Guru Tegh Bahadur (Punjabi: ਗੁਰੂ ਤੇਗ਼ ਬਹਾਦਰ, Punjabi pronunciation: [ɡʊru teɣ bəhɑdʊɾ]; 1 April 1621 – 24 November 1675,[1][2]), revered as the ninth Nanak, was the ninth of ten Gurus (Prophets) of the Sikh religion. Guru Tegh Bahadur carried forward the light of sanctity and divinity of the first Sikh Guru,Guru Nanak; his spiritual revelations dealing with varied themes such as the nature of God, human attachments, body, mind, sorrow, dignity, service, death and deliverance, are registered in the form of 115 poetic hymns in the sacred text Guru Granth Sahib.
Although a Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Tegh Bahadur was approached by Hindu Pandits from Kashmir in 1675, to seek his intercession against the forced conversions of Hindus to Islam by the Mughal rulers of India. For resisting these forced conversions [3] and for himself refusing to convert to Islam [4][5][6], Guru Teg Bahadur was publicly executed via beheading at the imperial capital Delhi on the orders of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb [7]. Owing to this sacrifice, Guru Tegh Bahadur is revered as Hind-di-Chaadar (shield of Hind(India)). Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib and Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib in Delhi mark the places of execution and cremation of the Guru's body. Along with Guru Teg Bahadur, three other Sikhs, Bhai Mati Das, Bhai Sati Das andBhai Dyal Das, were also executed.
On Guru Teg Bahadur's sacrifice, the tenth Nanak, Guru Gobind Singh, wrote
Early life[edit]
Guru Tegh Bahadur was born in a Sodhi Family.[9] The Sixth guru, Guru Hargobind had one daughter Bibi Viro and five sons: Baba Gurditta, Suraj Mal, Ani Rai, Atal Rai and Tyaga Mal Khatri.[10] Tyaga Mal Khatri was born in Amritsar in the early hours of 1 April 1621. The name Tegh Bahadur (Mighty Of The Sword), was given to him by Guru Hargobind after he had shown his valour in a battle against the Mughals.
Amritsar at that time was the centre of Sikh faith. As the seat of the Sikh Gurus, and with its connection to Sikhs in far-flung areas of the country through the chains of Masands or missionaries, it had developed the characteristics of a state capital. Guru Tegh Bahadur Singh was brought up in Sikh culture. He was trained in the martial-arts of archery and horsemanship, and was also taught the old classics. He underwent prolonged spells of seclusion and contemplation. Tegh Bahadur was married on 3 February 1633, to Mata Gujri.[11]
Stay at Bakala[edit]
In the 1640s, nearing his death, Guru Hargobind said to his wife Nanaki, to move to his ancestral village of Bakala inAmritsar district, together with Guru Tegh Bahadur and Mata Gujri. Bakala, as described in Gurbilas Dasvin Patishahi, was then a properous town with many beautiful pools, wells and baolis. Guru Tegh Bahadur meditated at Bakala for about twenty years (1644-1664) and lived there with his wife and mother.[12] He spent most of his time in meditation, but was not a recluse, and attended to family responsibilities. He made visits outside Bakala, and also visited the eighth Sikh guru Guru Har Krishan, when the latter was in Delhi.[12]
Guruship[edit]
In March 1664 Guru Har Krishan contracted smallpox. When asked by his followers who would lead them after him, he replied Baba Bakala, meaning his successor was to be found in Bakala. Taking the advantage of the ambiguity in the words of the dying Guru, many installed themselves as the new Guru.[13] Sikhs were puzzled to see so many claimants.[13][14]
The Sikh tradition has a legend on how Guru Tegh Bahadur was found and chosen as the ninth guru. A wealthy trader,Baba Makhan Shah Labana, had once prayed for his life and had promised to gift 500 gold coins to the Sikh guru if he survived.[13] He arrived in search of the ninth Guru. He went from one claimant to the next making his obeisance and offering two gold coins to each Guru, believing that the right guru would know that his silent promise was to gift 500 coins for his safety. Every "guru" he met accepted the 2 gold coins and bid him farewell.[13] Then he discovered that Guru Tegh Bahadur, who also lived at Bakala. Labana gifted Tegh Bahadur the usual offering of two gold coins. Tegh Bahadur gave him his blessings and remarked that his offering was considerably short of the promised five hundred. Makhan Shah Labana forthwith made good the difference and ran upstairs. He began shouting from the rooftop, "Guru ladho re, Guru ladho re" meaning "I have found the Guru, I have found the Guru".[13]
In August 1664 a Sikh Sangat arrived in Bakala and anointed Tegh Bahadur as the ninth guru of Sikhs. The Sangat was led by Diwan Durga Mal, and a formal "Tikka ceremony" was performed by Bhai Gurditta on Tegh Bahadur conferring Guruship on him.[14]
As had been the custom among Sikhs after the execution of Guru Arjan by Mughal Emperor Jahangir, Guru Tegh Bahadur was surrounded by armed bodyguards.[15] He himself lived an austere life.[16]
Works[edit]
He contributed many hymns to the Guru Granth Sahib]including the Saloks, or couplets near the end of the Guru Granth Sahib.[16] Guru Tegh Bahadur toured various parts of India, and was asked by Gobind Sahali to construct several Sikh temples in Mahali. His works include 116 shabads, 15 ragas and his bhagats are credited with 782 compositions that are part of bani in Sikhism.[17]
His works are included in Adi Granth, from pages 219 to 1427.[18] They cover a wide range of topics, such as the nature of God, human attachments, body, mind, sorrow, dignity, service, death and deliverance.[18] For example, in Sorath rag, Guru Tegh Bahadur describes what an ideal human being is like,[18]
Journeys[edit]
Guru Tegh Bahadur travelled extensively in different parts of the country, including Dhaka and Assam, to preach the teachings of Nanak, the first Sikh guru. The places he visited and stayed in, became sites of Sikh temples.[19] During his travels, Guru Tegh Bahadur spread the Sikh ideas and message, as well as started community water wells and langars (community kitchen charity for the poor).[20][21]
The Guru made three successive visits to Kiratpur. On 21 August 1664, Guru went there to console with Bibi Rup upon the death of her father, Guru Har Rai, the seventh Sikh guru, and of her brother, Guru Har Krishan.[citation needed] The second visit was on 15 October 1664, at the death on 29 September 1664, of Bassi, the mother of Guru Har Rai. A third visit concluded a fairly extensive journey through northwest Indian subcontinent. His son Guru Gobind Singh, who would be the tenth Sikh guru, was born in Patna, while he was away in Dhubri, Assam in 1666, where stands the Gurdwara Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib. He there helped end the war between Raja Ram Singh of Bengal and Raja Chakardwaj of Ahom state (later Assam).[20][22] He also visited the towns of Mathura, Agra, Allahabad and Varanasi.[23]
After his visit to Assam, Bengal and Bihar, the Guru visited Rani Champa of Bilaspur who offered to give the Guru a piece of land in her state. The Guru bought the site for 500 rupees. There, Guru Tegh Bahadur founded the city of Anandpur Sahibin the foothills of Himalayas.[6][24]
In 1672 Guru Tegh Bahadur travelled through Kashmir and the North-West Frontier, to meet the masses, as the persecution of non-Muslims reached new heights.[25]
Martyrdom of Guru by Aurangzeb[edit]
In 1675 Guru Tegh Bahadur was executed in Delhi on 11 November under the orders of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb.[4][5] No contemporary detailed accounts of the circumstances of his arrest and execution have survived either in Persian or Sikh sources. The only accounts available are those written about a 100 years later, and these accounts are conflicting.[26]
According to the official account of the Mughal Empire, written 107 years later by Ghulam Husain of Lucknow in 1782,[26][27]
Satish Chandra cautions that this was the "official justification", which historically can be expected to be full of evasion and distortion to justify official action.[26]
Another Muslim scholar, Ghulam Muhiuddin Bute Shah wrote his Tarikh-i-Punjab in 1842,[28] over a century and half after the death of Guru Tegh Bahadur, saying that there was ongoing hostility from Ram Rai, the elder brother of Guru Har Kishan, against Guru Tegh Bahadur. Ghulam Muhiuddin Bute Shah said that "Ram Rai represented to the Emperor that Guru Tegh Bahadur was very proud of his spiritual greatness and that he would not realise his fault unless he was punished. Ram Rai also suggested that Guru Tegh Bahadur be asked to appear before the Emperor to work a miracle, if he failed, he could be put to death." Satish Chandra and others say that this account is also doubtful as to the circumstances or cause of Guru Tegh Bahadur's execution.[26][29]
Sikh historians record that Guru Tegh Bahadur had become a socio-political challenge to the Muslim rule and Aurangzeb.[4]The Sikh movement was rapidly growing in the rural Malwa region of Punjab, and the Guru was openly encouraging Sikhs to, "be fearless in their pursuit of just society: he who holds none in fear, nor is afraid of anyone, is acknowledged as a man of true wisdom", a statement recorded in Adi Granth 1427.[4][5] While Guru Tegh Bahadur influence was rising, Aurangzeb had imposed Islamic laws, demolished infidel schools and temples, and enforced new taxes on non-Muslims.[5][6][23]
The main substantive record however comes from Guru Tegh Bahadur's son, Guru Gobind Singh in his composition, Bachittar Natak. This composition is recited in every Sikh place of workshop on the occasion of the Guru's martyrdom. According to records written by his son Guru Gobind Singh, the Guru had resisted persecution, adopted and promised to protect Kashmiri Hindus.[4][30] The Guru was summoned to Delhi by Aurangzeb on a pretext, but when he arrived, he was offered, "to abandon his faith, and convert to Islam".[4][30] Guru Tegh Bahadur refused, he and his associates were arrested. He was executed on November 11, 1675 before public in Chandni Chowk, Delhi. [5][30]
William Irvine states that Guru Tegh Bahadur was tortured for many weeks while being asked to abandon his faith and convert to Islam; he stood by his convictions and refused, he was then executed.[31][32] Sikh tradition says that the associates of the Guru were also tortured for refusing to convert: Bhai Mati Das was sawed into pieces and Bhai Dayal Das was thrown into a cauldron of boiling water, while Guru Tegh Bahadur was held inside a cage to watch his colleagues suffer.[33] The Guru himself was beheaded in public.[34][35]
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