Failure of Negotiations with Bahadur Shah (1707–8)
Guru Gobind Singh had an important meeting with Bahadur Shah at Agra in July 1707. It was recorded in the Akhbarat-i Darbar-i Mu‘alla that Guru Gobind Singh went fully armed into the presence of Bahadur Shah and received a medallion set with precious stones. On 2 October 1707 Guru Gobind Singh wrote to the Sikh sangat of Khara that his meeting with the emperor had settled matters and he would return to Kahlur (Anandpur) in a short time. However, Bahadur Shah had to go to Rajasthan first and then to Haidarabad, and he persuaded Guru Gobind Singh to accompany him. At Burhanpur in the summer of 1708 the Guru decided to go to Nanded. He appears to have been disillusioned with Bahadur Shah due to his evasive attitude. The first thing he did in Nanded was to commission Banda to go to the Punjab and lead the Khalsa in revolt in a bid for Khalsa Raj.