Guru Tegh Bahadur
Guru Tegh Bahadur (गुरु तेग बहादुर, 1621–1675) was the ninth of the ten Sikh Gurus, serving from 1664 until his execution at Delhi in 1675. The youngest son of Guru Hargobind, he is honored as Hind di Chadar — “the Shield of India” — for his defense of religious freedom, and composed some 116 hymns now in the Guru Granth Sahib.
Life
Guru Tegh Bahadur was born in 1621 at Amritsar, the youngest of the five sons of Guru Hargobind. Raised in a milieu that combined devotion with martial training, he lived for years in relative seclusion at Bakala, meditating and managing family affairs. After the deaths of Guru Har Rai and Guru Har Krishan, he was revealed — through the famous Bakala episode in which Makhan Shah lavished an offering on the true Guru — as the ninth Guru in 1664. He traveled widely, preaching in the Gangetic plain and Bengal and founding the town of Chakk Nanaki, later Anandpur Sahib, in the Punjab hills. In 1675 he was arrested and brought to Delhi, where he was executed on Aurangzeb’s orders in November 1675. Sikh tradition links his execution to his defense of Kashmiri Pandits facing forced conversion, making him a martyr for the principle of freedom of conscience.
Contributions
Guru Tegh Bahadur contributed approximately 116 hymns (including shaloks) to the Guru Granth Sahib, marked by themes of detachment, fearlessness, and the transience of worldly power. He founded Anandpur and consolidated Sikh communities across eastern India.
Legacy
Gurdwara Sis Ganj in Delhi marks his execution site; his martyrdom is commemorated annually and remains central to Sikh teaching on religious liberty.
Verification notes
- Audited against Wikipedia (September 2026).
- Dates (1621–1675), the ~116 hymns, the founding of Anandpur, and the 1675 execution are per Wikipedia.
- The Kashmiri Pandits episode and the exact causes of his execution are traditional and debated by historians.