Relationship of Sikh Gurus with North Eastern States of India: Sikhs need to draw lesson and come forward in the help of North Eastern States in their current situation.

Punjab closer to the Northeast, which has footprints of the great Sikh gurus, Guru Nanak Dev and Guru Teg Bahadur Sahib.

First, the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak Dev, visited this region along with his companion Bhai Mardana. Dhubri is where Guru Nanak met the great Assamese saint, scholar, playwright and socio-religious reformer Srimanta Sankardeva in 1505. At that time, Assam was made up of two major regions – the region west of river Barna was known as Kamrup and the eastern part was called Asa Desh. From Dhubri, Guru Nanak travelled along the Brahmaputra and reached a place near Guwahati. Mardana was imprisoned here by a woman ruler, Nur Shah, who was later shown the right path by Guru Nanak. The Guru also met Kauda, the cannibal in Dhanasri valley, and t ransformed his life. He also visited Shillong, Sylhet and Dacca (Dhaka).

In 1669 AD Raja Ram Singh, Mughal general of Amber was deputed by Aurangzeb of Delhi to crush a rebellion by the Ahom king Chakradhwaj Singha. But Assam was a difficult country for such an operation and Raja Ram Singh requested Guru Teg Bahadur to accompany him. Guru Teg Bahadur approved the request; his presence was initially thought to be a morale booster to Ram Singh and his troops. However, later Guru's role was proved to be much more crucial than his mere presence. This operation was actually a punishment for Ram Singh because it was from his custody that Shivaji and his son had escaped, from Aurangzeb's likely execution, a few years earlier.

Guru Teg Bahadur successfully negotiated peace between Ahoms and Mughals, preventing bloodshed.  The grateful Ahom king invited Guruji to the Kamakhya shrine, where he was honoured with great respect. The happy occasion of the peace settlement brought about by the efforts of Guru Tegh Bahadur was celebrated by a joint homage to the shrine of Guru Nanak by the Mughal and Ahom armies. The mound of peace of Dhubri was erected with the red earth carried by the soldiers of the armies on their shields.

This permanent monument to Guru Tegh Bahadur's successful peace efforts stands at Dhubri to this day. Pilgrims from all over India visit Dhubri to pay homage at Gurdwara Damdama Sahim. They also visit the mound of peace constructed by Hindu and Muslim soldiers of the two armies.

He travelled widely in Assam and other places of the eastern region. He visited Dacca where Gurdwara Sangat Tola was established. During his stay in Assam the Guru blessed Raja Ram Manikya of Tripura and said he would have a son called Rattan Rai, who later ascended the throne of Tripura as Ratna Manikya.

Did the royalty continue its relation with the Guru?

Yes, the family greatly revered Guru Teg Bahadur and the Guru Garh. When Raja Ram passed away, Rattan was a young boy and he expressed his desire to meet the Guru. But by that time, Guru Teg Bahadur h ad already sacrificed his l ife in Delhi. So, Rattan a long with his mother went t o pay respect to Guru Gobi nd Singh.

Did they visit Punjab?

Yes, they came to Anandpur Sahib and spent five months here. Rattan had taken along five valuable items with him to offer Guru Gobind. One of them was a magnificent elephant, known as Prasadi Hathi, which had a thin white stripe running along i ts trunk to the tip of its tail. Besides, he also offered the Guru five beautiful horses, Panch Kala Shashtra – a unique five-in-one weapon consisting of pistol, sword, lance, dagger and club, a wonderful throne on which puppets popped out to play chess, chandan di chowki and a goblet made out of precious metal. Panch Kala Shashtra is now in Baroda Museum.

It is then keeping Raja Rattan Rai's request for Atmak Gyan, that Bani of Saviye was deliverd by Guru Gobind Singh Ji.

Is the relationship of Punjab with Assam still strong?

Very much so. Since 1820, Sikhs have been an integral part of Assam. Their fore fathers went there on an invitation from the Ahom king to defend the kingdom against the Burmese and laid down their lives at the battle of Hadirachaki. Those who survived did not return to Punjab and instead settled there. Besides them, a large number of Punjabi Sikhs went there later and have since been contributing towards the development of Assam.