Crusaders of Spirituality
The Beheading of Guru Tegh Bahadur
From SikhiWiki
The Emperor Aurangzeb who had seen to the death of his brother and arrest of his father had been raised and educated by the fundamentalist ulema who had long been ignored by his more liberal predecessors.
His brother Dara Shikoh had been raised by the Sufis and exposed to the more the more universal side of Islam which, though its aim was still to see everyone in the world submit to Islam, they sought to accomplish their goal by peaceful means. The Sikhs and Hindus were on good terms with the Sufis, but Aurangzeb returned the hated Jizia-a tax which took 60% of everything from the Sikh and Hindu farmers.
Aurangzeb had decided that he would change India into a land where sharia would rule. He had decided that Islam would be the only religion of India.
He would allow no new Hindu temples to be built and he gave orders that many be torn down and replaced by Mosques.
A plan was hatched to force the respected Kashmiri Pandits to accept Islam, it was thought that if they converted, the rest of the Hindus would follow. They were told that they would accept or be put to the sword. Some of the Pandits made a pilgrimage to Amarnath to the cave with the lingham of Shiva. Their they had a vision of Shiva who told them to travel to see Guru Tegh Bahadur. Guru Tegh Bahadur was the ninth in the line of Guru Nanak and lived at Anandpur Sahib in Punjab, Northern India. They resolved to go to him and ask for his protection.
The story continues...
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