Key leaders
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The ten gurus are the founders and leaders of the Sikhism faith. The name "guru" can be broken down into "gu" and "ru", "gu" meaning darkness and "ru" meaning light. Thus, gurus are people who turn darkness to light, who bring knowledge from ignorance.
First Guru: Nanak Dev Nanak was born into a high-caste Hindu family in 1469, in a village called Talwandi. The area, now Nankana Sahib in Pakistan, was part of India’s Punjab region. His father was an accountant for a Muslim landlord, while his mother’s name and identity has been lost to history. Faast forward 30 years, and Nanak is bathing in the River Bein when he vanishes. His village feared him dead, but three days later, he reappears, claiming to have visited God and received a revelation. He later said of his experiences, “There is no Hindu, there is no Muslim, so whose path shall I follow? God is neither Hindu nor Muslim, and the path I shall follow is God's.” Based on this experience, Nanak went on to found Sikhism and became its first guru. He died in 1539, after passing the torch to Guru Angad. Second Guru: Bhai Lehna, a.k.a. Angad Dev, a.k.a Nanak II Born in 1504, Bhai Lehna was a die-hard follower of a Hindu goddess named Durga until his late twenties, when he converted to follow Nanak. There are two widely-accepted versions as to how this came to be. One has him leading pilgrims to Durga’s temple at Jwalamukhi, and meeting Nanak at a village along the way when his party stopped to be blessed. The other states that he was a priest at one of Durga’s temples in his home village of Khadur. His neighbor, Jodha, was singing a Sikh hymn one day, and Lehna became interested in this religion. This model asserts that he did not meet Guru Nanak for some time. In several anecdotes in the Adi Granth, Angad proves himself more worthy than Nanak’s sons and thus became the second guru. Nanak renamed him “Angad,” which roughly translates to “my limb,” signifying how important he was to the guru. According to legend, when Nanak appointed him the next guru, he took on Nanak’s physical appearance as his spirit passed to his body. He died in 1552, relinquishing the title of guru to his daughter’s uncle-in-law. Third Guru: Amar Das, a.k.a Nanak III Amar Das changed Sikhism more than almost any other guru. Born in 1479 in Amritsar, Punjab, he became a follower at 61 years old, when he heard guru Angad’s daughter, also his nephew’s wife, singing a hymn. Up until this time, he followed the Vaishnavism sect of Hinduism. Amar Das’s devotion is immortalized in several stories in the Granth Sahib, including one in which he brought Angad his wash water even though he was living several miles away in Goindwal. Because of this devotion, Angad chose him over his own sons. Amar Das reorganized the fast-growing Sikh community into manjis, headed by sangtis, which were the equivalent of dioceses. Through his support of women, he established female preachers called peerahs. At the end of his tenure as guru, he handed the title off to his son-in-law, Ram Das. Fourth Guru: Ram Das, a.k.a Jetha, a.k.a Nanak IV Ram Das, also known as Jetha, or first-born, was born in 1534 in Lahore, Punjab. His parents wanted a respectable, well-paying job for their only son, so one day they sent him off with a basket of baked beans to go sell for practice. He, for reasons unknown, instead gave the beans to a group of wandering holy men and joined them for their trip to see Amar Das. Das immediately took a liking to the young Jetha, and he stayed on while the other members of his party went home. After studying under Amar Das for several years, Jetha had earned his trust enough to represent Sikhism in front of the Mughal emperor, Akbar. He did so well that on the spot Akbar dedicated a large area of land to become the pilgrimage settlement Amritsar. This led to a large spike in awareness of the religion, as the new town was situated on a bustling trade route from Delhi. Ram Das passed away in 1581 in his home town of Goindwal, before which he handed off to his successor, Arjan. Fifth Guru: Arjan Dev, a.k.a Nanak V The youngest son of Ram Das and the grandson of Amar Das, Arjan was born with Sikhism running through his veins. In 1563, he was born in Goindwal, his father’s base of operations. He marked the point at which guruship became dynastic, being passed from father to son rather than from guru to the most devoted disciple. Although, this succession was not guaranteed to the eldest son. Ram Das, for example, passed over his first-born son to Arjan, because Arjan had spoken the divine word, or sabd. Arjan became guru at the age of eighteen, in 1581. Some of the more notable actions he took as guru were introducing tithes, or taxes, and using the money to build reservoirs in Goindwal to combat annual water shortages, and building structures like the Har Mandir, the most sacred temple in Amritsar. The Har Mandir was especially important because it had four entrances, instead of the standard single door, to signify the equality of all four Indian castes. Arjan also constructed the towns of Taran Taran and Kartarpur with the tithe funds. The details of Arjan’s death in 1606 are murky, but it is known that he was martyred by a new Mughal emperor, Jahangir. Sixth Guru: Har Gobind, a.k.a. Nanak VI Hargobind Singh, born in 1595, was only 11 years old when Arjan, his father, was martyred and left the position to him. Because his father was killed by the Mughal empire, (see above) Har Gobind was especially concerned with the militarization of Sikhs. At his succession, he declared that he would be their religious leader as well as their military general. This was a pivotal moment in Sikh history. It marks the place where Sikhism turned from peaceful to warlike. Har Gobind’s reasoning, that violence was permissible in lieu of any other option, was entirely foreign to all the gurus before him. Even though he sired six children, Har Gobind left the coveted role of guru to his teenaged grandson, Har Rai. He died in 1644 at the age of 49, having been guru for 38 years. Seventh Guru: Har Rai, a.k.a Nanak VII Born in 1630, Har Rai followed in his grandfather’s, Har Gobind’s, footsteps. He kept a small army of 2,000 foot soldiers on hand at all times, even though there were no armed confrontations between Sikhs and Mughals during his tenure. He also expanded on the guru’s secular power, as well as the religious power associated with the position. Among his more recognized accomplishments, Har Rai constructed three missions throughout Punjab and the rest of India to spread Sikhism's messages. He was extensively recognized as a healer, and was regularly sought out for religious cures to medical ailments. One Mughal emperor, Jahan Shah, pleaded for his assistance when his first-born son was extremely sick. Dara Shikoh, as the emperor’s son was known, was apparently cured by herbs sent by the guru. However, when Aurangzeb, Shah’s second-youngest son, staged a coup and seized the crown, Har Rai’s kindness came back to bite him. Aurangzeb framed Sikhism as a sacrilegious cult whose texts made derogatory comments towards Islam, the religion of the Mughals. When he summoned Har Rai to Delhi, the capital of India, Rai sent his son and next in succession, Ram Rai, to calm the tensions. Ram Rai, however, twisted the scriptures to his purpose, greatly angering Har Rai. He banned his son from succession and instead chose an infant Har Krishan to follow him. Eighth Guru: Har Krishan, a.k.a Nanak VIII A mere toddler when handed the title of guru in 1661, Har Krishan’s claim to the position was immediately attacked by the Mughals, the Sikhs’ longtime adversaries, and Ram Rai, Har Krishan’s brother, who had in time moved to begin working with them against his original people. Ram Rai used Krishan’s age as evidence that he was the true guru, while Emperor Aurangzeb further unbalanced the Sikhs by summoning their guru to Delhi. |