ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>VAR SR&#298 GUR&#362 GOBIND SI&#7748GH J&#298 K&#298</TITLE> <style type="text/css"> .BODY { background-color: #EAF1F7; background-image: url('images/gtbh.jpg'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed; background-position: center; color: #0066CC;} .C1{text-align: justify;color: #0066CC;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .BIB{text-align: center;color: #000099;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .CONT{text-align: right;color: #FF0000;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} </style><META http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></HEAD> <BODY class="BODY" oncontextmenu="return false" ondragstart="return false" onselectstart="return false"> <FONT ALIGN="JUSTIFY" FACE="Tahoma"> <p class="C1">&#65279<i>VAR SR&#298 GUR&#362 GOBIND SI&#7748GH J&#298 K&#298</i>, also known as <i>Ja&#7749gn&#257m&#257 Bha&#7749g&#257&#7751&#299</i>, is an account in Punjabi verse of Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh's battle at Bha&#7749g&#257&#7751&#299, near P&#257o&#7751&#7789&#257, in AD 1688, with some of the surrounding hill chiefs supported by the Mu<u>gh</u>al authority in Delhi. The poem comprises thirty two cantos of unequal length written in Nish&#257n&#299 metre. An old manuscript of this work of unknown authorship was said to have been in Bh&#257&#299 K&#257hn Si&#7749gh Library at N&#257bh&#257 but the text is now available in printed form in an anthology entitled <i>Pr&#257ch&#299n V&#257r&#257&#7749 te Ja&#7749gn&#257me</i>, published by the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee, Amritsar, in 1950.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The <i>V&#257r</i> opens with Emperor Aura&#7749gz&#299b telling his court about the letters exchanged between him and Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh. He seems bent upon waging a war against the Gur&#363 who has refused to accept his sovereignty. A vain effort is made to check him first by his daughter, Zeb un-Nis&#257, and then by the soothsayers who predict disaster for him were he to persist in his plans of attacking Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh. In a subdued manner, his nobles advise him against such course too. He however is adamant, and this constitutes the subject matter of the first fifteen cantos of the <i>V&#257r</i>. The remaining seventeen cantos describe the battle scene, the marching of the armies of the hill chiefs against Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh, the action that ensues and the Gur&#363's glorious victory in face of heavy odds. At the bidding of the Emperor himself, R&#257j&#257 Bh&#299m Chand R&#257i Ka&#7789och, Hay&#257t <u>Kh</u>&#257n and others come with a large host. In the unequal fight between the princely forces and a small band of devoted Sikhs, Nand Chand, Kirp&#257l, L&#257l Si&#7749gh, D&#299p Si&#7749gh and Gul&#257b Si&#7749gh among the latter are shown to have fought with conspicuous valour. What inspired Sikhs to such brave deeds was the presence amid them of Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh has also described the battle of Bha&#7749g&#257&#7751&#299, in his autobiographical <i>Bachitra N&#257&#7789ak</i> and the details of the action in both accounts generally tally. One factual error can easily be marked in <i>V&#257r Sr&#299 Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh J&#299 K&#299</i>, that is about the Gur&#363's son Aj&#299t Si&#7749gh taking part in the battle. Aj&#299t Si&#7749gh was then a mere infant.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"><i>Bachitra N&#257&#7789ak</i><BR> <li class="C1"> Padam, Pi&#257r&#257 Si&#7749gh ed., <i>V&#257r&#257&#7749 Sr&#299 Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh J&#299 D&#299&#257&#7749</i>. Patiala, 1967<BR> <li class="C1"> Ashok, Shamsher Si&#7749gh ed., <i>Pr&#257ch&#299n V&#257r&#257&#7749 te Ja&#7749gn&#257me</i>. Amritsar, 1950<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">J&#299t Si&#7749gh S&#299tal<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>