SIKHS` RELATIONS WITH JATS OF BHARATPUR. Hindu Jats, who have ethnic affinity with the Sikh Jatts of the Punjab, had emerged, like the Sikhs, as a new political power in the region south of Delhi. Their first revolt in 1669 under their leader Gokul was ruthlessly suppressed by the Mughal audiority, but they soon found another leader in Raja Ram who continued the struggle till his death in July 1688. Churaman (d. 1721), his younger brother and successor to leadership, was an astute politician. He professed allegiance to Emperor Bahadur ShahI (1707-12) and received from him mansab of 1500 zat and 500 sowar. He joined the imperial campaign against the Sikhs at Sadhaura and Lohgarh in 1710
SRI GUR TIRATH SANGRAHI (Sri = honoured; gur= Gurus of the Sikh faith ; tirath = places of pilgrimage ; sangrahi = collection) by Pandit Tara Singh Narotam, lists places across the country hallowed by the visits of the Gurus and their families. The work, written in Gurmukhi script was completed in 1940 Bk/AD 1883 and published by Bhai Buta Singh Pratap Singh, Amritsar. It is a pioneer work in this genre and gives the geographical location of each shrine, its religious and historical importance and the name of the sect to which its principal priest or custodian at that time belonged.
TANKHAHNAMA, by Bhai Nand Lal, is a Sikh penal code laying down punishments and fines for those guilty of religious misconduct. Tankhah, a Persian word, actually means salary, reward or profit, and nama, also Persian denoting an epistle, a code or a catalogue. In Sikh usage, however, tankhah stands for the opposite of its original meaning and juxtaposed with nama it means a religious penal code. Any H Sikh, particularly one who received the pahul (nectar of the doubleedged sword) for initiation into the fold of the Brotherhood of the Khalsa, committing a breach of rahit (stipulated conduct) and guilty of kurahit (misconduct) is subject to be punished. One who is so punished is called tankhahia.
VARAN BHAI GURDAS is the title given to the collection of forty vars or "ballads" written in`Punjabi by Bhai Gurdas (d. 1636) much honoured in Sikh piety and learning. These forty vars comprise 913 pauris or stanzas, with a total of 6,444 lines. There is no internal or external evidence available to determine the exact time of the composition of these vars, but it can be assumed that vars (Nos. 3,11,13,24,26,38,39) which have references to Guru Hargobind who came into spiritual inheritance in 1606 after the death of Guru Arjan, his predecessor, might have been composed sometime after that year, and the others implicitly prior to that date.