The famous writer Satbir Singh writes about this first war between the Sikhs and the Mughals that in 1629 AD, an incident took place at the village of Gumtale which started the war. According to Latif, ‘the first battle between the Mughals and the Sikhs took place after which many other battles were started in history’.
Guru Hargobind Ji went to Gumtale with his Sikhs to play hunting. The royal troops, led by Dev, were also nearby to play hunting. The Guru Ji’s falcon subdued the royal falcon. According to Sikh tradition, the royal falcon used to torture its prey by hitting it with its talons. It used to take the prey up into the sky and then throw it back to the ground. The Sikhs could not bear to see the prey being treated in this way. They flew their falcon and tortured it. When the nobles asked for the falcon back, the Sikhs refused. The royal forces started threatening that the result of not returning the falcon would be war. Guru Ji considered bowing down to threats as against religion. He said, ‘Fighting for honor is religion’.
Mukhlis Khan, under the command of Ghulam Rasool Khan, sent 7000 troops at the behest of Shah Jahan. Shah Jahan was roused by the promise that today he has got the falcon, tomorrow he will wear the crown. Guru Ji was not ready for war. This can be inferred from the fact that he was arranging the Anand Karaj of Bibi Veero Ji in Amritsar and the wedding was only a few days away. But when the army’s advance came to light, Guru Ji decided to confront the army with his servants. Ghulam Rasool fled in the very first attack and the Sikhs got their first victory. This battle took place at the place of Sangrana Sahib.
Mukhlis Khan came up: – This battle took place in and around the place where Khalsa College is now. Seeing this initial defeat, Mukhlis Khan himself marched against Guru Ji. Guru Ji also knew that this matter would not end here. Therefore, he also made preparations as far as he could. After enduring some tough hands of the Sikhs, the Mughal army panicked, but the attack froze the army’s feet. There was also a commotion in the Sikh army, but when Guru Ji took command, even the declining courage stood up. The battle continued till evening. No decision could be made. Finally, the darkness of night fell.
Mukhlis Khan thought that he should get the Guru Ji to accept any and all concessions. That night he sent a messenger. Guru Ji replied: ‘That is right, we do not want to fight, we do not want to conquer the country, but we must not allow the rule of injustice to continue, we must not allow the poor to be oppressed, we must protect the innocent from oppression. The government is running on the strength of oppression. The Lord of the world has never liked arrogance. He is the companion of the true and the protector of the righteous. The question of believing or not believing does not arise’.
Having received this answer, Mukhlis Khan decided to fight a decisive battle. At the same time, Mukhlis Khan expressed his desire that what is the benefit of killing the armies? Only a joint face-to-face duel between the Guru and him should take place. In that duel, Mukhlis Khan made the first attempt but he went blind. Then Guru Hargobind Ji made such a blow with his khande that it tore Mukhlis Khan’s shield and went through his head. Mukhlis Khan’s forces returned and Guru Ji went straight to Jhubal and performed the Anand Karja of Bibi Veero Ji there.
When Prime Minister Asaf Khan came to know about all the talks and the battle, he removed Governor Kuliz Khan and appointed Anayat-Ula Ezdi as the Governor of Punjab in his place. Shah Jahan himself could not come to Punjab, so he supported Asaf Khan’s administration.
Dr. Sukhdial Singh writes about this war that by killing other relatives, Shah Jahan took over the kingdom with the help of his father-in-law Asif Khan. He wanted to please the Muslim world. To fulfill this objective, he announced a new religious policy. Under this, a ban was imposed on Muslims to convert to Islam. No new temple could be built for Hindus. Thus, taking encouragement from this policy, the fanatic followers of the Muslim world started adopting an aggressive policy towards non-Muslims. This had its effect in Punjab as well. The Muslim fundamentalist Maulanas and officials who opposed the Sikh religion started taking aggressive steps towards Guru Hargobind Sahib and the Sikh Gurdwaras. The Baoli Sahib installed by Guru Ramdas Ji in Lahore was filled with earth. Guru Hargobind Sahib also had to face many battles during his lifetime. Surprisingly, these battles did not take place immediately after the martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev Ji but took place at a time when the Sikh world was recovering from the grief of the martyrdom of its martyred Guru and was engaged in religious propagation. Emperor Jahangir’s entire previous life was friendly towards the Guru Ghar. But after his death, when his son Shah Jahan was the emperor, they took place in the early years. Shah Jahan ascended the throne in 1627 AD and Guru Ji had to fight his first battle in 1629 AD. The king was away from Punjab and the Punjab authorities
The governor of Lahore was Kuliz Khan. He sent one of his generals, Mukhlis Khan, to attack the Guru of Amritsar so that the Guru would be expelled from Amritsar. This is from April 1629 AD. Meanwhile, the Guru was busy with the marriage ceremonies of his daughter Bibi Veero. The Guru was attacked unexpectedly. The Sikh congregation that was in Amritsar fought the invading army with full determination. In this clash, the Guru’s house was looted. The goods prepared for the girl’s wedding were looted. The sweets prepared for the procession were looted. Zulifkar Ardhistani writes that: “His (Guru) imperial
