JAMSHAID KHAN (d. 1708), Ruhila Afghan, was hired by Nawab Wazir Khan, faujdar of Sirhind, to assassinate Guru Gobind Singh, whose friendly relations with Emperor Bahadur Shah I were perceived by the faujdar as a danger to his own position. Jamshaid Khan with another accomplice caught up with the Guru at Nanded, in the South. Jamshaid Khan started attending morning and evening services and one day during the first week of October 1708, as the Guru lay in his chamber resting after the evening prayer, he fell upon him and stabbed him on the left side near the heart. But before he could repeat the blow, the Guru struck him down with his sabre.
His companion fell under the swords of the Sikhs. Guru Gobind Singh survived the attack. However after a few days, as he stretched a powerful bow, the wound opened up again and he bled profusely. He passed away on 1 October 1708.
References :
1. Santokh Singh, Bhai, Sri Gur Prakash Suraj Granth. Amritsar, J 927-33
2. Macauliffe, Max Arthur, The Sikh Religion. Oxford, 1909
3. Harbans Singli, Guru Gobind Singh, Chandigarh, 1966
Guru Gobind Singh ji was at Nanded when two muslim Afghanis, Jamshed Khan and Wasil Beg gained access to his camp and Jamshed Khan stabbed Guru Gobind Singh ji in the back.
Guru Gobind Singh ji killed him, but was badly wounded and breathed his last on 7th Oct 1708
Many believed that Jamshed Khan was sent by Wazir Khan, the faujdar of Sirhind, who was responsible for killing the sons of Guru Gobind Singh ji and against whom Guru ji had fought many wars.
Emperor Bahadur Shah ordered the Assasination
But there is evidence that Jamshed was sent by Bahadur Shah himself, who externally behaved as his friend. This is mentioned in Akhbar-i-Darbar-i-Mu’alla, page 94–99.
October 28, 1708-Thursday (24 Shaban, 2nd Bahadurshahi, A.H. 1120)
It was reported to the Emperor that Guru Gobind Rai had killed Jamshed Khan — an Afghan. A dress of mourning was bestowed upon the son of the [killed] Khan.
–The Punjab Past and Present, Ch. Akhbar-i-Darbar-i-Mu’alla, Volume 18 Part 2, ed. by Ganda Singh, Pub. By Registrar, Punjabi University, Patiala (1984), Page 25
This fact is also mentioned in Makhiz-i-Tawarikh-i-Sikhan, page 83. See The Sikhs of the Punjab by J. S. Grewal. Cambridge University Press (1998), pp. 79, (fn 42)
As you see, Bahadur Shah gives the dress of mourning to the son of Guru Gobind Singh’s assassin Jamshed Khan. The fact that Jamshed Khan’s son was in Bahadur Shah’s camp is an extremely strong circumstantial evidence that his father was sent on the Emperor’s orders.
Treachery by Guru’s Khalsas
It is impossible to digest that two strange and armed muslim Afghans could have gained entry into the private tent of Guru Gobind Singh, unchecked and unattended by his bodyguards.
This act could only have been possible through the treachery and conspiracy of the Khalsas who were his bodyguards, as nobody else would have the authority to let any stranger so close to the Guru.
There is a folklore about Guru Gobind Singh ji that was passed down to me from my mother:
After being wounded seriously, Guru Gobind Singh ji said:
“If anybody first rolls in liquid jaggery and then in a mound of sesame seeds, how many seeds will stick to his body?
If a muslim takes a vow on Allah and Quran that many times, do not believe him.”
These very sentiments were mentioned by Guru Gobind Singh ji in Zafarnama, the letter he had written to Aurangzeb.
Zafarnāmah
ਹਮਾ ਰੋਜ਼ਿ ਆਖ਼ਿਰ ਸ਼ਵਦ ਮਰਦ ਖ਼੍ਵਾਰ ॥੧੫॥
हमां रोज़ि आख़िर शवद मरद ख़्वार ॥१५॥
Whosoever puts faith on the oath of Quran, he is subjected to punishment on the final reckoning.15.
ਜ਼ਫਰਨਾਮਾ – ੧੫/(੨) – ਸ੍ਰੀ ਦਸਮ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ ਸਾਹਿਬ
Bahadur Shah too was no different. He had promised Guru ji to give Anandpur Sahib back and punish Wazir Khan, but he feigned friendship and stabbed him in the back.
These feelings of the Guru are further strengthened by this bani regarding the duties of the Khalsa, as recorded in the Tanakh Nama:
Bhai Nand Lal – Tankahnama-Ang 3-4
laee turakan te maas jo khaavai
sunah laal so jam pur jae . (30)
One who eats meat taken from Turks (muslims),
Listen, Lal Jee, he lands in Yamalok .(30)
Bhai Nand Lal – Tankahnama-Ang 6
khalsa soee malechchh par chadhaee . (51)
He is Khalsa, who attacks the Malechhas (muslims).(51)
Bhai Nand Lal – Tankahnama-Ang 6
chadhaai turang udaavai baaj
turak dekh kar jaavai bhaaj. (58)
sava lakh se ek ladaun
chadhai singh tasi mukat karaaun. (59)
They will mount the horse and fly the falcon,
Seeing them as such, Turks (muslims) will flee.(58)
(I will) make one (Khalsa) fight with 1.25 Lakh (muslims).
Making the Sikhs rise, (will I) get moksha (mukti) .(59)
