VAR SRI GURU GOBIND SINGH Jl KI

VAR SRI GURU GOBIND SINGH Jl KI, also known as Jarignama Bhangani, is an account in Punjabi verse of Guru Gobind oSingh`s battle at Bhangani, near Paonta, in AD 1688, with some of the surrounding hill chiefs supported by the Mughal authority in Delhi. The poem comprises thirty-two cantos of unequal length written in Nishani metre. An old manuscript of this work of unknown authorship was said to have been in Bhai Kahn Singh Library at Nabha but the text is now available in printed form in an anthology entitled Prachin Varan te Jangname, published by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, Amritsar, in 1950. The Var opens with Emperor Aurangzib telling his court about the letters exchanged between him and Guru Gobind Singh.

He seems bent upon waging a war against the Guru who has refused to accept his sovereignty. A vain effort is made to check him first by his daughter, Zeb unNisa, and then by the soothsayers who predict disaster for him were he to persist in his plans of attacking Guru Gobind Singh. In a subdued manner, his nobles advise him against such course too. He however is adamant, and this constitutes the subject matter of the first fifteen cantos of the Var. The remaining seventeen cantos describe the battle scene, the marching of the armies of the hill chiefs against Guru Gobind Singh, the action that ensues and the Guru`s glorious victory in face of heavy odds.

At the bidding of the Emperor himself, Raja Bhim Chand Rai Katoch, Hayat Khan and others come widi a large host. In the unequal fight between die princely forces and a small band of devoted Sikhs, Nand Chand, Kirpal, Lal Singh, Dip Singh and Gulab Singh among^ die latter are shown to have fought with conspicuous valour. What inspired Sikhs to such brave deeds was the presence amid them of Guru Gobind Singh. Guru Gobind Singh has also described the battle of Bhangani, in his autobiographical Bachitra Natak and die details of die action in both accounts generally tally. One factual error can easily be marked in Var Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji Ki, diat is about the Guru`s son Ajit Singh taking part in die batde. Ajit Singh was then a mere infant.

References :

1. Bachitra Natak
2. Padam, Piara Singh ed.. Varan Sri” Guru Gobind Singh Ji Diari. Patiala, 1967
3. Ashok, Shamsher Singh ed., Prachin Varan te Jangname. Amritsar, 1950