Guru Gobind Singh Jayanti - 20th January, 2021 | History | Traditions | Download Images, Pictures, Wallpapers, Wishes and Quotes

About Guru Gobind Singh

Guru Gobind Singh was born on 5th January 1666 at Patna Sahib, Bihar, India. Guru Gobind Singh was the tenth and last Sikh Guru, a leader, philosopher, artist and an excellent warrior. 

Born as Gobind Rai, he emerged as tenth Sikh Guru at age nine after his father Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Sikh Guru, was executed publicly by orders of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb as he denied to convert to Islam.

Such an act of barbarity led Guru Gobind Singh to establish the Sikh warrior community called Khalsa that denoted a significant event in the history of Sikhism. He also introduced the five articles famous as the Five Ks and commanded the Khalsa Sikhs to wear at all times. 

Other contributions of the Guru includes writing important texts on Sikhism and holding Guru Granth Sahib, the religious scripture of Sikhism, as the eternal living Guru of the Sikhs.

His four sons died during his lifetime – two in a fight, two executed by the Mughal army.

Family and Early Life

Gobind Rai was born in the Sodhi Khatri family of the ninth Sikh guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur and his wife Mata Gujri.  His birth name was Gobind Rai and he belonged to Hindu religion, and a shrine named Takht Sri Patna Harimandar Sahib marks the site of the house where he was born and spent the primary four years of his life.

In 1670, his family returned to Punjab, and in March 1672 they moved to Chakk Nanaki in the Himalayan lower areas of north India, called the Sivalik range, where he was educated. In 1675, the Kashmiri Pandits approached Guru Tegh Bahadur to protect them from the oppression of the Islamic satrap of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb called Iftikar Khan.

According to the composition Bachittar Natak written by Guru Gobind Singh, his father promised to secure the Kashmiri Pandits and was summoned to Delhi on a pretext by Aurangzeb and on his arrival, Tegh Bahadur was approached to change over to Islam.

Tegh Bahadur was arrested along side associates after he refused and was beheaded publicly on November 11, 1675, in Chandni Chowk, Delhi. The education of Guru Gobind Singh proceeded after he turned into the 10th Guru, both in reading and writing as well as martial arts such as horse riding and archery.

In 1684, he composed the Chandi di Var in the Punjabi language – a legendary war between the good and the evil. At 10 years old, he married Mata Jito on 21 June 1677 at Basantgaṛh, 10 km north of Anandpur.

The couple had three children: Jujhar Singh, Zorawar Singh and Fateh Singh. At age of 17, he married Mata Sundari on 4 April 1684 at Anandpur. The couple had one child, Ajit Singh at the age of 33, he married Mata Sahib Devan on 15 April 1700 at Anandpur.

They had no children, but she had a powerful role in Sikhism. Guru Gobind Singh signifies her as the Mother of the Khalsa. The example and leadership of Guru Gobind Singh have been of historical importance to the Sikhs.

He institutionalized the Khalsa, who played the key role in securing the Sikhs long after his death, for example during the nine attacks of Panjab and holy war led by Ahmad Shah Abdali from Afghanistan between 1747 and 1769.

Introducing the Khalsa & the Five K’s Tradition

In 1699, the Guru asked the Sikhs to assemble at Anandpur on Vaisakhi. The Guru with a sword in hand called for a volunteer from among the crowd who is prepared to sacrifice his head. On his third call, one Sikh named Daya Ram came forward. 

The Guru took him in a tent and returned alone to the group with blood dripping from his sword. Another volunteer was called by the Guru who was again taken inside the tent and after some time the Guru returned alone with the bleeding sword. 

He continued the procedure with three more volunteers however after the fifth volunteer went inside the tent, the Guru came out with all the five volunteers all safe.

The Guru blessed the five volunteers namely Bhai Daya Singh, Bhai Dharam Singh, Bhai Sahib Singh, Bhai Mohkam Singh and Bhai Himmat Singh and called them the Panj Pyare and the first Khalsa in the Sikh tradition. 

The Guru at that point took an iron bowl and prepared a solution of water and sugar mixing it with a double-edged sword calling it Amrit. The five volunteers then received the nectar from the Guru amidst recitations from the Adi Granth. With this, the khande ka pahul of the warrior community of Khalsa was initiated.

A new surname of “Singh” which means lion was given to them by the Guru. The Guru at that point asked the five baptized Sikhs to baptize him as a Khalsa and with this, the Guru became the sixth Khalsa and from this time he came to be known as Guru Gobind Singh.

He also announced a code of discipline for Khalsa warriors. Tobacco, eating 'halal' meat fornication and adultery were forbidden. 

The Khalsa's also agreed to never associate with those who followed rivals or their successors. 

The co-initiation of people from different castes into the ranks of Khalsa also institutionalized the principle of equality in Sikhism regardless of one's caste or gender.

Guru Gobind Singh's significance to the Sikh tradition has been significant, as he standardized the Khalsa, opposed the ongoing persecution by the Mughal Empire and continued "the defence of Sikhism and Hinduism against the Muslim ambush of Aurangzeb.

Death

Wazir Khan, a Muslim armed force head and the Nawab of Sarhandh, against whose army the Guru had fought several wars, commissioned two Afghans, Jamshed Khan and Wasil Beg, to follow the Guru's army as it moved for the meeting with Bahadur Shah, and then assassinate the Guru.

The two secretly pursued the Guru whose troops were in the Deccan region of India and entered the camp when the Sikhs had been positioned near river Godavari for months. They accessed to the Guru and Jamshed Khan stabbed him with a deadly wound at Nanded.

A few scholars state that the assassin who killed Guru Gobind Singh may not have been sent by Wazir Khan, but was instead sent by the Mughal army that was staying nearby.