The city of Amritsar

The city of Amritsar

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FOUNDATION AND SURVIVAL
Sikh tradition associates the site of Amritsar with the visits of Guru Nanak during his itineraries, and legend connects it with Rama and the Buddha. The choice of this site for founding a township was made by Guru Amar Das, the second successor of Guru Nanak. it was not a new thing for a Sikh Guru to think of founding a town. Guru Nanak himself had founded Kartarpur,which has survived to the present day as Dera Baba Nanak. His successor, Guru Angad, had chosen the present Khadur Sahib as his headquarters. Guru Amar Das adopted Goindwal as the seat of his missionary activity, constructing there a baoli and making it a place of pilgrimage for his followers. For his son-in-law and would be successor, who was known as Bhai Jetha before he came to be known as Guru Ram Das, Guru Amar Das chose a new centre for missionary work.
In retrospect, it is easy to see that the site chosen for this purpose had the advantage of central location in the Bari Doab, with the city of Lahore only 20 kos or 60 kilometres away. It had an abundant supply of water, dotted with natural pools (drabs). As the Sikh tradition indicates, the proprietors of the villages of Tung and Sultanwind were not opposed to the idea of a Sikh missionary centre established in their neighbourhood. They were keen in fact to sell a sizeable chunk, just as the emperor Akbar was keen to grant a large piece of revenue-free land.
In the life-time of Guru Amar Das, Bhai Jetha moved to the site and, after preliminary preparation, started work on the excavation of a tank. Before the task was completed he went to Goindwal to pay homage to the Guru and, presumably, to apprise him of the slow progress of the project. Guru Amar Das advised him to dig a tank at another place. According to Giani Gian Singh, the new place chosen was the present site of the amrit-sarovar and the work of excavation was started in A.D. 1573. The work was progressing well when Guru Amar Das died in 1574, after nominating Bhai Jetha as his successor.

By 1577, the tank was dug to the satisfaction of Guru Ram Das. In his compositions we find him exhorting people to come for darshan-ashnnn as a meritorious act. Like the baoli at Goindwal, the sarovar of Guru Ram Das was meant to be a sacred place from its very inception. Devotees started coming from far and near. Many a devotee decided to settle down permanently in the township that was fast coming up in the vicinity of the sacred sarovar.
Guru Ram Das
encouraged people of all professions to take up residence in the town. Immigrants from Patti, Qasur and Kalanaur are specifically mentioned in this connection by the early Sikh writers. So too are mentioned the names of those devotees who assisted the Guru in his task: Bhai Salo, Chander Bhan, Roop Ram, Guria, Gurdas and Udham. A market was established at the present site of Guru Bazar for a regular supply of essential commodities and exchange of goods. Sarrags and banjaras were induced to participate in the commerce, just as craftsmen were encouraged to manufacture goods. By the time Guru Ram Das died in 1581, a township had come into existence, appropriately known as Ramdaspur. It was also known as Chak Ram Das, or simply Chak Guru, probably with reference to the schak-basta' land given by Akbar.
The township founded by Guru Ram Das expanded during the pontificate of his son and successor, Guru Arjan. He gave to the town an institution which was to ensure its primacy among all the places of Sikh pilgrimage He enlarged the tank, using burnt bricks for the flights of steps on all the four sides. The successful completion of this self-assigned task is celebrated in his compositions.
Then he felt inspired to do something that was at once novel and grand. He decided to combine the tank with a place of worship (dharamsal). For this he needed much larger resources. His followers were increasing year by year, not only in the Bari Doab (doab means area betweeen two rivers, ba for river Beus and Ra for river Ravi denotes BARI DOAB) but also elsewhere, even outside the Punjab. Many of them had undertaken active trade, visiting large cities in the Mughal Empire. Guru Arjan Dev ji strengthened the organization by authorizing his duly appointed representatives (masands) to collect daswand, literally one-tenth (of income), on behalf of the Guru. Before the end of the 16th century, Guru Arjan was able to complete the construction of a dharamsal in the midst of the sacred tank to the mutual enhancement of their sanctity.
This was not all. Guru Arjan took one more step in the same direction. At the turn of the century he started compiling the authentic bani of his predecessors, adding to their compositions not only his own but also the compositions of Sants, Bhagats, Shaikhs and Bhats of known affinity. Bhai Gurdas acted as his amanuensis, taking down every word as it was dictated by Guru Arjan beside the tank known as Ramsar. The work of compilation was completed in 1604. With due ceremony the Granth, now known as the Adi Granth, was installed in the dharamsal constructed for daily worship in the midst of the tank. With this, the prototype of the present Harimandir Sahib, popularly known as the Golden Temple, was complete. An integrated complex of three ideas, the institution of 'the lake of the nectar of immortality' (amrit-sar) was perfected, to serve as the heart and the soul of the nagari of Guru Ram Das in the future. For two hundred years, only this institution was known as Amritsar. In unconscious recognition of its greatness, the epithet came to be applied to the whole city in the early 19th century.
Guru Arjan founded other towns, like Tarn Taran in the Bari Doab and Kartarpur in the dist Jalandhar, but the praises he has sung of the institution of amritsar make it evident that no other place was to be regarded as comparable with it. Guru Arjan's interest in the town of Ramdaspur is evident from the wells and baolis he got constructed, the tanks he got excavated, the gardens he got laid out and the facilities he provided for trade.
Sikh tradition refers to the construction of a temple and a mosque by Guru Arjan for the Hindu and Muslim residents of the town. Khatri traders and Hindu artisans and craftsmen had come to stay and there is an equal probability that he encouraged Muslim traders and craftsmen also to reside in the town. In his compositions, Guru Arjan feels gratified to see a large number of people coming to the town., feels happy over the flourishing condition of the town and attributes it to the grace of God.
In 1606,Guru Arjan dev died the death of a martyr in Lahore. His association with the rebel Prince Khusrau was interpreted by Jahangir as a grave political effront; his association with Muslims on equal footing could be interpreted as an effront to Islam. When he refused to pay the fine imposed on him by Jahangir or convert to Islam, the provincial administrators tortured him to death. As in his life so in his death, Guru Arjan left an important legacy for the city of Amritsar.
Guru Hargobind, the son and successor of Guru Arjan dev, who ascended the gaddi in Ramdaspur, reacted strongly to the martyrdom of his father and predecessor. He decided to wear two swords, the sword of min symbolizing temporal authority as well as the sword of piri symbolizing spiritual leadership. His interest in temporal affairs found further expression in the construction of a platform called Akal Takht, literally the immortal throne., as oppose to the throne of the Mughal emperors.
Guru Hargobind encouraged martial activity and interests among his followers, exhorting them to learn horsemanship and the use of arms. Their response was a response to the martyrdom of Guru Arjan Hundreds of Sikhs from all parts of the Punjab were prepared to support Guru Hargobind in his decision to resist force by force. The construction of a fortress, called Lohgarh, in Ramdaspur was a logical corollary the Akal Takht. On the basis of reports sent by the local administrate (Akal Takht vs. Mughal Takht) Jahangir imprisoned Guru Hargobind in the fort of Gwalior. The detention did not deflect Guru Hargobind from his well considered policy. He resumed his activity after his release around 1614 and Jahangir took no further notice of it.
Guru Hargobind did not stay in Ramdaspur all the time nevertheless certain feature of the town are attributed to him; Chaurasti Atari, Guru Ka Chauk, Bagh Akalian, Kaulsar for instance. In terms of posthumous significance, however, the most important contribution of Guru Hargobind was the Akal Takht. It came to serve as the counterpart of the Harmandir in the temporal affairs of the Sikh community.
Thus, within the first fifty years of its foundation, the town of Ramdaspur came to have two vital institutions of the Sikh Panth which were complimentary to each other and which account for the survival of the town through the times of trouble and for its revival and expansion in the times of peace.
The time of trouble for the town of Ramdaspur started during the pontificate of Guru Hargobind himself. He came into armed conflict with the Mughal administrators of Lahore in the early years of Shah Jahan's reign. Mukhlis Khan, a Mughal commander, decided to attack Ramdaspur after his men were discomfited by the followers of Guru Hargobind during a hunting expedition. The Mughal commander was killed in the battle and his troops were beaten back. But Guru Hargobind decided to leave the town. After a few more successful battles against Mughal commanders, he decided to leave the Mughal territory. He settled down at Kiratpur in the territory of a Rajput chief.
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The absence of the Sikh Gurus from Ramdaspur affected its growth adversely. Guru Har Rai<FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=magenta>, the successor of Guru Hargobind, is believed to have visited the town without opposition. But the control of the Harmandir and the town certainly passed into the hands of those who did not pay allegiance to the successors of Guru Hargobind. His attitude, of independence towards the contemporary government divided the Sikh Panth into two main groups: those who continued to pay allegiance to him in his anti-establishment attitude, and those who parted company with him on this vital issue. The descendants of Prithi Chand the elder brother of Guru Arjan, put forth their claims to the Guruship of the Sikh Panth. Entitled to a share in the income derived from the town they came to establish their control over the Harrnandir and the town in the absence of Guru Hargobind and his successors. When Guru Tegh Bahadur visited the town in 1664, he was not allowed to enter the precincts of the Harmandir. The spot where he stopped came to be marked later by the Gurdwara Thara Sahib. Sodhi Miharban and Harji, the son and the grandson of Prithi Chand, remained hostile to the acknowledged successors of
 
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