Introductory - Global Sikh Studies

155
was supreme in both field. The foundation for creating and carving
out an independent political state was clearly laid.
The important point is that the ideal of Sacha Padshah was not
set up casually. That it was meant to be a deliberate challenge to the
ruling state is clear from the manner the Gurus stuck to it despite the
serious consequences it led to. One of the reasons of Guru Arjan’s
martyrdom was that Jahangir considered that the guru noised himself
as a ‘worldly leader’. Ram Rai incited the Emperor with his allegation
that Guru Teg Bahadur boasted of badshahi-karamat, i.e. kingship
and miracle.19h Khushwant Rai states that, some of the Sikhs,
apparently dazzled by the brillance of the Guru’s darbar, were
prompted to lay claims to sovereignty (“Nazar ber wafur-I-muridanash
sarzad shudan grift, whama waqt der shan-I-Guru lafaz-I-badshahi yani
sacha patshah mi guftand.”19i Irvine writes: ‘One of this Guru’s (Guru
Teg Bahadur’s) crimes, in the Emperor’s eyes, may have been the style
of address adopted by his disciples who had begun to call their leader
sacha Padshah or the ‘True King’. This title was readily capable of
two-fold interpretatin : It might be applied as the occasion served in a
spiritual and literal sense. Its use was extremely likely to provoke the
mistrust of a ruler even less suspicious by nature than the Alamgir.’19j
According to Risala-I-Nanakshah, Aurangzeb did enquire of the Guru:
‘people address you as Sacha Patshah. You have given yourself the
name of Teg Bahadur. It is vanity ‘(Shuma ra sacha patshah minamand
w mausum b Tegh Bahadur lasti. In Khudnumai ast).19k Instead of
trying to assuage the Emperor’s suspicions, Guru Teg Bahadur replied,
that whatever it was, it reflected the Will of the Almighty. The faqir
was not concerned with the fame or defame it brought (Tegh Bahadur
jawab dad, her che hast min janib-I-Allah. Faqir ra az nam-o-nang
sarokar nist’)19I It is note-worthy that this reply of the guru is similar
in tone to the one when he refused to disarm himself when he was
required by Aurangzeb to do so. 20
3. A Challenge
Besides this gradual but deliberate build-up of morale against
the oppressive political authority, all the Sikh Gurus followed a