It is a Sikh tradition that after partaking the holy potion (Amrit) men write ‘Singh’ with their first names similarly women write ‘Kaur’ to their first names.
Once a group of Sikhs was coming to Anandpur from a village. The group had already partaken Amrit. The group included a woman named Deep.
The menflok were feeling thirsty. They stopped at a village well to quench their thirst. Deep was not thirsty. So, she moved ahead alone.
On the way, some Turks accosted her. They wanted to rob her. Deep fought in self defence. She was able to beat back the Turks. Just then Sikh menfolk caught up with her. They had seen her fighting off the Turks. Some male Sikhs did not like it.
The men thought that a woman fighting with men was no good sign. They were orthodox people. Some of them complained to Guru Sahib about it. Guru Sahib heard the incident from Deep Kaur herself.
He said, “Deep Kaur has done no wrong. Infact she has honoured the Amrit tradition by fighting against the criminals. Once one partakes Amrit one becomes a soldier of justice irrespective of sex. I want more Kaurs to follow the example.”
The jumbo effort
When the hill kings could not deal with Guru Sahib and his Khalsa army they began thinking of novel ways to harass Khalsa. Some one got a jumbo idea. The idea was to tank an elephant with wine and cannabis to drive it crazy and make it smash the gate of Guru Sahib’s fort and then invade the fort through smashed gate. They tried it.
Guru Shaib saw an elephant advancing towards the fort gate. Behind it were hill Rajas and their soldiers. Guru saw through their game. He at once thought of a counter move.
He gave a Sikh soldier named Bachchiter a strong horse and a spear. The soldier was ordered to drive back the crazy elephant. The soldier bowed to Guru Sahib and received his blessings.
Then he raced out of fort gate on his horse and drove it at the advancing elephant. From a suitable distance he threw the spear aimed at the forehead of the elephant. The spear went into jumbo’s forehead hurting it badly. With a painful cry it turned and ran back trampling upon the hill soldiers.
The successful Bachchiter was rewarded by Guru Sahib. That spear and Bachchiter’s sword is treasured items preserved to this day in Lohgarh fort of Anandpur.
These are a few of the legends. There are more.
Nanded conspiracy
Guru Sahib remained at Nanded for a month. During that period he held congregations and preached to disciples every day besides singing prayers. The atmosphere had become just like the one at Anandpur.
Everyday hundreds of faithfuls gathered to sing prayers and to hear the sermons of Guru Sahib.
On the other side, Sirhind governor, Vazir Khan had received the news of Guru Sahib and the new Emperor Muazzam holding talks and getting friendly. It worried him. Guru Sahib would definitely complain against him and the new Emperor might punish him, he feared. His scheming mind worked overtime.
The easiest way was to eliminate Guru Sahib. So, he appointed a Pathan named Jamshed Khan to assassinate Guru Gobind Singh. The assassin duly arrived at Nanded. He began to attend the congregations of Guru Sahib. The assassin Pathan even befriended some of the Sikhs.
He looked for an opportunity to kill Guru Gobind. The congregations used to be too crowded which made it impossible for the assassin to carry out his plan. He had been posing as a faithful. Hence it was easy for him to linger around Guru’s camp and wait for the chance. The chance presented itself on 5 October, 1708.
The faithfuls had dispersed. Guru Sahib was resting in his tent. Only one bodyguard was around and he too was dozing. The assassin thought that it was the right opportunity.
He ran in and stabbed Guru Sahib in his waist with his dagger. Before he could stab again Guru Govind picked up his sword and killed the assassin in one lightning blow.
Guru Sahib was badly hurt. The dagger had inflicted a deep cut in his waist. An English doctor named Cole stitched the wound and bandaged it. Guru Sahib was advised complete rest and no physical activity. But he could not stay idle for long. The warrior in him wanted some action. To pass time Guru Sahib tried to string his bow. The effort created pressure on his waist and the wound opened up as the stitches snapped. Bleeding followed.
On 6 October 1708 Guru Gobind called a meeting of the Sikhs. He put five paisas and a coconut on the holy book ‘Granth Sahib’. Then he declared that the holy book will be his heir after his death. He said that it would the Guru of Sikhs for ever.
After paying obeisance to Guru Granth Sahib he asked Sikhs to consider it the physical manifestation of all the Gurus. And the Sikhs carry that tradition faithfully.
On 7 October, 1708 Guru Gobind Singh said, ‘Vahe Guruji da Khalsa—Vahe Guruji di Fateh’ for the last time and breathed his last at the age of 42.
The Sikhs performed his last rites at Nanded. There today stands grand ‘Hazoor Sahib Gurudwara’.
After his death rulers tormented Khalsas to rub out the Panth founded by Guru Gobind. They were declared outlaws and were shot dead or hanged. The surviving Khalsas took refuge in jungles. They did not give up their principles and carried on the battle so fiercely that no foreign invader could step into India from the west.
Then, gradually they came out of jungles and other hiding places. Khalsas became so powerful that they seized the power at Lahore under Raja Ranjit Singh and ruled Punjab for a period. During that period they tormented Pathans of Afghanistan.
To this day, Guru Gobind spirit fuels every Sikh heart to battle on for the Khalsa values.
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