भारतीय इतिहास के ६ स्वर्णिम पृष्ठ (वीर सावरकर - विदेशी आक्रान्ताओं पर विजय गाथा)

had been written in it, the Sikhs began to call it Gurumukhi, as it was adopted by their Gurus! 961. When Jahangir became the emperor, his eldest son, Khushru, rebelled against him, and fled to Punjab. As the Sikh Guru Arjundev gave him shelter, the enraged Jahangir captured the Sikh Guru and slew him. In the Sikh history, Guru Arjun was the first heroic martyr who laid down his life while fighting with the Muslims in the cause of his religion. In the days of this very Arjundev, a separate organization was set afoot and a tradition of compulsory religious tax to be paid to the Guru by every Sikh was established, and in order that Sikh sect might grow powerful, a military front was also initiated. 962. The violent death of Guru Arjun secretly rankled in the hearts of the Sikhs, giving rise to inveterate hatred for the Muslims. Most of the Sikh followers in those times, as also later on, were Hindu Jats by caste. As these Hindu Jats were the main support of the Sikh sect and that too, quite strong, the Punjabi Hindus in general had affection for, and a feeling of oneness with them. The militant tendencies and the military organizations began to grow amongst the Sikhs and as a sect of the Hindus, they happened to be staunch defenders of Hinduism against the increasing ferocity of the Muslim religious persecution. So, the Moghal government began to look upon that sect as a troublesome centre of Hindu resistance. 963. Soon the son of Guru Arjun, Guru Hargovind refused to pay taxes to the emperor. He was, therefore, captured and interned in prison for twelve years. Later on, when he was released from captivity, he rebelled against the then Moghal emperor, Shahjahan, who dispatched a small detachment to crush this apparently meagre opposition. But at Sangram, the Sikhs fought with such fierceness that the Muslim detachment was completely vanquished. Although this astounded and pleased the Hindus in Punjab, the Emperor did not mind it. Guru Hargovind died in A.D. 1645 and was succeeded by Harrai, Harkrishan and Teg Bahadur as the high priests of the Sikhs. But it is the exceptional and glorious sacrifice of Teg Bahadur in the cause of religion, that has given dignity and splendour to the seat of the high priest of the Sikhs. 963A. Guru Teg Bahadur lived at Anandpur. Whenever the atrocious conversions of the Hindus to Islam took place in Punjab, Guru Teg Bahadur, with his Sikh warriors, had often fought and opposed them fiercely. And then Aurangzeb, the veritable demon in human form, vowed to root out the whole