When a Tree Shook Delhi

by HS Phoolka

Teg Bahadur’s execution was the culmination of a series of events triggered by Aurangzeb’s drive to convert all his subjects to Islam. One of the affected sections was the Kashmiri Pundits, who were in a peculiar situation. Though they were Brahmins and therefore belonged to the top layer in the caste hierarchy, Kashmiri Pundits were about the only Hindus residing in the Muslim-dominated valley of Kashmir. In a bid to escape conversion at sword-point, a deputation of Kashmiri Pundits travelled all the way to Anandpur Sahib in Punjab and requested Teg Bahadur to help them. Moved by their plight, the guru agreed to intervene despite the obvious risk of incurring the wrath of the emperor. On his advice, the Pundits met the emperor and told him that they were all prepared to embrace Islam if he succeeded in converting the guru himself. Accepting the challenge, Aurangzeb summoned Teg Bahadur to Delhi’s Red Fort. When the two came face-to-face, the guru said that though he believed neither in Hinduism nor in the supremacy of Brahmins, he would stand up for the right of Hindus to practise their faith. Aurangzeb, in turn, offered him a choice between converting to Islam and performing a miracle to justify his claim to being a guru. When Teg Bahadur refused to do either, the emperor condemned him to death for his act of defiance. That is how on 11 November 1675, an unyielding Teg Bahadur came to be beheaded in public, at the very spot where his followers subsequently built Sis Ganj...