Page 238 - Lohgarh

State of Garhwal and the Sikhs

On June 1634, Guru Hargobind Sahib visited Garhwal on his way to
Gorakhmatta (now Nanakmata). Here, he met Rani Karnavati, widow
of Mahipat Shah, Raja of Garwal (1622-1633) and Samrath Ram Das
(the mentor of Shivaji Maratha). Samrath Ram Das learnt lessons in
polity from the Guru (which he, later, taught to his disciple Shivaji
Maratha). 1
Raja Mahipat Shah’s son Prithivi Shah was only eight years old when
Guru Hargobind visited Garwal, and, his mother, Rani Karnavati was
looking after the Kingdom of Garhwal. After Guru Sahib’s visit the morale
of queen became up and she became bold to face any odds. Rani
Karnavati for many years successfully defended the kingdom against
the invaders and repelled the attack of the Mughal army, led by Najabat
Khan sent by Emperor Shah Jahan, in 1640. In those times she was
known by the nickname of ‘Nakti Rani’ as she used to chopps off the
noses of any invader to her kingdom. In 1654 Shah Jahan despatched
an expedition to coerce Raja Pirthi Shah, which ended in the separation
2
of Dehra Dun from Garhwal. In May 1657, a major battle between Dara
Shikoh’s army and Aurangzeb army took place at Shamugarh, which
resulted into Aurangzeb victory. On 29 May 1658 Suleiman Shikoh son
of Dara Shikoh took refuge in Garhwal, since Aurangzeb had prisoned
his father Emperor Shah Jahan and had launched war against his
brothers. Guru Har Rai had a large army of Sikh soldiers. He supported
the moderate Sufi-influenced Dara Shikoh instead of conservative Sunni-
influenced Aurangzeb as the two brothers entered into a war of
succession to the Mughal Empire’s throne.