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Photo: Nainsukh of Guler · Public domain
Saint

Guru Gobind Singh

Tenth Sikh Guru, founder of the Khalsa

1666—1708

1666–1708 CE

Guru Gobind Singh became Guru at nine after his father’s martyrdom, created the Khalsa at Anandpur on Vaisakhi 1699, and lost all four sons in the war with the Mughals. Before he died at Nanded in 1708 he declared the Granth the eternal Guru.

“When every other means has failed, it is right to take the sword in hand.”Zafarnama of Guru Gobind Singh

01Vaisakhi 1699

Born Gobind Das at Patna in December 1666, he grew up at Anandpur and wrote poetry in Braj and Persian. In 1688 he fought the hill rajas at Bhangani. On Vaisakhi 1699 he stood before the gathered Sikhs with a drawn sword and asked for a head. Five men rose one after another, Daya Ram, Dharam Das, Himmat Rai, Mohkam Chand and Sahib Chand, from different castes and regions. He gave them amrit stirred with a khanda, named them the Panj Pyare, and then knelt to take amrit from them. The Khalsa took the five Ks, and the men the name Singh.

02Chamkaur, Sirhind and Nanded

In December 1704, after a long siege and broken oaths of safe passage, the Guru left Anandpur. His elder sons Ajit Singh and Jujhar Singh fell fighting at Chamkaur. The younger sons, Zorawar Singh and Fateh Singh, aged about nine and six, were bricked up and executed at Sirhind on the orders of its governor Wazir Khan; their grandmother Mata Gujri died there. From the Malwa he sent Aurangzeb the Zafarnama, a letter of reproach in Persian verse. In 1708 at Nanded he met Banda Singh Bahadur and sent him north. Stabbed by an assassin, he died there in October 1708.

Anandpur Sahib
Place · Founded by Guru Tegh Bahadur, 1665Anandpur SahibThe town in the Shivalik foothills where Guru Gobind Singh created the Khalsa on Vaisakhi 1699. It held out against the hill rajas and the Mughals until December 1704, and Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib stands where the Panj Pyare were initiated.Read →

“When every other means has failed, it is right to take the sword in hand.”

Zafarnama of Guru Gobind Singh

Battles

Battle of Bhangani

Guru Gobind Singh’s first battle, fought when he was about twenty-two. He tells of it himself in the Bachitra Natak.

1688 CE

Battle of Nadaun

When a Mughal officer came to collect arrears of tribute from the hill states, Raja Bhim Chand resisted and Guru Gobind Singh rode to his side. Their victory by the Beas is told by the Guru himself in the Bachittar Natak.

1691 CE

Battle of Chamkaur

After leaving Anandpur on a promise of safe passage that was broken, Guru Gobind Singh made a stand with about forty Singhs in a mud garhi at Chamkaur.

December 1704 CE

Siege of Anandpur

For months in 1704 the Mughal governors and the hill rajas besieged Guru Gobind Singh in Anandpur. They could not take it by force, and won it by oaths they did not keep.

1704 CE; the town left in December 1704

Battle of Muktsar (Khidrana)

Forty Singhs who had deserted the Guru at Anandpur came back under Mai Bhago and gave their lives at Khidrana. The Guru tore up the paper on which they had disowned him.

1705 CE

Places

Anandpur SahibRebuilt
The Mughal era and the resistance

Anandpur Sahib

The town in the Shivalik foothills where Guru Gobind Singh created the Khalsa on Vaisakhi 1699. It held out against the hill rajas and the Mughals until December 1704, and Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib stands where the Panj Pyare were initiated.

Takht Sri Patna SahibRebuilt
The Mughal era and the resistance

Takht Sri Patna Sahib

Takht Sri Harimandir Ji in old Patna marks the house where Guru Gobind Singh was born in 1666 and spent his first years. It is one of the five Takhts, the seats of authority of the Khalsa Panth.

Chamkaur SahibStanding
The Mughal era and the resistance

Chamkaur Sahib

The village where Guru Gobind Singh, with some forty Sikhs in a mud fortress, held off a Mughal army in December 1704, and where his elder sons Ajit Singh and Jujhar Singh fell fighting. Gurdwara Garhi Sahib and Gurdwara Katalgarh Sahib stand on the spots.

Gurdwara Fatehgarh SahibRebuilt
The Mughal era and the resistance

Gurdwara Fatehgarh Sahib

The place outside Sirhind where Guru Gobind Singh’s youngest sons, Zorawar Singh and Fateh Singh, aged about nine and seven, were walled up and put to death in December 1705 on the orders of Wazir Khan, faujdar of Sirhind, for refusing to give up their faith.

Takht Sachkhand Sri Hazur Sahib, NandedRebuilt
The Mughal era and the resistance

Takht Sachkhand Sri Hazur Sahib, Nanded

One of the five takhts of the Sikhs, on the Godavari at Nanded, built over the place where Guru Gobind Singh was cremated in October 1708 after declaring the Guru Granth Sahib his successor. Here too he sent Banda Singh Bahadur north to the Punjab.

On the timeline

  • 22 December 1666

    Guru Gobind Singh born at PatnaFaith

    Gobind Rai, son of Guru Tegh Bahadur and Mata Gujri, is born at Patna. Takht Sri Patna Sahib stands at his birthplace.

  • Vaisakhi 1699

    Guru Gobind Singh creates the KhalsaFaith

    At Anandpur on Vaisakhi, Guru Gobind Singh calls for heads; five men offer themselves and become the Panj Pyare, the first of the Khalsa, initiated with khande di pahul.

  • December 1704

    The four Sahibzade fall at Chamkaur and SirhindFaith

    The elder sons of Guru Gobind Singh, Ajit Singh and Jujhar Singh, die fighting at Chamkaur. The younger, Zorawar Singh and Fateh Singh, aged nine and six, are bricked in and executed at Sirhind for refusing to convert; Bharat marks Veer Bal Diwas on 26 December.

  • 7 October 1708

    Guru Gobind Singh passes; the Granth becomes GuruFaith

    Wounded by an assassin at Nanded, Guru Gobind Singh passes away after declaring the Granth Sahib the everlasting Guru of the Sikhs. Takht Sachkhand Hazur Sahib stands at the place.

  • 26 December 2022

    First Veer Bal DiwasFaith

    Bharat observes Veer Bal Diwas for the first time, honouring the younger Sahibzade of Guru Gobind Singh, Zorawar Singh and Fateh Singh.