The defeated hill kings were getting frustrated. They would not sit idle. The humiliating defeats kept pricking them invoking the desire for revenge. They wanted to destroy Guru Sahib by all means. So, they wrote a letter to Aurangzeb which was carried to him by Bilaspur prince Ajmer Chand.
The subject matter part of the letter read :
‘…Guru has adopted the symbols of a ruler. He calls himself the ‘True Emperor’. Everyday thousands of his faithfuls gather under his flag. We have not been able to contend with him. And that fact makes him gloat over his successes and gather more power and momentum. He refuses to accept the dominance of the Mogul Emperor. Infact, he is preaching to the ignorant masses that the empire would crumble and there would be Khalsa rule all over…’
Aurangzeb was in south to deal with the Marathas. The letter infuriated him. He issued orders to his Sirhind and Lahore commander governors to crush Gobind Singh.
The battle
The Mogul commanders of Sirhind and Lahore again rallied the hill kings. It attacked on Khalsa army at a place called Nirmoh where it was camping with Guru Sahib. It was not a large force. But it fought the enemy in a daredevil manner. The ferocity of the Khalsa made the enemy fall back.
The Mogul combination again faced defeat.
After the war Raja of Bisali invited Guru Sahib to visit his kingdom and rest. Guru accepted the invitation and stayed there for some time. The frustrated Raja of Kohiloor saw in it his chance. He launched a surprise attack on Guru Sahib and his soldiers. Guru’s soldiers dealt him yet another defeat. He fled but after an interval he came to Guru Sahib and made peace through a treaty. Guru Gobind returned to his base and raised a new fort called Anandgarh.
Khalsa power
Nothing succeeds like success. The string of victories against the enemies gave the image of Guru Gobind a halo of invincibility. He was now a very tall warrior saint. His spiritual messages carried more punch and convincing power than ever before. Whatever words he uttered became a prayer for his disciples. The new glory had snowballing effect on the Khalsa movement. Guru Sahib’s Khalsa soldiers now battled with a fanatical zeal. That became a force multiplier factor.
On the other side, the letter of hill kings alarmed Aurangzeb. His informers also had reported about the growing power of Khalsa. He decided to send a large Mogul army to help the hill kings crush Guru Gobind and eliminate his Khalsa power.
Meanwhile, the Raja’s of the hills were acting like the cats on the wall. One moment they would rush to Guru Gobind to work out peace treaty and on the way back they would plead with Moguls to help them battle against him. During those days two Mogul commanders named Sayyad Beg and Alif Khan happened to be going to Delhi from Lahore with their army units. The hill kings contacted them and offered huge bribes to turn them on Guru Gobind. The two agreed.
Mogul units attacked when Guru Sahib was camping at Chamkaur with a unit of his soldiers. Khalsa soldiers put up a fierce defence. During the battle Sayyad Beg changed side and went to Guru Sahib’s fold. Infact, that Mogul had heard a lot about Guru Gobind and had become a silent faithful of his teachings. Guru’s belief in all humans being equal made more sense than those Pahari Rajas who supported the stupid caste system. After his defection to Guru’s side, Alif Khan was left alone in the battle against Khalsas. He saw more wisdom in fleeing from the battle field with his army.
The hill kings decided to join their forces and make yet another attempt at subduing Guru Gobind on their own. A large combined force marched towards the fort Guru Gobind was holed up in. He was surveying the enemy march from the top of his fort tower. When the enemy came near enough he ordered cannon shelling. The cannons boomed inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy. The battle went on for many days as cannons kept booming and ruling the every day of the battle. At last the hill force retreated after suffering heavy losses.
It should be noted that the armies of hill Rajas were made up of large numbers of Pathans and Moguls who were their paid mercenary soldiers. The locals were not interested in the meaningless wars of their evil rajas.
As usual the Pahari Rajas again ran to Aurangzeb and pleaded for the lasting solution to Khalsa problem. Aurangzeb himself had already made up his mind to deal a knock-out punch to Guru Gobind and his Khalsa force. The commanders of Lahore and Sirhind had already been ordered to move to join the invasion force to be sent from Delhi. Rajas too would naturally pool in their armies. The defeats were lowering the prestige of the Mogul empire. So, for them too, dealing effectively with Guru Sahib had become imperative to salvage their reputation.
Thus, a mighty combined force rumbled towards Anandpur Sahib. Gujjars and Kabaili tribals also were ranged against Khalsa’s because they two considered the Guru’s movement against their interests and beliefs.
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