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46 / Bhai Vir Singh
regainedtheirhealth. Thejathanowplannedto strikeinorder
to get Bijay Singh released from Murad Begum's hands.
The jatha succeeded in its object. But Bijay Singh was
wounded seriously fighting against Nasir-ud-Din, the
governor of Jullundur. Brought inside the camp, he bled
profusely. All efforts to save his life proved abortive and he
died, with the Guru's name on his lips. Sushi! Kaur followed
him breathing her last at the same moment. "Bijay Singh's
sonturnedoutto bea bravewarrior. Karora Singh broughthim
upwithaffection andthus reared a precious sonfor the Khalsa
Panth whose life was sanctified in the love of God and
consummated in the service of the faith."l
Satwant Kaur appeared in two parts--the first one, also
serialized in the Khalsa Samachar, in 1900 and the second in
1927. This is a moving tale of the dangerous journey back to
India ofSatwantKaur who hadbeenseizedfrom thevillage of
Khanna during one of Ahmed Shah Durrani's invasions and
taken, along with many others, as a bondslave to Kabul. Her
daysintheAfghan capitalwerethemselvesfull of hair-raising
adventure, but she survived intact, body and soul.
InKabul, shewaspurchasedfrom herabductorbyanother
Afghan noble. In this family, shewon the affection of the wife
(Fatimah) and her little son and was thus able to evade the
Afghan. ShelaidFatimahunderher debtbydramaticallysaving
herlife one dayfrom the schemes ofherdrunken husband. He
himselfwas committed to goal for a crime andwas sentenced
to deathbyroyalfiat. SatwantKaurfurther obligedhermistress
by saving her husband's life by a clever ruse. Disguised as
Fatimah, she went in a palanquin to see the Afghan in the
prison. She sent him out in the palanquin and herself stayed
behind in his place. The ruse was discovered the following
daywhen the prisonerwas to be led out for execution.
Satwant Kaur was given a reprieve. When the story
reached the ears of the Amir (presumably, Ahmad Shah
Durrani),hewasdeeplyimpressedbyherdaring. Onherrequest,
1. BijaySingh. 1961 edition. p. 175.
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