Skip to content
← CatalogueTheology250 levelCreated by AI

Theology

The Zafarnama: Guru Gobind Singh's Letter of Victory

Professor: Dr. Kamalroop Singh Source: SikhLibrary

The Zafarnama — the Letter of Victory — is Guru Gobind Singh's Persian epistle to Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, composed in the aftermath of the battles of Chamkaur and Muktsar and the martyrdom of all four of the Guru's sons. This course examines the Zafarnama as historical document, political epistle, theological statement, and literary masterwork, drawing on the fetched source text. Students analyze how a militarily defeated man claims moral and spiritual victory through the power of divine truth and poetic argument.

Begin course12 lessons · 10-question test · 80% to pass
Created by AI. Drafted with AI and reviewed for accuracy. Spotted an error? Tell us.
Prerequisite recommended.

What you'll learn

  • Reconstruct the historical events that led to the Zafarnama's composition
  • Analyze the Zafarnama's literary form as a Persian nishaan (royal epistle)
  • Identify the theological arguments Guru Gobind Singh makes about divine justice and sovereignty
  • Evaluate the Zafarnama's just-war doctrine and its implications for Khalsa ethics
  • Interpret the political strategy of the letter within its historical context
  • Connect the Zafarnama's themes to the broader theology of the Dasam Granth

Key terms — ਸ਼ਬਦਾਵਲੀ

ਜ਼ਫ਼ਰਨਾਮਾ

Letter of Victory; the Persian epistle of Guru Gobind Singh to Emperor Aurangzeb

ਫ਼ਾਰਸੀ

Persian; the language in which the Zafarnama is composed

ਅਕਾਲ ਪੁਰਖ

The Timeless Being; God as supreme sovereign, contrasted with Aurangzeb

ਨਿਸ਼ਾਨ

A princely letter or royal epistle; the Persian literary genre of the Zafarnama

ਸਫ਼ਲਤਾ

Victory; the spiritual triumph claimed in the Zafarnama despite military loss

ਚਮਕੌਰ

Chamkaur Sahib; site of the 1704 battle in which two of the Guru's sons were martyred

ਸਰਹਿੰਦ

The city where the younger two sons of the Guru were martyred

ਕੁਰਾਨ

The Quran; the Islamic scripture, referenced in the Zafarnama regarding oaths sworn by Mughal commanders

ਧਰਮ ਯੁੱਧ

Righteous war; the concept the Guru articulates in justifying the Khalsa's armed resistance

ਬੇਦਾਵਾ

Renunciation of faith; what forty soldiers signed before the battle of Muktsar

Lessons

1. The Zafarnama: A Letter of Victory

Full course contents
  1. The Zafarnama: A Letter of Victory
  2. Historical Context: The Siege of Anandpur and Its Aftermath
  3. The Battles of Chamkaur and Muktsar
  4. The Literary Form: Persian Nishaan
  5. The Opening Theology: God as Supreme Sovereign
  6. The Charge of Treachery: Breaking the Oath
  7. The Doctrine of Righteous War
  8. Addressing Aurangzeb: Strategy and Theology
  9. Divine Justice and Human Accountability
  10. The Forty Liberated Ones: Muktsar and the Letter
  11. The Zafarnama's Aftermath: Aurangzeb and Beyond
  12. The Zafarnama in Sikh Memory and Practice

What Is the Zafarnama?

The ਜ਼ਫ਼ਰਨਾਮਾ is Guru Gobind Singh's letter to Emperor Aurangzeb, composed in Persian after the catastrophic events of 1704–1705: the evacuation of Anandpur, the battles of Chamkaur and Muktsar, the martyrdom of all four of the Guru's sons (two in battle at Chamkaur, two bricked alive at Sirhind by the Faujdar Wazir Khan), and the martyrdom of the Guru's mother. Fenech (2013, 3) describes it as "one of the most extraordinary epistolary documents of early modern South Asia" — a letter in which a man who has lost everything by worldly measure claims complete spiritual victory. The title Zafarnama itself — Letter of Victory — announces this claim in the face of apparent defeat.

The Paradox of Victory in Defeat

The Zafarnama's central paradox is the claim to victory by someone who has, by any conventional military or political measure, been defeated. The Guru's fortress has fallen; his sons are martyred; his forces are scattered; he himself is in the Deccan, far from his ancestral homeland. Yet the letter opens not with lamentation but with theological confidence: "The miracle of the Eternal, the Merciful, is established" (Zafarnama source text, page 1). This confidence is not bravado but theology: the Guru's claim to victory is grounded not in military outcome but in the principle that those who fight for divine justice never truly lose, because divine justice is eternal while human empires are transient.

Audience and Purpose

The Zafarnama was addressed to the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb (r. 1658–1707), who was at the time conducting military campaigns in the Deccan. The letter's purposes were multiple: to demand accountability from the emperor for his commanders' treachery, to articulate the theological and ethical principles that justified the Khalsa's resistance, and perhaps to open a dialogue that might lead to a peaceful resolution. Fenech (2013, 7) suggests that the letter was also intended for a wider audience — as a statement of Sikh principles that would outlast the specific political moment in which it was composed.

2. Historical Context: The Siege of Anandpur and Its Aftermath

Anandpur Under Siege

Anandpur Sahib, Guru Gobind Singh's fortified headquarters in the Shivalik hills, came under sustained siege by Mughal forces and the combined armies of the hill chiefs in 1704. The siege lasted several months, creating conditions of extreme hardship within the fort. Grewal (1990, 78) reconstructs the political dynamics: the hill chiefs, threatened by the growing power and prestige of the Khalsa, allied with Mughal forces to dislodge the Guru. The Mughal commanders were operating on orders from the provincial governor, whose authorization traced ultimately to Aurangzeb.

The Oath Sworn on the Quran

Facing starvation and demoralization, the Guru was presented with an offer: the Mughal commanders swore on the Quran (and the hill chiefs swore on their religious texts) that if the Guru evacuated Anandpur, his forces would be given safe passage. The Guru accepted this offer and led the evacuation. The oath was immediately broken: the evacuating Sikh forces were attacked at the Sirsa river crossing, with enormous loss of life and the separation of the Guru from his mother and younger sons. This betrayal — the breaking of a Quranic oath — is the central accusation of the Zafarnama (Gandhi 1978, 412).

The Theological Stakes

The broken oath had theological as well as political significance. In Islamic jurisprudence, an oath sworn on the Quran is among the most solemn commitments possible; breaking such an oath is a grave sin. By accusing Aurangzeb's commanders of this breach, the Guru was not merely making a political complaint but making a theological argument: the Mughal forces, by breaking their Quranic oath, had demonstrated that they were not faithful Muslims but hypocrites. The Zafarnama thus challenges Aurangzeb on his own religious terms, asking whether he, as Commander of the Faithful, endorses the treachery committed in his name.

3. The Battles of Chamkaur and Muktsar

The Battle of Chamkaur

After the Sirsa river crossing disaster, the Guru and a small band of surviving Sikhs made their way to the village of Chamkaur, where they took shelter in a mud fortress. Surrounded by a vastly superior Mughal force, the Guru's forces fought a defensive battle from which two of the Guru's elder sons — Ajit Singh and Jujhar Singh — and many Sikhs were martyred. The Guru himself was present and is said to have fought in the battle before being persuaded by the Panj Pyare to leave and preserve his life for the community's sake. The events at Chamkaur represent one of the defining episodes of Sikh martyrdom history (Grewal 1990, 80).

The Martyrdom at Sirhind

Guru Gobind Singh's younger sons — Zorawar Singh (age 9) and Fateh Singh (age 7) — had been separated from the Guru at the Sirsa crossing and captured along with their grandmother, Mata Gujri Ji. They were presented to Wazir Khan, the Faujdar of Sirhind, who ordered their execution by being bricked alive in a wall when they refused to convert to Islam. Their martyrdom — and the death of Mata Gujri Ji — was reported to the Guru while he was in the Malwa region. The Zafarnama holds Aurangzeb accountable for this as well as for the broken oath. Singh and Mann (2015, 137) note that the deaths of all four sons in rapid succession would have been a devastating personal blow even for a spiritually steeled Guru.

Muktsar and the Forty

The battle of Muktsar (Khidrana) involved forty Sikhs who had previously signed a ਬੇਦਾਵਾ (renunciation of their Sikh identity) under the pressures of the siege. They returned to fight alongside the Guru at Muktsar and were martyred in that battle. The Guru reportedly tore up their beda'va, declaring them liberated (ਮੁਕਤੇ) — hence the town's name Muktsar (the Pool of Liberation). The Zafarnama was composed in the aftermath of Muktsar, when the Guru was in the Deccan region at Dina Kangar. The proximity of these events gives the letter its emotional depth alongside its theological argument.

4. The Literary Form: Persian Nishaan

Persian Epistolary Tradition

The Persian tradition of royal correspondence — the ਨਿਸ਼ਾਨ — was highly developed in Mughal India. Letters addressed to emperors followed established conventions: specific salutations, formulaic praise, careful navigation of the power differential between writer and recipient, and sophisticated rhetorical strategies for making requests or stating grievances without giving direct offense. Fenech (2013, 18) notes that composing such a letter required both linguistic facility and intimate knowledge of Mughal court protocol — knowledge that Guru Gobind Singh clearly possessed.

The Guru's Transformation of the Form

What makes the Zafarnama remarkable is not its conformity to the nishaan form but its systematic transformation of it. A conventional nishaan would open with lavish praise of the emperor and a posture of supplication. The Zafarnama opens instead with praise of God, positioning the true sovereign as divine rather than imperial. The letter then delivers a series of direct accusations — the broken oath, the murder of children — that no conventional petitioner would dare make to an emperor. The Guru maintains formal respect for Aurangzeb's position while completely undermining his moral authority. This rhetorical strategy — formally respectful but substantively devastating — is one of the most sophisticated aspects of the letter (Fenech 2013, 22).

Persian as the Language of Power

The Guru's choice to compose in Persian was itself a political statement. Persian was the administrative and intellectual language of the Mughal Empire; composing in Persian demonstrated the Guru's command of the empire's own cultural medium. Loehlin (1971, 78) notes that this choice also ensured the letter's accessibility to Aurangzeb's court, where Persian was the language of record. The Guru was not writing in a regional vernacular that would require translation but addressing the emperor directly in his own language, on his own literary ground.

5. The Opening Theology: God as Supreme Sovereign

The Opening Verses

As attested in the fetched source text, the Zafarnama opens: "The miracle of the Eternal, the Merciful, is established. The Bestower of Pleasure, the Provider, is the Ever-Present Compassionate One. The Giver of sanctuary, the Bestower, the Helper. The Bestower of Pleasure, the Provider of sustenance, the Acceptor of the heart. O Emperor of Virtue, be the Guide; for He is beyond 'how' and 'why,' beyond all manifestation." The opening verses are theological, not political: before any accusation or argument, the Guru establishes that the true sovereign of the universe is the Eternal God, not the Mughal emperor (Zafarnama source text, page 1).

Theological Framing of Political Argument

This theological opening is strategically significant. By establishing God as the true sovereign before making any political claims, the Guru creates the framework within which Aurangzeb must be judged: not by human standards of imperial power but by divine standards of justice and truth. The emperor who sits on the "throne of the universe's sovereignty" (Zafarnama source text, page 4) is accountable to a higher authority than human law or military might. The Guru's letter is, in effect, an appeal to the divine court above the human imperial court. This move is theologically audacious: the Guru is invoking Aurangzeb's own Islamic understanding of God as the ultimate judge.

The Akal Purakh Versus the Emperor

The contrast the Zafarnama establishes between ਅਕਾਲ ਪੁਰਖ and Aurangzeb is sustained throughout the letter. God is presented as the one who gives and sustains life, the one whose justice is absolute and eternal. The emperor, for all his worldly power, is a finite creature accountable to this infinite God. Fenech (2013, 30) observes that this contrast is not merely rhetorical but theological: the Guru genuinely believes that Aurangzeb's actions have placed him in violation of divine law, and the letter is a spiritual as well as political reckoning.

6. The Charge of Treachery: Breaking the Oath

The Accusation in the Text

The Zafarnama's central accusation is preserved in the fetched source text: "They arrived without delay, breaking all promises. They came with swords, arrows, and muskets. I entered the camp in a state of helplessness. I came facing arrows and muskets." The Guru describes the attack after the oath-sworn evacuation with stark simplicity: the promise was made, the Guru accepted it in good faith and evacuated, and the promise was immediately broken with armed assault. The verse "By what oath of the Quran shall I place my trust? Otherwise, tell me, what is the way forward?" is both a legal challenge and a theological one (Zafarnama source text, page 2).

The Quran and Covenant Ethics

The Guru's invocation of the Quran is deliberate and sophisticated. He is not attacking Islam; he is invoking Islamic standards to condemn those who have violated them. If the Quran is a sacred text, then oaths sworn on it are sacred commitments — and breaking them is a violation of the religion's own standards. The Guru repeatedly asks Aurangzeb to recognize that his commanders acted contrary to Islamic ethics, not in accordance with it: "Neither does he worship faith, nor does he follow the religion; he has no knowledge of the Master, nor faith in Muhammad" (Zafarnama source text, page 3). This argument places the Guru in the unexpected position of defending Islamic ethics against Muslims who violate them.

Truth as the Highest Virtue

The Zafarnama's ethical framework, consistent with Sikh teaching generally, places truth (ਸੱਚ) as the supreme virtue and covenant-breaking as the gravest moral failure. The Guru's charge against Aurangzeb's commanders is not merely political grievance but moral condemnation: they have violated the most fundamental requirement of human dignity — keeping one's word. Grewal (1990, 83) notes that this emphasis on truth-telling as a moral absolute resonates with the Guru Granth Sahib's opening teaching: "Truth is the highest virtue, but higher still is truthful living."

7. The Doctrine of Righteous War

The Key Verse

The most frequently cited passage of the Zafarnama for Sikh just-war doctrine reads, in translation from the source text: "When all other means and stratagems failed, it became lawful to cut them down with the sword." This verse is the Guru's explicit articulation of the conditions for ਧਰਮ ਯੁੱਧ (righteous war): the sword is legitimate only when all other means of resolving injustice have failed (Zafarnama source text, page 2). This principle distinguishes the Khalsa's use of force from aggression: it is always a last resort, always in response to injustice, and always with divine sanction rather than personal ambition.

Parallel with the Chandi Compositions

The Zafarnama's just-war doctrine parallels the theological argument of the Chandi compositions: divine power legitimately operates through heroic force to overcome demonic oppression when other means fail. Chandi does not attack the demons from personal ambition but in response to a specific injustice (the demons' conquest of the gods' rightful realm) after the gods have failed to overcome them by other means. The Khalsa, similarly, takes up arms not from militarism but in response to specific injustice — the broken oath, the martyrdoms — after other avenues have been exhausted. Singh and Mann (2015, 140) emphasize this theological coherence between the Zafarnama and the Chandi compositions.

Implications for Khalsa Ethics

The Zafarnama's just-war doctrine has had lasting influence on Sikh ethical thinking about the use of force. Its principles — last resort, proportionality, divine sanction rather than personal interest — provide the ethical framework for the Khalsa's bearing of the kirpan. The sword is not a symbol of aggression but of readiness to resist injustice when all other means have failed. This ethical framework is more demanding than simple pacifism (it accepts force in extremis) and more demanding than simple militarism (it places strict conditions on when force is legitimate). The Guru's letter thus provides not only a historical account of specific events but a permanent ethical framework for the Khalsa tradition.

8. Addressing Aurangzeb: Strategy and Theology

Aurangzeb's Portrait in the Letter

The Zafarnama's treatment of Aurangzeb is remarkably complex. The letter contains passages of apparent praise: "King Aurangzeb, whose hand is clever and who is a swift rider. What beauty and grace he possesses, and how radiant is his spirit. He is the Lord of the realm, the sovereign Master" (Zafarnama source text, page 5). Scholars debate whether this praise is sincere, strategic, or ironic. Fenech (2013, 45) argues that it is primarily strategic: by acknowledging Aurangzeb's qualities, the Guru makes his subsequent criticisms more credible — he is not simply an enemy denouncing an opponent, but a discerning observer acknowledging genuine qualities while identifying moral failures.

The Contrast Between Qualities and Actions

The rhetorical structure of praising Aurangzeb's personal qualities while condemning his (or his commanders') actions is a sophisticated strategy. It separates the person from the actions and implicitly challenges Aurangzeb to live up to his own best qualities. An emperor who is brilliant, gracious, and masterful — as the Guru acknowledges — should be ashamed that his name is associated with the treachery of his commanders and the murder of children. The praise is thus a form of moral challenge: you are better than this; why have you allowed this to happen? Richards (1993, 178) notes that this rhetorical strategy would have been recognizable to any educated reader of Persian court literature.

The Invitation to Meeting

The Zafarnama includes an invitation for a personal meeting between the Guru and the Emperor: "In the presence of the Master, I shall not remain thus. If the King forgives, then I shall go from here" (Zafarnama source text, page 5). Historical sources suggest that Aurangzeb, reportedly moved by the letter, did send an invitation to the Guru and that the two were en route to a meeting when Aurangzeb died in 1707 at Ahmadnagar. Whether a meeting would have produced any political resolution remains unknowable, but the letter's invitation demonstrates that the Guru was not merely venting grievance but pursuing a genuine political strategy aimed at a just resolution.

9. Divine Justice and Human Accountability

God as the Ultimate Judge

Throughout the Zafarnama, the Guru appeals to God as the ultimate arbiter of justice. The verse "You sit upon the throne of the universe's sovereignty; how strange is this justice and this equality" (Zafarnama source text, page 4) is both a theological affirmation and a subtle challenge: the Guru acknowledges divine sovereignty while noting that the events he has experienced seem hard to reconcile with divine justice. This is not a crisis of faith but a characteristically Sikh theological candor — the kind of direct speech to God found throughout the Guru Granth Sahib, where the devotee does not pretend to understand divine will but does not cease to trust it.

The Strange Justice of God

The repetition in the source text — "How strange, how strange is the justice of this faith" — reflects the Guru's genuine theological wrestling with his circumstances. His sons are martyred; his community is scattered; yet he maintains that God is just. This paradox is not resolved in the letter but held in tension: the Guru does not explain away the martyrdoms as obviously good outcomes but maintains that within the divine drama they constitute a form of victory. Fenech (2013, 52) identifies this theological holding of paradox as one of the Zafarnama's deepest religious dimensions.

Human Accountability Before God

The Zafarnama equally insists on human accountability before God. Aurangzeb and his commanders are not excused by divine sovereignty; their choices are their own and they will answer for them. The verse "Do not imagine that the sword will shed blood without hesitation; the sword of the heavens is itself blood" (Zafarnama source text, page 4) warns of divine reckoning for injustice. The Guru positions himself not as seeking personal revenge but as invoking divine justice — a justice that operates with the inevitability of a heavenly sword. This theological confidence underlies the letter's claim to victory: ultimately, God's justice prevails.

10. The Forty Liberated Ones: Muktsar and the Letter

The Beda'va and Its Retraction

During the siege of Anandpur, some Sikhs — under extreme duress of starvation and military pressure — signed a ਬੇਦਾਵਾ, formally renouncing their Sikh identity and disowning the Guru. Historical sources record this as one of the Guru's most painful experiences. However, many of these same Sikhs later repented, returned to fight alongside the Guru at the battle of Muktsar (also called Khidrana), and were martyred there. The Guru reportedly took the beda'va of the leader, Mahan Singh, and tore it up, declaring him and his companions liberated (ਮੁਕਤੇ) — hence the sacred pool there is called Muktsar, the Pool of Liberation (Gandhi 1978, 415).

The Theological Significance of Muktsar

The Muktsar episode is theologically significant for understanding the Zafarnama's spirit. The forty Sikhs who returned to fight despite having previously renounced their faith demonstrate a theological principle central to the Guru's vision: it is never too late to return to righteousness, and the willingness to sacrifice everything for truth — even after failure — constitutes complete spiritual victory. The Guru's tearing of the beda'va is an act of radical forgiveness and theological affirmation. In this context, the Zafarnama written shortly after Muktsar is not the letter of a broken man but of one who has witnessed the most profound spiritual victory possible (Loehlin 1971, 82).

The Forty and the Zafarnama

The Zafarnama source text mentions "the Gursikhs were concerned about the forty; for who could enter the camp unaware?" (Zafarnama source text, page 2). This reference to the forty Sikhs situates the letter within the specific historical context of the Muktsar campaign. The letter is thus not an abstract theological treatise but a document arising from specific, searing historical experiences — the martyrdoms, the betrayals, the redemptions — that gave its claims to victory their existential weight. Understanding Muktsar helps the reader understand the Zafarnama's paradoxical confidence.

11. The Zafarnama's Aftermath: Aurangzeb and Beyond

Aurangzeb's Response and Death

Historical accounts suggest that the Zafarnama was delivered to Aurangzeb at Ahmadnagar in the Deccan, where the aging emperor was conducting his final military campaigns. Several sources indicate that Aurangzeb was genuinely moved by the letter and extended an invitation to the Guru. However, Aurangzeb died in February 1707 before any meeting could take place, leaving the political situation unresolved. Richards (1993, 241) places Aurangzeb's death in the context of the Mughal Empire's subsequent fragmentation: his death opened a period of succession warfare that would ultimately transform the political landscape in ways the Zafarnama could not have anticipated.

The Guru's Meeting with Bahadur Shah

Following Aurangzeb's death, Guru Gobind Singh aligned with Bahadur Shah (Mu'azzam), one of Aurangzeb's sons, in the succession struggle. The Guru and Bahadur Shah met at Agra in 1707, and the relationship was reportedly cordial. Grewal (1990, 86) interprets this meeting as a sign of the Guru's political pragmatism: the Zafarnama had made the moral case against Aurangzeb's policies, and the new political reality required a new approach. The Guru was assassinated at Nanded (Hazur Sahib) in 1708, before the relationship with Bahadur Shah could fully develop.

The Zafarnama in Sikh Tradition

The Zafarnama became one of the most revered documents in the Sikh tradition — a testament to the Guru's unbroken moral courage in circumstances of devastating personal loss. Fenech (2013, 78) describes its continuing significance: "For Sikhs, the Zafarnama demonstrates that the Guru's victory was spiritual and eternal, regardless of the military and political outcomes of his lifetime." The letter is studied in Sikh educational contexts not only as a historical document but as a theological and ethical statement that continues to speak to questions of justice, truth, and the relationship between divine sovereignty and human accountability.

12. The Zafarnama in Sikh Memory and Practice

The Zafarnama as Sikh Heritage

The Zafarnama holds a unique place in Sikh historical memory as the Guru's personal testimony from his darkest hour. Where the devotional banis speak from a position of spiritual elevation, the Zafarnama speaks from the midst of catastrophic loss — and its claims to victory are therefore all the more theologically significant. To recite or hear the Zafarnama is to encounter the Guru in his most fully human dimension: a father whose children have been murdered, a community leader whose followers have been scattered, a man facing the ruin of his life's work — and yet maintaining unbroken confidence in divine justice (Singh and Mann 2015, 143).

Speaking Truth to Power

The Zafarnama has become a touchstone for Sikh discourse about speaking truth to power. The Guru's direct address to the most powerful ruler of his day — accusing him of moral failure in his own language and on his own cultural terms — established a precedent for Sikh engagement with political authority. The Sikh tradition of challenging unjust authority, from the time of Guru Nanak's encounters with Mughal officials through the twentieth century's Gurdwara Reform movement and beyond, draws on the Zafarnama as a theological and practical model. Grewal (1990, 88) identifies this tradition of fearless truth-speaking as one of the defining characteristics of Sikh public ethics.

Reading the Zafarnama Today

Reading the Zafarnama today requires holding together its historical specificity — this is a letter about specific events, addressed to a specific person, in a specific political situation — and its theological universality. The principles it articulates — divine sovereignty over human power, truth as the supreme virtue, the legitimacy of righteous resistance against injustice, and the possibility of spiritual victory in worldly defeat — are not time-bound but perennial. Students who engage with the Zafarnama seriously will find in it not only a window into early eighteenth-century Sikh history but a living theological statement that speaks to any situation in which truth must be defended against power.

From the Granth — ਜ਼ਫ਼ਰਨਾਮਾ

ਜ਼ਫ਼ਰਨਾਮਾ · Zafarnama · Ang 1389–1428, rendered verbatim from the reader corpus. Tap any line for its published translation and ਅਰਥ.Read with Santhya audio →

References & further reading

  1. Fenech, Louis E. The Sikh Zafar-namah of Guru Gobind Singh. Oxford University Press, 2013.
  2. Singh, Kamalroop, and Gurinder Singh Mann. The Granth of the Tenth King. Archimedes Press, 2015.
  3. Macauliffe, M. A. The Sikh Religion: Its Gurus, Sacred Writings, and Authors. Vol. 5. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1909.
  4. Loehlin, C. H. The Granth of Guru Gobind Singh and the Khalsa Brotherhood. Lucknow: Lucknow Publishing House, 1971.
  5. Richards, J. F. The Mughal Empire. Cambridge University Press, 1993.
  6. Grewal, J. S. The Sikhs of the Punjab. Cambridge University Press, 1990.
  7. Gandhi, Surjit Singh. History of the Sikh Gurus. Gur Das Kapur and Sons, 1978.

From the source text

In a few days you shall depart; understand this truth. Do not long excessively for the friends of this world. Do not be shamed; perform some virtuous deeds. Do not depart wearing the garment of condemnation. If you remain negligent, you shall suffer. Neither daughters nor sons will provide any essence or support. Repent, and do not exert your power with arrogance. The fire of hell shall burn within the grave. Many prophets, Sheikhs, kings, and lords have passed. Not a single trace of them is visible upon the earth. They vanished like the fleeting shadow of a flying pigeon. Countless have turned to dust; no one asks their names now. One accumulated forty storehouses of wealth, but did not keep his faith. Look at Karun, who became distressed.
— from Nasihatanama By Dr Kamalroop Singh Akali. Shown as a short study excerpt — refer to the original for an authoritative reading.Read the full work on SikhLibrary ↗

Flashcards — ਕਾਰਡ ਅਭਿਆਸ

Click a card to flip it and reveal the definition.

Click to reveal

Course test

Pass with 80% or higher to complete the course and unlock the next one.

1. In which language is the Zafarnama composed?
2. The Zafarnama was composed after which battles?
3. According to the fetched Zafarnama source text, what principle does the Guru articulate about the use of the sword?
4. The term Muktsar means which of the following?
5. Guru Gobind Singh's younger two sons were martyred at which location?
6. The forty Sikhs at Muktsar had previously done what?
7. The Zafarnama accuses Aurangzeb's commanders of which specific act of treachery?
8. According to Fenech (2013), the Zafarnama belongs to which Persian literary genre?
9. Historical sources suggest Aurangzeb responded to the Zafarnama by doing what?
10. The Zafarnama opening verse 'The miracle of the Eternal, the Merciful, is established' establishes which theological framework?

Read the source texts

Read the primary sources for yourself — the Gurbani in our read-along reader, and the original works in the source library.

Read Gurbani (reader)This work on SikhLibrary ↗SikhLibrary dataset ↗Dig deeper in the Sikh Archive →

Rate this course

…

Discussion & Q&A

Sign in to post.