CHANDU SHAH,

CHANDU SHAH, a wealthy banker and revenue official at the Mughal court at Lahore. He earned the annoyance of Sikhs by uttering disparaging words when his family priest proposed Guru Arjan`s son, Hargobind, for his daughter who was of marriageable age. Chandu Shah accepted the suggestion but with reluctance and made the conceited remark that the Guru`s house was too low for his status and wealth. Report of what he had said reached the local sangat, who felt injured and sent request to Guru Arjan to reject the proposal. The, Guru, honouring Sikhs` wishes, broke off the match.

Chandu Shah became a deadly foe of the Guru and began to conspire against him. He got his chance when, after the death of the liberal minded Akbar, his son, Jahangir, ascended the Mughal throne. Emperor Jahangir came to Lahore in April 1606 in pursuit of his rebel son, Khusrau. Chandu Shah and other detractors of Sikhism slandered the Guru before him. Guru Arjan was arrested on the charge that he had receiyed and blessed the rebel prince. The Emperor sentenced him to death with torture.

Murtaza Khan, the governor of Lahore, was to carry out the sentence, but, according to Sikh chronicles, it was Chandu Shah who took charge of the holy prisoner and had him done to death with the cruellest torments.As time passed, Jahangir became reconciled to Guru Arjan`s successor, Guru Hargobind. He had Chandu Shah seized and delivered into the Guru`s custody. Dragged through the streets of Lahore by angry Sikhs who had witnessed the atrocities perpetrated by him, Chandu Shah died a miserable death. The final blow came ironically from the very person whom Chandu Shah had employed to pour hot sand on Guru Arjan`s blistered body. See GURDITTA BHATHIARA

References :

1. Gurbilas ChAeviri Patshahi. Patiala, 197Q
2. Bhalla, Sarup Das, Mahima Prakash. Patiala, 1971
3. Sahib Singh, Jivan-Britant Sri Guru Arjan Dev Ji. Amritsar, 1979
4. Macauliffe, Max Arthur, The Sikh Religion. Oxford, 1909
5. Ganda Singh, Guru Arjan`s Martyrdom Re-interpreted. Patiala, 1969