[433] त्रि पूजाः
[434] मनुष्य भक्ताः
[435] Nânac was born A. D. 1469, in a small village called Talwandi, now Raya-pur, on the banks of the Béyah, the ancient Hyphasis, in the district of Bhatti, in the province of Lahore. He was the only son of Kalu, of the Kshatriya caste, and the Vedi tribe of the Hindus—See vol. XI. of the As. Res., pp. 197-292, edit. Calc. a Sketch of the Sikhs, by Brigadier-General Malcolm. The learned author, whilst with the British army in the Penjab, in 1805, collected materials that would throw light upon the history, manners, and religion of the Sikhs. He succeeded in obtaining a copy of the Adi granth, the sacred book of the Sikhs, and of some historical tracts, the most essential parts of which were explained to him in Calcutta, by an intelligent Sikh priest of the Nirmala order. Dr. Leyden enriched this stock of materials by supplying the general with a translation of several tracts written by Sikh authors in the Penjabi and Duggar dialects, upon the history and religion of their nation. We may therefore believe we possess quite satisfactory information about the Sikhs in General Malcolm’s Sketch. I shall mark the references to this work in my notes by G. M. The Dabistán, never quoted in the said Sketch, furnishes some additional, and corroborates the principal, information derived from other sources.
[436] Zehir-ed-din Muhammed Baber, the son of Umer Shaigh Mirza, descended on the father’s side from the great Tâimur Beg, and on the mother’s, from Gengis Khan. He was born A. D. 1483, and succeeded, in the 12th year of his age to his father, as king of Ferghana, a small country between Samarkand and Kashgar. Driven by his enemies from his paternal kingdom, he became the founder of one of the greatest empires in the world.—(See Memoirs of Zehir-ed-din Muhammed Baber, emperor of Hindustan, written by himself in the Jaghatai Turki, and translated partly by the late John Leyden, Esq., M.D., partly by William Erskine, Esq. London, 1826.)
[437] Nânaki, the sister of Nânac, was married to a Hindu of the name of Jaya-Ram, who was employed as a grain-factor of Dâulet Khan Lodi, a relation of the reigning emperor of Delhi. Nânac attended at the granary of Daulet Khan, which was in charge of Jaya-ram, at Sultan-púr—(G. M. p. 200.)
[438] Dâulet Khan Lodi, an Afghan by birth, was formerly private secretary to Mah-Toghluck, the eighth king of Delhi of the Tartarian dynasty, called Toghluck, which reigned from 1321 to 1412 A. D. At that time Dâulet Khan was placed at the head of the empire, but, at the end of one year and three months, he was obliged to yield his power to Khizer Khan, who founded the dynasty of Sadat, in Delhi. This dynasty, after thirty-eight years, made room for that of the Afghan princes of Lodi. Dâulat Khan established himself in the Penjab. In the general disorders of the empire, this Afghan chief, being attacked by other Afghans, connected himself with Baber, the Tartarian invader of Hindostan, in 1534, against Ibrahim Lodi, the Afghan king of Delhi, and after the victory of Baber, continued to rule the Penjab.
[439] Jaya-Rama was put in prison by Dâulet Khan, on the charge of having dissipated his property, but was justified by Nânak’s confessions—(G. M. p. 204).
[440] पवनाहारि “wind-eater.”
[441] He was one day lying on the ground with his feet in the direction of the temple of Mecca: “How darest thou, infidel,” called out a Muhammedan priest, “turn thy feet towards the house of God?” “How can I turn them,” answered Nânac, “in a direction where the house of God is not?”—(G. M. p. 274.)
[442] The first expedition which Baber undertook towards India was, according to Ferichta, in 1505; from Cabul, which he had conquered the year before, he pushed to, and along, the Indus. He attempted, later, three times to invade India, namely, in the years 1519, 1521, and 1522; but, being engaged in war, on one side with the Usbeck Tartars, and on the other with the Afghans, he did not completely succeed, till his fourth attempt in 1525, and in 1526 having overthrown Ibrahim Lody, in a great battle near Panniput, he destroyed the Afghan dynasty, three kings of which had reigned 74 years in Delhi. It was probably about this time that Nânac happened to be introduced to Baber, before whom he maintained his doctrine with great firmness and eloquence. The Tartarian conqueror, pleased with the Sikh reformer, ordered an ample maintenance to be bestowed on him, who refused it, saying, that he trusted in him who provided for all men—(G. M. p. 206).