Guru Arjan's Martyrdom On Sikhiwiki.org

[Kaljug Singh]

Fateh!

Who wrote the article on Sri Guru Arjan's martyrdom on sikhiwiki.org? See here:

http://sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Martyrdom_of_Guru_Arjan

It seems to have been written by someone sympathetic to the Muslim Mughals and is in direct contradiction to the historical texts that describe Guru Arjan's torture and murder due to Jahangir's fanatical and intolerant Islam and his hatred of all things non-Islamic. I would not be surprised if it was some lying Muslim bandar who wrote the article.

Chandu's role has clearly been exaggarated to make Jahangir seem innocent of his repulsive crime.

See the other more accurate articles here:

http://sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Martyrdom_o...Sikh_historians

and here:

http://sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Guru_Arjan

Could one of you who edit articles on the wiki please change it? And if the mods of the wiki are reading this, perhaps you should exercise greater control over what is put up on that site because it is used by many people as an accurate and true reflection of Sikh history and beliefs.

Regards,

K.

[SaRpAnCh]

Jagowale Jatha expalined Chandus role on Guru Arjan Dev Jis Gurpurab last month on the Sikh Channel for he was the one who said he would even go as far as after torturing the Skin of Guru Ji throw him in the hot sun into the skin of a dead cow so that would stick to the Gurus skin and cause him pain,he lied to the moguls claiming that the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji had lines which were against Islam,all because the Guru did not let his son marry Chandus daughter.

Chandu was more than instrumental in this saka which gave birth to Sikhism's 1st martyr

Maybe Bijla Singh can expand on this

[jassa]

a nai was contacted by chandu to find a match for his 6 years old daughter punjab kaur ... he found guru hargobind sahib for his daughter ... he met guru arjun dev ji and marriage was fixed ... when he returned to chaundu and told that he fixed his marriage to son of guru arjun dev ji he became angry and told they are lower kashtriyas ... u are trying to stick brick of the floor in the ceiling ... when sikhs heard this that chandu is calling guru ghar floor and him self ceiling ... they wrote letters to baba budha jee ... on the request of sikhs guru jee ended this relation ... which made chandu felt even more insulted that how come someone say no to his daughter ... so he started talking bad about guru sahib to arjun dev ji ... jhangir played his part in shaheedi of guru sahib ... but later apologised to guru hargobind sahib ... it was jhangir who let guru hargobind sahib catch chandu without a battle with delhi takth ... jhangir and guru sahib became good friends and they even played shikar together ... guru ji fought his four battles when shah jhan was king of delhi ... he to latter aplogised to guru har rai sahib when he needed auervadic medicine from guru ghar when his elder son was poisoned by aurengzeb ...

as per suraj parkash granth

[Kaljug Singh]

Fateh!

Suraj Prakash was completed in 1843 AD.

The earliest written sources, including Jahangir's own biography, all describe Guru Arjan's arrest by Jahangir's own orders, and Guru Arjan's torture and martyrdom by Jahangir's goons. Jahangir himself mentions his long-held resentment of Guru Arjan Dev's popularity among Hindus and Muslims and his own desire to convert Guru Arjan Dev to Islam.

Chandu may have poisoned Jahangir's ears against Guru Arjan Dev, but he had no authority himself to arrest, torture or murder anyone: everything Chandu did, he did with Jahangir's explicit permission, and Jahangir had his own religiously-motivated reasons for giving the order for Guru Arjan Dev Ji's torture.

See Dr Ganda Singh's Early European Accounts of the Sikhs or Grewal and Habib's Sikh History from Persian Sources for the earliest accounts of Guru Arjan's martyrdom.

It seems that some people would prefer to ignore history and lay the blame solely with evil Brahmins to serve their own agendas rather than blame the one who was truly responsible for Guru Ji's martyrdom.

Regards,

K.

[jassa]

jhangirs biography has only one line about sikhs sikhi and guru arjun dev ji ... in which he calls sikhi as jhoot di dukan and says time to shut it down has come ... as far as i know ... nothing else he wrote about sikhs or guru sahibans ... rest i dont know what persian sources say never read them ...

[Kaljug Singh]

From Tuzuk-i-Jahagiri, Memoirs of Jahangir:

"In Govindwal, which is on the river Biyah (Beas), there was a Hindu named Arjun, in the garments of sainthood and sanctity, so much so that he had captured many of the simple-hearted of the Hindus, and even of the ignorant and foolish followers of Islam, by his ways and manners, and they had loudly sounded the drum of his holiness. They called him Guru, and from all sides stupid people crowded to worship and manifest complete faith in him. For three or four generations (of spiritual successors) they had kept this shop warm. Many times it occurred to me to put a stop to this vain affair or to bring him into the assembly of the people of Islam.

At last when Khusrau passed along this road this insignificant fellow proposed to wait upon him. Khusrau happened to halt at the place where he was, and he came out and did homage to him. He behaved to Khusrau in certain special ways, and made on his forehead a finger-mark in saffron, which the Indians (Hinduwan) call qashqa, (Tilak) and is considered propitious. When this came to my ears and I clearly understood his folly, I ordered them to produce him and handed over his houses, dwelling-places, and children to Murtaza Khan, and having confiscated his property commanded that he should be put to death."

Regards,

K.

[Bijla Singh]

Jahangir did not have his facts rights. He was greatly influenced by Muslim fanatics and Hindu pundits. He was filled with hatred against non-Muslims. When he heard that Guru Arjan Dev Ji were converting Muslims and Hindus in large numbers and even Mian Mir had become His devotee, he became mad in anger. This is when he wrote in his diary that he had wishes to close “jhoot di dukaan” but had no reasons to take actions. He had heard numerous complaints before but there were no reasons to take action as the complaints were mostly found false or were regarding gaddi not given to Prithi Chand.

Khusro just happened to pass through Punjab but never met Guru Sahib (controversial point). I do not believe he met Guru Sahib or Guru Sahib ever blessed him by putting tilak on his forehead. The reason is that when Jahangir himself was taking a tour of the country and punishing everyone who helped or met Khusro, he did not take any action against Guru Sahib while he was in Lahore and nearby Amritsar. He stayed in the area for more than a month but not once did he receive any complaint about Guru Sahib meeting Khusro. One can read Bhai Veer Singh Ji’s analysis on it for more details but Jahangir had no evidence. When he left Punjab and went back to Delhi, he received complaints from Chandu, Bhagwaan Das and other Brahmins against Guru Sahib and they accused Guru Ji of blessing Khusro. The reason was obvious, denying Chandu’s daughter’s marriage with Guru Hargobind Ji. One must keep in mind that Jahangir had punished everyone found guilty of helping Khusro. Prisoners were burnt alive, fed to dogs alive, chopped up in pieces and sewn alive etc. and the matter of Khusro was over. Guru Sahib remained out of the picture. Then suddenly he receives complaints and only when Khusro’s name was mentioned, Jahangir found the excuse to arrest Guru Sahib and fulfill his mission. He ordered the arrest and he ordered the execution. He picked the punishment which was usually given to religious figures: death without spilling blood.

Later on, he met sixth Guru Sahib who explained everything to Jahangir in details and made him realize that he had made a mistake. Guru Sahib called him “kanna da kacha” and gave him a lecture on how responsible, sensible and fair a ruler must be. Jahangir apologized and to clean up his reputation he handed over Chandu to Guru Sahib. He wanted people to see him the same way they looked at Akbar. Chandu was punished and killed by Guru Sahib.

ਚੰਦੂ ਜੈਸੇ ਪਾਪੀ ਨੱਥ ਪਾ ਕੇ ਮਾਰੇ ਸੀ ਚਬਾ ਤੇ ਲੋਹੇ ਦੇ ਚਣੇ ।

Both are responsible for the martyrdom. Chandu did chuglee and sought revenge for his “insults” and Jahangir wanted to stop the mass conversion of Muslims. While I hold both guilty, Chandu and his Brahmin associates were the real culprits and instigators.

I ordered them to produce him and handed over his houses, dwelling-places, and children to Murtaza Khan, and having confiscated his property commanded that he should be put to death."

We know for a fact that Guru Sahib’s property was not seized and his family was not arrested. Kala Afghana makes an argument that since Jahangir ordered the seize, the army would’ve confiscated the Adi Granth as well and therefore Sikhs need to prove why the current Guru Granth Sahib is authentic and what are its sources and proofs of authenticity. He assumed everything Jahangir wrote is correct but Jahangir is writing on hearsay and everything he wrote was not true and did not come true. If property was not seized, family was not arrested and Darbar Sahib was not seized then what evidence did he have that Khusro did actually meet Guru Sahib? He believed Chandu and Bhagwaan Das and had no facts. I did not find anything about this in Persian sources. Perhaps you should mention which particular article you are referencing from those books.

[Kaljug Singh]

Bijla Singh:

I was referring to the quote from Jahangir's memoirs given above (it can be found in Grewal and Habib's Sikh History from Persian Sources) as evidence for the fact that Jahangir merely used Chandu's lies as an excuse for his orders to martyr Guru Arjan Dev: it's clear from Jahangir's writing that his real reason was motivated by his fanaticism and his fear that Guru Arjan Dev was drawing away too many Muslims towards Sikhi.

Jahangir didn't need evidence for this alleged meeting between Guru Ji and Khusrao (I don't believe it happened for the same reasons you have stated), because his persecution of Guru Angad was on religious grounds. The rejoicing of the Qazis at the shaheedi of Guru Angad Dev and the letter sent by Shaikh Ahmad of Sarhind to Farid Bukhari (in which he writes ‘The execution of the accursed kafir of Goindwal is an important achievement and is the cause of the great defeat of the accursed Hindus.’) is testament to this.

Guru Hargobind Ji was friendly to Jahangir after Guru Angad Dev Ji's martyrdom because the Gurus have always been the embodiment of mercy, and because Jahangir was persuaded to change, not because Jahangir realised he was misled by Chandu - he already knew this. (Chandu was later killed by angry Sikhs who punished him for his role in the affair and because of his participation of the torture of Guru Angad Dev.)

I believe that both Chandu and Jahangir are to blame for Guru Angad Dev Ji's martyrdom because they both sought to benefit from it. The only difference is that Jahangir did it out of Islamic intolerance (which Guru Hargobind Ji forgave when Jahangir realised that Guru Angad Dev was preaching true religion) and Chandu did it out of spite and revenge because his pride was damaged by Guru Angad Dev's refusal of Chandu's daughter's hand in marriage.

Regards,

Kaljug.

[Bijla Singh]

I agree with you. My point was that Jahangir used excuse of Khusro which is not true. It was due to his fanaticism and to arrest and execute a religious figure that was very popular he needed much more of a reason other than his personal dislike. So he justified himself by using political means (Khusro) and when later faced by Guru Sahib and to save his public reputation he blamed Chandu. I agree that both are at fault. Without Chandu and Bhagwaan Das, Jahangir could not have had any excuse to justify himself.