Muhammad YarBeg Khan dies, seeking revenge
Death of Muhammad YarBeg Khan
Seeking to revenge his father's death, Muhammad YarBeg Khan thinks he has caught Guru Har Rai with only a few of his Sikhs. Guru Har Rai was near Amritsar, while returning to Kiratpur from a tour of the Malwa and Doaba regions, when Mohammad Yarbeg Khan attacked the kafla of the Guru with an armed force of 1000 men. The surprise attack was repulsed by a few hundred Sikh Saint-Soldiers who had been following the guru at some distance. Hurrying to their Guru's defense the smaller force of Sikhs managed to repulse the larger Muslim force, who In addition to loosing their commander, suffered such a heavy loss of life, that they turned their backs on the Sikhs and fled the scene.
After this self-defensive measure, Guru Har Rai (who had promised his father to never attack the Mughals), rewarded his victorious Sikhs with robes of honor - a long established warrior tradition in Punjab.
Guru's Darbar at Kiratpur
Guru Har Rai's father - Guru Hargobind had fought five defensive battles against various Muslim attackers. Despite the fact that his father Guru Arjan Dev had died after his arrest and and torture at the orders of the newly installed Jahangir, who proved to be less tolerant of the Hindu and Sikh religions than his father Emperor Akbar. In fact, after being set upon by the Muslim ulema and certain of his advisors, Emperor Akbar had ordered Guru Arjan's arrest, referring to him in his diary as a Hindu Fakir.
However, rather than seeking revenge Guru Hargobind, who wisely had seen the need of raising a force of Martial Sikhs, managed to stay on good terms with the Emperor, despite the battles mentioned above. Once while out hunting with Jahangir, Guru Hargobind is said to have risked his life to save the Emperor from the attack of a man eating Lion. However this story is told in at least two ways, as rumours still persist that the hunt had been arranged to end with the death of Guru Hargobind.
Never the less, Guru Hargobind and Jahangir's friendship was such that Jahangir handed over Diwan Chandu Lal to Guru Hargobind. Jahangir is also said to have asked Guru Hargobind Ji to leave jullandar and amritsar, due to 'political imbalances', informing him that some of his more independent Nawabs might attack him in the future. It was after this that Guru Hargobind ji moved his Darbar to Kiratpur Sahib.
Before his death Guru Hargobind Sahib installed his son Har Rai as the Seventh Sikh Guru, asking him to never attack the Mughals. He also asked him to stay in Kiratpur. The Guru, however, wisely kept the military traditions of his father alive, for security and defensive reasons and the continuance of Naam Parchar.
Kiratpur was an area with a large population of Hindus who were friendly with the Sikhs guru sahibans, as they had taken to viewing the Sikhs as a protective force that would help in case their muslim nawabs (rulers) became hostile in the future. During Guru Hargobind's days the Muslims had learned to respect the strength and martial might of the Sikhs.
