15 died in the most excruciating pain.
16 Har Govind surpassed his predecessor in splendour and state. He
17 maintained a large establishment, which he was enabled to do by the daily
18 increasing income derived from the offerings which were now levied in the
19 form of a tax from the faithful throughout the country, under the system
20 introduced by the politic Arjan. He had eight hundred fine horses in his
21 stables, and kept a numerous, gorgeous and well-equipped retinue, He built
22 the town of Hargovindpur on the banks of the Bids, to serve, in case of an
23 emergency, as a place of retreat.
24 His warlike talent .led him to enter the service of Jahdugir as
25 a military leader, and he éven accompanied the imperial camp on_ its
26 journeys to that paradise of Hindostan, Kashmir; but he fell in the
27 estimation of the emperor through appropriating to his own use the pay of
28 the contingent, through admitting into his service criminals and fugitives, and
29 through his failure to pay the balance of the heavy fine that had been
30 imposed upon his father Arjan. He was placed in confinementin the
31 fort of Gwalior, where he was kept a prisoner for twelve years in a
32 state of semi-starvation. The faithful flocked round the fort and bowed
33 themselves before its walls, to worship the living saint who was undergoing
34 persecution at the hands of the powerful Moghal. At length, roused by
35 pity, rather than affected by the demonstrations of the Sikhs, the emperor
36 ordered the release of the Guru.
37 The Emperor Jahangir died in 1628, and Har Govind entered the service
38 of his successor, Shah Jahan. He raised himself in the estimation of the
39 emperor’s eldest son, Dard Shekoh, the governor of the Panjab, who in
40 those days lived at Lahore. Déra was an abstemious prince, simple in
41 heart and manners, and particularly friendly to the faqirs. He and Har
42 Govind became great friends; and, for Dara’s sake, the Guru used to pass a
43 considerable portion of his time in Lahore. He also used to go with the prince
44 to Kashmir on pleasure trips. But he soon fell into fresh difficulties with
45 the imperial government, and circumstances arose which compelled him to
46 make armed resistance. A certain disciple of the Guru was taking a fine
47 Turkistanf horse to Amritsar for presentation to the Guru. The horse was
48 * During the emperor's residence at Lihore, Har Govind was admitted to an audience. He
49 presented a rosary of amber to his majesty, who was highly pleased with its splendour, and
50 asked the Guru whether he could procure more pearls of the same kind as were contained in
51 the rosary. The Guru submitted to his majesty that the rosary consisted of a complete set of a
52 hundred pearls, but Chandu, his dewan, had taken most of them, and the ornament was there-
53 fore incomplete. The emperor asked the Guru how the pearls had fallen into the hands of the
54 dewén, Upon this, the Guru burst into tears and narrated to the king the whole story. The
55 king was greatly enraged at hearing of the treatment which Arjan had met with at the
56 hands of the dewan, and orders were passed for the person of Chandu Shah to be handed over
57 He resents the en-
58 mity of Chandi Shah.
59 Becomes a military
60 leader,
61 Builds Hargovind-
62 pur.
63 Incurs the displea-
64 sure of Jahangir.
65 Is imprisoned in the
66 fort of Gwalior.
67 His release.
68 The Guru gains the
69 confidence of Prince
70 Dari Shekoh.
71 Quarrels with the
72 king.
73 to Har Govi cselion Wi 4 is f
74 He aoe FSU agie Sing | Pe DTAIy bo chose fon GhaniElDrary@ gmail.com