Lehal Library

From the Pacifist Sikh to the Militant Khalsa 77 unmolested for twelve years and was able to tum his unbounded energy to reorganizing his community. The first thing the Guru did was to fortify the centre at Anandpur. He bought the neighbouring land and built a chain of fortresses--Anandgarh, Keshgarh, Lohgarh, and Fatehgarh. Although the foothills between the Sutlej and the Jumna where these fortresses were built lay in the territories of the Rajput Chiefs, the Guru became more powerful than they. The twelve years at Anandpur were also full of intellectual activity. Gobind selected five of the most scholarly of bis disciples and sent them to Benares to learn Sanskrit and the Hindu religious texts, to be better able to interpret the writings of the gurus, which were full of allusions to Hindu mythology and philosophy. These five began the school of Sikh theologians known as the nirmaliis (the unsullied) .9 Poets from many parts of northern India sought Gobind's patronage and at one time fifty-two bards10 were in residence at the Guru's court. Since Gobind was himself a poet of considerable talent, his own preference for heroic poetry set the pattern mfluence over the prince. The prince could not have been indifferent to the policy of gaining supporters for his °"'n cause; his father's advancing age must have made him increasingly conscious of this. The consideration paid him dividends, for the Guru was on his side in the war of succession. ( Our Biliis. 17'2.) 9 Th~ mnnalii.s follow the traditional pattern of life of the Hindu Brahmacharya. They are celibate, wear white gannents, and are strict vegetarians. Since they begin their studies with Sanskrit and the Vedas, their interpretations of the writings of the Sikh gurus have a Brahmanical bias which is n0t acceptable to many Sikhs. The first five nirmalii.s were Karam Singh, Ganda Singh. Vir Singh, Saina Singh, and Ram Singh 10 The works of some of the Guru's court-poets have come down to us. The following are the better knoY.n: (a) Saina Pat, author of Gur Snbhn, which mentions the Guru's baptismal ceremony. the traditiomi of the Khalsa, some of the Guru's battles, and his assassination. (b) Bhai Nand Lal 'Goya,' a poet of undoubted ability who wrote in Persian. He Y.Tote many works, including Tnusif-f>-wm.a, Khatma, C.anJ Nama, Zti11:lgi Namii., Divii.n Goya, lnsllii Dastur and ,-lnul .4'-ra:..