Guru Teg Bahadur
Encyclopedia
Guru Tegh Bahadur (1st April 1621 – 24th November 1675) became the 9th Guru of Sikhi on 20 March 1665, following in the footsteps of his grand-nephew, Guru Har Krishan
Guru Har Krishan
Guru Har Krishan was the eighth of the Eleven Gurus of Sikhism. He became Guru on 7 October 1661, succeeding his father, Guru Har Rai...

. Guru Tegh Bahadur was executed on the orders of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb
Aurangzeb
Abul Muzaffar Muhy-ud-Din Muhammad Aurangzeb Alamgir , more commonly known as Aurangzeb or by his chosen imperial title Alamgir , was the sixth Mughal Emperor of India, whose reign lasted from 1658 until his death in 1707.Badshah Aurangzeb, having ruled most of the Indian subcontinent for nearly...

 in Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...

.

Early life

Guru Tegh Bahadur was the youngest of the five sons of Guru Har Gobind
Guru Har Gobind
Guru Hargobind Sahib, also Saccha Badshah was the sixth of the Sikh gurus and became Guru on 25 May 1606 following in the footsteps of his father Guru Arjan Dev. He was not, perhaps, more than eleven at his father's execution...

. He was born in Amritsar
Amritsar
Amritsar is a city in the northern part of India and is the administrative headquarters of Amritsar district in the state of Punjab, India. The 2001 Indian census reported the population of the city to be over 1,500,000, with that of the entire district numbering 3,695,077...

 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 with the Mughals.

Amritsar at that time was the centre of Gursikh
Gursikh
A Gursikh is a Sikh fully devoted to the true Guru.Guru comes from gu meaning darkness and ru meaning light"dispels the darkness of ignorance , and proclaims enlightenment...

 faith. Under Guru Hargobind, it had become even more renowned. By virtue of being seat of the Guru and by its connection with the Sikhs in far flung areas of the country through the chains of masands it had developed the characteristics of a state capital.

Tegh Bahadur was brought up in the most approved Sikh style. He was trained in the arts of archery and horsemanship and taught old classics. He is taken to be of deep mystical temperament with his prolonged spells of seclusion and contemplation.

Tegh Bahadur was married on 3 February 1631, with Mata Gujri.

Nearing his end, Guru Hargobind asked Nanaki, mother of Tegh Bahadur, to go and live in the village of Bakala. She departed with Tegh Bahadur and Gujri to make home in Bakala, which was the native place of the mother of the Sixth Guru.

Stay at Bakala

Bakala of those days as described in Gurbilas Dasvin Patishahi was a properous town with many beautiful pools, wells and baolis. He lived a strict and holy life and spent most of his time in meditation. Yet, he was not a recluse and attended to family responsibilities. He went out riding and he followed the chase. He made visits outside Bakala and also visited Guru Har Krishan
Guru Har Krishan
Guru Har Krishan was the eighth of the Eleven Gurus of Sikhism. He became Guru on 7 October 1661, succeeding his father, Guru Har Rai...

, when the latter was in Delhi.

As Guru of Sikhs

During his stay in Delhi, Guru Har Krishan was seized with smallpox. When asked by his followers as to who would lead them after him, he replied Baba Bakale, meaning his successor was to be found in Bakala.

Some pretenders took advantage of the ambiguity in the words of the dying Guru and installed themselves as Guru of Sikhs. The most influential of them was nephew of Tegh Bahadur, Dhir Mall. The Sikhs were puzzled to see so many claimants and could not make out who the real Guru was.

A wealthy trader Baba Makhan Shah Labana arrived in search of the Guru. He went from one Guru to the next making his obeisance and offering two gold Mohurs (coins) to each guru, while before he had promised to give god 500 coins for his safety in a storm. Then he discovered that a saintly man named Tegh Bahadur also lived there who made no claims about himself.

Baba Makhan Shah Labana lost no time and went straight to the house of Tegh Bahadur. There he made 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 forthwith made good the difference and ran upstairs. He began shouting from the rooftop: Guru ladho re, Guru ladho re (I have found the Guru, I have found the Guru).

The responsibility of instructing and guiding the Sikh community was now of Guru Tegh Bahadur's. He was the focal point of veneration of the Sikhs. They came singly and in batches to seek spiritual solace and inspiration. And by his teachings and practise, he moulded their religious and social conscience.

As had been the custom since Guru Har Gobind, Guru Tegh Bahadur kept a splendid lifestyle. He had his armed attendance and other marks of royalty. But he himself lived austerely. Sikh or other documents make no mention of any clash with the ruling power having occurred during his time.
Travels were undertaken by him in different parts of the country to preach the teachings of Guru Nanak. His places of visit included Dacca and Assam
Assam
Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...

. It was during one of these visits that his son Guru Gobind Singh
Guru Gobind Singh
Guru Gobind Singh is the tenth and last Sikh guru in a sacred lineage of ten Sikh gurus. Born in Patna, Bihar in India, he was also a warrior, poet and philosopher. He succeeded his father Guru Tegh Bahadur as the leader of Sikhs at a young age of nine...

 was born.

The Guru made three successive visits to Kiratpur
Kiratpur
Kiratpur is a city and a municipal board in Bijnor district of Uttar Pradesh.-History:Kiratpur as a part of the district Bijnor shares the same history for most of the time period...

. On 21 August 1664, Guru Tegh Bahadur went there to console with Bibi Rup Kaur upon the passing away of her father, Guru Har Rai
Guru Har Rai
Guru Har Rai was the seventh of ten living Gurus of the Sikhs who became Guru on 8 March 1644 following in the footsteps of his grandfather, Guru Har Gobind, who was the sixth guru. Before he died, he nominated five year old Har Krishan, his youngest son as the next Guru of the Sikhs...

, and of her brother, Guru Har Krishan
Guru Har Krishan
Guru Har Krishan was the eighth of the Eleven Gurus of Sikhism. He became Guru on 7 October 1661, succeeding his father, Guru Har Rai...

. The second visit was on 15 October 1664, at the death on 29 September 1664, of Mata Bassi, mother of Guru Har Rai. A third visit concluded a fairly extensive journey through Majha
Majha
Majha is a region of the Punjab comprising the modern districts of Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Tarn Taran in the Indian State of Punjab and the districts of Narowal, Lahore and Kasur in the Pakistani Province of Punjab. The term previously applied to Panjabis living north of the Sutlej...

, Malwa
Malwa (Punjab)
Malwa is a region of Punjab and parts of Haryana between the Sutlej and Yamuna rivers. This Malwa should not be confused with the Malwa Plateau region of Madhya Pradesh, Central India...

 and Bangar
Bangar
Bangar may refer to* Bangarh, India, a caste of jats and Ad Dharmi residing in North India* Bangar, Brunei, a town in Brunei* Bangar, La Union, a municipality in the Philippines* Bangar, an alluvial soil type in North India and Pakistan...

 districts of the Punjab
Punjab region
The Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...

. Crossing the Beas
Beas River
The Beas River is a river in the northern part of India. The river rises in the Himalayas in central Himachal Pradesh, India, and flows for some 470 km to the Sutlej River in the Indian state of Punjab....

 and Sutlej rivers, Guru Tegh Bahadur arrived in the Malwa. He visited Zira and Moga
Moga, Punjab
Moga is a city and a municipality in Moga district in the Indian state of Punjab.It became part and headquarter of 17th District in the state, Moga district of Punjab State on 24th day of November 1995, by then Chief Minister Harcharan Singh Brar. Before this, Moga was a part of Faridkot District...

 and reached Darauli. He then sojourned in the Lakhi Jungle
Lakhi Jungle
Lakhi Jungle is situated 15 km from Bathinda, on the way to Muktsar. A forest having old Gurudwara enjoyed the touches of Shri Guru Nanak Dev who recited one lakh holy Paths of Shri Japuji Sahib. Therefore it was called Lakhi Jungle. Ninth Sikh Guru, Guru Teg Bahadur, and Tenth Sikh Guru,...

, a desolate and sandy tract comprising mainly present-day districts of Bhatinda and Faridkot
Faridkot District
Faridkot district is one of the twenty districts in the state of Punjab in North-West Republic of India. According to Punjab's Geo-Area, Faridkot is a Malwa District. It is one of the biggest cotton markets in South-East Asia. The name 'Faridkot' is derived from Baba Farid, a god-lover who wanted...

. According to the Guru kian Sakhian, Baisakhi of 1665 was celebrated at Sabo-ki Talwandi
Talwandi
Talwandi is a town and Union Council of Kasur District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is part of Chunian Tehsil located at 30°53'60N 74°7'60E and has an altitude of 175 metres ....

, now known as Damdama Sahib. This journey took Guru Tegh Bahadur up to Dhamdhan, near Jind
Jind
Jind is a town in Jind District, Harayana state, India.It is one of the oldest districts of Harayana. It is one of the first Sikh Kingdoms. It lies in central Haryana and is the fourth district of the Jat belt .The city is beautiful...

, from where he returned to Kiratpur. The Dowager Rani Champa of Bilaspur
Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh
Bilaspur is a city and a municipal council in Bilaspur district in the state of Himachal Pradesh, India.-Geography:Bilaspur is located at . It has an average elevation of 673 metres . It is hot in summer and cold in winters. It rains mostly in July to august .It lies near the reservoir of...

 offered to give the Guru a piece of land in her state. The Guru bought the site on payment of Rs 500). The land consisted of the villages of Lodhipur, Mianpur and Sahota
Sahota
Sahota are a clan of Jatts, Rajputs, and Tarkhans found in Punjab, India and Punjab, Pakistan.- History and origin myths :According to their traditions, their ancestor was a mythical fairy by the name of Punj Phulan Rani, who lived on a flower. She gave birth to a baby boy, and a tiger came and...

. Here on the mound of Makhowal, Guru Tegh Bahadur raised a new city.

Death

The Mughal Emperor, Aurangzeb cherished the ambition of converting India into a land of Islam.
This philosophy was also pleaded by Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi
Ahmad Sirhindi
Imām Rabbānī Shaykh Ahmad al-Farūqī al-Sirhindī was an Indian Islamic scholar from Punjab, a Hanafi jurist, and a prominent member of the Naqshbandī Sufi order. He is described as Mujaddid Alf Thānī, meaning the "reviver of the second millennium", for his work in rejuvenating Islam and opposing...

 (1569–1624), leader of the Naqashbandi School, to counter the liberal policies of Akbar's reign.

The Emperor's experiment was carried out in Kashmir
Kashmir
Kashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...

. The viceroy of Kashmir, Iftikar Khan (1671–1675) carried out the policy vigorously and set about converting non-Muslims by force.

A group of Kashmiri Pandit
Kashmiri Pandit
The Kashmiri Pandits are a Hindu Brahmin community originating from Kashmir, a mountainous region in South Asia.-Background:The Hindu caste system of the region was influenced by the influx of Buddhism from the time of Asoka, around the third century BCE, and a consequence of this was that the...

s (Kashmiri Hindu Brahmins), approached Guru Tegh Bahadur and asked for help. They, on the advice of the Guru, told the Mughal authorities that they would willingly embrace Islam if Guru Tegh Bahadur, did the same.

Orders of the arrest of the Guru were issued by Aurangzeb, who was in present day North West Frontier Province of Pakistan subduing Pushtun rebellion. The Guru was arrested at a place called Malikhpur near Anandpur
Anandpur Sahib
Anandpur Sahib is a city in Rupnagar district in the state of Punjab, India. Known as "the holy City of Bliss," it is a holy city of the Sikhs and is one of their most important sacred places, closely linked with their religious traditions and history...

 after he had departed from Anandpur for Delhi. Before departing he nominated his son, Gobind Rai (Guru Gobind Singh
Guru Gobind Singh
Guru Gobind Singh is the tenth and last Sikh guru in a sacred lineage of ten Sikh gurus. Born in Patna, Bihar in India, he was also a warrior, poet and philosopher. He succeeded his father Guru Tegh Bahadur as the leader of Sikhs at a young age of nine...

) as the next Sikh Guru.

He was arrested, along with some of his followers, Bhai Dayala
Bhai Dayala
Bhai Dyala ji was one of the earliest and great Martyrs to the Sikh faith. Along with his companions Bhai Mati Das and Bhai Sati Das as well as Ninth Guru, Guru Teg Bahadur ji, Bhai Dayala was martyred at Chandni Chowk at Delhi in November 1675 on account of his refusal to barter his...

, Bhai Mati Das
Bhai Mati Das
Bhai Mati Das Bhai Mati Das Bhai Mati Das (Punjabi: ਭਾਈ ਮਤੀ ਦਾਸ, is one of the greatest martyrs in Sikh history. He along with his younger brother Bhai Sati Das and Bhai Dyal Das, all disciples of the ninth Sikh Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur, were executed along with him at the Kotwali(police-station)...

 and Bhai Sati Das
Bhai Sati Das
Bhai Sati Das along with his elder brother Bhai Mati Das is one of the greatest martyrs in Sikh history. Bhai Sati Das and his elder brother Bhai Mati Das were followers of ninth Sikh Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur...

 by Nur Muhammad Khan of the Rupnagar
Rupnagar
Rupnagar is a city and a municipal council in Rupnagar district in the Indian state of Punjab. It was formerly known as Ropar. The town of Rupnagar is said to have been founded by a Raja called Rokeshar, who ruled during the 11th century and named it after his son Rup Sen. It is also the site of...

 police post at the village Malikhpur Rangharan, in Ghanaula Parganah, and sent to Sirhind the following day. The Faujdar
Faujdar
Faujdar/Fouzder/Fouzdar/Foujdar was a title awarded by Muslim rulers to people who had responsibility of protecting some territory.In pre-Mughal times, the term referred to a military officer but did not refer to a specific rank. With the administrative reforms performed by Mughal emperor Akbar,...

 (Governor) of Sirhind, Dilawar Khan, ordered him to be detained in Bassi Pathana
Bassi Pathana
Bassi Pathana is a historical city and a municipal council in Fatehgarh Sahib district in the state of Punjab, India.- Demographics : India census, Bassi Pathana had a population of 18,547. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%...

 and reported the news to Delhi. His arrest was made in July 1675 and he was kept in custody for over three months. He was then cast in an iron cage and taken to Delhi in November 1675.

The Guru was put in chains and ordered to be tortured until he would accept Islam. When he could not be persuaded to abandon his faith to save himself from persecution, he was asked to perform some miracles to prove his divinity. On his refusal, Guru Tegh Bahadur was beheaded in public at Chandni Chowk
Chandni Chowk
Chandni Chowk , originally meaning moonlit square or market, is one of the oldest and busiest markets in Old Delhi, now in central north Delhi, India...

 on 24 November 1675. Guru Ji is also known as "Hind Di Chadar" i.e. "the shield of India", suggesting that to save Hinduism, Guru Ji gave his life.

Notable events

Guru Har Gobind
Guru Har Gobind
Guru Hargobind Sahib, also Saccha Badshah was the sixth of the Sikh gurus and became Guru on 25 May 1606 following in the footsteps of his father Guru Arjan Dev. He was not, perhaps, more than eleven at his father's execution...

 Ji was Guru Tegh Bahadur's father. He was originally named Tyag Mal but was later renamed Tegh Bahadur after his gallant displays of sword fighting in the wars against the Mughal
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire ,‎ or Mogul Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids...

 forces. He built the city of Anandpur Sahib
Anandpur Sahib
Anandpur Sahib is a city in Rupnagar district in the state of Punjab, India. Known as "the holy City of Bliss," it is a holy city of the Sikhs and is one of their most important sacred places, closely linked with their religious traditions and history...

, and was responsible for saving the Kashmiri Pandits, who were being persecuted by the Mughals. Guru Tegh Bahadur toured various parts of India, and was requested by Gobind Sahali to construct several domes in Mahali.

He contributed many hymns to the Guru Granth Sahib
Guru Granth Sahib
Sri Guru Granth Sahib , or Adi Granth, is the religious text of Sikhism. It is the final and eternal guru of the Sikhs. It is a voluminous text of 1430 angs, compiled and composed during the period of Sikh gurus, from 1469 to 1708...

 including the Saloks (Mahal 9) near the end of the Guru Granth Sahib, which are extremely popula

Guru Tegh Bahadur was martyred in Delhi by Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. The Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib
Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib
Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib, is one of the nine historical gurdwaras in Delhi. First established in 1783 by Baghel Singh to commemorate the martyrdom site the ninth Sikh Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur...

 in Chandni Chowk
Chandni Chowk
Chandni Chowk , originally meaning moonlit square or market, is one of the oldest and busiest markets in Old Delhi, now in central north Delhi, India...

, Delhi, was built over where the Guru was beheaded, and Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib
Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib
The Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib is historic gurdwara near Parliament House in New Delhi. It was built in 1783, after Sikh military leader Baghel Singh captured Delhi, on 11 March 1783, and his brief stay in Delhi, lead to the construction of several Sikh religious shrines within the city...

, also in Delhi, is built on the site of the residence of Lakhi Shah Vanjara, a disciple of the Guru, who burnt his house in order to cremate the Guru's body. Another gurudwara by the same name, Gurudwara Sisganj Sahib at Anandpur Sahib
Anandpur Sahib
Anandpur Sahib is a city in Rupnagar district in the state of Punjab, India. Known as "the holy City of Bliss," it is a holy city of the Sikhs and is one of their most important sacred places, closely linked with their religious traditions and history...

 in Punjab, marks the site were in November of 1675, the head of the martyred Guru Teg Bahadur which was brought by Bhai Jaita (Rechristened Bhai Jivan Singh according to Sikh rites) in defiance of the Mughal authorities was cremated here.

Places named after Guru Teg Bahadur

A number of places are named after the ninth guru of Sikhs, Guru Teg Bahadur ji.
  • Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, Delhi
  • Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Khalsa Institute of Engineering & Technology, Malout
  • Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Institute of Technology
  • Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Integration Chair, Punjabi University
    Punjabi University
    Punjabi University, located at Patiala, is one of the premier institutions of higher education in Punjab, India. Panjabi University teaches and researches in science, engineering and technology, humanities, social sciences, performing arts and sports....

  • Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Railway Station in Mumbai

External links

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