Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji
Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji was the sixth guru and the first guru to become involved in warfare. He was born on June 19, 1594, in the village Guru Ki Vadali in Amritsar. He was given the guruship at the young age of 11 on June 11, 1606. When Baba Buddha was performing the ceremony and was about to put the Seli (A beaded decoration Sikh saints wear on their turbans) on, Guru Ji said that instead, Baba Buddha should decorate him with swords alternatively. Guru Ji then put on two swords. One on the left and the other on the right. Guru Sahib called one “Miri” which represented nonspiritual power and “Piri” which represented spiritual power, one to kill the criminal and the other to protect the innocent. He also wore a Kalgi which was worn by many Muslim and Hindu rulers at the time. The inventor of the melodious Taus
was Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji. One day he was listening to a peacock’s call and wished to create an instrument sounding identical, which created the Taus.
Guru Ji was married three times. Guru Ji was first married to Mata Damodari, who was the daughter of Narain Das of the village called Talla. They had a daughter named Bibi Veero and two sons named Baba Gurditta (The father of Guru Har Rai Ji) and Ani Rai Ji. Bibi Nanaki who was the daughter of Hari Chand of the village Bakala was Guru Ji’s second wife. She had one son who would be Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji. His third marriage was to the daughter of Daya Ram of the village Jandiyali, Bibi Mahadevi. She gave birth to two sons: Suraj Mal Ji and Baba Atal Ji. While in prison Guru Arjan Dev Ji was thinking of how to protect the Sikhs from the Mughal Army. He came up with one plan, to make a Sikh military. He sent a Sikh to his son and he became the guru. Guru Sahib asked the Sikhs to bring horses and weapons to his court for the creation of an army. The Sikhs started to train both physically and mentally for warfare. Soon he had three hundred horsemen, sixty gunners, and five hundred infantry, which made a total of eight hundred and sixty warriors. Guru Ji also built a fort called Lohgarh in Amritsar. The Mughals who played a part in Guru Arjan Dev Ji’s martyrdom were aware and scared of the growing Sikh army. Guru Hargobind Ji built Akal Takht in front of the Golden Temple which became one of the Panj Takht. He sat there in princely clothes and prayed. Because of the army and military strength, the Sikhs became a Sikh state inside the Mughal Empire.
Guru Hargobind had many enemies. Prithi Chand who was Guru Arjan Dev Ji’s brother now called Prithi Mal was one of them and he tried to kill Guru Ji by bribing a snake charmer to kill baby Hargobind. Just because Guru Ji was a warrior doesn’t mean he didn’t perform his religious duties. He sent Sikhs to far away places such as Bengal and Bihar. He allowed the Udasi sect to teach Sikhism but he did not call them real Sikhs. Once Guru Ji was captured and held in the Fort of Gwalior. When he was released he refused to go unless they released the other 52 hill kings. They were, and that is why Sikhs celebrate Bandi Chorr Divas. Diwali is celebrated because of Guru Ji’s return to Amritsar. While Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji was the guru he asked Baba Buddha Ji to decorate the new gurus with a sword instead of the older traditions. Guru Hargobind Sahib also befriended Emporer Jehangir to cease conflict and even saved his life when the Emporer was attacked by a lion. There were many famous wars fought by Guru Ji. Some of them were the wars in Amritsar, Sri Hargobindpur, and Kartarpur. Guru Ji raised the Sikh flags and ordered the construction of the Nagara
which was used to make announcements and later in war. Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji died on March 19, 1644, at the age of 46, and was cremated on the banks of River Sutlej.
