Guru Hargobind

Guru Hargobind
ਗੁਰੂ ਹਰਿਗੋਬਿੰਦ
Contemporary painting of the sixth Sikh guru, Guru Hargobind. Provincial Mughal school, Deccan, mid-17th century
6th Guru of the Sikhs
Personal
Born
Hargobind

19 June 1595 (1595-06-19)
Guru Ki Wadali, Amritsar, Lahore Subah, Mughal Empire
(present-day Punjab, India)
Died28 February 1644 (1644-02-29) (aged 48)[1]
ReligionSikhism
SpouseMata Nanaki, Mata Damodari, and Mata Marvahi
ChildrenBaba Gurditta (1613–1638)
Baba Suraj Mal (1618–1698)
Baba Ani Rai (1633–1678)
Baba Atal Rai (1619–1627)
Guru Tegh Bahadur (1621–1675)
Bibi Veero (1628–1705)
Parent(s)Guru Arjan and Mata Ganga
Known for
  • Building the Akal Takhat
  • Founder of the Akal Sena
  • First Guru to engage in warfare
  • Advising the Sikhs to take part in military training and martial arts
  • Establish the Miri piri
  • Founding Kiratpur Sahib and Hargobindpur
  • Started Gatka, a Sikh martial arts
  • Supervising the creation of the Taus
Other namesThe Sixth Master
Saccha Paatshah
The Master of Miri Piri
Sixth Nanak
Signature
Military service
Battles/warsWars:

Fighting the following battles:

(For detailed list see List of Battles of Guru Hargobind
Religious career
PredecessorGuru Arjan
SuccessorGuru Har Rai
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Guru Hargobind (Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰੂ ਹਰਿਗੋਬਿੰਦ, pronunciation: [gʊɾuː ɦəɾᵊgoːbɪn̯d̯ᵊ]l 19 June 1595 – 28 February 1644) was the sixth of ten Gurus of the Sikh religion. He had become Guru at the young age of eleven, after the execution of his father, Guru Arjan, by the Mughal emperor Jahangir.[2]

Guru Hargobind introduced the process of militarization to Sikhism, likely as a response to his father's execution and to protect the Sikh community.[3][4] He symbolized it by wearing two swords, representing the dual concept of mīrī and pīrī (temporal power and spiritual authority). In front of the Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar, Hargobind constructed the Akal Takht (the throne of the timeless one). The Akal Takht represents the highest seat of earthly authority of the Khalsa (the collective body of the Sikhs) today.

  1. ^ Fauja Singh (2009). "HARGOBIND, GURU (1595–1644)". Encyclopaedia of Sikhism. Punjabi University, Patiala. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
  2. ^ HS Syan (2013), Sikh Militancy in the Seventeenth Century, IB Tauris, ISBN 978-1780762500, pages 48–55
  3. ^ John F. Richards (1995). The Mughal Empire. Cambridge University Press. pp. 97–98, 177–178. ISBN 978-0-521-56603-2.
  4. ^ Hargobind: Sikh Guru, Encyclopedia Britannica, Quote: "Guru Hargobind, sixth Sikh Guru, who developed a strong Sikh army and gave the Sikh religion its military character, in accord with the instructions of his father, Guru Arjan (1563–1606), the first Sikh martyr, who had been executed on the order of the Mughal emperor Jahangir."; "After Jahāngīr’s death (1627) the new Mughal emperor, Shāh Jahān, persecuted the Sikh community in earnest. The Sikhs under Hargobind Sahib defeated Shāh Jahān’s armies four times, crushing the myth of Mughal invincibility. To the Sikh ideals of his predecessor, Guru Hargobind thus added another: the right and duty of the Sikhs to defend their faith by the sword if necessary."