Guru Ram Das | |
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ਗੁਰੂ ਰਾਮ ਦਾਸ | |
 Guru Ram Das (seated) being fanned by a fly-whisk attendant, family atelier of Nainsukh of Guler, c. 1800 | |
| Personal | |
| Born | Jetha Mal Sodhi 24 September 1534[1] |
| Died | 1 September 1581 (aged 46) Goindwal, Lahore Subah, Mughal Empire |
| Religion | Sikhism |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3, including Prithi Chand and Guru Arjan |
| Parent |
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| Known for | Founder of Amritsar city[2] |
| Other names |
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| Signature | _of_Guru_Ram_Das.jpg) |
| Religious career | |
| Based in | Ramdaspur |
| Predecessor | Guru Amar Das |
| Successor | Guru Arjan |
| Part of a series on |
| Sikhism |
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Guru Ram Das (Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰੂ ਰਾਮ ਦਾਸ, pronunciation: [gʊɾuː ɾaːmᵊ d̯aːsᵊ]; 24 September 1534 – 1 September 1581), sometimes spelled as Guru Ramdas, was the fourth of the ten Sikh gurus.[2][3] He was born to a family based in Lahore, who named him Bhai Jetha.[3][1] He was orphaned at age seven; and thereafter grew up with his maternal grandmother in a village.[3]
At age 12, Bhai Jetha and his grandmother moved to Goindval, where they met Guru Amar Das, the third leader of Sikhism.[3] The boy accepted the guru as his mentor, served him, and eventually joined his family by marrying his daughter. When it came time for Guru Amar Das to name his successor, he passed over his own sons and chose Bhai Jetha, citing his exemplary service, selfless devotion, and unquestioning obedience.[3][1][4]
Renamed Ram Das ("slave of God"), Bhai Jetha became the fourth Guru of Sikhism in 1574.[5] He faced hostility from the sons of Guru Amar Das, and shifted his official base to lands identified by Guru Amar Das as Guru-ka-Chak.[3] He founded the town of Ramdaspur, later renamed Amritsar and known as the holiest city of Sikhism.[6][7] Unlike the first three Gurus, he appointed his own son as his successor, as would the fifth through tenth Sikh Gurus.[7][8] He served until his death in 1581.[5]
He is remembered in the Sikh tradition for expanding the manji organization for clerical appointments and donation collections to theologically and economically support the Sikh movement.[3]
- ^ a b c G.S. Mansukhani. "Ram Das, Guru (1534–1581)". Encyclopaedia of Sikhism. Punjab University Patiala. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
- ^ a b William Owen Cole; Piara Singh Sambhi (1995). The Sikhs: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices. Sussex Academic Press. pp. 22–24. ISBN 978-1-898723-13-4.
- ^ a b c d e f g Arvind-Pal Singh Mandair (2013). Sikhism: A Guide for the Perplexed. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 38–40. ISBN 978-1-4411-5366-1.
- ^ Shakti Pawha Kaur Khalsa (1998). Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Eternal Power. Penguin. p. 76. ISBN 978-0-399-52420-2.
- ^ a b Arvind-pal Singh Mandair (2013). Religion and the Specter of the West: Sikhism, India, Postcoloniality, and the Politics of Translation. Columbia University Press. pp. 251–252. ISBN 978-0-231-51980-9.
- ^ W.H. McLeod (1990). Textual Sources for the Study of Sikhism. University of Chicago Press. pp. 28–29. ISBN 978-0-226-56085-4.
- ^ a b Christopher Shackle; Arvind Mandair (2013). Teachings of the Sikh Gurus: Selections from the Sikh Scriptures. Routledge. pp. xv–xvi. ISBN 978-1-136-45101-0.
- ^ W. H. McLeod (2009). The A to Z of Sikhism. Scarecrow Press. p. 86. ISBN 978-0-8108-6344-6.