UPSC Articles
400th Parkash Purab of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji (1621–1675)
Part of: Prelims and GS I – History
The period of history in India in the last four centuries cannot be imagined without the influence of Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Sikh Guru.
- Guru Tegh Bahadur was the ninth of ten Gurus of the Sikh religion.
- Born at Amritsar in 1621, was the youngest son of Guru Hargobind.
- One hundred and fifteen of his hymns are in Guru Granth Sahib.
- There are several accounts explaining the motive behind the assassination of Guru Tegh Bahadur on Aurangzeb’s orders. He stood up for the rights of Kashmiri Pandits who approached him against religious persecution by Aurangzeb.
- He was publicly killed in 1675 on the orders of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in Delhi for himself refusing Mughal rulers and defying them.
- Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib and Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib in Delhi mark the places of execution and cremation of his body.
Impact of his martyrdom: The execution hardened the resolve of Sikhs against religious oppression and persecution.
- His martyrdom helped all Sikh Panths consolidate to make the protection of human rights central to its Sikh identity.
- Inspired by him, his nine-year-old son, Guru Gobind Singh Ji, eventually organized the Sikh group into a distinct, formal, symbol-patterned community came to be known as Khalsa (Martial) identity.
