Martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur

01The Pandits at Anandpur

In 1675 a group of Kashmiri Pandits led by Pandit Kirpa Ram of Mattan came to Guru Tegh Bahadur at Anandpur. They told him that the Mughal governor of Kashmir was pressing Hindus to convert. Sikh tradition remembers that the Guru told them to inform the emperor that if Tegh Bahadur could be made to accept Islam, they would all follow. He then set out towards Delhi and was arrested on the way.

02Chandni Chowk

In Delhi the Guru was told to accept Islam or show a miracle, and refused both. His companions were killed in front of him: Bhai Mati Das was sawn in two, Bhai Dayala was boiled in a cauldron, and Bhai Sati Das was wrapped in cotton and set alight. The Guru was then beheaded in the open square of Chandni Chowk. Bhai Jaita carried his head to Anandpur, and Lakhi Shah Vanjara took the body to his house at Raisina and burnt the house to cremate it. Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib marks the place of the martyrdom.

03Hind di Chadar

His son, Guru Gobind Singh, wrote in the Bachitra Natak that his father protected the tilak and the sacred thread of the Hindus, and gave his head but not his faith. Sikhs and Hindus remember Guru Tegh Bahadur as Hind di Chadar, the shield of Hind. Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib stands where the body was cremated. Sikhs mark the day each year as the Guru’s Shaheedi Purab.