1 GURU TEGH BAHADUR. 259
2 to be taken away, telling them that they were mistaken if they took him for
3 “ Tegh Bahadur,” the “ gladiator,” and that the title which he aspired to was
4 *Degh Bahadur,” or “hero of the cooking pot,” meaning that he was a
5 cherisher of the poor and supporter of the hungry. This opportune remark was
6 hailed with. feelings of intense joy and satisfaction by the whole Sikh com-
7 munity, who thenceforward looked upon Tegh Bahadur as the defender of their
8 faith and the supporter of their honor. Numerous followers flocked to his Anabecomesa _
9 banner, and he became a greater Guru than his renowned father Har Govind. Fretecesson "" ™*
10 Tegh Bahadur resolved upon the extirpation of the Sodhis, by whom _ Quorrels with the
11 he was looked upon as a usurper; but Makhan Shah persuaded him to put S™*
12 his sword in the sheath. He lived with splendour and kept in his employ
13 one thousand armed horsemen. With the immense offerings of his disciples
14 he commenced building a strong fort at Kartarptir, where he established his
15 ecclesiastical court. This afforded Rém Rai a good opportunity of injuring
16 Tegh Bahadur, by representing to the emperor that his designs were detri-
17 mental to the State, and suggesting that immediate measures should be
18 taken to check his ambition. Warrants were accordingly issued from the
19 Court for the arrest of Tegh Bahadur, as a pretender to power and a distur- _ Issummoned to
20 ber of the public peace. Tegh Bahadur was brought to the capital with his Poios* pretender to
21 family and lodged in the house of the rd4ja of Jaypur. The rdjd interceded
22 in his behalf ‘with the emperor, and assured his majesty that Tegh Bahadur
23 was a peaceful faqir and aspired to no political power, that he preferred the
24 life of a recluse, and had resolved upon visiting holy places on a pilgrimage.
25 Tegh Bahadur accompanied the rdjé to Bengal, and took up his residence at _ Retires fora time to
26 Patna, where he founded a college for the Sikhs. Here he lived with his Bengal.
27 wife and kindred for five or six years, and, by his wife Gujri, had a son, Birth of Govina.
28 Govind Singh, who received his secular education from the pundits of Hin-
29 dostén. He gave up his time chiefly to devotion and meditation, in places
30 away from human habitations, and visited the sacred Hindu places in Ben-
31 gal. Finally, he resolved to leave Patna and return home. He came to | TheGuru returns to
32 Anandapur, and bought a piece of ground from the Kahhir Raj4, named Devi "°?"
33 Madho, for Rs. 500. On this land he built the town of Makhowal, which — Buitas Makhowal.
34 exists to this day on the banks of the Sutlej, close to Kartarptr, the chosen
35 residence of his father, and is a place of great sanctity among the Sikhs.
36 From a devout Uddsi (indifferent to the world) in Bengal, the Guru seems
37 to have turned out a regular freebooter on his return to the Panjab. He
38 is said to have taken to a predatory career, and to have Jaid waste and plun-
39 dered the whole country lying between Hansi and the Sutlej. He formed
40 a league with a Mahomedan fanatic, named Adam Hafiz, and, while this _tsurrectionary
41 zealot levied blackmail on the Mahomedans, the Sikh apostle did the same Bum us
42 on rich Hindus, Predatory incursions were made into the agricultural
43 districts, and to a large number of well-armed disciples were added rural
44 clans, to whom promises of large payments and rich booties were made. To
45 add to-the criminal conduct, the confederates afforded a ready asylum to
46 all the fugitives from the Moghal State who sought protection with them.
47 The imperial troops were sent after them, and they were at last captured
48 and brought before the emperor. The Musalman saint was banished, but _ we is captured and
49 the Emperor Aurangzeb, whose efforts were directed to converting the whole ‘*"' Yan
50 world to the Mahomedan faith, urged the Sikh Guru to embrace Mahome-
51 danism. The Guru, before leaving for Delhi, is said to have sent for his son,
52 Govind Singh, then fifteen years of age, and, girding upon him the sword of
53 Guru Har Govind, hailed him’ as the future Guru of the Sikhs. He told — aisaaaress to his
54 Govind that he was going to die, but begged him not to leave his body at £2 Govind
55 Delhi, to_b ‘ol ; i
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