Guru Hargobind

Early life

Guru Hargobind was born in Gurū kī Waḍālī, on 19th June of 1595, in a Sodhi Khatri family in a village 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) west of Amritsar, the only son of Guru Arjan, the fifth Sikh Guru. However, Pashaura Singh suggests that he was actually born 19 June 1590. He spent the first sixteen years of his life at Ramdaspur (Amritsar) in the presence of his father.

According to Sikh hagiographies, Guru Hargobind survived two poisoning attempts by his uncle Prithi Chand and his wife, Karmo, as well as another attempt on his life, when a cobra was thrown at him by Prithi Chand. The first poisoning attempt involved Karmo dispatching her personal nurse to pretend to be interested in looking after the child Hargobind. However, the nurse placed poison around her nipple which was to harm Hargobind as he suckled her but the young boy refused to latch onto her and thus the nurse's plan failed and she became ill to the poison herself. The second poisoning plan involved a snake-charmer being sent by Prithi Chand and his wife to assassinate the young Hargobind by releasing a snake onto him but the young boy is said to have grabbed the snake in his hand by its head and squeezed it until it died. A third attempt on his life was by a Brahmin directed again by Prithi Chand and his wife, the Brahmin planned to blend poison with curd and feed the child Hargobind with it but when he attempted to do so, Hargobind knocked the curd out of the Brahmin's grasp and it fell onto the floor, where a dog - named Pista; then ate some of it and died as a result revealing its dangerous contents. The Brahmin then died of abdominal afflictions. He suffered from and survived smallpox as a child. Hargobind grew up to be a "tall and handsome youth".

On 4 November 1598, an eight-year-old Hargobind was a witness to emperor Akbar visiting the Sikh court of his father, which would have an impact on Hargobind's views. Hargobind received an education from Bhai Gurdas and Baba Buddha. Guru Hargobind studied religious texts with Bhai Gurdas and was trained in swordsmanship and archery by Baba Budda. He was also instructed on various languages, religious philosophy, astronomy, medicine, horse-riding, and administration. Hargobind spent a good deal of his early years engrossed in hymns being sung at the Harmandir Sahib complex in Amritsar.

Birth year

Whilst 1595 is the commonly accepted birth year of the guru, some authors and sources, such as Kesar Singh Chhibar and the Bhat Vahis, record his year of birth as being 1590. According to Pashaura Singh, the Bhatt Vahi Multani Sindhi records the date of birth of Guru Hargobind as 19 June 1590 (asar 21 sambat 1647 in the Bikrami calendar). The sources that affirm the 1595 birth year are the Gurbilas Patshahi Chhevin (possibly 1718), Suraj Prakash (1844), and Naveen Panth Prakash (1880), while the Bansavilinama Dasan Patishahian Ka (1769), Rahitname Ate Ardas, and the Bhatt Bahi Multani Sindhi suggest 1590. Pashaura states that the later works copied Gurbilas Patshahi Chhevin's date of birth assertion. In his work, Pashaura Singh uses 1590 as the year of birth for Guru Hargobind.

Guruship

On 25 May 1606, Guru Arjan, five days before his own death, selected his son Hargobind as his successor and instructed his son to start a military tradition to protect the Sikh people and always keep himself surrounded by armed Sikhs for protection. Shortly afterwards, Arjan was arrested, tortured and killed by order of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir on 30 May 1606. Guru Hargobind's succession ceremony took place on 24 June 1606. He put on two swords: one indicated his spiritual authority (pīrī) and the other, his temporal authority (mīrī). He followed his martyred father's advice and always kept himself surrounded by armed Sikhs for protection. The number fifty-two was special in his life, and his retinue consisted of fifty-two armed men. He thus founded the military tradition in the Sikh faith. Preserved swords belonging to him, the piri tegh and miri tegh, at the Toshakhana in Amritsar contain martial inscriptions. Hargobind had the Akal Takht constructed at Amritsar to represent temporal authority. Rather than replacing the spiritual teachings that had begun with Nanak, Hargobind meant for the new martial teachings to balance out both the spiritual and temporal spheres of life. Guru Hargobind's manner of dressing (regal-style turban with a royal aigrette), keeping an army, being a martial-artist, wearing a martial cummerbund, sponsoring the erection of fortifications, and him engaging in hunts was a symbol of his sovereignty and a challenge of Mughal authority, with the Sikhs referring to the guru as sacha padshah ("true king")

The Guru was a martial artist (shastarvidyā); he encouraged people to maintain physical fitness and keep their bodies ready for physical combat. He had his own Darbar (court). The arming and training of some of his devoted followers began. The Guru came to possess seven hundred horses and his Risaldari (cavalry) grew to three hundred horsemen and sixty musketeers.

As the inheritor of his late father's estate, Guru Hargobind was able to finance his undertakings from the property located in Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Sri Hargobindpur, and Kartarpur. Guru Hargobind also inherited his father's collection of literature, the pothi mahal, with the being a Sikh library tradition consisting of gurbani comparable to the Mughal tradition of kitab-khana. As part of this inheritance, Guru Hargobind received the Goindwal Pothi, with him leaving his autograph on one of its folio to mark its transmission to him. In-addition, the guru kept in his court ragis (musicians), pathis (reciters), and dhadhis (minstrels). Two prominent dhadis of Hargobind were Mir Abdula and Natha, who performed at the Akal Takht.

Reforms

Guru Hargobind's reforms to the Sikh faith made long-lasting impacts. No longer were the Sikh gurus relegated to spiritual affairs but now they became engaged more deeply in temporal happenings, fusing both the spiritual and temporal spheres together, and furthermore had adopted "regal civility". Hardip Singh Syan explains that Guru Hargobind was able to push for these changes as he became a "patrimonial-feudal lord" by offering his followers and devotees both spiritual liberation (mukti) and employment (naukari). Prior to Hargobind, the Sikh court was popularly seen as offering service (seva) and grace (prasad). This shift did not go without controversy, with Bhai Gurdas recording in his writings the tensions within the Sikh community at the time regarding these reforms, with Gurdas highlighting that keeping the guru as the main point of one's faith was key.

The previous Gurus used to sit at one temple (dharmsal);But this Guru [Hargobind] roams from place to place.Kings (patisah) used to visit the homes of the previous Gurus;But this Guru was imprisoned in the Emperor's fort.The previous Gurus used to make congregations flourish;But this Guru roams the land without any fear.The previous Gurus used to sit on their beds and bestow contentment;But this Guru keeps dogs for the hunt.The previous Guru's used to listen, sing and explain;But this Guru neither listens, nor sings or explains.This Guru does not keep close to his servants (sevak);Rather he gives favour to liars and evildoers.[Gurdas' reply] The inherent truth (sach) cannot be concealed;The disciples (Sikh) [knowing this] like bees adore the lotus feet.The impatient are unknowingly being made to endure [these reforms].

Relations with other rulers

Guru Hargobind led the Sikh response against Mughal power after Guru Arjan's execution. He nominally accepted Shah Jahan's authority but resisted the Islamic persecution, fighting four wars against Shah Jahan's armies. His attempts to transform the Sikh community brought him in conflict with the Mughal authority.

Sikh beliefs hold that Guru Hargobind secured the release of fifty-two Rajput hill rajas during his exiting from internment at Gwalior Fort, an event that is celebrated on Diwali as Bandi Chhor Divas by Sikhs.

Along with the execution of Guru Arjan Dev by the Mughal Emperor Jahangir, Guru Hargobind from the very start was a dedicated enemy of the Mughal rule. He advised Sikhs to arm and fight the Mughals. The death of his father at the hands of Jahangir prompted him to emphasize the military dimension of the Sikh community. He symbolically wore two swords, which represented miri piri. He founded the Akal Sena, the first Sikh army. He built a fort to defend Ramdaspur and created a formal court, Akal Takht.

Jahangir responded by jailing the 14-year-old Guru Hargobind at Gwalior Fort in 1609, on the pretext that the fine imposed on Guru Arjan had not been paid by the Sikhs and Hargobind. It is not clear as to how much time he spent as a prisoner. The year of his release appears to have been either 1611 or 1612, when Hargobind was about 16 years old. Persian records, such as Dabestan-e Mazaheb suggest he was kept in jail for twelve years, including over 1617–1619 in Gwalior, after which he and his camp were kept under Mughal army's surveillance by Jahangir.

It is unclear why he was released. Scholars suggest that Jahangir had more or less reverted to tolerant policies of Akbar by about 1611 after he felt secure about his throne, and the Sunnis and Naqshbandi court officials at the Mughal court had fallen out of his favour. Another theory states that Jahangir discovered the circumstances and felt that Guru Hargobind was harmless, so he ordered his release.

According to Surjit Singh Gandhi, 52 rajas (kings) who were imprisoned in the fort as hostages for "millions of rupees" and for opposing the Mughal empire were dismayed as they were losing a spiritual mentor. Guru Hargobind requested the rajas to be freed along with him as well and stood surety for their loyal behavior. Jahangir ordered their release as well. Hargobind got a special gown stitched which had 52 hems. As Hargobind left the fort, the captive kings caught the hems of the cloak and came out along with him.

Marriages

Guru Hargobind had multiple wives, who are as follows:

Mata Damodari (1597 – 13 July 1631), married on 15 February 1605, who birthed Baba Gurditta (b. 1613) and Bibi Viro (b. 1615)

Mata Marvahi/Mahadevi (died 1645), married on 7 July 1615, who birthed Suraj Mal (b. 1617)

Mata Nanaki (d. 1678), married in April 1613, who birthed Ani Rai (b. 1618), Atal Rai (b. 1619), and Guru Tegh Bahadur (b. 1621)

Death

He nominated his grandson, Guru Har Rai, to succeed him. He died in 1644 at Kiratpur Sahib, a town on the banks of the River Sutlej, and was cremated on the banks of the river, where now stands Gurdwara Patalpuri Sahib.

Sectarian views

Guru Hargobind's reforms also had an impact on the Minas, a sect that rose to become a major opponent of the mainstream lineage of Sikh gurus. Prior to Guru Hargobind's reign, the Mina literature emulated the writings and appearances of the previous five gurus in-style, whilst portraying themselves as spiritually superior. However, Guru Hargobind conducted himself very differently from the previous gurus, thus the Minas were not able to emulate his ethos, and therefore relegated to keep mirroring the environment of the pre-Guru Hargobind Sikh court. Therefore, the Minas attempted to portray themselves as being the preservers of the original bhakti of the Sikh faith, whilst portraying as a result that Guru Hargobind had somehow deviated from the path of original Sikh values and sociopolitical thought.

Literature

Guru Hargoind is not held in the Sikh tradition to have composed any poetry of his own, unlike his predecessors. However, two letters (hukamnamas) written in prose are attributed to him. In his letters, he stressed upon the name of kartar (creator) for naam simran. Manuscripts of the Sikh scriptures were prepared during his guruship and he advocated that the Sikhs prepare their own gurbani pothis.

Battles and skirmishes

Battle of Sangrana (1628)

Battle of sri Hargobindpur, 1629

Battle of Rohilla (1630)

Battle of Amritsar (1634)

Battle of Lahira, 1634

Siege of Brahman Majra, 1634

Skirmish of Gumtala, 1634

[[Battle of Padiala, 1634

Battle of daroli, 1632

Battle of Kiratpur, 1638

Battle of Kartarpur, 1635

Battle of Phagwara, 1635

Popular culture

The animated Punjabi movie Dastaan-E-Miri Piri (ਦਸਤਾਨ-ਏ-ਮੀਰੀ ਪੀਰੀ) is about Guru Hargobind and his contribution to the Sikh faith and community.

The life story and teachings of Guru Hargobind influenced the 2023 season theme and artwork of the Dallas Cowboys football team.