Jangnama Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji Ka, a verse or stanzas by Am Rai describing Guru Gobind Singh’s battle with a Mughal force at Anandpur. Am Rai was one of the fifty-two poets who enjoyed the Guru’s patronage. The welcome he received on his arrival in Anandpur and the conferment through a hukamnama of costly presents, including gold and jewels, upon him find mention in the opening stanzas of Jangnama. The conjecture is that he came to Anandpur after AD 1699, the year of the promulgation of the Khalsa, for he makes no mention of the battles of Bhangani and Nadaun which took place prior to that event, and he throughout refers to the Guru as Gobind Singh, which name he took only after receiving initiation at the hands of the Panj Piare.
Written in an admixture of Braj and Punjabi, the poem comprises 69 cantos. A manuscript copy is preserved in the private collection of the Maharaja of Patiala. The text is now available in an anthology entitled Prachin Varan te Jangname, published by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee in 1950. The theme of the Jangnama is the battle fought outside the fortress of Anandgarh. Azim Khan, under the orders of Emperor Aurangzeb, marched to Anandpur with a strong force and, supported by seven of the surrounding hill chiefs, reached the outskirts of the town.
In eloquent poetic imagery, Am Rai evokes the battle scenes and describes with special relish the feats of valor displayed by Sikhs such as Bhai Himmat Singh and Bhai Dalel Singh, who, tearing their way through the host, attacked Azim Khan’s own elephant, hitting its howdah or saddle with their swords. Then there was Bachittar Singh and Mohkam Singh, confronting and killing a drunken elephant covered with deadly weapons let loose by the Mughal army, and Guru Gobind Singh, who overpowered Azim Khan in a duel. The last eight cantos of the Jangnama are devoted to summing up the events narrated in the preceding parts of the poem. Towards the close, the poet, being a devout Sikh, begs for the blessing of the Guru whom he calls the savior of the world appointed by God Himself to chastise the tyrants.
References :
Ashok, Shamsher Singh, ed., Prachin Varan te Jangnamay. Amritsar, 1950.
