Zafarnama means the Notification of Victory and is the name given to the letter sent by the tenth SikhGuru, Guru Gobind Singh Ji in 1705 to the Emperor of India, Aurangzeb. The letter is written in exquisite Persian verse. A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism, a religious faith originating in the Punjab. ... A guru (गुरू Sanskrit) is a teacher in Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism. ... Guru Gobind Singh Ji (December 22, 1666 in Patna, Bihar, India - October 7, 1708) was the tenth and last of the Ten Gurus of Sikhism and became Guru on November 11, 1675 following in the footsteps of his father Guru Teg Bahadur Ji. ... Events Construction begins on Blenheim Palace, in Oxfordshire, England. ...
In this letter, Guru Ji reminds Aurangzeb how he and his henchmen had broken their oaths taken on holy Koran. Even so, this treacherous leader could not harm the Guru. Guru Ji states in this letter that in spite of his several sufferings, he had won a moral victory over the crafty Mughal who had broken all his vows. Despite sending a huge army to capture or kill the Guru, the Mughal forces did not succeed in their mission.
The letter reads like a reprimand by a superior personality on a higher plane to a cruel and distorted inhuman being on a lower and pitiful plane. Guru Ji in the 111 verses of this notice rebuke Aurangzeb for his weaknesses as a human being and for excesses as a leader. Guru Ji confirms his confidence and his unflinching faith in the Almighty even after suffering extreme personal loss.
Of the 111 verses, the maximum numbers of 34 verses are to praise God; 32 deal with Aurangzeb’s invitation for the Guru Ji to meet him and Guru Ji refusal to meet the Emperor - instead Guruji asks Aurangzeb to visit the Guru; 24 verses detail the events in the Battle of Chamkaur, which took place on 22 December1704; 15 verses reprove Aurangzeb for breaking promise given by him and by his agents to the Guru; In verses 78 and 79, the Master had also warned Aurangzeb about the resolve of the Khalsa not to rest till his evil empire is destroyed; 6 verses praise Aurangzeb. Guru Gobind Singh JI. December 22 is the 356th day of the year (357th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Events Building of the Students Monument in Aiud, Romania. ...
Guru Ji has devoted 34 verses of Zafarnama in praise of God, 20 verses describe the battle of Chamkaur, 15 verses convey rebuke to Aurangzeb for breaking oath by him and by his agents, 36 refer to his shortcomings as a just ruler and his invitations to Guru Ji for discussions.
The Zafarnama in the present form is the versified form of this diplomatic communication by Bhai Nand Lal who was a great scholar of Persian language (Life of GuruGobind Singh Ji by Dalip Sing).
The layout of the translation is as follows: each verse of Zafarnama and Fatehnama appears in Gurumkhi, Persian and Roman scripts, followed by the meaning of each word in English and finally the meaning of the entire verse in English (in bold letters).
Less noticed but those that deserved attention were translations of GuruGobind Singh’s Akal Ustat (Praise of the Immortal) and Zafarnama (epistle of Victory) composed in Persian and addressed to Emperor Aurangzeb by Darshan Singh, former diplomat who retired from the IFS a couple of years ago.
Darshan Singh, born a Hindu, is an example of the tradition followed by the many Punjabi Hindu families of bringing up their eldest son as a Khalsa Singh.
Zafarnama is of considerable historical and literary interest.
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