The children were taken to Sirhind, and there, by order of the Emperor Aurangzeb, were buried alive. The Guru continued his flight into the deserts south of the Sutlej[1], and after many adventures settled at Talwandi in Patiála territory, which he declared should be as sacred to the Sikhs as Benares to the Hindus. This halting place is known as Damdama (dam, breath), and is a great Sikh centre, the best Gúrmukhi writers being found here. Another town, Bhattinda, in the same State, is also known as a Damdama of the Guru. Here he expelled a demon which was wont to ravage the town, and remained in the neighbourhood for some time, his fame and influence continually increasing[2].
An interesting account of his life at this place is given in the Sákhis, which, with certain deductions for religious extravagance, may be accepted as a fairly accurate picture of the Sikh prophet holding court like a monarch, and attaching followers by his liberality and munificence. Nor were the credentials of the true prophet, by the working of miracles, absent. The Sákhis are full of the wonder-working power of the Guru. We find his blessing giving children to childless parents[3], expelling demons[4], banishing disease from a village[5], making brackish water sweet[6], punishing treachery by inflicting a deadly and hereditary disease[7], making a dead tree to bear leaves and blossoms[8]. On one occasion the Hindu and Muhamma-
