Gurdwara Data Bandi Chorh Sahib, situated in Gwalior, is associated with the imprisonment of Guru Har Gobind Sahib in Gwalior Fort and his celebrated release in which he managed to win the freedom of 52 Rajas (Kings) who had long suffered imprisonment in the Fort.
Pilgrims from all over the country visit this Gurdwara to pay homage to Guru Hargobind.
the safe return of the sixth Nanak, Guru Hargobind from detention from Gwalior Fort in about October 1619. The day coincides with the Hindu festival of Diwali , ("the festival of lights"). This concurrence has resulted in a similarity of celebrations amongst Sikhs and Hindus.
who was an admirer of Guru Hargobind, requested the Guru to accompany them to Delhi telling him that Emperor Jahangir wanted to meet him. Guru Sahib accepted the invitation and soon reached Delhi. However Guru Hargobind was a man totally assured of himself who by his mere appearance and evident holiness charmed Jahangir and his wife Noor Jahan (said to be the real power in Jahangir's Darbar.) . But the same evil men who had plotted the arrest and torture of Guru Arjan hatched a plot aimed at similar fate for Guru Hargobind. In this well told version Jahangir falls terribly ill, his Astrologers predictions end with Guru Hargobind seemingly a prisoner in Gwalior Fort whose prayers are the only cure for Jahangir. The Sikhs, after the Martyrdom of Guru Arjan, fear the worst, but the Guru is not worried in the least, even as the same powerful Hindu Courtier Chandu Shah planned his death.
There are at least three other versions of the Stay of Guru Hargobind at Gwalior Fort.
In the following version the Emperor without meeting the Guru calls for his release on others' recommendations, drops a huge fine he had imposed and doesn't get upset by the Guru's, (who he has not met) outsmarting him and causing him a considerable loss of 'Royal' face by his clever adaptation of the wording of the Emperor's orders by adding 52 tails or ribands to his cloak to outwit the Emperor.
Maybe as some say he had wanted to avoid killing the young Guru outright and schemed to have Guru Hargobind die from some 'friendly fire' while hunting a ferocious man eating tiger. And to think they called him Jahangir the Just.
Alternative version I
The cause of detention, it is said, was that fanatical Muslim officers, particularly those under the influence of the Naqshbandi cult, were alarmed by the Guru's new policy of militarization. They poisoned the mind of Jahangir, who, otherwise, about that time had a soft corner for the Guru. (One wonders why he would have a soft spot for the Guru, unlike his subordinates). He was summoned to Delhi and was asked to pay a fine of rupees two lakhs which had been imposed on his father and which the latter had refused to pay.
According to Sikh chronicles, the detenition was for a period of 40 - 60 days. 60 days seems more likely. The persuasive efforts of Bhai Jetha at Jahangir's court and maybe the exercise of influence with the Emperor by the Muslim saint Hazrat Mian Mir, a friend of Guru Arjan, brought an early end to his detention. The release came in the nature of a general amnesty which also brought the end of the imprisonment of the 52 Rajas who had been kept there. The Guru came to be known as 'Bandi Chhor' The Grand emancipator. (This version gives no reason for the Guru having anything to do with the Rajas' release.)
Alternate version III, minor difference with version I, maybe missing - release
Mughal rulers used this fort as a prison for chiefs and nobles of status. Emperor Jahangir ordered the incarceration of Guru Hargobind here at the instigation of the Guru's detractors. However, when the Sufi Saint Mian Mir and other sympathizers interceded, the Emperor ordered the Guru's release. When the imprisoned nobles heard of his release, they looked up to him for his assistance as a man of God, pious as well as brave. Guru Hargobind refused to be released unless the other internees were also let out. The emperor agreed to release as many of them as could come out holding the fringe of the Guru's robe.
This earned for the Guru the epithet Data Bandi Chhor, lit. the munificent liberator. Chroniclers differ about the dates and duration of the Guru's detention. But it appears that it was only for a few months sometime between 1617 and 1619.
A shrine bearing the name was established inside the fort. It was looked after by Muslim priests until the Sikhs acquired possession and established a Gurdwara after the Independence in 1947. The original shrine in the form of a marbled platform is still maintained near the entrance to Gurdwara Data Bandi Chhor Patshahi 6 Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji, as it is now named. The present building complex spread over six acres was constructed under the supervision of Sant Jhanda Singh and Utam Singh Mauni of Khadur Sahib during the 1970s and 1980s. The principal building is a six-storey edifice near the old shrine.
