Inderjeet S. Bhatia “Prince ”
Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji, the 9th of ten Sikh Gurus was the Guru of Sikhs from 1665 till his beheading in 1675.Guru Ji was born on 21st of April 1621 in Amritsar,Punjab.He was the youngest son of Guru Hargobind Ji, the 6th Guru of the Sikhism. At the time of his birth, Guru ji was given the name of Tyaga Mal.Guru Ji came to be known by the name of Tegh Bahadur ( Mighty of the Sword) given to him by Guru Hargobind Ji after he had shown his valour in a battle against the Mughals, Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji was brought up in the Sikh culture and trained in the archery and horsemanship. He was also taught the old classics such as the Vedas, the Upanishads, and the Puranas . Considered a principled and fearless warrior, Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji was a highly learned spiritual scholar and a poet whose 115 hymns are included in Sri Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book of the Sikhism.
Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji was married on 3rd February 1632 to Mata Gujri Ji.In1640s, nearing his death,Guru Hargobind Ji and his wife Nanaki Ji moved to his ancestral village of Bakal in Amritsar, Punjab together with Tegh Bahadur Ji and his wife Mata Gujri Ji.
For the next 20 years, the master of renunciation lived in Bakala.Guru Ji spent most of his time in an underground room absorbed in meditation.It so happened that the 8th Guru of the Sikhism, Guru Har Krishan Ji contracted small pox in Delhi and subsequently, passed to God’s court . Before leaving for his eternal abode,Guru Har Krishan Ji indicated that his successor would be found in the village Bakala.The delegation of the Sikhs visited Bakala and to their surprise, found 22 members of the Sodhi dynasty styling themselves as the 9th Guru of the Sikhism.
There is a myth as how Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji was selected as the 9th Guru of the Sikhism. Baba Makhan Shah Labana,a wealthy trader had once got trapped in a wild sea storm and he prayed for his well being .He promised to gift 500 gold coins to the Sikh Guru in case he survived. He returned home safely.So he went on to search for the 9th Sikh Guru. Moving from one Guru to another ,he made his obeisance and offered two gold coins to each Guru, believing that the right Guru would know of his silent promise.
Bhai Makhan Shah Labana was offering only two gold coins to every self styled Guru he met and was leaving the place without any objection.However,when Bhai Labana offered two gold coins to Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji, the usual offering,Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji gave him blessings but remarked that his offering was considerably short of the promised 500 gold coins Bhai Makhan Shah Labana was overjoyed on hearing this from Guru Ji.He ran upstairs and began screaming from the rooftop,” Guru Ladho Re.Guru Ladho Re”(True Guru has been found).In August 1664,a Sikh Sangat arrived at Bakala and appointed Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji as the 9th Guru of the Sikhism.Diwan Durga Mal led the Sangat and a formal Tikka ceremony was performed conferring Guruship on Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji
To spread the message of Sikhism which advocates the cause of universeral brotherhood,Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji travelled extensively through the Indian subcontinent , setting up several new preaching centres.Guru Ji founded the town of Chak Nanki in Punjab ,later enlarged by the 10th Guru, his son,Shree Guru Gobind Singh Ji in to the present day city of holy Anandpur Sahib. In May 1675 , Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji was approached by a group of Kashmiri Pundits from the Kashmir regions seeking Guru ‘s intercession against the forced conversions of Hindus to Islam by the Mughal ruler of India, Aurangzeb.
Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji, in order to confront the persecution of the Kashmiri Pundits by the Mughal army,left for Delhi.Guru Ji, however,was stopped at Ropar.Guru Ji was taken to Sirhind as a prisoner.Four months later,in November 1675, Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji was transferred to Delhi and presented before the court of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb.Guru Ji was asked to perform some miracle to prove his nearness to God or embrace Islam to save his life.Guru Ji refused both these. options.Three of his colleagues who accompanied Guru Ji up to Delhi were tortured to death.Bhai Mati Das Ji was sawn in to pieces,Bhai Sati Das Ji was burned alive and Bhai Dhayal Das Ji was thrown in to a cauldron of boiling water Thereafter, Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji attained the supreme martyrdom for protecting the religious freedom of the Hindus under the cruel reign of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb.
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