Khusrau, Jahangir and the martyrdom
The ordeal at Lahore and the Ravi
Sikh tradition says Guru Ji endured hot iron, burning sand and boiling water, and passed away in the Ravi.
The Encyclopaedia summarises the Sikh account. Guru Ji was held for several days on a platform outside Lahore fort, near the Ravi. He was seated on red-hot iron, burning sand was poured over him and he was plunged into boiling water. Macauliffe gives speeches and hymns at each stage, and the offer of life if the Granth were changed to include praise of Muhammad and the Hindu gods.
Mian Mir came and offered to appeal to the emperor, but Guru Ji stopped him, telling him to accept God's will. In Macauliffe's version, Guru Ji explains his suffering as an example to others. At last he was taken to bathe in the cold river, and his blistered body could not bear it. Wrapped in meditation, he passed away.
Bhai Gurdas, who knew him, uses images from nature: the fish in the water, the moth in the flame, the deer that hears only the hunter's bell. The verse does not describe torments in detail, but it does speak of the hour of suffering.
How do we know?
The sources conflict on this story, or scholars doubt it.
That Guru Ji suffered and passed away in custody is supported by the Dabistan, the Jesuits and Sikh memory. The exact torments are given in detail only in later accounts. Jahangir mentions none of them. The end of the body is also uncertain: one Encyclopaedia entry has it cremated, and another has it given to the water. The date is also uncertain. The Encyclopaedia and Ganda Singh give 30 May, while Moosvi says the traditional Sikh account points to June.
- From the timeIdentifies Bhai Gurdas as a contemporary and kinsman, and the Vars as his composition.[EoS]
- From the timeQuotes the verse in which he says Guru Ji knew only the divine word in his hour of pain. (Quoting Bhai Gurdas, Var 24, pauri 23)[EoS]
- Later traditionGives the fetters, the sand, the caldron, the Mian Mir conversation and the speeches. (pp. 91-100)[Macauliffe]
- From the timeThe Dabistan agrees on heat and torment, in brief terms, and places them in the sands of Lahore.[Src]
- ScholarshipNames five Sikhs as witnesses who cremated Guru Ji and returned to Amritsar.[EoS]
- ScholarshipSays Mata Ganga's body was consigned to the river because her husband's had been, not burned.[EoS]
