Guru Gobind Singh

and a young Gobind Das at the Anandpur Darbar Gobind Singh was the only son of Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Sikh guru, and Mata Gujri. He was born into the Sodhi clan of the Punjabi Khatri community. He was born in Patna, Bihar on 22 December 1666 while his father was visiting Bengal and Assam. in 1675 for protection from the fanatic persecution by Iftikar Khan, the Mughal governor of Kashmir under Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. – advised his father that no one was more worthy to lead and make a sacrifice than him. Before dying, Tegh Bahadur wrote a letter to Gobind Das (the letter was called Mahalla Dasven and it is part of the Guru Granth Sahib) as one last test to find the next Guru, after his father's martyrdom he was made the tenth Sikh Guru on Vaisakhi on 29 March 1676. The education of Gobind Singh continued after he became the 10th Guru, both in reading and writing as well as martial arts such as horse riding and archery. The Guru learned Farsi in a year and at the age of 6 started training in martial arts. In 1684, he wrote the Chandi di Var in Punjabi language – a legendary war between the good and the evil, where the good stands up against injustice and tyranny, as described in the ancient Sanskrit text Markandeya Purana. • At age 10, he married Jito on 21 June 1677 at Basantgaṛh, 10 km north of Anandpur. The couple had three sons: Jujhar Singh (b. 1691), Zorawar Singh (b. 1696), and Fateh Singh (b. 1699). • At age 17, he married Sundari on 4 April 1684 at Anandpur. The couple had one son, Ajit Singh (b. 1687). • At age 33, he married Sahib Devan on 15 April 1700 at Anandpur. They had no children, but she had an influential role in Sikhism. Guru Gobind Singh proclaimed her as the Mother of the Khalsa. The Guru initially rejected her marriage proposal as he was already married and had four sons. The Sangat and the Guru's family agreed to the marriage. However, Gobind Singh made it clear that his relationship with Sahib Diwan will be spiritual and not physical. The life example and leadership of Gobind Singh have been of historical importance to the Sikhs. He institutionalized the Khalsa (literally, Pure Ones), who played the key role in protecting the Sikhs long after his death, such as during the nine invasions of Panjab and the attacks by Ahmad Shah Abdali from Afghanistan between 1747 and 1769. Birth year Whilst the commonly accepted birth year for the guru is 1666, some sources record his birth year as being 1661. Sikhologist Louis E. Fenech believes 1661 is more likely to be the true birth year of the guru as it lines up more reliably with events later in his life regarding his coming-of-age and leadership in 1679. ==Founding the Khalsa==

in Gurdwara Bhai Than Singh built in the reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh In 1699, Guru Gobind Singh requested the Sikhs to congregate at Anandpur on Vaisakhi (the annual spring harvest festival). According to the Sikh tradition, he asked for a volunteer. One came forward, whom he took inside a tent. The Guru returned to the crowd alone with a bloody sword. Gobind Singh then mixed water and sugar into an iron bowl, stirring it with a double-edged sword to prepare what he called Amrit ("nectar"). He then administered this to the Panj Pyare, accompanied by recitations from the Adi Granth, thus founding the khande ka pahul (baptization ceremony) of a Khalsa – a warrior community. The Guru also gave them a new surname "Singh" (lion). After the first five Khalsa had been baptized, the Guru asked the five to baptize him as a Khalsa. This made the Guru the sixth Khalsa, and his name changed from Guru Gobind Das to Guru Gobind Singh. Gobind Singh initiated the Five K's tradition of the Khalsa, • Kesh: uncut hair. • Kangha: a wooden comb. • Kara: an iron or steel bracelet worn on the wrist. • Kirpan: a sword. • Kacchera: short breeches. He also announced a code of discipline for Khalsa warriors. Tobacco, eating 'halal' meat (a way of slaughtering in which the animal's throat is slit open and it is left to bleed before being slaughtered), fornication, and adultery were forbidden. The Khalsas also agreed to never interact with those who followed rivals or their successors. gurdwara, Punjab, the birthplace of Khalsa He introduced ideas that indirectly challenged the discriminatory taxes imposed by the Mughal authorities. For example, Aurangzeb had imposed taxes on non-Muslims that were collected from the Sikhs as well, the jizya (poll tax on non-Muslims), pilgrim tax, and Bhaddar tax – the last being a tax to be paid by anyone following the Hindu ritual of shaving the head after the death of a loved one and cremation. Not shaving the head also meant not having to pay the taxes by Sikhs who lived in Delhi and other parts of the Mughal Empire. Before his founding of the Khalsa, the Sikh movement had used the Sanskrit word Sisya (literally, disciple or student), but the favored term thereafter became Khalsa. These developments created two groups of Sikhs, those who initiated as Khalsa, and others who remained Sikhs but did not undertake the initiation. The Khalsa warrior community tradition started by Guru Gobind Singh has contributed to modern scholarly debate on pluralism within Sikhism. His tradition has survived to contemporary times, with initiated Sikh referred to as Khalsa Sikh, while those who do not get baptized referred to as Sahajdhari Sikhs. Guru Panth Whilst Guru Gobind Singh passed on the mantle of guruship to both the Guru Granth and Guru Panth, the practice of Guru Panth was prevalent in the 18th century during the era of the Sikh Confederacy but fell into obscurity during the rise of Ranjit Singh. Today, Guru Panth is rarely evoked, being overshadowed by the more popular Guru Granth. ==Sikh scriptures==

is attributed to Guru Gobind Singh. It incorporates among other things the warrior-saint mythologies of ancient India. Piara Singh Padam in his Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji de Darbari Ratan highlights that Guru Gobind Singh gave as much regard to the pen as to the sword. Guru Gobind Singh is credited in the Sikh tradition with finalizing the Kartarpur Pothi (manuscript) of the Guru Granth Sahib – the primary scripture of Sikhism. Gobind Singh also declared this text to be the eternal Guru for Sikhs. Gobind Singh is also credited with the Dasam Granth. It is a controversial religious text considered to be the second scripture by some Sikhs, and of disputed authority to other Sikhs. The standard edition of the text contains 1,428 pages with 17,293 verses in 18 sections. The Dasam Granth includes hymns, mythological tales from Hindu texts, fables dealing with sexuality, In his writings, Guru Gobind Singh uses a variety of pen names such as Shyam, Raam, Kaal, Gobind Das, Gobind Singh, Nanak, and Shah Gobind. Sikhs requested that Gobind Singh merge Dasam Granth with the Guru Granth Sahib. Gobind Singh responded to the request by saying, "This is the Adi Guru Granth; The root book. That one (Dasam Granth) is only for my diversion. Let this be kept in the mind and let the two stay separate." The Dasam Granth has a significant role in the initiation and the daily life of devout Khalsa Sikhs. Parts of its compositions such as the Jaap Sahib, Tav-Prasad Savaiye and Benti Chaupai are the daily prayers (Nitnem) and sacred liturgical verses used in the initiation of Khalsa Sikhs. ==Wars==

The period following the execution of Guru Tegh Bahadur – the father of Guru Gobind Singh, was a period where the Mughal Empire under Aurangzeb was an increasingly hostile enemy of the Sikh people. The Sikh resisted, led by Gobind Singh, and the Muslim-Sikh conflicts peaked during this period. Gobind Singh believed in a Dharamyudh (war in defence of righteousness), something that is fought as a last resort, neither out of a wish for revenge nor for greed nor for any destructive goals. He led fourteen wars with these objectives, but never took captives nor damaged anyone's place of worship. attacked his forces without any purpose. The Guru was aided by the forces of Kripal (his maternal uncle) and a Brahmin named Daya Ram, both of whom he praises as heroes in his text. The Guru's cousin named Sango Shah was killed in the battle, a cousin from Guru Hargobind's daughter. The non-Muslims aligned to the Guru had refused to pay tribute to the Islamic officials based in Jammu. • Battle of Anandpur (1695) Mughals attack Gobind Singh at Anandpur • Battle of Guler (1696), first against the Muslim commander Dilawar Khan's son Rustam Khan, near Sutlej river, where the Guru teamed up with the Hindu king of Guler and routed the Muslim army. After the creation of the Khalsa the Hill Rajas, who had previously lost in battle to Guru Gobind Singh, sent a petition to Delhi requesting they act immediately and join them in battle against the Guru.l • Battle of Anandpur (1699), was against two Rajas of the hills. • Battle of Anandpur (1700), against the Mughal army of Aurangzeb, who had sent 10,000 soldiers, in response to the Hill Rajas letter, under the command of Painda Khan and Dina Beg. The Mughal army was supported by rival kingdom of Kahlur led by Raja Ajmer Chand. The battle ended when the two sides reached a tactical peace. Some Sikh men deserted the Guru during the Anandpur siege in 1704 and escaped to their homes where their women shamed them and they rejoined the Guru's army and died fighting with him in 1705. Towards the end, the Guru, his family, and followers accepted an offer by Aurangzeb of safe passage out of Anandpur. However, as they left Anandpur in two batches, they were attacked, and one of the batches with Mata Gujari and Guru's two sons – Zorawar Singh aged 8 and Fateh Singh aged 5 – were taken captive by the Mughal army. The grandmother Mata Gujari died there as well. However, when the Guru accepted the offer and left, Wazir Khan took captives, executed them and pursued the Guru. • Battle of Chamkaur (1704) Regarded as one of the most important battles in Sikh history. It was against the Mughal army led by Nahar Khan; the Muslim commander was killed, • Battle of Muktsar (1705), the Guru's army was re-attacked by the Mughal army, being hunted down by general Wazir Khan, in the arid area of Khidrana-ki-Dhab. The Mughals were blocked again, but with many losses of Sikh lives – particularly the famous Chalis Mukte (literally, the "forty liberated ones"), • Battle of Baghaur (1707) was fought against the Raja of Bhghaur and the locals of the area. It began over a dispute when some camels of the Guru went and ate the trees of a local gardener. The gardener took the camels and the rider hostage. Sikh negotiated for the release but he refused which led to a battle. • Battle of Jajau (1707) was fought between Azam Shah and Bhadur Shah over the Mughal throne. Bahdur Shah sought Guru Gobind Singh's assistance. Gobind Singh provided assistance and is said to have killed Azam Shah in battle. Mughal accounts The Muslim historians of the Mughal court wrote about Guru Gobind Singh as well as the geopolitics of the times he lived in, and these official Persian accounts were readily available and the basis of colonial era English-language description of Sikh history. According to Dhavan, the Persian texts that were composed by Mughal court historians during the lifetime of Gobind Singh were hostile to him but presented the Mughal perspective. They believed that the religious Guru tradition of Sikhs had been corrupted by him, through the creation of a military order willing to resist the imperial army. The Mughal accounts suggest that the Muslim commanders viewed the Sikh panth as one divided into sects with different loyalties. Relationship with other religious groups As a result of the violent hostility between the Sikhs and the Mughal armies, Guru Gobind Singh ordered the social segregation between the Khalsa and the Muslims, the sentiments of which are reiterated in the contemporary and posthumous rahit-namas. To a lesser extent, injunctions were also made prohibiting the partake in certain Hindu rituals and beliefs as well as against schismatic Sikh factions opposed to the orthodox Khalsa community. == Post-war years ==

After the Second Battle of Anandpur in 1704, the Guru and his remaining soldiers moved and stayed in different spots including hidden in places such as the Machhiwara jungle of southern Panjab. Zafarnama Guru Gobind Singh saw the war conduct of Aurangzeb and his army against his family and his people as a betrayal of a promise, unethical, unjust, and impious. The Guru's letter was stern yet conciliatory to Aurangzeb. He indicted the Mughal Emperor and his commanders in spiritual terms, and accused them of a lack of morality both in governance and in the conduct of war. ==Death of family members==

Sahib, Majri, Punjab where Guru's mother and younger sahibzaade got separated from him Guru Gobind Singh's four sons, also referred to as Chaar Sahibzaade (the four princes), were killed during his lifetime – the elder two in a battle with Mughals, and the younger two executed by the Mughal governor of Sirhind. While the Guru was taken to a safe place, his elder sons, Sahibzada Ajit Singh aged 17, and Jujhar Singh aged 13 were killed in the Battle of Chamkaur in December 1704 against the Mughal army. The younger pair, called the 'Chotte Sahibzaade', along with their grandmother were imprisoned in an Open Tower (Thanda Burj), in chilling winter days. Gujri fainted on hearing about her grandsons' death and died shortly thereafter. According to Sikh historians, Guru Gobind Singh took the harsh news about the execution of his sons, Fateh Singh and Zorawar Singh, with stoic calm, and wrote "What use is it to put out a few sparks when you raise a mighty flame instead?". == Death ==

, Nanded, built over the place where Guru Gobind Singh was cremated in 1708. The inner chamber is called Angitha Sahib. Aurangzeb died in 1707, and immediately a succession struggle began between his sons who attacked each other. According to Sikh sources it was Guru Gobind Singh who killed Azam Shah, while according to Mughal sources, it was Isa Khan Munj. The official successor Bahadur Shah invited Guru Gobind Singh with his army to meet him in person in the Deccan region of India for reconciliation. Guru Gobind Singh hoped to get Anandpur, his former stronghold back, and remained close to the imperial camp for nearly a year. His appeals for the restoration of his lands turned out to be ineffectual however as Bahadur Shah went on postponing any restoration to the status quo ante as he was not willing to offend either the Guru or the hill rajas. Wazir Khan, a Mughal army commander and the Nawab of Sirhind, against whose army the Guru had fought several wars, They gained access to the Guru and Jamshed Khan stabbed him two times resulting in a fatal wound at Nanded. Some 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. According to Senapati's Sri Gur Sobha, an early 18th-century writer, the fatal wounds of the Guru was one below his heart. The Guru fought back and killed the assassin, while the assassin's companion was killed by the Sikh guards as he tried to escape. == Dohra Mahalla Dasvan (10) ==

While it is generally believed that Guru Gobind Singh did not add any of his own compositions to the Guru Granth Sahib, there are some who argue that a single rhyming couplet, known as a Dohra, of the tenth Guru, titled Dohra Mahalla Dasvan (10), near the end of the scripture on page 1429 is the work of Guru Gobind Singh. The composition in-question is as follows: According to Trilochan Singh, Guru Tegh Bahadur sent a letter in the form of a sloka to the young Gobind Das while incarcerated in Delhi by Aurangzeb, delivered personally to the young child by Bhai Uda and Pundit Kirpa Ram: It was a test of the potential successor to the Guruship. Gobind Das, who was writing from Anandpur, replied with a dohra, which affirmed his readiness to succeed as the next Sikh guru and calmed any apprehensions that the Sikhs of the time felt about the prospect. Guru Tegh Bahadur knew his son was prepared to the take the reins and lead the Sikh community after his death. After reading his son's reply, Guru Tegh Bahadur sent a final message to his son: This story is recorded in the account of Bhai Mani Singh written in his Sikhan di Bhagat Mal composition. The story is further recounted in other historical sources, such as Suraj Prakash, Mehma Prakash, and Kesar Singh Chibber's Bansavalinama. The SGPC, for unknown reasons, decided to not ascribe the dohra to Guru Gobind Singh when it standardized the Guru Granth Sahib, which it subsequently publishes without it, despite the dohra being ascribed to the tenth Guru in many 17th and 18th century manuscripts of the Guru Granth Sahib, including many of which bear a signature of the tenth Guru. == Factional views ==

Namdhari The Namdhari sect believes that Guru Gobind Singh did not die in 1708 but rather continued to live on under the alias and pseudonym of 'Ajapal Singh' and passed on the guruship to Balak Singh at the age of 146 in the year 1812. Radha Soami Some of the Radha Soami movement, a contemporary Sant Mat tradition, have linked Guru Gobind Singh, and therefore the lineage of Sikh gurus, to Tulsi Sahib of Hathras by claiming that Guru Gobind Singh passed on leadership to a supposed individual named Ratnagar Rao, who then passed on the mastership to Tulsi Sahib of Hathras. The group postulates that Guru Gobind Singh visited a ruling family of Peshwas whilst he was in the Deccan Plateau, which is how Tulsi Sahib became acquainted with the Sikh guru after he stayed with the family. There is no evidence that Ratnagar Rao existed; this claim likely originated with Kirpal Singh to connect the Radha Soami movement to Sikhism. A connection between Guru Gobind Singh and Tulsi Sahib is not widely accepted by Radha Soami branches aside from the Ruhani Satsang branch. == In popular culture ==

Indian films about Guru Gobind Singh include: • Sarbans Dani Guru Gobind Singh is a 1998 Indian Punjabi-language drama film directed by Ram Maheshwari. He is not directly portrayed by an actor. • Chaar Sahibzaade, a 2014 Indian computer-animated film by Harry Baweja, is about his sons Ajit Singh, Jujhar Singh, Zorawar Singh, and Fateh Singh. • Chaar Sahibzaade: Rise of Banda Singh Bahadur, a 2016 Indian computer-animated film by Harry Bawej, is a sequel to Chaar Sahibzaade about Baba Banda Singh Bahadur's fight against the Mughals under Guru Gobind Singh. ==See also==