Bahadur Shah, Nanded and the passing of the Guruship
The attack at Nanded
Two Pathans, by most accounts hired by Wazir Khan, reached Guru Ji, and one stabbed Guru Ji below the heart. Guru Ji struck back.
Sainapati and the sources that follow him say two Pathans came to Nanded and sat in the evening gathering for several days, so no one suspected them. One evening, after the Rahras prayer, they found Guru Ji alone. One of them struck Guru Ji in the left side below the heart.
Before he could strike again Guru Ji struck him down with a sabre, and his companion fell to Sikhs who rushed in. The emperor sent surgeons, including an Englishman named Cole. The wound was stitched and seemed to mend. But when Guru Ji pulled a stiff bow some days later, it opened again and bled badly, and Guru Ji did not recover.
How do we know?
A close source supports this story, and a second independent source agrees.
Wazir Khan's part is an inference that the translator of Sri Gur Sobha marks with the word probably. The Encyclopaedia states it more flatly.
- From the timeDescribes the stabbing, wound and passing, and the translator adds that the assassins had been attending the congregation for days. (ch. XVIII)[Src]
- ScholarshipCites Sainapati on the wound in the left side, names Jamshed Khan and Wasil Beg from Guru kian Sakhian, and reports surgeons including an Englishman, Cole.[EoS]
- ScholarshipSays Wazir Khan hired the two, fearing the friendship of Guru Ji with the emperor.[EoS]
