Aurangzeb while in the Deccan felt nervous about the Khalsa, and summoned Govind Singh to his Court. He replied in a letter, setting forth the calamities and persecution to which he had been subjected by the Imperial Government. He had been rendered childless and homeless; he had lost all his family. The day of reckoning would at last come when the oppressor would have to account before the Creator for the wrongs done by him; that for himself he despised death and was weary of life; that he feared no one and was willing to die, but that if he was killed his death would be avenged. The Emperor did not resent this letter, but again desired the Guru to come to him, in which case he would be kindly received. He accordingly set out in 1707 to visit Aurangzeb, but on his way he heard of the Emperor's death. The new Emperor, Bahadur Shah, received Govind Singh with distinction, and as he had to contend with the younger brother for the crown, invited his aid and gave him a command
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