The unifying theme in the life of Guru Gobind Singh was confrontation with the Mughals, which culminated in a struggle for political power. This fact is brought into sharp focus when we consider the Guru's life and legacy simultaneously in the contexts of the Mughal Empire, its feudatory states in the hills, and the Sikh movement. The creation of the Khalsa in 1699 as a political community with the aspiration to rule made conciliation or compromise with the Mughal
state almost impossible. Their long struggle ended eventually in the declaration of Khalsa Raj in 1765.
Using contemporary and...