Var Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji Ki

'VAR SRI GURU GOBIND SINGH Jl KI, also known as Jangnama Bhangani, is an account in Punjabi verse of Guru Gobind Singh's battle at Bhangani, near Paonta in 1688, with some of the surrounding hill chiefs supported by the Mughal authority in Delhi. The poem comprises thirty two cantos of unequal length written in Nishani metre. An old manuscript of this work of unknown authorship was said to have been in Bhai Kahn Singh Library at Nabha but the text is now available in printed form in an anthology entitled Prachin Varan te Jangname, published by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, Amritsar, in 1950.

The Var opens with Emperor Aurangzeb telling his court about the letters exchanged between him and Guru Gobind Singh. He seems bent upon waging a war against the Guru who has refused to accept his sovereignty. A vain effort is made to check him first by his daughter, Zeb unNisa, and then by the soothsayers who predict disaster for him were he to persist in his plans of attacking Guru Gobind Singh. In a subdued manner, his nobles advise him against such a course too. He however is adamant, and this constitutes the subject matter of the first fifteen cantos of the Var. The remaining seventeen cantos describe the battle scene, the marching of the armies of the Pahari Rajas (hill chiefs) against Guru Gobind Singh, the action that ensues and the Guru's glorious victory in face of heavy odds. At the bidding of the Emperor himself, Raja Bhim Chand Rai Katoch, Hayat Khan and others come with a large host. In the unequal fight between the princely forces and a small band of devoted Sikhs, Nand Chand, Kirpal, Lal Singh, Dip Singh and Gulab Singh among the latter are shown to have fought with conspicuous valour. What inspired Sikhs to such brave deeds was the presence amoung them of Guru Gobind Singh.

Guru Gobind Singh has also described the battle of Bhangani, in his autobiographical Bachitra Natak and the details of the action in both accounts generally tally. One factual error can easily be marked in Var Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji Ki, that is about the Guru's son Ajit Singh taking part in the battle. Ajit Singh was then a mere infant.