Vagaries of the Indian calendar made two important events in the birth and development of Sikhism fall on the same day this year: the birthday of the founder Guru Nanak (1469-1539) and the martyrdom of the 9th Guru Tegh Bahadur in 1675. It happened to be on full moonlit night of November 24.

One facet of Sikhism we should keep in mind is its attempt to bridge the gulf between Hinduism and Islam. Guru Nanak’s life-long companion and first disciple was the Muslim minstrel Bhai Mardana who put the gurus hymns into different ragas of Indian classical music. Nanak has many hymns on Islamic themes. I will quote a couple of them:

mehar masit sidak musalla
If you would be a Muslim true
Let your life these rules pursue.
Let your mosque be the abode of kindness
In it spread your prayer-mat of faith,
And as you read the Koran think of righteous acts
Let modesty be your circumcision – your troth with God.
And gentle acts the fasts you keep.
Let the reward of good deeds be your Kaaba
And truth your preceptor.
Let the Kalima be your acts of mercy.
And as you tell the beads of the rosary
Dwell upon the Lord’s commandments.
Says Nanak: The Lord will preserve your honour.
And
Musalman kahaven muskal
To be a Mussulman is not easy
Only he who is one should make the claim
He should first follow in the footsteps of the holy
And accept their bitter words as sweet
Rid himself of worldly goods
As sandpaper rids iron of rust.
A Muslim's faith is to follow his leader
Caring neither for life nor death?
To believe that there is a God above
Whose will is Law,
And abandon all thoughts of self.
O Nanak, if the creator is merciful
Will you become a true Mussulman.

The attempt at bridge building continued till the Fifth Guru Arjun, who compiled the Sikhs’ sacred text the Adi Granth in 1601 AD. He not only included hymns of Muslim Bhakta and Sufi saints but also invited, the Sufi Sain Mian Meer from Lahore to lay the foundation stone of the Harimandir (today's Golden Temple) in Amritsar. He became the first Sikh martyr to bigotry. The second was the Ninth Guru Tegh Bahadur who was beheaded in Delhi in 1675. I quote one of his hymns which his son, the Tenth and last Guru Gobind Singh incorporated in the final edition of the Granth Sahib: jo nar dukh main dukh nahi manal
He who in adversity grieves not
He who is without fear
He who fails not in the snare of sensuality
Who has no greed for gold knowing it is like dust.
He who does not slander people when their backs are turned
Nor flatters them to their faces
He who has neither gluttony in his heart
Nor vanity nor attachment with worldly things
he whom nothing moves,
Neither good fortune nor ill,
Who cares not for the world’s applause,
Nor its censure,
Who ignores every wishful fantasy
And accepts what comes his way as it comes.
He whom lust cannot lure
Nor anger command,
In such a one lives God Himself
In such a man does the Guru’s grace descend,
For he knows the righteous path.
O Nanak, his soul singles with the Lord
As water mingles with water.

Akhond of Swat

The north-western half of Pakistan seems to be breaking loose from the rest of the country. It is tribal, traditional and extra-musculine: all men carry guns, women stay indoors or emerge encaged in burqas. Shariat laws take precedence over Pakistan Penal Code.

Two semi-independent regions Chitral, and Swat had chieftains of their own: the Mehtaras in Chitral, Akhonds in Swat. Swat is located midst high mountains  and is rugged country of rugged, handsome men addicted to Polo. Their women, no doubt, are good looking but not to be seen. Their chief, if he is still around, was immortalised by the great composer of limericks Edward Lear (1812-88): Who, or why, or which, or what, To the Akhond of Swat?