2. Arming and Martial Training

During his captivity, when the Saintly and peaceful Guru Arjan was under the severest torture, he concentrated and relied on God for guidance to save the nascent Sikh Sangat from annihilation. The only solution revealed to him was to guard it through the use of arms. He pondered over the problem again and again and finally concluded that the militarisation of Sikhism had become a necessity. Hence he sent a Sikh disciple to his young son, the eleven year old Har Gobind, nominating him as the Guru of the Sikhs (his devotees), giving him Guru Arjan's last injunction; "Let him sit fully armed on his throne and maintain an army to the best of his capacity". Guru Hargobind ji excelled in matters of state and his Darbar (Court) was noted for its splendour. The arming and training of some of his devoted followers began, the Guru came to possess seven hundred horses and his Risaldari (Army) grew to three hundred horsemen and sixty gunners in the due course of time. Additionaly five hundred men from the 'Majha area of Punjab' were recruited as infantry. Guru Har Gobind built a fortess at Amritsar called 'Lohgarh' (Fortess of steel). He had his own flag and war-drum which was beaten twice a day. Those who had worked to have Guru Arjan destroyed now turned their attention and efforts to convincing Jahangir that the fort, the Akal Takhat and the growing Risaldari were all intended to allow Guru Hargobind ji to one day take revenge for his father's unjust death.