The martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev was the cumulative result of a variety of factors. Now the controversy revolves around the issue whether the Guru was a political offender, as the Persian and other writers like Mohsin Fani, S.M. Latif, Jadu Nath Sarkar, J.D. Cunningham etc. contend; or he fell a prey to the religious fanaticism of the Mughal emperor as Dr. I.B. Banerjee, Sir G.C. Narang, Macauliffe, Dr. H.R. Gupta, Dr. Ganda Singh, Pr. Teja Singh etc. state.
The theory that Guru Arjan was a political offender is based
on an excerpt from Tuzuq-i-Jahangiri. The supporters of this theory believe
that the Guru was politically ambitious to have power in his own hands. The works
he carried out had behind them his political objectives. As a result of these,
the Sikhs had come to acquire the position of an imperium in imperio. In this organizational development of the
Sikhs, Jahangir, the Mughal emperor, saw the impending danger to the stability
of the Mughal Empire. The realization of the tax from the Sikhs, called
Daswand, the appointment of the representatives at different places— the
Masands, the establishment of the Sikh troops and the encouragement to the
trade in horses—all these indicate the objectives of Guru Arjan.
But majority of the writers refute these views, the reasons
being clear. Daswand was not a tax at all, but the Guru had directed his Sikhs
to contribute one-tenth of their income for the development of the Church. It
was by this only that the Guru could arrange his budget with much more certainty.
Moreover, the Masands were appointed by the Guru in order to cope with the
difficulties raised by the rapid increase in the number of the Sikhs. These
Masands were the spiritual rather than the political representatives of the
Guru. The encouragement to trade in horses dealt “an effective blow at the
stringency of caste and Hindu superstitions, in breaking down the barrier which
prevented the Hindus from crossing the Indus.”
In the Tuzuq, there is a reference to the political offence
of the Guru, i.e. Guru Arjan helped Prince Khusrau during his revolt against
his father, Jahangir. According to it, he had done so in order to achieve his
political ends. Jahangir could not tolerate these rebellious activities on the
part of Guru Arjan, and tortured him to death.
However, going into the details of the Tuzuq itself, we do
not find any such objectives behind the Guru. Firstly, in the Tuzuq there is a
list of the helpers of Khusrau. These helpers were punished by the emperor
according to the gravity of their offence. But the name of Guru Arjan does not
figure in it. Had Guru Arjan, at that time, played his alleged role in the
rebellion, his name would have been included in it. One thing more, had the
Guru been active in connection with the revolt, he might have issued the
Hukumnamas for his Sikhs to join the army of Khusrau. But no such Hukumnama is
found.
Moreover, Jahangir in his auto-biography mentions that the
Guru blessed Khusrau for success and also marked tilak on the prince’s forehead, which is believed fortunate enough.
However, as Dr. Ganda Singh comments that the marking of tilak was not
prevalent in the Guru family or in the Mughals. So this allegation also seems
to be baseless.
The above statements prove that the efforts to involve Guru
Arjan in the revolt of Khusrau are meaningless. Thus it was the religious fanaticism
of Jahangir, which compelled him to torture the Guru to death.
The organizational development of Sikhism under Guru Arjan
and his predecessors was not tolerated by Jahangir, who wanted to convert the
Guru to Islam, either peacefully or by compulsion, when he writes in the Tuzuq,
“In Gobindwal, which is on the river Biyah (Beas), there is a Hindu named
Arjun, in the garments of sainthood and sanctity, so much so that he has
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 call 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 have kept this shop warm. Many times
it occurred to me that to put a stop to this vain affair or to bring him into
the assembly of the people of Islam.” When Jahangir failed to convert Guru
Arjan to Islam, he tortured him physically, which ultimately resulted to his
death.
The nobility and the members of the Sunni order of Islam felt
hatred for the organizational development of Sikhism. This development had
reduced the numerical strength of the Muslims in Punjab, which would also
reduce their influence in the empire.
The enemies and even the kith and kin of the Guru
participated as a factor in the martyrdom of Guru Arjan. Chandu Shah, the Dewan
of Lahore, offered his daughter’s hand for Hargobind, the son of Guru Arjan. But
the Guru rejected the offer, because of the haughtiness of Chandu Shah. He
became very angry at this attitude of the Guru, and as says Sir G.C. Narang, “The
Dewan was exasperated and resolved to punish he Guru for his insolence.” Further, he says, “In all likelihood the part
that Chandu could have played in this tragic episode was that as an official of
the Government, he made a report to the Central Government in his official
capacity about the incident mentioned by the Emperor.”
Prithia, the elder brother of Guru Arjan, was kept away from
the guruship and he could not tolerate it. He always sought an opportunity when
he could take his revenge from the Guru. Both Chandu and Prithia poisoned the
ears of the emperor through Qazi Suleh Khan.
Jahangir was already waiting for an opportunity to take
action against the Guru, and Khusrau’s revolt provided it. Guru Arjan’s
involvement in this revolt was alleged. By the orders of the emperor, Guru
Arjan was imprisoned and brought before him. The emperor asked him why he
helped the rebel prince. The Guru’s reply was that his assistance to the prince
had nothing to do with his opposition to the emperor. “Had I failed to show
some kindness to the grandson of my former benefactor (Akbar), it would have
been the height of heartlessness and ingratitude on my part.” But this reply of
the Guru had no impact upon Jahangir. He
fined the Guru for Rs. two lakh and also omit those verses from the Adi Granth
which opposed the religious sentiments of the Hindus as well as the Muslims.
But the Guru refused to omit even a single word from the Holy Granth. For the
payment of fine, he said that he would not pay even a single penny because “whatever
money I have is for the poor, the friendless and the stranger.” He even prevented
his Sikhs when they tried to collect money for his release. When the Guru
refused to accept the terms, he “was forced to submit to infinite tortures
which ultimately led to his death.” The torturers of the Guru poured boiling
sand on him, seated him on red hot cauldrons and bathed him in boiling water.
These physical tortures led to his death in June 1606 AD. Thus Dr. I.B.
Banerjee sums up the causes of Guru Arjan’s martyrdom in these words: “The
organizational strength of Sikhism, the Guru’s position as the leader of a
fairly compact community and the facts that he was called a Sacha Padshah by
his followers, and that he had compiled a book which did not spare the current
perversions of both Hinduism and Islam, were all used to create a prejudice
against the Guru.”
The martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev is of great significance in
the Sikh history. It brought about the transformation in the Sikh movement. So
far, the Sikhs were known as a religious and spiritual community only, but now
in self-defence they took to arms under the sixth Guru, Hargobind, for whom
Guru Arjan had sent a message, “Let him sit fully armed on the throne and
maintain an army to the best of his ability.” He organized his army and
fortified the city of Amritsar, apart from giving military training to his
Sikhs. This development was not ignored by the State “particularly as the organizational
strength of Sikhism and its unified leadership made it a magnet which might at
any time become a rallying point of disaffection.” Trumpp also observes that
Guru Arjan’s martyrdom was a great turning point in the development of the Sikh
community. With it started the struggle which changed the whole character of
this reformatory religious movement. Dr.
Narang states that Guru Arjan opened the chapter of persecutions and he himself
was destined to be the first to receive the ‘crown of martyrdom’.
Dr. I.B. Banerjee has approached the subject in these words: As
a result of the reforms and more specially the organizational work carried out
by Guru Arjan and his predecessors, ‘a State, peaceful and unobtrusive, had
been slowly evolved and that the Sikh community had come to acquire the
position of an imperium in imperio….By
the year 1604, the Sikhs had become a more or less compact community, in
command of an efficient and extensive organization reaching to the corners of
the Province and even beyond….The spectacle of a religious teacher at the head
of such an extensive organization and with a body of followers who had been
taught that to sacrifice their all for the Guru was the highest and the most
meritorious act, and whose sense of brotherhood and love for each other
transcended all other feelings, could not but disturb the equanimity of the
established State and clearly a crisis was coming when a direct conflict would
be difficult to avoid.’
On the whole, it cannot be denied that it was the religious
bigotry and cruelty of the Mohammedan government to which Guru Arjan fell a
victim.
