Guru Arjan Dev Ji (1563-1606)
Guru Arjan Dev Ji was the fifth guru of the ten gurus of Sikhism. He was born on May 2, 1563, in the city of Goindwal. He was the youngest of the 3 sons of Guru Ram Das Ji. His brothers were Prithi Chand, who was eager to get the guruship and Mahan Dev, who didn’t mind if someone else got the guruship. From childhood, his father encouraged him to get immersed in Naam. One day when Guru Arjan Dev Ji was a toddler he crawled onto his grandfather’s (Guru Amar Das Ji) throne and sat there. His grandfather said that one day he would lead the Sikh’s in a good path. Guru Arjan Dev Ji was sent to a family wedding and kept there for a long time. This was just one of the plans that Prithi Chand came up with in order to get the guruship. Prithi Chand also intercepted some of Arjan’s letters to his father and when his trickery was discovered Arjan became the new guru. He was given the guruship on September 16, 1581. Guru Arjan Dev Ji still treated him with respect even after Prithi Chand’s deception. Even though he was at the young age of 18 when given the guruship, his wisdom was more advanced.
On June 19, 1589, Guru Arjan Dev Ji was married to Mata Ganga who was the daughter of Bhai Krishan Chand who lived in the village Mau. 
After their marriage, Guru Ji sent Mata Ganga to Baba Buddha with expensive gifts so they could be given blessings of a child but Baba Buddha refused and said the gifts were useless to him. Mata Ganga consulted with Guru Arjan and he told her to take a bit of food, she made by hand. So Mata Ji made some food and gave it to Baba Buddha and she got blessings. A few days later they had a child who would grow up to be Guru Hargobind Ji. Guru Arjan Dev Ji was the guru when the golden temple was completed. Because of the equality, Sikhs believe in he hired a Muslim saint to lay the foundation. The reason there are four sides is to show that all four castes are welcome and so are all religions. The most important achievement of Guru Arjan Dev Ji was the creation of Adi Granth. The reason was because other people were taking the hymns and teachings of the past gurus and changing them. Also because he wanted a guiding for the people of the Sikh Panth. He added the hymns and teachings of the first five gurus including himself and some other people like Sheikh Farid and Bhagat Kabir. He introduced Dasvand which is when you give a tenth of your earnings to a good cause.
When Guru Arjan Dev Ji was on the throne Sikhism became very popular. Both Hindu and Muslim people were eager to meet the guru. Everyone was fine with this change except for the Mughal leaders. The Mughal rulers were jealous of the popularity towards the Sikhs and started spreading false rumors. After the rumors, Akbar died and the other Muslim leaders started to pollute the new prince Saleem’s mind and helped him take the throne by force as Emporer Jahangir. The messengers sent by the leaders said that Guru Ji had to pay a fine. Knowing the fine was fake he declined it. Guru Arjan Dev Ji also sheltered the rightful heir to the throne Khusro at the gurudwara. When Jehangir found out he was enraged and he told Guru Ji that he sheltered a rebel and he would be punished by death. Guru Arjan Dev Ji was put in prison and tortured. He was forced to sit on a metal plate over a fire while hot sand was poured on his head. Mian Mir approached Guru Ji during on of his tortures and said that he could destroy the whole of Lahore with his powers is Guru Ji wished him to, but Guru Sahib said Gods will is sweet and he accepts it. Guru Arjan Dev Ji died on May 30, 1606, at the age of 43.
