Guru Gobind Singh's Death at Nanded Examination of - Vidhia.com

46 AN EXAMINATION OF SUCCESSION THEORIES
more money, for the renovation and construction of buildings
of the Sach-khand gurdwara there. [Also see ibid., Ill, iii, 77,
187, 267, 455.]
Ratan Chand Bal, the author of the Khdlis Ndmdh
(1846 A. D., p. 13-14a) and Ganesh Das Badehra of the
Char Bdgh-i-Panjdb (1855 A.D., p. 118) also confirm the information
about the death of the Guru. [Appendix XVIII, xi.]
Ghualm Muhy-ud-Din alias Bute Shah in his Tdrikh-i-
Panjab of 1848, (p. 206) and Mufti Ali-ud-Din in his Ibrat Ndmdh
of 1854 (vol. I, p. 178) have both mentioned the death .of the
Guru as an historical fact. Bute Shah in his abridged recension
of the Tarikh-i-Panjdb (preserved in the Panjab Public Library,
Lahore) has, like Lala Sohan Lai's Umdat-ut-Tawdrikh, recorded
the last commandment of the Guru regarding the Granth being
the Guru after his death, saying that "there is no difference
between the Guru and the Granth.'''' [P. 62, Appendix XVIII,
xii a,b.]
The last Persian work to be referred to on the. subject
is Kanhaiya Lai Hindi's Zafar Ndmdh-i-Ranjit Singh published
at Lahore in 1876. In the introductory pages, he has given a
sketch of the Gurus, at the end of which he says that "Guru
Gobind Singh died at Abchala Nagar (Nanded in the Deccan)
in 1765 Bk. and that no one (of his diciples) succeeded him to
the (throne of Guruship). With him ended the gaddi of leadership
(masnad-i-sarwari) and with him came to an end the custom
of the (succession of) Gurus (shewd-i-rahbari). [P. 52, Appendix
XVIII, xiii.]
European writers on history are generally more objective
and precise and those who have written on the Sikhs in the first
half of the nineteenth century were seasoned scholars like Sir
John Malcolm, the Hon'ble W.G. Osborne, Dr. W.L. M'Gregdr
and Captain Joseph D.Cunningham. The last of them incurred
the displeasure of the British Indian Government and lost his
political appointment for his frank and honest observations in
his History of the Sikhs. All of them had been in close contact
with the Sikhs in the Panjab and may be safely relied upon for
.their information on the historicity of Guru Gobind Singh's
r
GURU GOBIND SINGH S DEATH AT NANDED 47
death, of his being the tenth and the last Guru of the Sikhs
and of his declaration and commandment regarding Guru
Granth Sahib being the Guru after him. We would, therefore,
quote here only the relevant passages from their works without
going into any particulars about them, following only the
chronological order of their publications.
Malcolm, Lt.-Col., Sketch of the Sikhs, London, 1812.
Guru Govind was the last acknowledged religious ruler of
the Sikhs. A prophecy had limited their spiritual guides to
the number of ten ... [p.76].
This sect, as has been before stated, have never admitted a
spiritual leader since the death of Guru Govind [p. 89].
Osborne, W. G., The Court and Camp of Runjeet Singh,
London, 1840.
The tenth and the last of 1 heir spiritual leaders was called
Gooro Govind, whose plans of ambition were different from
those of his predecessor Nanak [p. xiv].
... We accordingly set the old Faqueer Uzeez-oodeen to work
with him, and much to our satisfaction heard, in the course
of the evening, that on his mentioning our wishes to the
Maharajah, he had consulted the Granth, or sacred volume
of the Sikhs, and that, as the oracle was propitious, we might
be prepared to set off for Lahore in four days' time [p. 12].
Runjeet Singh rarely undertakes any expedition of importance
without consulting this holy book...[p. 122].
The History of the Sikhs, 1846 (Calcutta).
Guru Govind was the last acknowledged religious ruler of
the Sikhs. A prophecy had limited their spiritual guides to
the number of ten...[p. 86].
This sect, as has been before stated have never admitted a spiritual
leader since the death of Guru Govind [p. 92].
M'Gregor, W. L. The History of the Sikhs, London,
.1846, vol.1.
The wound was sewed up, and, to all appearance, healing, but
' Govind was determined to die. He called for a strong bow, which
he bent with all his force, and in doing so the stitches of his
wound gave way, his bowels again protruded, and he died almost
immediately [p. 100].
This event occurred in the year of the Hijera 1132, Samwat 1765,
and A. D. 1708, at the city of Nadshur [Nanded], in the reign of
Buhadoor Shah [p. 100].