A history of the Sikhs, from the origin of the nation to the battles of the Sutlej.

CHAP. III

SIKH GURUSS; ARJCN

53

by those in high station, for he is said to have refused to 1581-1606
betroth his son to the daughter of Chandu Shah, the finance Arjn proadministrator of the Lahore province;1 and he further yokes the
appears to have been sought as a political partisan, and to enmity of
Chandfa
have offered up prayers for Khusrfi, the son of Jahangir, Shah.
when in rebellion and in temporary possession of the Punjab. Becomes a
The Gurfu was summoned to the emperor's presence, and partisan of
Prince
fined and imprisoned at the instigation chiefly, it is said, Khusri in
of Chandfi Shah, whose alliance he had rejected, and who rebellion.
represented him as a man of a dangerous ambition.2 Arjiin Imprisonment and
died in 1606, and his death is believed to have been hastened death of
by the rigours of his confinement; but his followers piously Arjun,
assert that, having obtained leave to bathe in the river 1606
Ravi, he vanished in the shallow stream, to the fear and
wonder of those guarding him.3
1 Cf. Forster, Travels, i. 298. The Sikh accounts represent that the
son of Arjun was mentioned to Chandu as a suitable match for his
daughter, and that Chandu slightingly objected, saying, Arjun,
although a man of name and wealth, was still a beggar, or one who
received alms. This was reported to Arjuin; he resented the taunt,
and would not be reconciled to the match, notwithstanding the personal endeavours of Chandil to appease him and bring about the
union.
Shah is a corrupted suffix to names, extensively adopted in India.
It is a Persian word signifying a king, but applied to Muhammadan
Fakirs as Maharaja is used by or towards Hindu devotees. It is also
used to denote a principal merchant, or as a corruption of Sahu or
Sahukar, and it is further used as a name or title, as a corruption of
Sah or Sahai. The G6nd converts to Muhammadanism on the
Narbada all add the word Shah to their names.
2 Dabistdn, ii. 272, 273. The Sikh accounts correspond sufficiently
as to the fact of the Guru's arraignment, while they are silent about
his treason. They declare the emperor to have been satisfied of his
sanctity and innocence (generally), and attribute his continued
imprisonment to Chandu's malignity and disobedience of orders.
(Cf. Malcolm, Sketch, p. 32.) Muhsin Fani also states that a Muhammadan saint of Thanesar was banished by Jahangir for aiding
Khusrfu with his prayers. (Dabistdn, ii. 273.) The emperor himself
simply states (Memoirs, p. 88) that at Lahore he impaled seven
hundred of the rebels, and on his wayto that city he appears (Memoirs,
p. 81) to have bestowed a present on Shaikh Nizam of Thanesar; but
he may have subsequently become aware of his hostility.
3 Cf. Malcolm, Sketch, p. 33; the Dabistdn, ii. 272-3; and Forster,
Travels, i. 298.
A. D. 1553 seems the most probable date of Arjfln's birth, although