- Died:
- November 11, 1675, Delhi
- Notable Family Members:
- son Guru Gobind Singh
Guru Tegh Bahadur
Who was Guru Tegh Bahadur?
What was Guru Tegh Bahadur known for?
What led to Guru Tegh Bahadur’s martyrdom?
Guru Tegh Bahadur (born April 1, 1621, Amritsar, Punjab, India—died November 11, 1675, Delhi) was an Indian spiritual leader who is revered as the ninth Sikh Guru (1664–75). He is considered to be the second Sikh martyr executed by the Mughal rulers. He was also the father of the 10th Guru, Guru Gobind Singh. Guru Tegh Bahadur led the Sikhs through a period of political turmoil and growing religious intolerance. He is remembered particularly for his fight for religious freedom. He contributed 116 verses to the Adi Granth (the sacred scripture of Sikhism).
Life and times
The first Sikh Guru to die for Sikhism was Guru Arjan, the fifth Sikh Guru. He was tortured to death by the Mughal emperor Jahangir for refusing to change sections of the Sikh sacred scripture, the Adi Granth.
Guru Tegh Bahadur was born Tyag Mal to the sixth Sikh Guru, Guru Hargobind, and his wife Mata Nanki, in Amritsar, India. Tyag Mal had four elder brothers. He received education in such languages as Hindi, Sanskrit, and Punjabi and studied instrumental and vocal Hindustani classical music, Hindu mythology, and gurbani (the Sikh Gurus’ words or knowledge). He was also trained in horsemanship, shooting, swordsmanship, and javelin throwing. The Guru lived during the rule of Aurangzeb, an emperor of the Mughal dynasty. The Mughal Empire, at its peak of military power under emperor Aurangzeb, imposed religious and political pressures, threatening the still-evolving Sikhism.
Tyag Mal’s father had militarized the Sikhs to resist Mughal oppression. As a result Tyag Mal started fighting in battles when he was very young. In fact, he earned the epithet Tegh Bahadur, meaning “brave swordsman,” after displaying his valor in the battle of Kartarpur against the Mughals. After the death of his father in 1644, Tegh Bahadur moved to Bakala, his mother’s native village, and is said to have spent most of his time there in naam simran (meditation on the divine name).
Installation as Guru
After Guru Hargobind, the Guruship passed to his grandson Har Rai, who became the seventh Guru. Later Guru Har Rai appointed his younger son, Harkrishan, who was only five years old at the time, as the next Guru. Guru Harkrishan came to be known as the “child Guru.” On his deathbed Guru Har Krishan told his followers that his successor could be found in the village of Bakala. A deputation went there and found 22 claimants. Bhai Makhan Shah, a wealthy Sikh merchant, sought out Tegh Bahadur, who, he realized, displayed none of the greed and self-aggrandizement of the other pretenders. Thereupon he proclaimed Tegh Bahadur the ninth Sikh Guru.
The Guru’s appointment came at a time when Aurangzeb was pursuing a policy of Islamic orthodoxy, reversing the relative religious tolerance of the preceding Mughal rulers. The growing pressure on non-Muslim populations through such measures as reinstating jizyah (a tax paid by non-Muslim populations to their Muslim rulers), destruction of temples, and forced conversions caused social and political unrest, including local uprisings and rivalries that challenged Mughal authority.
The Guru’s martyrdom
Guru Tegh Bahadur ran afoul of the Mughal authorities by giving aid and shelter to some Hindu Brahmins from Kashmir who had sought his help after they were ordered by the emperor Aurangzeb to convert to Islam. Encouraged by his son, Gobind Rai (who succeeded him as Guru), the Guru told the Hindus to inform the emperor that they would accept Islam if the Guru became a Muslim. With no intention of converting to Islam, he then left for Delhi to defend the Hindus against Aurangzeb and at the emperor’s order was arrested along the way. He was escorted with five Sikhs to Delhi and confined to the fortress in the city. While in prison he was given the choice to accept Islam or be tortured; he refused to convert.
The year 2025 marks the 350th martyrdom day of Guru Tegh Bahadur.
Aurangzeb, his patience at an end, ordered the Guru to embrace Islam or perform a miracle. The emperor promised great rewards if Tegh Bahadur did either but death if the Guru refused. Rejecting earthly honors and maintaining that he did not fear death, the Guru refused both options. In 1675, accepting the death sentence, he recited the Japji Sahib (a Sikh scripture that features at the beginning of the Adi Granth) until he was beheaded.
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An account from Guru Gobind Singh’s Bachittar Natak in Dasam Granth recounts the martyrdom of his father:
He protected the forehead mark and sacred thread (of the Hindus) which marked a great event in the Iron Age. For the sake of saints, he laid down his head without even a sigh. For the sake of dharma, he sacrificed himself; he laid down his head, but not his creed. The saints of the Lord abhor the performance of miracles and malpractices.
Traditional Sikh accounts differ from the Islamic accounts and cite the location of the execution to be in Delhi. At the site of the Guru’s execution in Chandni Chowk, one of Delhi’s oldest and busiest market streets, stands the Gurdwara Sisganj Sahib (sis meaning “head” and ganj meaning “place”). Across the road is Bhai Mati Das Chowk, a site of sacrifice of the Guru’s three companions Bhai Mati Das, Bhai Sati Das, and Bhai Dyal Das. It houses the Bhai Mati Das Museum.
In 1665 Guru Tegh Bahadur bought land near the foothills of the Himalayas from the ruler of Bilaspur (now in Himachal Pradesh) and named it Chak Nanki for his mother, Mata Nanki. After Guru Tegh Bahadur’s martyrdom, his son, Guru Gobind Singh, developed it further and renamed it Anandpur Sahib, meaning “City of Bliss.” Over time it has become an important center of Sikh faith and history.
After Guru Tegh Bahadur’s beheading, a loyal Sikh took the Guru’s head to Anandpur. According to tradition, another loyal Sikh took the body to his home and cremated it; a Sikh shrine, Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib, marks the spot of the cremation. Though historians cite November 11 as the date of his execution, in modern times Guru Tegh Bahadur’s martyrdom day is observed annually on November 24 by the Sikh community as a day for social justice and religious freedom. The celebrations include lighting and decorating the gurdwaras, nagar kirtans (“neighborhood devotional singing”), and the akhand path (“nonstop reading”) of the Adi Granth.
Guru Tegh Bahadur was succeeded by his son, Guru Gobind Singh, who later finalized the Adi Granth and created the Khalsa (Punjabi: “the Pure”), a casteless order of Sikhs that embodies courage and commitment to Sikh ideals.