GURU TEGH BHADUR – EPITOME OF VALOUR AND COURAGE

GURU GRANTH SAHIB, the holiest scripture of humanity conveys the message of love, amity, peace, friendship and cooperation under the patronage of welfare unto all and covers every aspect of life through its blessings, preachings and teachings. It carries the holy hymns of 36 pious personalities hailing from different parts of India, possessing different religions and beliefs. Their universal message and spiritual heights appealed to all the devotees. Sri Guru Granth Sahib comprising of 5782 slokas in 31 Ragas lights up the mind and by the study of spiritual hymns, the nerves are soothed with soulful comfort. The hymns are so rich spiritually, socially, culturally and politically that these take the seeker away from the realm of hatred, bigotry, fanaticism, duality and form a rational impulses.

Guru Tegh Bahadur the Ninth Guru of Sikhs was born in Amritsar, Subha -i- Labore, (present-day Punjab, India).
Regarding the birth of Guru Tegh Bahadur several dates have been mentioned but the generally accepted date is on Baisakh Vadi 5, 1678 BK (April 1, 1621 CE). He was the fifth and youngest son of Guru Hargobind and Mata Nanki. Guru Tegh Bhadahur had four elder brothers and one sister, Baba Gurditta, Suraj Mal, Ani Rai and Atal Rai and Bibi Viro, who was only next to Gurditta in age. From the very childhood Guru Tegh Bahadur used to sit inside the house and spend most of his time in meditation. According to tradition Guru Tegh Bahadur seldom played with other boys of his age. Due to the rich religious atmosphere at home he developed a distinct philosophical bent of mind. Naturally he developed inspiration towards a life of selfless service and sacrifice.

Guru Tegh Bahadur received his formal education from Baba Budha Sahib and Bhai Gurdas. Baba Budha taught him the military arts and in a few years he became adept in the use of weapons and horses. Guru Tegh Bahadur acquired proficiency in different religious philosophy and attained a good mastery over different langaues such as Gurmukhi, Braj and Sanskrit. Another of the interests he cultivated was music. He was by nature of a contemplative and mystical temperament-a strain which found expression in later years in poetry of deep spiritual insight and wisdom. He received his formal education in music from Bhai Gurdas whose works were recognized by Guru Arjan Dev as the key to the Adi Granth Sahib, was by far the most erudite and renowned of his teachers. The poetic compositions present in Guru Granth Sahih give evidence of Guru’s excellent command over the principal musical modes of the times.

He learned the art of archery and horse riding from Baba Budha Sahib, while his father Guru Hargobind, Master of Miri and Piri, taught him swordsmanship. The art of horse riding was important feature of medieval warfare.

Guru Tegh Bahadur gained the art of archery and swordsmanship during his childhood and he was very efficient in the art of playing the sword. He learnt the Nobel qualities of fearlessness, courage, will to fight against tyranny from his father, Guru Hargobind.

The battle of Kartarpur was fought between Sikhs and Mughals

The Sikhs fought this battle under the leadership of Guru Hargobind and Mughals were lead by Qutab Khan (faujdar of Jalandhar) and Painda Khan. This battle took place in 1635 CE. It’s noteworthy to mention here that Painda Khan was former general of the Sikhs but he had betrayed the Guru and joined the Mughals. In this battle Sikhs under the supremacy of Guru Hargobind defeated the Mughals. In this battle Guru Tegh Bahadur had also participated,

According to a tradition, his mother Mata Nanki was looking on from the top storey of her house when her son was engaged in fighting and dealing out havoc to the enemy. The father, Guru Hargobind was much pleased with the heroic performance of his son. According to the popular Sikh Tradition, in a thrill of exuberance of joy, he changed his son’s name from Tyag Mal (believed to be the original name) to Tegh Bahadur meaning hero of the sword.

Maakhan Saha Lubana after discovering Guru, went on top of the roof and started addressing sangat “Guru Ladbo re Guru Ladhe re”. After the discovery of true guru by Makhan Shah Lubarna Sangat paid their obeisance to Guru Teg Bahadur, and on 11th August 1664 Guru Tegh Bahadur assumed the Guruship at Baba Bakala and became the Ninth Guru of the Sikhs.

The present city of Anandpur Sahib was founded by Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib on 19 June 1665 CE, and it was named after his mother’s name as Chakk Nanki. The site chosen by Guru Sahib for the foundation of the new city was around the ruins of the ancient village of Makhowal, on one side it was surrounded by the river Satluj and on another it was surrounded by hills and forests. During April 1665 CE Guru Tegh Bahadur visited Kiratpur Sahib where he was informed about the demise of Raja Deep Chand, the ruler of Bilaspur who was a devoted Sikh. During his stay at Kiratpur Sahib he received a message from the widowed Queen Rani Champa to visit Bilaspur. The proposal was accepted by the Guru and he visited Bilaspur on 10 May 1665 CE. Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib visited Bilaspur and stayed there till 13May 1665 CE. According to Bhati Vabi Purbi Dakhni Khata Jalban and a Short History of the Sikhs, during his visit to Bilaspur, Guru had disclosed his plan about the foundation of the new city near Kiratpur Sahib.

When Rani Champa heard this after consulting her ministers, she offered the site of Makhowal to Guru Sahib. She offered the land free of cost but Guru preferred to buy it and paid five hundred rupees. But Rani was not ready to accept the amount, finally after a compromise, she agreed to receive some token amount.

Compromise Between Mughals and King of Assam

During 1668 Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib came back from his eastern tours to Patna. After spending some time with family he reinstated his eastern tours. During the same period Raja Ram Singh (son of Late Raja Jai Singh of Amber) was travelling somewhere near Mongher in order to make arrangements for Mughal expedition to the king of Assam. As Ahom ruler of Assam bad defeated the Mughals and driven them out of Gauhati and Raja Ram Singh was given responsibility by Aurangzeb to capture Assam for the Mughals. He met Guru and sought his blessings and requested Guru Sahib to accompany him to Assam. The request was acknowledged and both left for Dacca together en route to Assam. During his tour to Assam Guru Tegh Bahadur stayed on the banks of river Brahmaputra at Dhubri and delivered sermons to sangar (devotees). Later on the same place a beautiful Gurdwara Sahib, Sri Damdama Sahib was constructed by the singer. Raja Ram Singh got initial victories over the Ahoms and they were suppressed. But later adopted the guerilla tactics of warfare and they harassed the Mughals. Meanwhile, Ahom ruler of Assam, Chakradhwaj Singh (Raja Surg Dev) sought blessings of Guru Tegh Bahadur and requested for a peaceful settlement between him and the Mughals, on his request a peaceful settlement was conducted between the ruler of Kamrup and Raja Ram Singh (Mughal representative) by Guru Tegh Bahadur.

The first meeting of Guru Tegh Bahadur and Guru Gobind Singh took place at Luckhnaur in September 1670. On his way back from Assam Guru Tegh Bahadur decided not to visit Patna but instead sent Bhai Mati Das to Patna. Accordingly Bhai Kirpal Chand (brother-in-law of Guru Tegh Bahadur) arrived from Patna and a message was conveyed to bring the Guru’s family to Lakhnaur (presently located in Ambala, Haryana) from Patna, where he met his son first time. After a short stay at Lakhnaur, Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib went to Malla where his elder sister was married. During his visit to Malla he was accompanied by Bhai Dayal Das, Bhai Sadhu Ram and others. From Malla he went to Bakala where mother Mata Nanki was residing. After sometime a message was sent to Lakhnaur and all family members were asked to join him at Anandpur sahib.

AURANG URANGZEB wanted to convert the whole Indian sub continent into embracing Islam. To achieve his aim he ordered to demolish all existing temples of Hindus and forceful conversion of Hindus into Islam. He ordered Ifitikhar Khan, Governor of Kashmir and others to act upon his orders. There is strong oral tradition that thousands of sacred threads of Hindus were burnt by the Mughal officials and Hindus were forcefully converted to Islam

In early 1675, the delegation of Kashmiri Pandits lead by Kirpa Ram, a Kashmiri Datt Brahmin from Mattan, Kashmir arrived at Anandpur Sahib and begged the mercy of Guru Tegh Bahadur and requested to save their faith ‘Hindusm”. Aurangzeh, then Mughal ruler of India had ordered forceful conversion of Hindus into Islam. Hindus were given two options either to accept Islam or to get killed. According to historical tradition Hindus lead by Kashmiri Pandits under the leadership of Pandit Kirpa Ram approached Guru Tegh Bahadur and explained their condition to him (at the place where today stands Gurdwara Manji Sahib, in Anandpur Sahib). Kirpa Ram said to Guru Sahib, “The Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb had given us some time to decide to convert to Islam or to be executed. The time for deciding has expired. Now, we have to convert to Islam or die. What shall we do? Guru ji, we have no one else to turn to. We don’t have an army to protect us. We need your help. Please assist us”. When Guru Tegh Bahadur was deeply analyzing the whole scenario and heart rendering appeal of Brahmins, the young Gobind Rai entered into the Durbar and was wonderstruck to find complete silence in the Durbar. When he enquired from his father about the cause of his total self-absorption, thereupon, Guru Tegh Bahadur explained the whole scenario to Gobind Rai and said only a supreme sacrifice of a great man could ward off the great tragedy. On hearing this, young Gobind Rai said, ‘who is more worthy for this supreme sacrifice more than you’. Guru Tegh Bahadur appreciated the great wisdom of young Gobind Rai and instructed Brahmins to go away and tell Mughal authorities that they would have no objection to accept Islam if the Sikh Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur, was first prevailed upon to embrace Islam.

Before leaving voluntarily for supreme sacrifice from Anandpur Sahib, Guru Tegh Bahadur carefully nominated his son, young Gobind Rai as his successor and even performed the installation ceremony by offering him the usual marks of Gurship; a Tilak, on the forehead, rice and one coconut

On 11 July 1675 Guru Tegh Bahadur left voluntarily for Delhi from Chak Nanki on a great mission to save Hindu faith and freedom of religious expression and free practice of any religious thought. The prominent personalities who were accompanying Guru Tegh Bahadur to Delhi were Bhai Dayala and the two were brothers Bhai Mati Das and Bhai Sati Das. Along with the Ninth Guru, they were arrested from Malakpur Rangra, near Ropar and taken to Delhi where they were asked to accept Islam or martyrdom. Following the great tradition of sacrifice set by Guru Arjun Dev, all of them achieved martyrdom for the great cause.

As it was usual with the Qazi’s appointed by Mughal Government, they always asked Sikhs either accept Islam or death. In case of Guru Tegh Bahadur, Qazi asked Guru Sahib to perform any miracle, either embrace Islam or death. Guru Sahib categorically rejected the offer of performing any miracle as it was against the will of Wabeguru (God), there was no question of embracing Islam. So Guru Sahib chose martyrdom and his martyrdom saved Hindu religion from vanishing from the Indian Sub continent.

After the execution (Martyrdom) of Bhai Mati Das, Bhai Sati Das and Bhai Dayala, Guru Tegh Bahadur was beheaded on 11 November, 1675 on the orders of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. There is strong Sikh tradition before executing Guru Tegh Bahadur, he was given two choices either accept to Islam or show some miracle. Guru Tegh Bahadur rejected both the offers of Mughal Government as he was as firmly opposed to the display of miracle or occult powers as to the acceptance of Islam. On 11 November 1675 Guru Tegh Bahadur Gave his supreme sacrifice to Save Hinduism at a place where now stands Gurdawara Sis Ganj, Delhi. He offered himself to the executioner’s sword in a spirit of complete resignation to the will of Waheguru. The holy head was severed from the body and lay on the ground soaked in a pool of blood. Guru Gobind. Singh has left a written testimony of the martyrdom of his father in his Bachitra Natak. He protected Hindus ’tilak and janeu; In this age of darkness, he performed a grand deed; he made the supreme sacrifice for the sake of faith. He gave his head, but uttered not a groan. This martyrdom he endured to uphold righteousness. He gave his head, but displayed not his charism a… Guru Tegh Bahadur’s martyrdom wail a superb act of self-giving. Implicit in it were his boundless sympathy for the oppressed. The protection of tilak and janeu of the Hindus meant the protection of the right of everyone to practice his religion unhindered. It involved the larger issues of human rights and freedom of conscience.

Before the night of execution, Sikhs had planned to recover the body and sacred head of Guru Tegh Bahadur. As Mughal Government had decided to lay the body of Guru Tegh Bahadur on the roads of Delhi, perhaps to terrify those people who dared to speak against the injustice of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb and his policy of forceful conversions. The great service (sewa) of recovering Guru’s body and his sacred head was performed by Bhai Nanu, Bhai Jaita, Bhai Uda Singh and Bhai lakhi Shah and others.

On the orders of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, Guru Tegh Bahadur was martyred on 11 November 1675 CE at Chandni Chowk (though some modern calendars observe the martyrdom day on November 24), Delhi. After the martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur his head was taken away by Bhai Jaita and the body was taken away by Bhai Lakhi Shah Wanjara and his sons Bhai Naghaiya, Bhai Hema, Bhai Harhi and Dhauma Son of Bhai Kanha. On 12 November 1675 Bhai Lakhi Shah Wanjara and others brought the body of Guru Sahib to their home located at village Rikab Ganj. Here they cremated the body of Guru by burning their own house on the same evening, a little after dark. The place of cremation was later identified by Guru Gobind Singh with help of local Sikhs in 1707 CE when he had visited Delhi to meet Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah I and a simple Memorial was constructed over there. The sacred spot is now marked by a beautiful Gurdawara called as Gurdawara Rikab Ganj.

On 11 November 1675 CE, early in the morning Guru Tegh Bahadur was beheaded by the executioner Jalalludin of Samana and order of execution was pronounced by Qazi Abdul Wahab.

During the first quarter of the night the head of Guru Tegh Bahadur was quietly taken away from the spot of martyrdom by Bhai Nanu, a devoted Sikh of Dilwali Mohalla, Delhi. After this he handed over the head to Bhai Jaita who was his close neighbour and associate. Bhai Jaita secretly carried away the sacred head in a basket and brought it to Chakk Nanki. For this brave deed Guru Gobind Singh embraced Bhai Jaita with a title of “Rangbreta Guru Ka Beta” (Son of Guru). In this nobel cause he was helped by two other Sikhs namely Bhai Nanu and Bhai Uda.

He sacred head of Shri Guru Teg Bahadur was cremated with full honours at Anandpur Sahib by Guru Gobind Singh along with the sangat. Presently this place is marked as Gurdwara Sis Ganj, Anandpur Sahib.