15. At Kaamroop (Aasaam)

Guru ji travelled through Bengal. There are many Gurdwaras associated with His name especially in Dacca (now the capital of Bangladesh, where He had many devout Sikhs. Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib, accompanied by the Raja of Jaipur and his Army, reached the right bank of river Brahmputra and encamped at a place called Rangmati. The King of Assam, Chakradhwaj Singh came to know that the Mughal Army had come to attack him and annex his territory. He at once became furious and was deter- mined to annihilate the Raja and his Army; he put his magicians at work. This had not been the first attempt on the part of the Moghuls to conquer Assam. According to Max. Arthur Macauliffc, Mirza Raja Man Singh, the grandfather of Raja Ram Singh, had also tried under the orders of Akbar the Great to annex Assam, and was killed by the ancestors of Chakradhwaj Singh. Another attempt by Aurangzeb under the command of Mir Jumla had also miserably failed. This time, however, none of the magic's could do any harm to the Army of the Raja of Jaipur. Seeing this, Chakradhwaj Singh knew that there must be a spiritual person amongst the Raja's company. When all efforts had failed, he made arrangements to divert a tributary of the great river Brahmputra and turn it on Raja Ram Singh's Army. Guru ji, however, had advised the Raja in good time to move his Armies away from that spot, thus avoiding any major casualties. Some Muslim soldiers, who did not heed the advice of the Guru were swept away by the tributary according to the plan of the King of Kamarup. Then the King of Kamarup went to the temple of his family goddess Kamakashi and worshipped the goddess and sought her aid to overcome the enemy and save the country from falling into the hands of the aggressor. After the King had finished his prayers, the goddess is stated to have appeared and said to Chakradhwaj Singh. "O King, Baba Nanak hath taken birth in this age. On His Throne is now seated the Ninth Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur. He is here with Raja Ram Singh, who hath become a disciple of His. Nowadays the Guru is Sovereign. No one hath strength to oppose Him. Go make obeisance to Him and ask pardon for thy sins and thy rule shall be everlasting; otherwise it shall perish."  The King then arranged an interview with the Guru and made his prostrations before Him. He told the Guru how the goddess had appeared and what she had said. He said to Guru Tegh Bahadur ji that his kingdom was at His mercy and he wished that as a "Defender of the Hindus." He would not let it be annexed by a ruthless Moghal Emperor. The Guru advised him to have no fears as the Raja of Jaipur was a very religious man and a Sikh of the Guru. The King then invited Guru ji and Raja Ram Singh and other Rajput Chiefs to come to Dhubri and discuss the matter with him peacefully. But he did not wish any Muslim to enter his territory nor did he want to negotiate with them. On entering Dhubri the Guru made Chakradhwaj Singh and Ram Singh to sit on either side of Him. Guru ji, then said to them, "Both of you are Kshatrya princes and it is your duty to fight for the cause of righteousness. But a Kshatrya should never fight for it selfish motive. If you, Raja Ram Singh, attack Kamarup, it is certainly the duty of the King to defend his country from aggression. But your action, O Raja Ram Singh, would neither be justified nor could it be called righteous. You will be fighting for the Emperor of Delhi, whom you know would be as pleased if you were killed in the battle, as if you were to conquer Kamarup. Therefore. settle your differences peacefully and not by waging a War." The Guru, then brought about a reconciliation between the two. Guru ji drove His dagger into the earth and said. "Let all the land on one side of the dagger belong to the King of Kamarup and that on the other belong to the Emperor of Delhi. Both the Princes were impressed by the statesmanship of Guru Tegh Bahadur ji and bowed to Him in reverence. Guru Tegh Bahadur ji, then visited the place where Guru Nanak once sat at Dhubri. The Guru then asked Raja Ram Singh to instruct his soldiers to bring five shields full of earth each to raise a mound on the spot. The congregation, then performed the Asa-Di-Var on that mound and the King of Kamrup promised to erect a temple there in the memory of the Great Guru Nanak and the present visit of Guru Tegh Bahadur ji. When Guru ji was about to leave Assam, both the King and the Queen came to thank Him and reluctantly said that they had no heir to the throne. Guru ji at once said that a son will be born and, touching His ring on the forehead of the King, said that the child shall also have a similar birthmark on his forehead. Later, a son was born to the queen. When the child grew up, he was tying his turban one day when he noticed a strange mark on his forehead. On enquiring from his mother, he came to know of the full story. This was the famous Raja Ratan Rai of Assam, who presented Guru Gobind Singh ji with a unique elephant known as "Prashadi." It is said that this elephant was white in colour and had a black stripe running right across his body - from trunk to tail. He had brought many other precious presents as well, when he came to visit Guru Gobind Singh ji at Anandpur Sahib. It was the refusal of Guru Gobind Singh ji to give away these items to Raja Bhim Chand that led to the battles of Bhangani in which the Guru defeated the Shivalik Rajas several times and came out victorious "with the Grace of the Almighty." It was in Dhubri that Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib got the news that a Son had been born to Him at Patna. Raja Ram Singh was the first to come and congratulate the Guru. Guru ji bowed towards Palla and said, "The Saviour of the oppressed has now come. He shall uplift the downtrodden and uproot tyranny for all times." Alms were distributed to the poor and prayers of thanks-giving were offered.