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{{Short description|Fifth Sikh guru from 1581 to 1606}}
]
{{redirect|Arjun Dev|the Indian historian and educationist|Arjun Dev (historian)}}
{{EngvarB|date=May 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}}
{{Infobox religious biography
| religion = ]
| name = Guru Arjan
| alt = Guru Arjan
| title = 5th Guru of Sikhism
| image = File:Guru Arjan.jpg
| caption = Painting of Guru Arjan by the family atelier of Purkhu of Kangra, circa 1800
| birth_name =
| birth_date = 15 April 1563
| birth_place = ], ], ] <br/> {{small|(present-day ], ], ])}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1606|5|30|1563|4|18|df=y}}<ref name=Britannica>{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/34850/Arjan |title=Arjan, Sikh Guru |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=5 May 2015}}</ref>
| death_place = ], Lahore Subah, Mughal Empire <br/> {{small|(present-day ], ])}}
| resting_place = ], ]
| other_names = ''Fifth Master''<br>''Fifth Nanak''
| known_for = {{Plainlist|* Building the ]
* Founding ] city
* Compiling the ] and installing them in ]
* Founding ] city
* Composing fifth hymn of ]
* Writing ]
* Writing the Prichhia, a prose work<ref>{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Jasmer |title=Sri Guru Granth Sahib - A Descriptive Bibliography of Punjabi Manuscripts |date=2005 |publisher=Punjabi University of Patiala |location=Patiala |page=145}}</ref>}}
| predecessor = ]
| successor = ]
| spouse = Mata Ram Dei<br>]
| children = ]
| parents = ] and ]
| death_cause = ]
| signature = Signature (nisan) of Guru Arjan by scribing the Mul Mantar.jpg
| native_name = ਗੁਰੂ ਅਰਜਨ
| period = 1581–1606


{{Sikhi}} }}
{{Sikhism sidebar}}
'''Guru Arjan'''<ref name=mb12/><ref name="Dehsen 1999 14">{{cite book | last=Dehsen | first=Christian | title=Philosophers and religious leaders | publisher=Routledge | year=1999 | isbn=978-1-57958-182-4 | page=14}}</ref> (]: ਗੁਰੂ ਅਰਜਨ, pronunciation: {{IPA-pa|gʊɾuː əɾd͡ʒənᵊ|}}; 15 April 1563 – 30 May 1606)<ref name=Britannica>{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/34850/Arjan |title=Arjan, Sikh Guru |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=5 May 2015}}</ref> was the fifth of the ten total ]. He compiled the first official edition of the Sikh scripture called the Adi Granth, which later expanded into the ]. He is regarded as the first of the two Gurus ] in the ] faith.


Guru Arjan was born in ], in the ], the youngest son of Bhai Jetha, who later became ], and ], the daughter of ].<ref>{{cite book|last=Mcleod|first=Hew|title=Sikhism|year=1997|publisher=Penguin Books|location=London|isbn=0-14-025260-6|page=|url=https://archive.org/details/sikhism00mcle/page/28}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=William Owen Cole|author2=Piara Singh Sambhi|title= The Sikhs: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zIC_MgJ5RMUC |year=1995| publisher= Sussex Academic Press|isbn=978-1-898723-13-4|page=24}}</ref> He completed the construction of the ] at ], after the fourth Sikh Guru founded the town and built a ].<ref name="ShackleMandair2013xv">{{cite book|author1=Christopher Shackle|author2=Arvind Mandair|title=Teachings of the Sikh Gurus: Selections from the Sikh Scriptures |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VvoJV8mw0LwC |year=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-45101-0|pages=xv–xvi}}</ref><ref name="Arshi1989p5">{{cite book|author=Pardeep Singh Arshi|title=The Golden Temple: history, art, and architecture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rcmfAAAAMAAJ|year=1989|publisher=Harman|isbn=978-81-85151-25-0|pages=5–7}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Louis E. Fenech|author2=W. H. McLeod|title=Historical Dictionary of Sikhism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xajcAwAAQBAJ |year=2014|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|isbn=978-1-4422-3601-1|page=33}}</ref> Arjan compiled the hymns of previous Gurus and of other saints into Adi Granth, the first edition of the Sikh scripture, and installed it in the ].<ref name="ShackleMandair2013xv"/>
{{portal|Sikhism}}


Guru Arjan reorganized the ] system initiated by ], by suggesting that the Sikhs donate, if possible, one-tenth of their income, goods or service to the Sikh organization ('']''). The ''Masand'' not only collected these funds but also taught tenets of Sikhism and settled civil disputes in their region. The ''dasvand'' financed the building of ]s and ] (shared communal kitchens).<ref>DS Dhillon (1988), Atlantic Publishers, pp. 213-215, 204-207</ref>
'''Guru Arjan Dev Ji''' or '''Guru Arjun Dev Ji''' ({{lang-pa|ਗੁਰੂ ਅਰਜੁਨ ਦੇਵ}}) (born in ], ], ] on ], ] &ndash; ], ] ], ], ]) was the fifth of ] and became a Guru on ]] following in the footsteps of ]. He was born at ], and was the youngest of the sons of Guru Ram Das and Bibi Bhani, the daughter of Guru Amar Das<ref>{{cite book
| last = Mcleod
| first = Hew
| title = Sikhism
| year = 1997
| publisher = Penguin Books
| location = London
| isbn = 0-14-025260-6
| pages = 28
}}</ref>. Before his death, he nominated his son Har Gobind as the next Guru of the Sikhs.


Guru Arjan was arrested under the orders of the Mughal Emperor ] accusing him of supporting a rebellion under ].<ref name="ShackleMandair2013xv" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name="Gandhi" /><ref name=":2" /> He was asked to convert himself to Islam.<ref name=ps5/><ref name=lkca/> He refused and, as a result, was tortured and executed in 1606 CE.<ref name=ps5/><ref name=thackston /> Historical records and the Sikh tradition are unclear as to whether Arjan was executed by drowning or died during torture.<ref name=ps5/> The Sikh tradition states the Guru's execution was a part of the ongoing persecution of the Sikhs under the ].<ref name=":3" /><ref>Louis E. Fenech, Martyrdom in the Sikh Tradition, Oxford University Press, pp. 118-121</ref> His martyrdom is considered a watershed event in the history of Sikhism.<ref name=ps5/><ref name=whm/> It is remembered as ''Shaheedi Divas of Guru Arjan'' in May or June according to the ] released by the ] in 2003.<ref name=nesbitt122>{{cite book|author=Eleanor Nesbitt|title=Sikhism: a Very Short Introduction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XebnCwAAQBAJ |year=2016|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-874557-0|pages=6, 122–123}}</ref>
Guru Arjan was head of ] for a quarter of a century and accomplished a lot during his regime. He completed the construction of ] and founded other cities such as ] and ]. He constructed a Baoli at ]. The most important work of Arjan Dev was the compilation of ]. He collected all the work of the first four Gurus and dictated it in the form of verses in ]. It is, perhaps, the only kind of writing of a scriptural nature which has preserved without embellishments or misconstruction of the original writings of religious literatures.<ref>{{cite book
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== Biography ==
Guru Arjan organised the ] system. The Sikhs were asked to pay one-tenth of their income to the Guru in future. He appointed representatives to collect the money. He encouraged his followers to trade in horses.


==Life== === Early life ===
Guru Arjan was born in ] to Bibi Bhani and Jetha Sodhi. Bibi Bhani was the daughter of ], and her husband Jetha Sodhi later came to be known as ]. Arjan's birthplace site is now memorialized as the Gurdwara Chaubara Sahib.<ref></ref> He had two brothers: ] and Mahadev.<ref name="Perplexed">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jn_jBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA40 |title=Sikhism: A Guide for the Perplexed|publisher=Bloomsbury |pages=39, 40|author=Arvind-pal Singh Mandair| year=2013|isbn=9781441153661}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Mcleod|first=Hew|title=Sikhism|year=1997|publisher=Penguin Books|location=London|isbn=0-14-025260-6|page=|url=https://archive.org/details/sikhism00mcle/page/26}}</ref> Various Sikh chroniclers give his birth year as 1553 or 1563, the latter is accepted by scholarly consensus as the actual year of birth with 15 April as the accepted birth date.<ref>{{cite book|title=Life and Work of Guru Arjan: History, Memory, and Biography in the Sikh Tradition|pages=50, 64, 98|publisher=Oxford University Press|author=Pashaura Singh|year=2006}}</ref>
Guru Arjan clearly understood the wide import of the teachings of Nanak and perceived how applicable they were to every state of life and to every condition of society.<ref>{{cite book
| last = Cunnigham
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}}</ref> He made Amritsar the proper seat of his followers and a centre which would attract the worldly longings for a material bond of union. The city became populous and a great place of pilgrimage of the Sikh people.


Guru Arjan spent the first 11 years of his life in ] and the next seven years with his father in Ramdaspur.<ref name="Perplexed" /> Per Sikh tradition, he had stayed for two years in ] during his youth after being sent by his father to attend the wedding of his first cousin Sahari Mal's son as well as to establish a Sikh congregation.<ref>{{cite book|title=Life and Work of Guru Arjan: History, Memory, and Biography in the Sikh Tradition|page=69|publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref> He was appointed as the Sikh Guru in 1581 after the death of his father.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h8wy2FZRgPAC&q=jetha+sodhi&pg=PT70 |title= Sikhism |date= 2 March 2012 |publisher=University of Hawaii Press|isbn= 9780824860349 }}</ref> Guru Ram Das was a '']'' of the ] sub-caste. With Arjan's succession, the Guruship remained in the Sodhi family of Guru Ram Das.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2_nryFANsoYC&pg=PA46|title=The Sikhs of the Punjab, Volumes 2-3|page=46|publisher=Cambridge University Press|author=J.S. Grewal|year=1990|isbn=9780521637640}}</ref>
Composing the Adi Granth, he gave to his followers their fixed rule of religious and moral conduct. His starting of collection of offerings by way of Masand system, in a systematic way, accustomed them to a regular government. He traded in horses, though not extensively, and encouraged his followers to follow his example, to be as zealous in trade as they were in their faith.<ref>{{cite book
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=== Marriages ===
Guru Arjan became famous among his pious devotees and his biographers dwell on the number of ] and ] men who were edified by his instructions.<ref>{{cite book
According to historians, Guru Arjan wedded twice.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Jain |first=Harish |title=The Making of Punjab |publisher=Unistar Books |year=2003 |pages=275 |quote=Historians say that he was married to Mata Ram Dei on 20th June 1579 and to Mata Ganga on 19th May 1589. But the prevalent belief is that he had only one wife (Mata) Ganga who bore him only one son, Har Gobind, who was to become the sixth guru of the Sikhs.}}</ref> His first wife was ''Mata'' Ram Dei, whom he married on 20 June 1579.<ref name=":0" /> His second wife was ''Mata'' Ganga, their wedding taking place on 19 May 1589.<ref name=":0" /> Popular Sikh tradition omits his first wife and claims he was only married to Ganga.<ref name=":0" />
| last = Cunnigham
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}}</ref> He was equally headed by men in high positions. During his time, the principles of ] took a firm hold on the minds of his followers.


=== Succession and time as Guru ===
==Compositions==
] crowning Guru Arjan as the next guru by placing tilak on his forehead, known as the ]. ] is depicted to the immediate bottom right of Arjan.]]
Beside compiling the Adi Granth, Guru Arjan also composed a lot of hymns and included them in it. He appointed ], who was a companion of Guru Nanak, as the chief priest of the ]. He placed the Adi Granth on the seat reserved for him and himself sat among his disciples.
Guru Ram Das chose Arjan, the youngest, to succeed him as the fifth Sikh Guru. Mahadev, the middle brother chose the life of an ].<ref name="Syan2013p50">{{cite book|author=Hardip Singh Syan|title=Sikh Militancy in the Seventeenth Century: Religious Violence in Mughal and Early Modern India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9RzzxcEL4C0C&pg=PA50 |year=2013|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=978-1-78076-250-0|pages=50–52}}</ref> His choice of Guru Arjan as successor, as throughout most of the history of Sikh Guru successions, led to disputes and internal divisions among the Sikhs.<ref name="ShackleMandair2013xv"/><ref name="Grewal1998p54">{{cite book|author=J. S. Grewal|title=The Sikhs of the Punjab|url=https://archive.org/details/sikhsofpunjab0000grew|url-access=registration| year=1998| publisher= Cambridge University Press|isbn= 978-0-521-63764-0|pages=–55, 62–63}}</ref>
Sukhmani, one the most recited banis (sacred hymn) by Sikhs, was composed by Guru Arjan. Hymn from the Sukhmani Sahib (] page 262):
*''Meditate, meditate, meditate peace is obtained, Worry and anguish is expelled from the body. ''
*''Remembering God, you’re not reborn. Remembering God, the fear of death is dispelled.''
*''Remembering God, death is eliminated. Remembering God, your enemies are repelled. ''
*''Remembering God, no obstacles are met. Remembering God, night and day you’re fully awake.''
*''Remembering God, fear cannot touch you. Remembering God, you don’t suffer with sorrow. ''
*''Remembrance of God, in the Company of Saints. All treasures, O Nanak, are by Lord’s Blessing. ||2||''


The succession dispute regarding Guru Arjan created a schism that yielded different narratives for the two factions.<ref name="Syan2013p50"/> In the orthodox Sikh tradition, ] is remembered as vehemently opposing Guru Arjan, creating a factional sect of the Sikh community.<ref name=psbg>{{cite book|isbn=978-8172012182|title=Bhai Gurdas|author=Prītama Siṅgha|date=1992|pages=27–28|publisher=Sahitya Akademi }}</ref> The Sikhs following Arjan referred to the breakaway faction as '']'' (literally, "scoundrels"). Prithi Chand and his followers attempted to assassinate the young ] thrice.<ref name=fenech39>{{cite book|author1=Louis E. Fenech|author2=W. H. McLeod|title=Historical Dictionary of Sikhism|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=xajcAwAAQBAJ |year=2014| publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|isbn=978-1-4422-3601-1|page=39}}</ref><ref name="McLeod2009p20">{{cite book|author=W. H. McLeod|title=The A to Z of Sikhism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vgixwfeCyDAC&pg=PA86 |year=2009|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-6344-6|page=20}}</ref> Prithi Chand also befriended Mughal agents.<ref name="Syan2013p50"/> Subsequent written competing texts written by the Minas, on the other hand, offered a different explanation for the attempt on Hargobind's life, and present him as devoted to his younger brother Arjan. The eldest son of ], Miharvan, is mentioned in both traditions as having received tutelage from both Prithi Chand and Arjan as a child.<ref name="Syan2013p49">{{cite book|author=Hardip Singh Syan|title=Sikh Militancy in the Seventeenth Century: Religious Violence in Mughal and Early Modern India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9RzzxcEL4C0C |year=2013|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=978-1-78076-250-0 |pages=48–55}}</ref>
==Martyrdom of Guru Arjan==
Chandu Shah, a Hindu revenue collector of Lahore became a deadly foe of the Guru and began to conspire against him after the Guru refused to marry Shah's daughter with his son Hargobind. Chandu started conspiring against the Guru to Emperor Akbar that Guru Arjan has written derogatory hymns against Hindus and Muslims in the Sikh scripture ] and must be punished.<ref> The Sikh Encyclopedia:Chandu Shah</ref> However, Emperor ] was not convinced after he read the hymns in the Adi Granth and paid home age to the Guru at Amritsar. Chandu Shah got his chance when, after the death of the liberal minded Akbar, his son, Jahangir, ascended the Mughal throne.The death of Emperor Akbar in October 1605 marked a sea change in the policy of his successor, Prince Salim alias Nuruddin Jahangir, who out of political necessity was forced to uphold Islamic Puritanism of Naqashbandi revivalists led by Khwaja Mohammad Baqi-Billa (1564-1603) of Turan. Shaikh Farid Bukhari, one of his followers had emerged as a strong force in Akbar’s Court by the end of the latter’s reign, while the spiritual mantle fell on Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi also known as Mujadid Alif-i-Sani (1561-1624).


The competing texts acknowledge the disagreements. They state Prithi Chand left ], became the ''Sahib Guru'' after the martyrdom of Guru Arjan and one who disputed the succession of Hargobind as the next Guru.<ref name=pashaura171>{{cite book|author1= Pashaura Singh|author2= Louis E. Fenech|title= The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=8I0NAwAAQBAJ| year=2014| publisher=Oxford University Press| isbn=978-0-19-969930-8|pages=171–172}}</ref> The followers of Prithi Chand considered themselves the true followers of ] as they rejected the increasing emphasis on militarization of the ''panth'' under Hargobind to resist Mughal persecution in the wake of Arjan's martyrdom, in favor of non-violent interiorization.<ref name="Syan2013p50"/> In addition to Prithi Chand, a son of ] named Baba Mohan had also challenged the authority of Arjan.<ref name="MandairShackle2013p21"/> These challenging claims were asserted by the early Sikh sects in part by their manuscripts of Sikh hymns. Baba Mohan possessed the Goindval pothi containing the hymns of Nanak and other early Gurus, while Prithi Chand possessed the ] pothi then believed to have been the oldest scripture from the time of Nanak.<ref name="MandairShackle2013p21"/> This, state scholars, may have triggered Guru Arjan to create a much enlarged, official version of the '']''.<ref name="MandairShackle2013p21">{{cite book|author1=Arvind-Pal S. Mandair|author2=Christopher Shackle|author3=Gurharpal Singh|title=Sikh Religion, Culture and Ethnicity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=79ZcAgAAQBAJ|year=2013|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-136-84634-2|pages=20–22}}</ref>
After Jahangir's revolt, and Akbar’s forgiving his errant son and proclaiming him heir-apparent, the leading nobles of Akbar’s Court were divided into two factions. One, favoring Akbar’s policy of Din-i-Ilahi and Sulha-i-Kul (Peace for All), favored liberal minded Prince Khusrau, Salim’s son, and held Salim unsuitable for kingship. The other, of Islamic fundamentalists, sick of Akbar policy of religious tolerance, aligned with Salim and extracted promises to reverse Akbar’s religious policy and further the cause of Islam at the cost of the non-Muslims.12 They were to be humiliated and shown no quarters. Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi’s letters, Maktubat-i-Emam-i-Rabani, fully reflect his philosophy of contempt for the non-Muslims.


Upon the first ''parkash'' of the Adi Granth according to Gurbilas, Guru Arjan said, “Listen you all to my directive. And believe it as ever true. Accept the Granth as equal with the Guru. And think no distinctions between the two.”<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gandhi |first=Surjit Singh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vZFBp89UInUC&dq=gurbilas+guru+arjan&pg=PA946 |title=History of Sikh Gurus Retold: 1606-1708 C.E |date=2007 |publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Dist |isbn=978-81-269-0858-5 |pages=946 |language=en}}</ref>
In Punjab, the Hindu position was listless except that they would hobnob with the convenient officials against the growing Sikh influence. Chandu Shah continued to spear poison against the Guru in the new Emperor's mind. On the other hand, Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi who, in one of his letters, described Guru Arjun Dev as Chief of Infidels – Rais-i-ahl-i-Shirk – and a leader of the Kafirs – imam-i-kufr.<ref> Ganda Singh, "The Martyrdom of Guru Arjun", PP&P. Vol. XII, April 1978, p. 171</ref> Gokal Chand Narang describes Guru Arjun Dev as "the first great organiser of the Sikh nation."<ref> Narang, Gokul p 67</ref>In the words of Mohsin Fani, the Sikhs had by now "become accustomed to a form of self government within the Empire".


The mainstream Sikh tradition recognised Guru Arjan as the fifth Guru, and Hargobind as the sixth Guru.<ref name=whm>{{cite book|isbn=978-0231068154|publisher=Columbia University Press|author=WH McLeod|date=1989|title=The Sikhs: History, Religion, and Society|url=https://archive.org/details/sikhshistoryreli00mcle|url-access=registration|pages=}}</ref><ref name=psbg/><ref>DS Dhillon (1988), Atlantic Publishers, pp. 99-110</ref> Arjan, at age 18, became the fifth Guru in 1581 inheriting the title from his father. After his execution by the Muslim officials of the ], his son Hargobind became the sixth Guru in 1606 CE.<ref name=whm/>
Khusrau’s indiscreet revolt against his father on April 6, 1606 and his hurrying to the Punjab, on way to the North West Frontier, to gain adherents greatly helped to strengthen the position of Islamic revivalists. Khusrau was pursued by Shaikh Farid Bukhari who in turn was being followed by Jahangir. The persons who directly or indirectly helped Khusrau were immediately punished.


=== Execution ===
Khusrau crossed river Beas and was followed by Shaikh Farid Bukhari who inflicted on him a crushing defeat near Bhairowal Khusrau was captured on April 27, 1606, near Chenab and brought as prisoner to Lahore.
]
Arjan died in Mughal custody; this has been one of the defining, though controversial, issues in Sikh history.<ref>Pashaura Singh (2005), {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620214905/http://www.global.ucsb.edu/punjab/journal_12_1/3_singh.pdf |date=20 June 2010 }}, Journal of Philosophical Society, 12(1), page 29, '''Quote:''' "The most controversial issue in Sikh history is related to Guru Arjan’s execution in Mughal custody. A number of interpretations of this event have emerged in scholarly and quasi-scholarly writings."</ref><ref name= "McLeodp20"/>


Most Mughal historians considered Guru Arjan's execution as a political event, stating that the Sikhs had become formidable as a social group, and Sikh Gurus became actively involved in the ]i political conflicts.<ref name=ps5>Pashaura Singh (2005), {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620214905/http://www.global.ucsb.edu/punjab/journal_12_1/3_singh.pdf |date=20 June 2010 }}, Journal of Philosophical Society, 12(1), pages 29-62</ref><ref name= "McLeodp20">{{cite book|title= The A to Z of Sikhism|author= W.H. McLeod|author-link= W.H. McLeod|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=vgixwfeCyDAC|publisher= Scarecrow Press|year= 2009|isbn= 9780810863446|page= 20 (Arjan's Death)|quote="The Mughal rulers of the Punjab were evidently concerned with the growth of the Panth, and in 1605 the Emperor Jahangir made an entry in his memoirs, the ''Tuzuk-i-Jahāṅgīrī'', concerning Guru Arjan's support for his rebellious son ]. Too many people, he wrote, were being persuaded by his teachings, and if the Guru would not become a Muslim, the Panth had to be extinguished. Jahangir believed that Guru Arjan was a Hindu who pretended to be a saint, and that he had been thinking of forcing Guru Arjan to convert to Islam or that his false trade should be eliminated, for a long time. Mughal authorities seem plainly to have been responsible for Arjan's death in custody in Lahore, and this may be accepted as an established fact. Whether the death was by execution, the result of torture, or drowning in the Ravi River remains unresolved. For Sikhs, Arjan is the first martyr Guru.}}</ref> A similar theory floated in the early 20th-century, asserts that this was just a politically-motivated single execution.<ref>Pashaura Singh (2005), {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620214905/http://www.global.ucsb.edu/punjab/journal_12_1/3_singh.pdf |date=20 June 2010 }}, Journal of Philosophical Society, 12(1), page 29, '''Quote:''' Similarly, in the early decades of twentieth-century Beni Prasad treated this whole affair as “a single execution due primarily to political reasons.”</ref> According to this theory, there was an ongoing Mughal dynasty dispute between Jahangir and his son ] suspected of rebellion by Jahangir, wherein Arjan blessed Khusrau and thus the losing side. Jahangir was jealous and outraged, and therefore he ordered the Guru's execution.<ref name="ShackleMandair2013xv"/><ref name=":1">Pashaura Singh (2005), {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620214905/http://www.global.ucsb.edu/punjab/journal_12_1/3_singh.pdf |date=20 June 2010 }}, Journal of Philosophical Society, 12(1), pages 32-33</ref><ref name= "Gandhi">{{cite book|title= Punjab:A History from Aurangzeb to Mountbatten| last=Gandhi| first=R| date=14 September 2013| author-link= Rajmohan Gandhi| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Ifs9AQAAQBAJ| publisher= Aleph Book Company| isbn= 9789383064410| page= 34|quote='''Quote:''' Jahangir, Akbar's son and successor, had ordered the execution. We know from Jahangir's own handwriting that he was jealous of Guru Arjan Dev's popularity and that a gesture from the Guru towards Khusrau, a son rebelling against Jahangir, had outraged him.}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/47024480 |title=Sikh history from Persian sources : translations of major texts |date=2001 |publisher=Tulika |others=J. S. Grewal, Irfan Habib, Indian History Congress. Session |isbn=81-85229-17-1 |location=New Delhi |pages=4 |oclc=47024480 |quote=The author of the Dabistan refers to the blessings of Guru Arjan for the rebel Prince Khusrau. A heavy fine was imposed on Guru Arjan, which he was unable to pay. He was bound and kept on the hot sands of Lahore. He died due to the heat of the summer and the tortures inflicted by the officials responsible for collecting the fine.}}</ref> But according to Jahangir's own autobiography, most probably he didn't understand the importance of Sikh gurus. He referred to Arjan as a Hindu, who had ''"captured many of the simple-hearted of the Hindus and even of the ignorant and foolish followers of Islam, by his ways and manners...for the three or four generations (of spiritual successors) they had kept this shop warm."'' The execution of Arjan marks a sharp contrast to Jahangir's tolerant attitude towards other religions such as ] and ].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Knappily|title=August 31, 1569: Jahangir is born {{!}} Knappily|url=http://knappily.com/onthisday/jahangir-mughal-life-legacy-739|access-date=2020-09-02|website=Knappily - The Knowledge App|language=en}}{{Dead link|date=August 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Jahangir|first=Emperor of Hindustan|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/53674|title=The Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri: or, Memoirs of Jahangir (Volume 1 of 2)|date=2016-12-06|editor-last=Beveridge|editor-first=Henry|language=en|translator-last=Rogers|translator-first=Alexander}}</ref>
Jahangir crossed to Beas on April 26, and was encamped at Jhabal. Upto May 22, i.e. for 27 days, there was no mention at all of Khusrau’s calling on Guru Arjun much less the latter’s blessing him.


] in ], ], commemorates the spot where Guru Arjan Dev is traditionally believed to have died.]]
Around May 23, a report about Guru Arjun’s blessing Khusrau and affixing a saffron mark on his forehead poured into Jahangir’s ears. That made him to call for Guru Arjan into his presence. Emperor Jahangir finally decided to arrest the Guru after he came to learn that Khusrau, his prince had become a contemporary of Guru Arjan himself. Many scholars allege that it was merely a propaganda by Shaikh Ahmed Bukhari.<ref> Sangat Singh: http://www.sikhspectrum.com/102002/sangat_s.htm</ref> Guru Arjan was arrested on the charge that he had received and blessed the rebel prince. The Emperor asked the Guru to pay the fine of two lac rupees and remove verses from the ] that were offensive to Hindus and Muslims. The Guru refused stating that there was nothing in the ] that was offensive to anyone. The Adi Granth enunciated unadulterated monotheism and humanism. The Emperor due to pressure from Chandu Shan and Shaikh Ahmed Sirhindi who were bittered by the number of converts the Guru was gaining decided to put the Guru to death through torture. Murtaza Khan, the governor of Lahore, was to carry out the sentence. According to ] chronicles, it was Chandu Shah who took charge of the holy prisoner and had him done to death with the cruelest torments. The Guru was imprisoned and excessively tortured in 1605. His body was exposed in the scorching heat of May 30 1605. He was made to sit on the red-hot sand, and boiling hot water was poured on his naked body. As time passed, Jahangir became reconciled to Guru Arjan`s successor, Guru Hargobind. Chandu Shah later had to face the wrath of the Sikhs in Lahore as he was dragged through the streets of Lahore who had witnessed the atrocities perpetrated by him, Chandu Shah died a miserable death. The final blow came ironically from the very person whom Chandu Shah had employed to pour hot sand on Guru Arjan`s blistered body. His body was later disposed into river ] in ]. <ref>The Sikh Encyclopedia: Chandu Shah</ref>
The Sikh tradition has a competing view. It states that the Guru's execution was a part of the ongoing persecution of the Sikhs by Islamic authorities in the Mughal Empire,<ref name=":3">Pashaura Singh (2005), {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620214905/http://www.global.ucsb.edu/punjab/journal_12_1/3_singh.pdf |date=20 June 2010 }}, Journal of Philosophical Society, 12(1), page 29, '''Quote:''' "In contrast to this viewpoint, however, most of the Sikh scholars have vehemently presented this event as the first of the long series of religious persecutions that Sikhs suffered at the hands of Mughal authorities."</ref> and that the Mughal rulers of Punjab were alarmed at the growth of the Panth.<ref name=lkca>{{cite book | last=Kulathungam | first=Lyman | title=Quest : Christ amidst the quest | publisher=Wipf | year=2012 | isbn=978-1-61097-515-5 | pages=175–177}}</ref><ref name= "McLeodp20"/><ref>{{cite book|author=J. S. Grewal|title=The Sikhs of the Punjab|url= https://archive.org/details/sikhsofpunjab0000grew |url-access=registration|year=1998| publisher= Cambridge University Press|isbn= 978-0-521-63764-0|pages=–64}}</ref> According to ]'s autobiography '']'' (''Jahangirnama'') which discussed Arjan's support for his rebellious son ], too many people were becoming persuaded by Arjan's teachings and if Arjan did not become a ], the Sikh Panth had to be extinguished.<ref name="McLeodp20"/>{{refn|group=note|name=wmt1|The following is from Jahangir's memoirs:<br />There was a Hindu named Arjan in Gobindwal on the banks of the Beas River. Pretending to be a spiritual guide, he had won over as devotees many simple-minded Indians and even some ignorant, stupid Muslims by broadcasting his claims to be a saint. They called him a guru. Many fools from all around had recourse to him and believed in him implicitly. For three or four generations they had been peddling this same stuff. For a long time, I had been thinking that either this false trade should be eliminated or that he should be brought into the embrace of Islam. At length, when Khusraw passed by there, this inconsequential little fellow wished to pay homage to Khusraw. When Khusraw stopped at his residence, came out and had an interview with . Giving him some elementary spiritual precepts picked up here and there, he made a mark with saffron on his forehead, which is called ''qashqa'' in the idiom of the Hindus and which they consider lucky. When this was reported to me, I realized how perfectly false he was and ordered him brought to me. I awarded his houses and dwellings and those of his children to ], and I ordered his possessions and goods confiscated and him executed. – Emperor Jahangir's Memoirs, Jahangirnama 27b-28a, (Translator: Wheeler M. Thackston)<ref name=thackston>{{cite book |last=Jahangir, Emperor of Hindustan |date=1999 |title=The Jahangirnama: Memoirs of Jahangir, Emperor of India |translator-last=Thackston |translator-first=Wheeler M. |translator-link=Wheeler Thackston |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=59 |isbn=978-0-19-512718-8}}</ref>}}


In 1606 CE, the Guru was imprisoned in ], where by some accounts he was tortured and executed,<ref name=lkca/><ref>{{cite book|author=Pashaura Singh| title= Life and Work of Guru Arjan: History, Memory, and Biography in the Sikh Tradition| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FbPXAAAAMAAJ| year=2006| publisher=Oxford University Press| isbn=978-0-19-567921-2| pages=23, 217–218}}</ref> and by other accounts, the method of his death remains unresolved.<ref name= "McLeodp20"/> The traditional Sikh account states that the Mughal emperor ] demanded a fine of 200,000 rupees and demanded that Arjan erase some of the hymns in the text that he found offensive. The Guru refused to remove the lines and pay the fine which, the Sikh accounts state, led to his execution.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Nayar|first1=Kamala|title=The Sikh Diaspora in Vancouver: Three Generations Amid Tradition, Modernity & Multiculturalism|url=https://archive.org/details/sikhdiasporainva00naya|url-access=registration|date=2004|isbn=9780802086310|page=|publisher=University of Toronto Press }}</ref> Some Muslim traditional accounts such as of Latif in 19th-century states that Arjan was dictatorial, someone who lived in splendour with "costly attire", who had left aside the rosary and the clothes of a saint ('']'').<ref>{{cite book|last1=Singh|first1=Rishi|title=State Formation and the Establishment of Non-Muslim Hegemony: Post-Mughal 19th-century Punjab|date=23 April 2015|publisher=SAGE Publications India|isbn=9789351505044|pages=40–41}}, Quote: "Latif, writing his work in 19th century, states that Guru Arjan assumed dictatorship, and adds that he was the first one to lay aside the rosary and the garb of a fakir, and dressed himself in costly attire and converted the saintly gaddi (the seat) of his pious predecessors into a princely rostrum. He adds that Guru Arjan kept fine horses and elephants, and lived in splendour."</ref> Shaikh ] cheered the punishment and execution of Arjun, calling the Sikh Guru an ].<ref>Pashaura Singh (2005), {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620214905/http://www.global.ucsb.edu/punjab/journal_12_1/3_singh.pdf |date=20 June 2010 }}, Journal of Philosophical Society, 12(1), page 34</ref>{{refn|group=note|This is from records of Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi, composed after the punishment and execution of Guru Arjun:<br />These days the accursed infidel of Gobindwal was very fortunately killed. It is a cause of great defeat for the reprobate Hindus. With whatever intention and purpose they are killed – the humiliation of infidels is for Muslims, life itself. Before this Kafir (]) was killed, I had seen in a dream that the Emperor of the day had destroyed the crown of the head of Shirk or infidelity. It is true that this infidel was the chief of the infidels and a leader of the Kafirs. The object of levying ] (tax on non-Muslims) on them is to humiliate and insult the Kafirs, and ] against them and hostility towards them are the necessities of the Mohammedan faith. – ], Letter to ], On the execution of Guru Arjan<ref name=ps5/><ref name=smii>Sirhindi, Maktubat-i Imam-i Rabbani, I-iii, letter No. 193, pp. 95-6</ref><ref>Friedman Yohanan (1966), Shaikh Ahmad Sirhandi: An Outline of His Image in the Eyes of Posterity, Ph.D. Thesis, McGill University, pp. 110-112</ref>}} In contrast, ] – the ] friend of Arjan, lobbied when Jehangir ordered the execution and the confiscation of Arjan's property, then got the confiscation order deferred, according to Rishi Singh.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Singh|first1=Rishi|title=State Formation and the Establishment of Non-Muslim Hegemony: Post-Mughal 19th-century Punjab|date=23 April 2015|publisher=SAGE Publications India|isbn=9789351505044|page=35}}</ref>
This is what Emperor Jahangir wrote in his diary called the ], which translates to "Memoirs of Jahangir". From the details in Tuzuk-i-Jehangiri, it is obvious that Jahangir was looking for an opportunity to deal with Guru Arjun.


Some scholars state that the evidence is unclear whether his death was due to execution, torture or ] in the ].<ref name="Gandhi"/><ref name= "McLeod">{{cite book|title= The A to Z of Sikhism|author= W.H. McLeod|author-link= W.H. McLeod|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=vgixwfeCyDAC|publisher= Scarecrow Press|year= 2009|isbn= 9780810863446|page= 20}}</ref><ref name= "Bhalla">{{cite book|title= In Search of Roots: Guru Amar Das and Bhallas|author= A.S. Bhalla|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=1KfLydMHLhYC|publisher= Rupa & Co. |year= 2008|isbn= 9788129113337|page= 20}}</ref> ] notes that Sikh sources from the seventeenth and eighteenth-century contain contradictory reports of Arjan's death.<ref>J.S. Grewal, The Sikhs of the Punjab, in ]. 2, 3. Gen eds. Chris Bayly, Gordon Johnson, ]. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998, pp. 63-64.</ref> ] states that Jahangir was persistently hostile to popularly venerated saints, not just Sikhism.<ref>Richards, John F. The Mughal Empire, in The New Cambridge History of India. 1, 5. Gen eds. Chris Bayly, Gordon Johnson, ]. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993, p. 97.</ref> ] was a contemporary of Arjan and is a noted 17th-century Sikh chronicler.<ref>Vir Singh, ed. Varam Bahi Gurdas Satki, 9th edition. New Delhi: Bhai Vir Singh Sahitya Sadan, 1997), p. 386.</ref> His eyewitness account recorded Arjan's life, and the order by Emperor Jahangir to torture the Guru to death.<ref>{{cite book|isbn=978-8172012182|title=Bhai Gurdas|author=Prītama Siṅgha|date=1992|pages=25–32|publisher=Sahitya Akademi }}</ref>
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A contemporary Jesuit account, written by Spanish ] missionary ] (1549–1617), who was in ] at the time, records that the Sikhs tried to get Jahangir to commute the torture and death sentence to a heavy fine, but this attempt failed.<ref>Father Jerome to Father Gasper Fernandes, (] Add MS 9854, ff. 38-52), 1617, in Sicques, Tigers or Thieves: Eyewitness Accounts of the Sikhs (1606-1809). Eds. Amandeep Singh Madra and Parmjit Singh. Palgrave Macmillan, 2004, p. 7.</ref> Dabistan-i Mazahib Mobad states Jahangir tortured Arjan in the hopes of extracting the money and public repudiation of his spiritual convictions, but the Guru refused and was executed.<ref>Mobad', Dabistan-i Mazahib, 1645-46, in Sikh history from Persian sources. Eds. J.S. Grewal and Irfan Habib. Indian History Congress: Tulika, 2001. p. 67.</ref> ], in appreciation of the courage of Guru Arjun, wrote back to ], that Arjan suffered and was tormented.<ref name=mb12>{{cite book | last=Barnes | first=Michael | title=Interreligious learning: dialogue, spirituality, and the Christian imagination | publisher=Cambridge University Press | year=2012 | isbn=978-1-107-01284-4 | pages=245–246| quote=In that way, their good Pope died, overwhelmed by the sufferings, torments and dishonours. – Jerome Xavier, Letter to Gasper Fernandes in Lisbon, On the execution of Guru Arjan}}</ref>
{{Cquotetxt|In Goindwal, which is on the river Biyãh (Beas), there was a Hindu named Arjan, in the garments of sainthood and sanctity, so much so that he had captured many of the simple-hearted of the Hindus, and even of the ignorant and foolish followers of Islam, by his ways and manners, and they had loudly sounded the drum of his holiness. They called him Guru, and from all sides stupid people crowded to worship and manifest complete faith in him. For three or four generations (of spiritual successors) they had kept this shop warm. Many times it occurred to me to put a stop to this vain affair or to bring him into the assembly of the people of Islam.
]
At last when Khusrau passed along this road this insignificant fellow proposed to wait upon him. Khusrau happened to halt at the place where he was, and he came out and did homage to him. He behaved to Khusrau in certain special ways, and made on his forehead a finger-mark in saffron, which the Indians (Hinduwän) call qashqa, (Tilak) and is considered propitious. When this came to my ears and I clearly understood his folly, I ordered them to produce him and handed over his houses, dwelling-places, and children to Murtaza Khan, and having confiscated his property commanded that he should be put to death."|]|]}}
According to the Sikh tradition, before his execution, Arjan instructed his son and successor ] to take up arms, and resist tyranny.<ref name=mcleod2021>{{cite book|title= The A to Z of Sikhism|author= W.H. McLeod|author-link= W.H. McLeod| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=vgixwfeCyDAC|publisher= Scarecrow Press|year= 2009|isbn= 9780810863446| pages= 20–21}}</ref> His execution led the Sikh ] to become armed and pursue resistance to persecution under the Mughal rule.<ref name="lkca"/><ref>{{cite book | author=Pashaura Singh, Louis Fenech | title=The Oxford handbook of Sikh studies | publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2014 | isbn=9780199699308 | pages=236–237}}</ref> Michael Barnes states that the resolve and death of Arjun strengthened the conviction among Sikhs that, "personal piety must have a core of moral strength. A virtuous soul must be a courageous soul. Willingness to suffer trial for one's convictions was a religious imperative".<ref name=mb12/>


There are several stories and versions about how, where and why Arjan died.<ref>Sajida S. Alvi (1987), “Religion and State during the Reign of Mughal Emperor Jahangir (1605-27): Nonjuristical Perspectives,” in Studia Islamica, pp. 113-114</ref><ref name=ps6>{{cite book | author=Pashaura Singh | title=Life and work of Guru Arjan: history, memory, and biography in the Sikh tradition | publisher=Oxford University Press| year=2006 | isbn=978-0-19-567921-2 | pages=211–219, 233}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last=Gandhi | first=Rajmohan | title=Revenge and reconciliation | publisher=Penguin Books | location=New Delhi New York, NY | year=1999 | isbn=978-0-14-029045-5 | pages=93–95}}</ref> Recent scholarship<ref>Pashaura Singh (2005), {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620214905/http://www.global.ucsb.edu/punjab/journal_12_1/3_singh.pdf |date=20 June 2010 }}, Journal of Philosophical Society, 12(1), pp. 38-39</ref><ref>Louis Fenech (2001), , Journal of the American Oriental Society, 121(1), pp. 20-31</ref> have offered alternative analyses, wary of "exaggerating fragmentary traces of documentary evidence in historical analysis". The alternate versions include stories about the role of Arjan in a conflict between the Mughal Emperor Jahangir and his son who Jahangir suspected of trying to organize a patricidal coup. An alternate version highlights the role of a Hindu minister of Jahangir named ]. He, in one version, takes revenge on Arjan for not marrying his son Hargobind to Chandu Shah's daughter. In another Lahore version, Chandu Shah actually prevents Arjan from suffering torture and death by Muslims by paying 200,000 rupees (100,000 crusados) to Jahangir, but then keeps him and emotionally torments him to death in his house.<ref>Kirpal Singh (2000), Perspectives on Sikh Gurus, National Book Shop, pp. 125-127</ref> Several alternative versions of the story try to absolve Jahangir and the Mughal empire of any responsibility,<ref name=ps6/><ref>Pashaura Singh (2011), {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924022617/http://www.global.ucsb.edu/punjab/journal/v18_1-2/articles/11_InResponse.pdf |date=24 September 2015 }}, Journal of Punjab Studies, University of California Press, 18(1&2), pp. 295-316</ref> but have no trace or support in the documentary evidence from early 17th century, such as the records of Jesuit priest Jerome Xavier and the memoirs of Jahangir.<ref name=ps5/><ref name=thackston/><ref>Louis E. Fenech (2010), Martyrdom: W.H. McLeod and his Students, Journal of Punjab Studies, University of California Press, 17(1&2), pp. 75-94</ref>
The manner in which Guru Arjan was put to death "convinced the sikhs that they must arm themselves and fight, if they wanted to live".<ref>{{cite book
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It proved a turning point in the history of Sikhs.


==External links== ==Legacy==
===Amritsar===
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Arjan's father Guru Ram Das founded the town named after him "Ramdaspur", around a large man-made water pool called "Ramdas Sarovar". Arjan continued the infrastructure-building effort of his father. The town expanded during the time of Arjan, financed by donations and constructed by ]. The pool area grew into a temple complex with the ] ] near the pool. Arjan installed the scripture of Sikhism inside the new temple in 1604.<ref name="ShackleMandair2013xv" /> The city that emerged is now known as ], and is the holiest pilgrimage site in Sikhism.<ref name="ShackleMandair2013xv" /><ref name="McLeod1990p28">{{cite book|author=W.H. McLeod|title=Textual Sources for the Study of Sikhism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7xIT7OMSJ44C&pg=PA28 |year=1990|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-56085-4|pages=28–29}}</ref>
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Continuing the efforts of Ram Das, Arjan established Amritsar as a primary Sikh pilgrimage destination. He wrote a voluminous amount of Sikh scripture including the popular ]. Arjan is credited with completing many other infrastructure projects, such as water reservoirs called ''Santokhsar'' (Pond of ]) and ''Gongsar'' (Pond of Bells),<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.shabdkosh.com/dictionary/english-punjabi/gong/gong-meaning-in-punjabi | title=Gong meaning in Punjabi &#124; gong translation in Punjabi }}</ref> founding the towns of Tarn Taran, Kartarpur and Hargobindpur.<ref name=mandair42>{{cite book|author=Mohinder Singh Joshi|title=Guru Arjan Dev |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PCQaSH_29i4C&pg=PA6 |year= 1994| publisher=Sahitya Akademi| isbn=978-81-7201-769-9|pages=6–8}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Arvind-Pal Singh Mandair|title=Sikhism: A Guide for the Perplexed|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jn_jBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA42 |year=2013|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic|isbn=978-1-4411-5366-1|pages=42–43}}</ref>
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====Community expansion====
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While having completing the ] with '']'' donations during the first decade of his guruship between 1581 and 1589, creating a rallying point for the community and a center for Sikh activity, and a place for the installment of the ], Arjan had also gone on a tour of ] and ] in Punjab, where he would found the towns. Due to their central location in the Punjab heartland, the ranks of Sikhs would swell, especially among the ] peasantry, and create a level of prosperity for them; Arjan would serve not only as a spiritual mentor but as a true emperor (''sacchā ]'') for his followers in his own right.<ref name=mandair42/>
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===Adi Granth ===
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According to the Sikh tradition, Arjan compiled the Adi Granth by collecting hymns of past Gurus from many places, then rejecting those that he considered as fakes or to be diverging from the teachings of the Gurus.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Mohinder|first1=Joshi|title=Guru Arjan Dev|date=1994|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|isbn=9788172017699|page=4}}</ref> His approved collection included hymns from the first four Gurus of Sikhism, those he composed, as well as 17 Hindu bards and 2 Muslim bards (]).<ref>{{cite book|last1=Mohinder|first1=Joshi|title=Guru Arjan Dev|date=1994|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|isbn=9788172017699|pages=4–5}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Singh|first1=Nikky-Guninder Kaur|title=Sikhism: An Introduction|date=2011|location=New York|page=30}}</ref> The compilation was completed on 30 August 1604, according to the Sikh tradition and installed in the Harmandir Sahib temple on 1 September 1604.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Largen|first1=Kristin|title=Finding God Among our Neighbors, Volume 2: An Interfaith Systematic Theology|date=2017|publisher=Fortress Press|location=Minneapolis|isbn=9781506423302|page=39}}</ref>
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Arjan was a prolific poet who composed 2,218 hymns. More than half of the volume of ''Guru Granth Sahib'' and the largest collection of hymns has been composed by Arjan. According to Christopher Shackle and Arvind-Pal Singh Mandair, Arjan's compositions combined spiritual message in an "encyclopedic linguistic sophistication" with "Braj Bhasha forms and learned Sanskrit vocabulary".<ref>{{cite book|author1=Christopher Shackle|author2=Arvind Mandair|title=Teachings of the Sikh Gurus: Selections from the Sikh Scriptures |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VvoJV8mw0LwC |year=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-45101-0|pages=xviii–xix, xxii}}</ref>

After Arjan completed and installed the Adi Granth in the Harimandir Sahib, Mughal emperor ] was informed of the development with the allegation that it contained teachings hostile to Islam. He ordered a copy be brought to him. Arjan sent him a copy on a ''thali'' (plate), with the following message that was later added to the expanded text:

{{Quote|
<poem>
In this ''thali'' (dish) you will find three things – truth, peace and contemplation:
in this too the nectar ] which is the support of all humanity.
</poem>
|''AG 1429''|Translated by William Owen Cole and Piara Singh Sambhi<ref>{{cite book|author1=William Owen Cole|author2=Piara Singh Sambhi| title= The Sikhs: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=zIC_MgJ5RMUC |year=1995| publisher= Sussex Academic Press|isbn=978-1-898723-13-4|page=26}}</ref>}}

The '']'' by ] mentions that Arjan met the Mughal emperor Akbar and his cortege in 1598. According to Louis Fenech, this meeting likely influenced the development of Sikh ] and the later martial tradition.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com |title=The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies|pages=45–46|publisher=Oxford University Press| editor=Pashaura Singh, Louis E. Fenech|author=Louis Fenech| year= 2014| isbn= 978-0-19-969930-8}}</ref>

One of the Sikh community disputes following Guru Ram Das was the emergence of new hymns claiming to have been composed by Nanak. According to the faction led by Arjan, these hymns were distorted and fake, with some blaming Prithi Chand and his Sikh faction for having composed and circulated them.<ref name="Syan2013p50"/><ref>{{cite book|author=W.H. McLeod|title=Textual Sources for the Study of Sikhism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7xIT7OMSJ44C&pg=PA29 |year=1990|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-56085-4|pages=29–30}}</ref> The concern and the possibility of wrong propaganda, immoral teachings and inauthentic ''Gurbani'' led Arjan to initiate a major effort to collect, study, approve and compile a written official scripture, and this he called ''Adi Granth'', the first edition of the Sikh scripture by 1604.<ref name=fenech39/><ref name=pashaura171/>

The composition of both Prithi Chand and his followers have been preserved in the Mina texts of Sikhism, while the mainstream and larger Sikh tradition adopted the ''Guru Granth Sahib'' scripture that ultimately emerged from the initiative of Arjan.<ref name=pashaura171/><ref name="Syan2013p52-54">{{cite book|author=Hardip Singh Syan|title=Sikh Militancy in the Seventeenth Century: Religious Violence in Mughal and Early Modern India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9RzzxcEL4C0C&pg=PA52|year=2013|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=978-1-78076-250-0|pages=52–54}}</ref>

==Spelling==
Some scholars spell Guru Arjan's name as 'Guru Arjun'.<ref name=mb12/><ref name="Dehsen 1999 14"/>

== Gallery ==
<gallery>
File:Guru Arjun Dev being pronounced fifth guru.jpg|] of Guru Arjan being pronounced as fifth Guru.
File:Guru Arjan painting.jpg|Guru Arjan miniature painting, ca.1800.
File:Guru Arjan miniature painting.jpg|Guru Arjan with ], miniature painting.
File:Guru Arjun Dev painting from the family workshop of Nainsukh of Guler.jpg|Guru Arjun Dev painting from the family workshop of Nainsukh of Guler.
File:Fresco of Guru Arjan from above the entrance of the Baoli Sahib located in Goindwal.jpg|Fresco of Guru Arjan Dev from Goindwal Baoli Sahib.
File:Gurdwara Baba Atal fresco 60.jpg|Guru Arjan compiling the ] with ].
File:Lal Khoohi - Place Where Guru Arjan dev ji was tortured.jpg|Photograph from ] of the place where Guru Arjan is believed to have been incarcerated
</gallery>

==See also==
{{Portal|Sikhism|India|Biography|Punjab}}
* ]
* ]
* ]<ref name="ResearchGate">{{Cite web|author=|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344726865|title=MUSIC AND SIKH SPIRITUALITY}}</ref>


==Notes== ==Notes==
{{Reflist|group=note}}
{{reflist}}


==References== ==References==
{{Reflist}}
* 1. "Tuzuk-i-Jahagiri or Memoirs of Jahagir" Translated by Alexander Rogers. Edited by Henry Beveridge Published by Low Price Publication www.lppindia.com ISBN 978-81-7536-148-5
* 2. History of the Panjab, Syad Muhammad Latif, Published by: Kalyani Publishers, Ludhiana, Punjab, India ISBN 978-81-7096-245-8


===Bibliography===
{{Sikh Gurus|Guru Ram Das|(] ] - ] ])|Guru Arjan Dev|Guru Har Gobind|(] ] - ] ])}}
https://www.amazon.com/History-Sikhs-Vol-Gurus-1469-1708/dp/8121502764/ref=pd_rhf_d_dp_s_ci_mcx_mr_hp_d_sccl_1_3/145-9098560-6919419?pd_rd_w=EhQDc&content-id=amzn1.sym.0a853d15-c5a9-4695-90cd-fdc0b630b803&pf_rd_p=0a853d15-c5a9-4695-90cd-fdc0b630b803&pf_rd_r=43STA5ET49JHAD1KW93F&pd_rd_wg=QgeDc&pd_rd_r=a73a726d-d340-472d-a1b7-10ee05e97b57&pd_rd_i=8121502764&psc=1
# {{cite book |last=Jahangir, Emperor of Hindustan |author-link=Jahangir |date=1909 |editor-last=Beveridge |editor-first=Henry |editor-link=Henry Beveridge (1837–1929) |title=The Tuzuk-i-Janhangīrī or Memoirs of Jahāngīr |url=https://archive.org/stream/tuzukijahangirio00jahauoft#page/n4/mode/1up |translator-last=Rogers |translator-first=Alexander |location=London |publisher=Royal Asiatic Society}}
#''History of the Panjab'', Syad Muhammad Latif, Published by: Kalyani Publishers, Ludhiana, Punjab, India. {{ISBN|978-81-7096-245-8}}
# ''Philosophy of 'Charhdi Kala' and Higher State of Mind in Sri Guru Granth Sahib'', Dr. Harjinder Singh Majhail, 2010, Published by: Deepak Publishers, Jalandhar, Punjab, India. {{ISBN|81-88852-96-1}}
#''SIKH HISTORY IN 10 VOLUMES'', Dr Harjinder Singh Dilgeer, Published by: The Sikh University Press, Brussels, Belgium. ISBN 2- 930247-41-X


==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
*
*

{{s-start}}
{{succession box
| before = ]
| title = ]|years=1 September 1581 – 25 May 1606
| after = ]
}}
{{s-end}}
{{Writers of Guru Granth Sahib}}
{{Sikhism}} {{Sikhism}}


{{Authority control}}
Koubouter van het Gerrit Rietveld College, Zeer normaal schoolkind. XD


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Latest revision as of 20:57, 29 December 2024

Fifth Sikh guru from 1581 to 1606 "Arjun Dev" redirects here. For the Indian historian and educationist, see Arjun Dev (historian).

Guru Arjan
ਗੁਰੂ ਅਰਜਨ
Guru ArjanPainting of Guru Arjan by the family atelier of Purkhu of Kangra, circa 1800
Title5th Guru of Sikhism
Personal life
Born15 April 1563
Goindwal, Lahore Subah, Mughal Empire
(present-day Tarn Taran district, Punjab, India)
Died30 May 1606(1606-05-30) (aged 43)
Lahore, Lahore Subah, Mughal Empire
(present-day Punjab, Pakistan)
Cause of deathExecution
Resting placeGurdwara Dera Sahib, Walled City of Lahore
SpouseMata Ram Dei
Mata Ganga
ChildrenGuru Hargobind
Parent(s)Guru Ram Das and Mata Bhani
Known for
Other namesFifth Master
Fifth Nanak
Signature
Religious life
ReligionSikhism
Religious career
Period in office1581–1606
PredecessorGuru Ram Das
SuccessorGuru Hargobind
Part of a series on
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Sikhism and other religions

Guru Arjan (Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰੂ ਅਰਜਨ, pronunciation: [gʊɾuː əɾd͡ʒənᵊ]; 15 April 1563 – 30 May 1606) was the fifth of the ten total Sikh Gurus. He compiled the first official edition of the Sikh scripture called the Adi Granth, which later expanded into the Guru Granth Sahib. He is regarded as the first of the two Gurus martyred in the Sikh faith.

Guru Arjan was born in Goindval, in the Punjab, the youngest son of Bhai Jetha, who later became Guru Ram Das, and Mata Bhani, the daughter of Guru Amar Das. He completed the construction of the Darbar Sahib at Amritsar, after the fourth Sikh Guru founded the town and built a sarovar. Arjan compiled the hymns of previous Gurus and of other saints into Adi Granth, the first edition of the Sikh scripture, and installed it in the Harimandir Sahib.

Guru Arjan reorganized the masand system initiated by Guru Ram Das, by suggesting that the Sikhs donate, if possible, one-tenth of their income, goods or service to the Sikh organization (dasvandh). The Masand not only collected these funds but also taught tenets of Sikhism and settled civil disputes in their region. The dasvand financed the building of gurdwaras and langars (shared communal kitchens).

Guru Arjan was arrested under the orders of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir accusing him of supporting a rebellion under Khusrau Mirza. He was asked to convert himself to Islam. He refused and, as a result, was tortured and executed in 1606 CE. Historical records and the Sikh tradition are unclear as to whether Arjan was executed by drowning or died during torture. The Sikh tradition states the Guru's execution was a part of the ongoing persecution of the Sikhs under the Mughal Empire. His martyrdom is considered a watershed event in the history of Sikhism. It is remembered as Shaheedi Divas of Guru Arjan in May or June according to the Nanakshahi calendar released by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee in 2003.

Biography

Early life

Guru Arjan was born in Goindval to Bibi Bhani and Jetha Sodhi. Bibi Bhani was the daughter of Guru Amar Das, and her husband Jetha Sodhi later came to be known as Guru Ram Das. Arjan's birthplace site is now memorialized as the Gurdwara Chaubara Sahib. He had two brothers: Prithi Chand and Mahadev. Various Sikh chroniclers give his birth year as 1553 or 1563, the latter is accepted by scholarly consensus as the actual year of birth with 15 April as the accepted birth date.

Guru Arjan spent the first 11 years of his life in Goindwal and the next seven years with his father in Ramdaspur. Per Sikh tradition, he had stayed for two years in Lahore during his youth after being sent by his father to attend the wedding of his first cousin Sahari Mal's son as well as to establish a Sikh congregation. He was appointed as the Sikh Guru in 1581 after the death of his father. Guru Ram Das was a Khatri of the Sodhi sub-caste. With Arjan's succession, the Guruship remained in the Sodhi family of Guru Ram Das.

Marriages

According to historians, Guru Arjan wedded twice. His first wife was Mata Ram Dei, whom he married on 20 June 1579. His second wife was Mata Ganga, their wedding taking place on 19 May 1589. Popular Sikh tradition omits his first wife and claims he was only married to Ganga.

Succession and time as Guru

Fresco of Baba Buddha crowning Guru Arjan as the next guru by placing tilak on his forehead, known as the Gurgadi ceremony. Guru Ram Das is depicted to the immediate bottom right of Arjan.

Guru Ram Das chose Arjan, the youngest, to succeed him as the fifth Sikh Guru. Mahadev, the middle brother chose the life of an ascetic. His choice of Guru Arjan as successor, as throughout most of the history of Sikh Guru successions, led to disputes and internal divisions among the Sikhs.

The succession dispute regarding Guru Arjan created a schism that yielded different narratives for the two factions. In the orthodox Sikh tradition, Prithi Chand is remembered as vehemently opposing Guru Arjan, creating a factional sect of the Sikh community. The Sikhs following Arjan referred to the breakaway faction as Minas (literally, "scoundrels"). Prithi Chand and his followers attempted to assassinate the young Hargobind thrice. Prithi Chand also befriended Mughal agents. Subsequent written competing texts written by the Minas, on the other hand, offered a different explanation for the attempt on Hargobind's life, and present him as devoted to his younger brother Arjan. The eldest son of Prithi Chand, Miharvan, is mentioned in both traditions as having received tutelage from both Prithi Chand and Arjan as a child.

The competing texts acknowledge the disagreements. They state Prithi Chand left Amritsar, became the Sahib Guru after the martyrdom of Guru Arjan and one who disputed the succession of Hargobind as the next Guru. The followers of Prithi Chand considered themselves the true followers of Guru Nanak as they rejected the increasing emphasis on militarization of the panth under Hargobind to resist Mughal persecution in the wake of Arjan's martyrdom, in favor of non-violent interiorization. In addition to Prithi Chand, a son of Guru Amar Das named Baba Mohan had also challenged the authority of Arjan. These challenging claims were asserted by the early Sikh sects in part by their manuscripts of Sikh hymns. Baba Mohan possessed the Goindval pothi containing the hymns of Nanak and other early Gurus, while Prithi Chand possessed the Guru Harsahai pothi then believed to have been the oldest scripture from the time of Nanak. This, state scholars, may have triggered Guru Arjan to create a much enlarged, official version of the Adi Granth.

Upon the first parkash of the Adi Granth according to Gurbilas, Guru Arjan said, “Listen you all to my directive. And believe it as ever true. Accept the Granth as equal with the Guru. And think no distinctions between the two.”

The mainstream Sikh tradition recognised Guru Arjan as the fifth Guru, and Hargobind as the sixth Guru. Arjan, at age 18, became the fifth Guru in 1581 inheriting the title from his father. After his execution by the Muslim officials of the Mughal Empire, his son Hargobind became the sixth Guru in 1606 CE.

Execution

Painting of the torture and martyrdom of Arjan by the Punjabi painter Sri Ram (1876 – 1926)

Arjan died in Mughal custody; this has been one of the defining, though controversial, issues in Sikh history.

Most Mughal historians considered Guru Arjan's execution as a political event, stating that the Sikhs had become formidable as a social group, and Sikh Gurus became actively involved in the Punjabi political conflicts. A similar theory floated in the early 20th-century, asserts that this was just a politically-motivated single execution. According to this theory, there was an ongoing Mughal dynasty dispute between Jahangir and his son Khusrau suspected of rebellion by Jahangir, wherein Arjan blessed Khusrau and thus the losing side. Jahangir was jealous and outraged, and therefore he ordered the Guru's execution. But according to Jahangir's own autobiography, most probably he didn't understand the importance of Sikh gurus. He referred to Arjan as a Hindu, who had "captured many of the simple-hearted of the Hindus and even of the ignorant and foolish followers of Islam, by his ways and manners...for the three or four generations (of spiritual successors) they had kept this shop warm." The execution of Arjan marks a sharp contrast to Jahangir's tolerant attitude towards other religions such as Hinduism and Christianity.

The Gurdwara Dera Sahib in Lahore, Pakistan, commemorates the spot where Guru Arjan Dev is traditionally believed to have died.

The Sikh tradition has a competing view. It states that the Guru's execution was a part of the ongoing persecution of the Sikhs by Islamic authorities in the Mughal Empire, and that the Mughal rulers of Punjab were alarmed at the growth of the Panth. According to Jahangir's autobiography Tuzk-e-Jahangiri (Jahangirnama) which discussed Arjan's support for his rebellious son Khusrau, too many people were becoming persuaded by Arjan's teachings and if Arjan did not become a Muslim, the Sikh Panth had to be extinguished.

In 1606 CE, the Guru was imprisoned in Lahore Fort, where by some accounts he was tortured and executed, and by other accounts, the method of his death remains unresolved. The traditional Sikh account states that the Mughal emperor Jahangir demanded a fine of 200,000 rupees and demanded that Arjan erase some of the hymns in the text that he found offensive. The Guru refused to remove the lines and pay the fine which, the Sikh accounts state, led to his execution. Some Muslim traditional accounts such as of Latif in 19th-century states that Arjan was dictatorial, someone who lived in splendour with "costly attire", who had left aside the rosary and the clothes of a saint (fakir). Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi cheered the punishment and execution of Arjun, calling the Sikh Guru an infidel. In contrast, Mian Mir – the Sufi friend of Arjan, lobbied when Jehangir ordered the execution and the confiscation of Arjan's property, then got the confiscation order deferred, according to Rishi Singh.

Some scholars state that the evidence is unclear whether his death was due to execution, torture or forced drowning in the Ravi river. J.S. Grewal notes that Sikh sources from the seventeenth and eighteenth-century contain contradictory reports of Arjan's death. J. F. Richard states that Jahangir was persistently hostile to popularly venerated saints, not just Sikhism. Bhai Gurdas was a contemporary of Arjan and is a noted 17th-century Sikh chronicler. His eyewitness account recorded Arjan's life, and the order by Emperor Jahangir to torture the Guru to death.

A contemporary Jesuit account, written by Spanish Jesuit missionary Jerome Xavier (1549–1617), who was in Lahore at the time, records that the Sikhs tried to get Jahangir to commute the torture and death sentence to a heavy fine, but this attempt failed. Dabistan-i Mazahib Mobad states Jahangir tortured Arjan in the hopes of extracting the money and public repudiation of his spiritual convictions, but the Guru refused and was executed. Jerome Xavier, in appreciation of the courage of Guru Arjun, wrote back to Lisbon, that Arjan suffered and was tormented.

Detail of a depiction of Guru Arjan Dev's martyrdom, from the front-page of the Thursday, 13 April 1933 Vaisakhi edition of 'The Khalsa', published from Lahore.

According to the Sikh tradition, before his execution, Arjan instructed his son and successor Hargobind to take up arms, and resist tyranny. His execution led the Sikh Panth to become armed and pursue resistance to persecution under the Mughal rule. Michael Barnes states that the resolve and death of Arjun strengthened the conviction among Sikhs that, "personal piety must have a core of moral strength. A virtuous soul must be a courageous soul. Willingness to suffer trial for one's convictions was a religious imperative".

There are several stories and versions about how, where and why Arjan died. Recent scholarship have offered alternative analyses, wary of "exaggerating fragmentary traces of documentary evidence in historical analysis". The alternate versions include stories about the role of Arjan in a conflict between the Mughal Emperor Jahangir and his son who Jahangir suspected of trying to organize a patricidal coup. An alternate version highlights the role of a Hindu minister of Jahangir named Chandu Shah. He, in one version, takes revenge on Arjan for not marrying his son Hargobind to Chandu Shah's daughter. In another Lahore version, Chandu Shah actually prevents Arjan from suffering torture and death by Muslims by paying 200,000 rupees (100,000 crusados) to Jahangir, but then keeps him and emotionally torments him to death in his house. Several alternative versions of the story try to absolve Jahangir and the Mughal empire of any responsibility, but have no trace or support in the documentary evidence from early 17th century, such as the records of Jesuit priest Jerome Xavier and the memoirs of Jahangir.

Legacy

Amritsar

Guru Arjan hunting while mounted on horseback with a hawk. Painting from Faizabad, circa 1760.

Arjan's father Guru Ram Das founded the town named after him "Ramdaspur", around a large man-made water pool called "Ramdas Sarovar". Arjan continued the infrastructure-building effort of his father. The town expanded during the time of Arjan, financed by donations and constructed by voluntary work. The pool area grew into a temple complex with the Gurdwara Harmandir Sahib near the pool. Arjan installed the scripture of Sikhism inside the new temple in 1604. The city that emerged is now known as Amritsar, and is the holiest pilgrimage site in Sikhism.

Continuing the efforts of Ram Das, Arjan established Amritsar as a primary Sikh pilgrimage destination. He wrote a voluminous amount of Sikh scripture including the popular Sukhmani Sahib. Arjan is credited with completing many other infrastructure projects, such as water reservoirs called Santokhsar (Pond of Contentment) and Gongsar (Pond of Bells), founding the towns of Tarn Taran, Kartarpur and Hargobindpur.

Community expansion

While having completing the Harmandir Sahib with dasvand donations during the first decade of his guruship between 1581 and 1589, creating a rallying point for the community and a center for Sikh activity, and a place for the installment of the Adi Granth, Arjan had also gone on a tour of Majha and Doaba in Punjab, where he would found the towns. Due to their central location in the Punjab heartland, the ranks of Sikhs would swell, especially among the Jat peasantry, and create a level of prosperity for them; Arjan would serve not only as a spiritual mentor but as a true emperor (sacchā pādshāh) for his followers in his own right.

Adi Granth

According to the Sikh tradition, Arjan compiled the Adi Granth by collecting hymns of past Gurus from many places, then rejecting those that he considered as fakes or to be diverging from the teachings of the Gurus. His approved collection included hymns from the first four Gurus of Sikhism, those he composed, as well as 17 Hindu bards and 2 Muslim bards (Bhagats). The compilation was completed on 30 August 1604, according to the Sikh tradition and installed in the Harmandir Sahib temple on 1 September 1604.

Arjan was a prolific poet who composed 2,218 hymns. More than half of the volume of Guru Granth Sahib and the largest collection of hymns has been composed by Arjan. According to Christopher Shackle and Arvind-Pal Singh Mandair, Arjan's compositions combined spiritual message in an "encyclopedic linguistic sophistication" with "Braj Bhasha forms and learned Sanskrit vocabulary".

After Arjan completed and installed the Adi Granth in the Harimandir Sahib, Mughal emperor Akbar was informed of the development with the allegation that it contained teachings hostile to Islam. He ordered a copy be brought to him. Arjan sent him a copy on a thali (plate), with the following message that was later added to the expanded text:

In this thali (dish) you will find three things – truth, peace and contemplation:
in this too the nectar Name which is the support of all humanity.

— AG 1429, Translated by William Owen Cole and Piara Singh Sambhi

The Akbarnama by Abu'l-Fazl Allami mentions that Arjan met the Mughal emperor Akbar and his cortege in 1598. According to Louis Fenech, this meeting likely influenced the development of Sikh manuscriptology and the later martial tradition.

One of the Sikh community disputes following Guru Ram Das was the emergence of new hymns claiming to have been composed by Nanak. According to the faction led by Arjan, these hymns were distorted and fake, with some blaming Prithi Chand and his Sikh faction for having composed and circulated them. The concern and the possibility of wrong propaganda, immoral teachings and inauthentic Gurbani led Arjan to initiate a major effort to collect, study, approve and compile a written official scripture, and this he called Adi Granth, the first edition of the Sikh scripture by 1604.

The composition of both Prithi Chand and his followers have been preserved in the Mina texts of Sikhism, while the mainstream and larger Sikh tradition adopted the Guru Granth Sahib scripture that ultimately emerged from the initiative of Arjan.

Spelling

Some scholars spell Guru Arjan's name as 'Guru Arjun'.

Gallery

  • Gurgadi ceremony of Guru Arjan being pronounced as fifth Guru. Gurgadi ceremony of Guru Arjan being pronounced as fifth Guru.
  • Guru Arjan miniature painting, ca.1800. Guru Arjan miniature painting, ca.1800.
  • Guru Arjan with Sri Chand, miniature painting. Guru Arjan with Sri Chand, miniature painting.
  • Guru Arjun Dev painting from the family workshop of Nainsukh of Guler. Guru Arjun Dev painting from the family workshop of Nainsukh of Guler.
  • Fresco of Guru Arjan Dev from Goindwal Baoli Sahib. Fresco of Guru Arjan Dev from Goindwal Baoli Sahib.
  • Guru Arjan compiling the Adi Granth with Bhai Gurdas. Guru Arjan compiling the Adi Granth with Bhai Gurdas.
  • Photograph from Gurdwara Lal Khoohi of the place where Guru Arjan is believed to have been incarcerated Photograph from Gurdwara Lal Khoohi of the place where Guru Arjan is believed to have been incarcerated

See also

Notes

  1. The following is from Jahangir's memoirs:
    There was a Hindu named Arjan in Gobindwal on the banks of the Beas River. Pretending to be a spiritual guide, he had won over as devotees many simple-minded Indians and even some ignorant, stupid Muslims by broadcasting his claims to be a saint. They called him a guru. Many fools from all around had recourse to him and believed in him implicitly. For three or four generations they had been peddling this same stuff. For a long time, I had been thinking that either this false trade should be eliminated or that he should be brought into the embrace of Islam. At length, when Khusraw passed by there, this inconsequential little fellow wished to pay homage to Khusraw. When Khusraw stopped at his residence, came out and had an interview with . Giving him some elementary spiritual precepts picked up here and there, he made a mark with saffron on his forehead, which is called qashqa in the idiom of the Hindus and which they consider lucky. When this was reported to me, I realized how perfectly false he was and ordered him brought to me. I awarded his houses and dwellings and those of his children to Murtaza Khan, and I ordered his possessions and goods confiscated and him executed. – Emperor Jahangir's Memoirs, Jahangirnama 27b-28a, (Translator: Wheeler M. Thackston)
  2. This is from records of Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi, composed after the punishment and execution of Guru Arjun:
    These days the accursed infidel of Gobindwal was very fortunately killed. It is a cause of great defeat for the reprobate Hindus. With whatever intention and purpose they are killed – the humiliation of infidels is for Muslims, life itself. Before this Kafir (Infidel) was killed, I had seen in a dream that the Emperor of the day had destroyed the crown of the head of Shirk or infidelity. It is true that this infidel was the chief of the infidels and a leader of the Kafirs. The object of levying Jizya (tax on non-Muslims) on them is to humiliate and insult the Kafirs, and Jihad against them and hostility towards them are the necessities of the Mohammedan faith. – Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi, Letter to Murtaza Khan, On the execution of Guru Arjan

References

  1. Singh, Jasmer (2005). Sri Guru Granth Sahib - A Descriptive Bibliography of Punjabi Manuscripts. Patiala: Punjabi University of Patiala. p. 145.
  2. ^ "Arjan, Sikh Guru". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
  3. ^ Barnes, Michael (2012). Interreligious learning: dialogue, spirituality, and the Christian imagination. Cambridge University Press. pp. 245–246. ISBN 978-1-107-01284-4. In that way, their good Pope died, overwhelmed by the sufferings, torments and dishonours. – Jerome Xavier, Letter to Gasper Fernandes in Lisbon, On the execution of Guru Arjan
  4. ^ Dehsen, Christian (1999). Philosophers and religious leaders. Routledge. p. 14. ISBN 978-1-57958-182-4.
  5. Mcleod, Hew (1997). Sikhism. London: Penguin Books. p. 28. ISBN 0-14-025260-6.
  6. William Owen Cole; Piara Singh Sambhi (1995). The Sikhs: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices. Sussex Academic Press. p. 24. ISBN 978-1-898723-13-4.
  7. ^ 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.
  8. Pardeep Singh Arshi (1989). The Golden Temple: history, art, and architecture. Harman. pp. 5–7. ISBN 978-81-85151-25-0.
  9. Louis E. Fenech; W. H. McLeod (2014). Historical Dictionary of Sikhism. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 33. ISBN 978-1-4422-3601-1.
  10. DS Dhillon (1988), Sikhism Origin and Development Atlantic Publishers, pp. 213-215, 204-207
  11. ^ Pashaura Singh (2005), Understanding the Martyrdom of Guru Arjan Archived 20 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine, Journal of Philosophical Society, 12(1), pages 32-33
  12. ^ Gandhi, R (14 September 2013). Punjab:A History from Aurangzeb to Mountbatten. Aleph Book Company. p. 34. ISBN 9789383064410. Quote: Jahangir, Akbar's son and successor, had ordered the execution. We know from Jahangir's own handwriting that he was jealous of Guru Arjan Dev's popularity and that a gesture from the Guru towards Khusrau, a son rebelling against Jahangir, had outraged him.
  13. ^ Sikh history from Persian sources : translations of major texts. J. S. Grewal, Irfan Habib, Indian History Congress. Session. New Delhi: Tulika. 2001. p. 4. ISBN 81-85229-17-1. OCLC 47024480. The author of the Dabistan refers to the blessings of Guru Arjan for the rebel Prince Khusrau. A heavy fine was imposed on Guru Arjan, which he was unable to pay. He was bound and kept on the hot sands of Lahore. He died due to the heat of the summer and the tortures inflicted by the officials responsible for collecting the fine.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  14. ^ Pashaura Singh (2005), Understanding the Martyrdom of Guru Arjan Archived 20 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine, Journal of Philosophical Society, 12(1), pages 29-62
  15. ^ Kulathungam, Lyman (2012). Quest : Christ amidst the quest. Wipf. pp. 175–177. ISBN 978-1-61097-515-5.
  16. ^ Jahangir, Emperor of Hindustan (1999). The Jahangirnama: Memoirs of Jahangir, Emperor of India. Translated by Thackston, Wheeler M. Oxford University Press. p. 59. ISBN 978-0-19-512718-8.
  17. ^ Pashaura Singh (2005), Understanding the Martyrdom of Guru Arjan Archived 20 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine, Journal of Philosophical Society, 12(1), page 29, Quote: "In contrast to this viewpoint, however, most of the Sikh scholars have vehemently presented this event as the first of the long series of religious persecutions that Sikhs suffered at the hands of Mughal authorities."
  18. Louis E. Fenech, Martyrdom in the Sikh Tradition, Oxford University Press, pp. 118-121
  19. ^ WH McLeod (1989). The Sikhs: History, Religion, and Society. Columbia University Press. pp. 26–51. ISBN 978-0231068154.
  20. Eleanor Nesbitt (2016). Sikhism: a Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press. pp. 6, 122–123. ISBN 978-0-19-874557-0.
  21. Guru Arjan Birthplace
  22. ^ Arvind-pal Singh Mandair (2013). Sikhism: A Guide for the Perplexed. Bloomsbury. pp. 39, 40. ISBN 9781441153661.
  23. Mcleod, Hew (1997). Sikhism. London: Penguin Books. p. 26. ISBN 0-14-025260-6.
  24. Pashaura Singh (2006). Life and Work of Guru Arjan: History, Memory, and Biography in the Sikh Tradition. Oxford University Press. pp. 50, 64, 98.
  25. Life and Work of Guru Arjan: History, Memory, and Biography in the Sikh Tradition. Oxford University Press. p. 69.
  26. Sikhism. University of Hawaii Press. 2 March 2012. ISBN 9780824860349.
  27. J.S. Grewal (1990). The Sikhs of the Punjab, Volumes 2-3. Cambridge University Press. p. 46. ISBN 9780521637640.
  28. ^ Jain, Harish (2003). The Making of Punjab. Unistar Books. p. 275. Historians say that he was married to Mata Ram Dei on 20th June 1579 and to Mata Ganga on 19th May 1589. But the prevalent belief is that he had only one wife (Mata) Ganga who bore him only one son, Har Gobind, who was to become the sixth guru of the Sikhs.
  29. ^ Hardip Singh Syan (2013). Sikh Militancy in the Seventeenth Century: Religious Violence in Mughal and Early Modern India. I.B.Tauris. pp. 50–52. ISBN 978-1-78076-250-0.
  30. J. S. Grewal (1998). The Sikhs of the Punjab. Cambridge University Press. pp. 54–55, 62–63. ISBN 978-0-521-63764-0.
  31. ^ Prītama Siṅgha (1992). Bhai Gurdas. Sahitya Akademi. pp. 27–28. ISBN 978-8172012182.
  32. ^ Louis E. Fenech; W. H. McLeod (2014). Historical Dictionary of Sikhism. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 39. ISBN 978-1-4422-3601-1.
  33. W. H. McLeod (2009). The A to Z of Sikhism. Scarecrow Press. p. 20. ISBN 978-0-8108-6344-6.
  34. Hardip Singh Syan (2013). Sikh Militancy in the Seventeenth Century: Religious Violence in Mughal and Early Modern India. I.B.Tauris. pp. 48–55. ISBN 978-1-78076-250-0.
  35. ^ Pashaura Singh; Louis E. Fenech (2014). The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies. Oxford University Press. pp. 171–172. ISBN 978-0-19-969930-8.
  36. ^ Arvind-Pal S. Mandair; Christopher Shackle; Gurharpal Singh (2013). Sikh Religion, Culture and Ethnicity. Taylor & Francis. pp. 20–22. ISBN 978-1-136-84634-2.
  37. Gandhi, Surjit Singh (2007). History of Sikh Gurus Retold: 1606-1708 C.E. Atlantic Publishers & Dist. p. 946. ISBN 978-81-269-0858-5.
  38. DS Dhillon (1988), Sikhism Origin and Development Atlantic Publishers, pp. 99-110
  39. Pashaura Singh (2005), Understanding the Martyrdom of Guru Arjan Archived 20 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine, Journal of Philosophical Society, 12(1), page 29, Quote: "The most controversial issue in Sikh history is related to Guru Arjan’s execution in Mughal custody. A number of interpretations of this event have emerged in scholarly and quasi-scholarly writings."
  40. ^ W.H. McLeod (2009). The A to Z of Sikhism. Scarecrow Press. p. 20 (Arjan's Death). ISBN 9780810863446. "The Mughal rulers of the Punjab were evidently concerned with the growth of the Panth, and in 1605 the Emperor Jahangir made an entry in his memoirs, the Tuzuk-i-Jahāṅgīrī, concerning Guru Arjan's support for his rebellious son Khusrau Mirza. Too many people, he wrote, were being persuaded by his teachings, and if the Guru would not become a Muslim, the Panth had to be extinguished. Jahangir believed that Guru Arjan was a Hindu who pretended to be a saint, and that he had been thinking of forcing Guru Arjan to convert to Islam or that his false trade should be eliminated, for a long time. Mughal authorities seem plainly to have been responsible for Arjan's death in custody in Lahore, and this may be accepted as an established fact. Whether the death was by execution, the result of torture, or drowning in the Ravi River remains unresolved. For Sikhs, Arjan is the first martyr Guru.
  41. Pashaura Singh (2005), Understanding the Martyrdom of Guru Arjan Archived 20 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine, Journal of Philosophical Society, 12(1), page 29, Quote: Similarly, in the early decades of twentieth-century Beni Prasad treated this whole affair as “a single execution due primarily to political reasons.”
  42. Knappily. "August 31, 1569: Jahangir is born | Knappily". Knappily - The Knowledge App. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  43. Jahangir, Emperor of Hindustan (6 December 2016). Beveridge, Henry (ed.). The Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri: or, Memoirs of Jahangir (Volume 1 of 2). Translated by Rogers, Alexander.
  44. J. S. Grewal (1998). The Sikhs of the Punjab. Cambridge University Press. pp. 63–64. ISBN 978-0-521-63764-0.
  45. Pashaura Singh (2006). Life and Work of Guru Arjan: History, Memory, and Biography in the Sikh Tradition. Oxford University Press. pp. 23, 217–218. ISBN 978-0-19-567921-2.
  46. Nayar, Kamala (2004). The Sikh Diaspora in Vancouver: Three Generations Amid Tradition, Modernity & Multiculturalism. University of Toronto Press. p. 123. ISBN 9780802086310.
  47. Singh, Rishi (23 April 2015). State Formation and the Establishment of Non-Muslim Hegemony: Post-Mughal 19th-century Punjab. SAGE Publications India. pp. 40–41. ISBN 9789351505044., Quote: "Latif, writing his work in 19th century, states that Guru Arjan assumed dictatorship, and adds that he was the first one to lay aside the rosary and the garb of a fakir, and dressed himself in costly attire and converted the saintly gaddi (the seat) of his pious predecessors into a princely rostrum. He adds that Guru Arjan kept fine horses and elephants, and lived in splendour."
  48. Pashaura Singh (2005), Understanding the Martyrdom of Guru Arjan Archived 20 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine, Journal of Philosophical Society, 12(1), page 34
  49. Sirhindi, Maktubat-i Imam-i Rabbani, I-iii, letter No. 193, pp. 95-6
  50. Friedman Yohanan (1966), Shaikh Ahmad Sirhandi: An Outline of His Image in the Eyes of Posterity, Ph.D. Thesis, McGill University, pp. 110-112
  51. Singh, Rishi (23 April 2015). State Formation and the Establishment of Non-Muslim Hegemony: Post-Mughal 19th-century Punjab. SAGE Publications India. p. 35. ISBN 9789351505044.
  52. W.H. McLeod (2009). The A to Z of Sikhism. Scarecrow Press. p. 20. ISBN 9780810863446.
  53. A.S. Bhalla (2008). In Search of Roots: Guru Amar Das and Bhallas. Rupa & Co. p. 20. ISBN 9788129113337.
  54. J.S. Grewal, The Sikhs of the Punjab, in The New Cambridge History of India. 2, 3. Gen eds. Chris Bayly, Gordon Johnson, John F. Richards. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998, pp. 63-64.
  55. Richards, John F. The Mughal Empire, in The New Cambridge History of India. 1, 5. Gen eds. Chris Bayly, Gordon Johnson, John F. Richards. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993, p. 97.
  56. Vir Singh, ed. Varam Bahi Gurdas Satki, 9th edition. New Delhi: Bhai Vir Singh Sahitya Sadan, 1997), p. 386.
  57. Prītama Siṅgha (1992). Bhai Gurdas. Sahitya Akademi. pp. 25–32. ISBN 978-8172012182.
  58. Father Jerome to Father Gasper Fernandes, (British Library Add MS 9854, ff. 38-52), 1617, in Sicques, Tigers or Thieves: Eyewitness Accounts of the Sikhs (1606-1809). Eds. Amandeep Singh Madra and Parmjit Singh. Palgrave Macmillan, 2004, p. 7.
  59. Mobad', Dabistan-i Mazahib, 1645-46, in Sikh history from Persian sources. Eds. J.S. Grewal and Irfan Habib. Indian History Congress: Tulika, 2001. p. 67.
  60. W.H. McLeod (2009). The A to Z of Sikhism. Scarecrow Press. pp. 20–21. ISBN 9780810863446.
  61. Pashaura Singh, Louis Fenech (2014). The Oxford handbook of Sikh studies. Oxford University Press. pp. 236–237. ISBN 9780199699308.
  62. Sajida S. Alvi (1987), “Religion and State during the Reign of Mughal Emperor Jahangir (1605-27): Nonjuristical Perspectives,” in Studia Islamica, pp. 113-114
  63. ^ Pashaura Singh (2006). Life and work of Guru Arjan: history, memory, and biography in the Sikh tradition. Oxford University Press. pp. 211–219, 233. ISBN 978-0-19-567921-2.
  64. Gandhi, Rajmohan (1999). Revenge and reconciliation. New Delhi New York, NY: Penguin Books. pp. 93–95. ISBN 978-0-14-029045-5.
  65. Pashaura Singh (2005), Understanding the Martyrdom of Guru Arjan Archived 20 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine, Journal of Philosophical Society, 12(1), pp. 38-39
  66. Louis Fenech (2001), Martyrdom and the Execution of Guru Arjan in Early Sikh Sources, Journal of the American Oriental Society, 121(1), pp. 20-31
  67. Kirpal Singh (2000), Perspectives on Sikh Gurus, National Book Shop, pp. 125-127
  68. Pashaura Singh (2011), Reconsidering the Sacrifice of Guru Arjan Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine, Journal of Punjab Studies, University of California Press, 18(1&2), pp. 295-316
  69. Louis E. Fenech (2010), Martyrdom: W.H. McLeod and his Students, Journal of Punjab Studies, University of California Press, 17(1&2), pp. 75-94
  70. W.H. McLeod (1990). Textual Sources for the Study of Sikhism. University of Chicago Press. pp. 28–29. ISBN 978-0-226-56085-4.
  71. "Gong meaning in Punjabi | gong translation in Punjabi".
  72. ^ Mohinder Singh Joshi (1994). Guru Arjan Dev. Sahitya Akademi. pp. 6–8. ISBN 978-81-7201-769-9.
  73. Arvind-Pal Singh Mandair (2013). Sikhism: A Guide for the Perplexed. Bloomsbury Academic. pp. 42–43. ISBN 978-1-4411-5366-1.
  74. Mohinder, Joshi (1994). Guru Arjan Dev. Sahitya Akademi. p. 4. ISBN 9788172017699.
  75. Mohinder, Joshi (1994). Guru Arjan Dev. Sahitya Akademi. pp. 4–5. ISBN 9788172017699.
  76. Singh, Nikky-Guninder Kaur (2011). Sikhism: An Introduction. New York. p. 30.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  77. Largen, Kristin (2017). Finding God Among our Neighbors, Volume 2: An Interfaith Systematic Theology. Minneapolis: Fortress Press. p. 39. ISBN 9781506423302.
  78. Christopher Shackle; Arvind Mandair (2013). Teachings of the Sikh Gurus: Selections from the Sikh Scriptures. Routledge. pp. xviii–xix, xxii. ISBN 978-1-136-45101-0.
  79. William Owen Cole; Piara Singh Sambhi (1995). The Sikhs: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices. Sussex Academic Press. p. 26. ISBN 978-1-898723-13-4.
  80. Louis Fenech (2014). Pashaura Singh, Louis E. Fenech (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies. Oxford University Press. pp. 45–46. ISBN 978-0-19-969930-8.
  81. W.H. McLeod (1990). Textual Sources for the Study of Sikhism. University of Chicago Press. pp. 29–30. ISBN 978-0-226-56085-4.
  82. Hardip Singh Syan (2013). Sikh Militancy in the Seventeenth Century: Religious Violence in Mughal and Early Modern India. I.B.Tauris. pp. 52–54. ISBN 978-1-78076-250-0.
  83. "MUSIC AND SIKH SPIRITUALITY".

Bibliography

https://www.amazon.com/History-Sikhs-Vol-Gurus-1469-1708/dp/8121502764/ref=pd_rhf_d_dp_s_ci_mcx_mr_hp_d_sccl_1_3/145-9098560-6919419?pd_rd_w=EhQDc&content-id=amzn1.sym.0a853d15-c5a9-4695-90cd-fdc0b630b803&pf_rd_p=0a853d15-c5a9-4695-90cd-fdc0b630b803&pf_rd_r=43STA5ET49JHAD1KW93F&pd_rd_wg=QgeDc&pd_rd_r=a73a726d-d340-472d-a1b7-10ee05e97b57&pd_rd_i=8121502764&psc=1

  1. Jahangir, Emperor of Hindustan (1909). Beveridge, Henry (ed.). The Tuzuk-i-Janhangīrī or Memoirs of Jahāngīr. Translated by Rogers, Alexander. London: Royal Asiatic Society.
  2. History of the Panjab, Syad Muhammad Latif, Published by: Kalyani Publishers, Ludhiana, Punjab, India. ISBN 978-81-7096-245-8
  3. Philosophy of 'Charhdi Kala' and Higher State of Mind in Sri Guru Granth Sahib, Dr. Harjinder Singh Majhail, 2010, Published by: Deepak Publishers, Jalandhar, Punjab, India. ISBN 81-88852-96-1
  4. SIKH HISTORY IN 10 VOLUMES, Dr Harjinder Singh Dilgeer, Published by: The Sikh University Press, Brussels, Belgium. ISBN 2- 930247-41-X

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