कर्बला : दत्त मोहयालों का बलिदान

At the time of the war at Karbala,fought in 681 AD, which led to the divide of the Muslim race intoSunnis and Shias, Rahib Sidh Datt was a highly esteemed figure of Arabia due to his close relations with the family of Prophet Mohammed. When Ali, the fourth Caliph,( the son-in-law of the Prophet) was murdered his younger son,Hussain, came out to oppose the new Caliph,Yazid-ibin-Movia. The vastly superior forces of Yazid, at Karbala surrounded his force consisting of 200 men. In the war, when no Muslim king came to his help, Rahib fought on the side of Hussain and sacrificed his seven sons in the bloody war. Hussain was fatally wounded by Shamer, the commander of Yazid, and died of thirst in the desert on the tenth day of Moharram. Rahib chased the murderers as they ran with the severed head of Hussain, upto Kufa. Later, the head was carried to Damascus and finally buried with the rest of the body at Karbala.The Shia disciples of Imam Hussain and the valiant Datts did not lay down their arms till they saw the end of Yazid who could rule for just 40 days. Later on, when the Sunnis let loose an orgy of vendetta on the Shias and the followers of Rahib, the latter who was already overwhelmed with grief due to the slaughter of seven sons, left Arabia in 728 AD and migrated to Afghanistan via Iran and Turkistan.

The kith and kin of Rahib on their arrival in India were received with great hospitality by the native mohyals. After wandering over places, they settled near Nankana Sahib in district Sheikhupura in Pakistan. It was here that in the closing decades of the 10 th centuty that an interesting incident took place involving one peer called Wahun-a trickster chess player, and Shiv Datt-the helmsmam of the Datts. Wahun was known for his knack of invariably winning the games. According to a bet fixed by him, the loser would either pay the price with his head or embrace Islam. In this wasy he converted a large no of Hndus to Muslim faith till he met his match in Shiv Datt. He challanged the peer to a game of chess and defeate him three times in a row, thereby claiming the heads of his wife and 2 sons as per the stakes. However out of sheer magnanamity, Shiv Datt pardones their life. When Wahun came to know that one of the ancestors of Shiv Datt had sacrifised his 7 sons for the sake of the Prophet in the battle of Karbala, he took a solemn vow that in future he would never convert any Hindu by coercion to Islam. It was on this occasion that the peer echoed the famous words ‘ Wah Datt Sultan, Hindu ka dharam musalman ka iman ‘.