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| Zafarnamah ਜ਼ਫ਼ਰਨਾਮਾ ظفرنامه | |
|---|---|
| byGuru Gobind Singh | |
 Folios of the copy prepared by Bhai Daya Singh of the original work | |
| Original title | Zafarnāmāh |
| Written | 1705 |
| Country | Mughal Empire (present dayIndia) |
| Language | Persian |
| Subject(s) | War, religion, morality, and justice |
| Genre(s) | Religion, Letter |
| Meter | Chantt |
| Lines | 111 verses[1][2] |
| Preceded by | Charitropakhyan |
| Followed by | Hikayats |
| Part of a series on the |
| Dasam Granth ਦਸਮ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ |
|---|
 |
| Main compositions |
| Apocryphal compositions (Asfottak Banis) |
| Various aspects |
| Poetical metres, modes, measures, and rhythms |
TheZafarnāma (Gurmukhi: ਜ਼ਫ਼ਰਨਾਮਾ;Persian:ظفرنامہ,romanized: Zafarnameh,lit. 'Epistle of Victory') was a spiritual victory letter sent by GuruGobind Singh in 1705 to theMughal Emperor of India,Aurangzeb, after theBattle of Chamkaur.[3]
In the aftermath of thesecond battle of Chamkaur, the Guru wanted to write a letter of condemnation to the Mughal emperor for breaking his oath swore upon theQuran by attacking the Sikhs who were evacuating the fort of Anandpur after a long siege when they were promised safe passage by Aurangzeb.[4][3] The Guru did not rely upon the Mughal couriers to deliver the letter as he did not trust them to do so and he wanted to know how the emperor would react to its contents so he decided to sendDaya Singh andDharam Singh to deliver the letter personally.[4] Daya Singh had previously delivered a letter from the Guru addressed to the emperor from Ghulal on 26 December 1704.[4] Guru Gobind Singh sent 5 Singhs including Daya Singh,[4] Dharam Singh[4] and Sambhal Singh with the help of Naib Subedar Haji Sardar Shah to deliver the Zafarnama to Emperor Aurangzeb in Ahmednagar on 5 January 1707, the last day of Ramadaan that year.[citation needed]
The letter was written at Kangar village in modern-day Bathinda district and dispatched from the same place, or from the nearby village of Dina in modern-day Moga district.[5][6] According to Sikh tradition, the village of Dina located near the district's border with the neighbouringBathinda district is whereGuru Gobind Singh rested for a few days after theSecond Battle of Chamkaur.[5] Scholar Louis E. Fenech states the Guru rested at Dina at the house (specifically an upper story room called achubārā) of a local Sikh named Bhai Desu Tarkhan after sending the Zafarnama from Kangar village, entrusted in the hands of Bhai Dharam Singh and Bhai Daya Singh.[6] A gurdwara,Zafarnama Gurdwara Lohgarh Sahib Pind Dina Patishahi Dasvin, commemorates his stay at Dina, Moga, and a sign there claims the Guru stayed at the location for 3 months and 13 days.[6]Harbans Singh inThe Encyclopedia of Sikhism states the Guru only stayed at Dina for a few days conversely to the claims of the Gurdwara.[5] He further states that he stayed with two local Sikhs named Chaudhry Shamir and Lakhmir, the grandsons of a local cheiftain named Rai Jodh, whom had served the sixth Sikh guru, Hargobind, and fought and died at theBattle of Mehraj.[5] Guru Gobind Singh gathered an army of hundreds of locals from Dina and the surrounding area and continued on his journey.[5]
Christopher Shackle divides the work into five parts:[3]
In this letter,Guru Gobind Singh remindsAurangzeb how he and his soldiers had broken their oaths sworn upon theQur'an,[7] when they promised safe passage to the Guru but launched a hidden attack of an army described as much larger, on forty famished Sikh soldiers. He tells Aurangzeb this was not a battle, it was a slaughter. As such, in spite of losing most of his Sikhs in this attack, he had won a moral victory over the Emperor who had broken his vows to Allah. He also states that despite sending a huge army to capture or kill the Guru, the Mughal forces did not succeed in their mission.
In the 111 verses of this notice, Guru Gobind Singh rebukes Aurangzeb for his weaknesses as a human being and for his lack of morality as a leader.[8]Guru Gobind Singh also confirms his confidence and his unflinching faith in the Almighty even after suffering extreme personal loss of his father, mother, all four of his sons, and many fellow Sikhs to Aurangzeb's tyranny.Guru Gobind Singh then invites Aurangzeb to meet him in Kangar village near Bathinda (Punjab) and assures him the Brar tribe will not harm him (Aurangzeb) as they are under his command.
"On the way there will be no danger to your life, for, the whole tribe of Brars accepts my command."
Of the 111 or 112[9] verses, the maximum numbers of 34 verses are to praise God; 32 deal with Aurangzeb’s invitation for the Guru to meet him and the Guru's refusal to meet the Emperor – instead the Guru asks Aurangzeb to visit him; 24 verses detail the events in theBattle of Chamkaur, which took place on 22 December 1704; 15 verses reproveAurangzeb for breaking promise given by him and by his agents to the Guru; In verses 78 and 79, Guru Gobind Singh had also warned Aurangzeb about the resolve of theKhalsa not to rest till the Mughal Empire is destroyed; 6 verses praise Aurangzeb.
In the work, the criteria for invokingdharamyudh is listed:[10][3]
All modes of redressing the wrong having failed, raising of sword is pious and just
— Guru Gobind Singh,Zafarnama
The work is sometimes considered to be the first of theHikayats, with the remaining 11 works following it in the Dasam Granth.[3]
The letter is written inPersian.[11] However, in one recension there are four verses inBraj.[9] It was originally written in thePerso-Arabic script rather than inGurmukhi.[12] The version currently in circulation found in the Dasam Granth, the compilation of Guru Gobind Singh’s poetry, is in Gurmukhi script and Persian verse. Copies printed and sold today are usually in Gurmukhi script.[3]
A still-extant copy of the original document is said to have been prepared byBhai Daya Singh.[13]
Academics Anil Chander Banerjee and Christopher Shackle believe the extant work is not the authentic one as originally written by Guru Gobind Singh.[9][3] According to Banerjee, the current text is unsuited forpolitical correspondence and the original letter may have been written inprose which was later transformed into apoetic piece, which is the present composition that has been handed down.[9] A similar position was held by Shackle, who thought the original work was in prose but was later rewritten in a poetic style, emulated upon the epicmetres of theFerdowsi'sShahnama, effectively borrowing elements of Islamicate literature to have a more powerful effect of undercutting the "moral authority" of the recipient, Aurangzeb, a devout Muslim.[3] One view is that the original prose of the authentic letter by the Guru was transformed into poetry byBhai Nand Lal, but Banerjee finds holes in this theory as the text is incorporated as part of the Dasam Granth, presented as the Guru's writings alongside other works of his.[9]
TheZafarnama is similar to theFatehnama, another purported work ascribed to the tenth Guru.[9] The Fatehnama survives as a work of complete couplets and one incomplete couplet.[9]
The work was first translated intoPunjabi.[10] It has been translated intoEnglish byNavtej Sarna.[10]
