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JUMA, 4028]
SOME ASPECTS OF THY CAREER OF GURU HARGOVIND
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SOME ASPECTS O VTHE CAREER OF GURU HARGOVIND.
BY V OBHUSAN BANERJEE, M.A., P.R.S.
(Continued from page 71.)
III. Hargovind at Kiratpur. The battle of Kartarpur is said to have been fought in 1634, and as Hargovind im. mediately withdrew to Bhagwara and thence in haste to Kiratpur, he might have reached the latter place in the very same year.94 The Sikhs state that the city of Kiratpur had been founded by Baba Gurditta, the eldest son of Hargovind, and that it was named Kiratpur, because "God's praises (Kirat) were ever to be sung there." 96 Hargovind now made it his permanent residence and appears to have lived here till his death in 1645.
We do not know much about Hargovind's life at Kiratpur. It seems that he eagerly availed himself of the peace and tranquillity that the secure retreat offered, and which he so much needed after the trials and anxieties of his previous adventures. But it is said that even here in his retirement he could not entirely avoid military operations. Two of his exploits are mentioned. The first was an "expedition to Nanakmata in the Taraj near Naini Ta, whose fagir Almast, the Udasi, complained that he had been expelled from his shrine by the Jogis, who had also burnt the pipal tree, under which Guru Nanak had held debate with the followers of Gorak Nath." o Hargovind had absolutely no difficulty in recuing the shrine and putting Almast in possession of it. The Guru remained there for some time and "busied himself with the organization of a methodical Sikh service under the guidance of Almast". Since then the place has borne the undisturbed name of Nánakmata, and remained in the POBBension of Udasi Sikhs." It is to be noticed, however, that both Macauliffe' and Gyan Singh" place this event much earlier, the former even before Hargovind's first open breach with the Moghul Government, and that it was after all a very tame affair which we cannot certainly count among the military exploits of Hargovind. Secondly, the Guru is said to
* We need not enter into any chronological discussion with regard to the second period of Hergo vind's career. It seems that the Sikh recorde con perhaps be safely followed. Hostilities commenced immediately after the accession of Shoh Jahan, and the battle of Amritsar was fought, as the Sikhs state, in 1628 or in 1629. Hargovind retired to Kartarpur and then to Ruhela, forcibly took possession of it and defeated the imall contingent sent by the Subahdar of Jullundhar. He, however, feared that a stronger army would soon be sent against him and consequently retired to the wastes of Bhatinda. There he met the Imperialista, who wore compelled to retire, and it does not neem improbable that this happened, as the Sikhs state, early in 1631. The Guru could not return to Kartarpur immediately, and the Panth Prakash states (p. 117) that hó remained in the hills for about 3 years and came down to Kartarpur in 1634. Hostility seem to have broken out immediately and the Guru thought it prudent to retire to Kartarpur the very same your. There seems nothing impossible in the above account, and the Sikh records cannot possibly be more than you or two of the mark. 16 Mscauliffe, The Sikh Religion, vol. IV, pp. 140-142.
Glossary of Punjab Tribes and Castes, vol. I, p. 684. It is said that this or another Althast had been deputed by this, the sixth Guru, to Shujatpur near Dacca and had there founded & sangat. This sangat at Shajatpur was called after Natha Sahib, third in succession to this Almast. It is significant that "the insoription on & stone in the well of this sangat commemorates the name of the original founder and his "Mother Lodgo" of Nanakmate. This new sangat was not named Nanakmate, but it was under the Lodge at Nanakmata in Naini Tal, andits priests were appointed or removed by the head at that place." (Gurbaksh Singh's Stitch Rolics in Eastern Bengal, Dacca Review, 1916, p. 228.) In Macauliffe it is stated that Hargovind had sent Bidhi Chand to some untraceable island in the Bay of Bengal. (Vol. IV, p. 210.) Sikh activities outside of the Punjab in or about this time are clearly established in the valuable paper of Gurbakash Singh already referred to. (Dacca Review, 1918, 1916.) Mohsun Fani also states that Har. govind had sent Sikh named Sadah to bring horses from Balkh (Dabistan, vol., p. 284). Macauliflo, ibid., vol. IV, pp. 50-54.
# The Sikh Religion, 0 Panth Prabash, p. 116.
