Zafarnama (letter)

Zafarnamah
ਜ਼ਫ਼ਰਨਾਮਾ
‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌ظفرنامہ 

by Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji
Original title	Zafarnāmāh
Written	1705
Country	Mughal Empire (present day India)
Language	Persian
Subject(s)	Apostlicity of Humanity
Genre(s)	Religion, Letter
Meter	Chantt
Followed by	Akal Ustat

The Zafarnāma (Punjabi: ਜ਼ਫ਼ਰਨਾਮਾ, Persian: ظفرنامہ‎, lit. Epistle of Victory) was a spiritual victory letter sent by Sri Guru Gobind Singh in 1705 to the Mughal Emperor of India, Aurangzeb after the Battle of Chamkaur. The letter is written in Persian script and verse. There are more than one versions of the text. Another manuscript of 24 verses called 'Fatehnama' is also available. The version currently in circulation found in the Dasam Granth, the compilation of Guru Gobind Singh’s poetry, is in Gurmukhi script and Persian verse. Guru Gobind Singh sent Bhai Daya Singh with the help of Naib Subedar Haji Sardar Shah to deliver the Zafarnama to Emperor Aurangzeb in Ahmednagar on 5 January 1707, the last day of Ramadaan that year.

In this letter, Guru Gobind Singh Ji reminds Aurangzeb how he and his soldiers had broken their oaths sworn upon the Qur'an when they promised safe passage to the Guru but launched a hidden attack of 100’000 men on forty famished Sikh soldiers. He tells Aurangzeb this was not a battle, it was a slaughter. As such, in spite of losing most of his Sikhs in this attack, he had won a moral victory over the Emperor who had broken his vows to Allah. He also states that despite sending a huge army to capture or kill the Guru, the Mughal forces did not succeed in their mission.

In the 111 verses of this notice, Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji rebukes Aurangzeb for his weaknesses as a human being and for excesses as a leader. Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji also confirms his confidence and his unflinching faith in the Almighty even after suffering extreme personal loss of his father, mother, all four of his sons, and many fellow Sikhs to Aurangzeb's tyranny. Sri Guru Guru Gobind Singh then invites Aurangzeb to meet him in Kangar village near Bathinda (Punjab) and assures him the Brar tribe will not harm him (Aurangzeb) as they are under his command. "On the way there will be no danger to your life, for, the whole tribe of Brars accepts my command. (59)"

Of the 111 verses, the maximum numbers of 34 verses are to praise God; 32 deal with Aurangzeb’s invitation for the Guru to meet him and the Guru's refusal to meet the Emperor – instead the Guru asks Aurangzeb to visit him; 24 verses detail the events in the Battle of Chamkaur, which took place on 22 December 1704; 15 verses reprove Aurangzeb for breaking promise given by him and by his agents to the Guru; In verses 78 and 79, Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji had also warned Aurangzeb about the resolve of the Khalsa not to rest till his evil empire is destroyed; 6 verses praise Aurangzeb. In spite of losing his four beloved sons, his Kingdom of Anandpur Sahib, Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji thanked the God for everything. He accepted the fortune and mentioned in Zafarnama that he still won as he didn't betray or cheat. He and his Sikh army fought courageously and laid their lives for the good. They fought a war against evil with pristine intention and no one with bad intentions can defeat him as God is always by his side.

Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji wrote this letter from the village of Dina in Malwa region of the Punjab. Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji spent few days at Dina and then moved to Dod, Kotkapura, Dhilwan Kalan, Jaitu, Shri Muktsar Sahib, Lakhi Jangal, and Damdama Sahib. Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji's last fight with Mughal Army happened at Khidrane Di Dhaab, now called Sri Muktsar Sahib.

One of the most quoted verses from the Zafarnama is verse 22:

"Chun kar az hameh heelate dar guzasht,

Halal ast burdan bi-shamsheer dast.

When all has been tried, yet

Justice is not in sight,

It is then right to pick up the sword,

It is then right to fight"

Notes

It is said that a copy of the Zafarnama, written by the Guru himself, was found with the Mahant of Patna Sahib in 1890 and one Babu Jagan Nath made a copy; this copy was somehow misplaced by him. Since Babu Jagan Nath was himself a scholar in Persian language, he could reproduce it from his memory and got it printed in Nagri Parcharni Patrika in Benaras. He is also believed to have sent a copy to Sardar Umrao Singh Shergill in Amritsar who is said to have given it to Khalsa college and which in turn reproduced in Makhzan-e-Twarikh Sikhan. In Punjab newspapers, it first appeared in the Khalsa Samachar of 16 July 1942. Then in 1944, Kapur Singh ICS published it in Urdu Ajit of Lahore under the heading "Fatehnama". It is quite possible that in the process of translations and publications of the Zafarnama at different stages, some verses were not reproduced correctly and what we have today is not the original Zafarnama of the Guru in its entirety. The abrupt end of the Zafarnama also indicates that it is not complete and that some verses have been left out. Objections raised by some scholars on the authenticity of a few verses may be viewed in this context.

Criticism

As mentioned above, there is more than one version available. Scholars have criticized the text to have been tampered with or fabricated, based on the following content:

1. According to the text, Guru Gobind Singh addresses Aurangzeb, the person responsible for the murder of his father Guru Tegh Bahadur and his 2 sons, as 'Sarvar-i-Kainat', Sovereign of Universe, which can only be used for God.
2. The text shows Guru Gobind Singh indulging in self-praise while challenging the 86 yr old Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb to a personal duel. It shows the Guru in poor light, bent upon avenging his son's death, calling himself a hooded cobra:
"What, if you have killed my four sons, the hooded cobra still sits coiled up".
3. The most objectionable verse is where the Guru proudly proclaims himself as 'Butshikan' (idol breaker) and gloats that he broke the idols of Hindu temples during his campaign to subdue the Hill Rajahs-
"I vanquished the vicious hill chiefs, they were idol-worshippers and I am idol-breaker".
If this is true, then there is no difference between Aurangzeb, the tyrannical fanatic, and the Guru, who claimed to be the 'Saviour of Dharma'. This is an extreme insult to Guru Gobind Singh, who advised his own father Guru Tegh Bahadur to sacrifice his own life for the sake of Dharma. Moreover, his writings in Dasam Granth are diametrically opposite to these claims of breaking idols. His obeisances to Goddess Bhavani and the incarnations of Lord Vishnu are all examples of the Saguna Brahman (personal deity), which is intrinsic to idol-worship.

O great Yogmaya ! Thou art the eternal Bhavani in the past, present and future

— Krishnā Avtār 625 , in Guru Gobind Singh, Sri Dasam Granth, Chaubῑs Autār

O great Yogmaya ! He whose Glory is known in all the three worlds, even Sheshnaga could not comprehend whose limits and even the Vedas could not know whose myself, His name is Krishna, the son of Nand

— Krishnā Avtār 828 , in Guru Gobind Singh, Sri Dasam Granth, Chaubῑs Autār

O great Yogmaya ! He, who will listen to this story and sing it, he will be free from the sufferings and sins. The reward of the devotion to Vishnu (and his incarnation Ram) that no ailment of any kind will touch him.

— Rām Avtār 546 , in Guru Gobind Singh, Sri Dasam Granth, Chaubῑs Autār

External links

• Sri Dasam Granth Sahib: Questions and Answers: The book on Sri Dasam Granth Sahib
• Manuscripts of Zafarnama
• Download English Translation of Zafarnama
• English Translation of Zafarnama
• Zafarnama in Gurmukhi, Perso-Arabic and Latin script with English translations
• Epistle of Victory
• Hindustan Times, The Zafarnama
• Zafarnama Quotes by DHANSIKHI