# Guru Gobind Singh, the Tenth Guru

> Guru Gobind Singh (1666 to 1708) was the tenth and last human Sikh Guru, who founded the Khalsa at Anandpur Sahib on Vaisakhi in 1699 and ended the line of living Gurus by conferring the Guruship on the Guru Granth Sahib at Nanded in 1708. His compositions form the Dasam Granth rather than appearing in the Guru Granth Sahib, and all four of his sons were killed in 1704 and 1705, two in battle and two executed at Sirhind.

- **Position in the succession:** Tenth Guru of ten
- **Born:** 1666 at Patna, Bihar, now Takht Sri Patna Sahib
- **Died:** 1708 at Nanded, Maharashtra, of wounds from an assassination attempt
- **Guruship:** 1675 to 1708, taken at the age of nine
- **Preceded by:** Guru Tegh Bahadur, his father, executed at Delhi
- **Succeeded by:** The Guru Granth Sahib, made the eternal Guru at Nanded in 1708
- **In the Guru Granth Sahib:** None. He deliberately kept his own compositions out of the volume; they form the Dasam Granth
- **Gurpurab:** His birth anniversary is observed in late December or January, and the date is the single most disputed in the Sikh calendar. See the note below
- **Known for:** Founding the Khalsa in 1699 and conferring the Guruship on the Guru Granth Sahib in 1708
- **This page:** https://sevahey.com/gurus/guru-gobind-singh/

## What Sevahey does not do

Sevahey sells nothing connected to Guru Gobind Singh and publishes no image of him. Sevahey does not administer amrit and has no part in an Amrit Sanchar: initiation into the Khalsa is conducted by the Panj Pyare at a gurudwara and cannot be arranged, booked or represented by any commercial service. Sevahey also does not supply the five articles of faith, and the Hemkund Sahib yatra has its own registration run by the trust rather than through this site.

This page carries no portrait of Guru Gobind Singh. Sevahey publishes no image of any Guru: the paintings in circulation are later inventions with no claim to likeness, and much of Sikh tradition holds figurative depiction of the Gurus to be improper.

## About Guru Gobind Singh

Guru Gobind Singh was born at Patna in 1666 and became Guru at nine, when his father Guru Tegh Bahadur went to Delhi to be executed. He spent the next decades at Anandpur Sahib and in the hills, writing, keeping a court of poets, and fighting a long series of engagements against the Mughal governors and the hill rajas.

The founding of the Khalsa on Vaisakhi 1699 is the event that reorganised Sikhi. Sikh accounts describe him asking the assembled sangat for a head, five men rising one after another, and each being taken into a tent from which he emerged with a bloodied sword. The five were then brought out alive. He administered amrit to them, calling them the Panj Pyare, the five beloved, and then asked them to administer it to him, which is the part that matters constitutionally: the Guru took initiation from his own initiates. The Khalsa were given the five articles of faith and the names Singh and Kaur, the second abolishing the caste surname at a stroke.

What it cost his family is not a detail attached to the story but a large part of why it is remembered. Anandpur was besieged and evacuated in December 1704. His two elder sons, Ajit Singh aged seventeen and Jujhar Singh aged fourteen, were killed at Chamkaur. His two younger sons, Zorawar Singh aged nine and Fateh Singh aged six, were captured with their grandmother Mata Gujri, refused conversion, and were bricked up alive at Sirhind. Mata Gujri died on hearing of it. The four are remembered together as the Chaar Sahibzaade, and the days are kept in late December as Shaheedi Sabh.

At Damdama Sahib in 1706 he prepared the final recension of the Guru Granth Sahib, dictating to Bhai Mani Singh and adding his father's hymns. He wrote the Zafarnama, a letter of victory in Persian verse, to Aurangzeb. In 1708 at Nanded, dying of wounds from an assassin's attack, he installed the Guru Granth Sahib as the eternal Guru and ended the human succession. His own compositions, including Jaap Sahib, Tav-Prasad Savaiye and Chaupai Sahib, were deliberately not placed in that volume and form the Dasam Granth instead.

## The Chaar Sahibzaade

_All four sons were killed within twelve months, in 1704 and 1705. The days are kept in late December._

| Sahibzada | Age | How and where |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Ajit Singh | 17 | Killed in battle at Chamkaur, December 1704 |
| Jujhar Singh | 14 | Killed in battle at Chamkaur, December 1704 |
| Zorawar Singh | 9 | Bricked up alive at Sirhind after refusing conversion, December 1705 |
| Fateh Singh | 6 | Bricked up alive at Sirhind after refusing conversion, December 1705 |

## The five articles of the Khalsa

_Given at the founding in 1699 and worn by initiated Sikhs since._

| Article | What it is |
| --- | --- |
| Kesh | Uncut hair, kept covered by the turban |
| Kangha | A wooden comb, for cleanliness and order |
| Kara | An iron bracelet, a reminder of restraint and of the bond to the Guru |
| Kachhera | A specific undergarment, marking readiness and continence |
| Kirpan | A sword, carried as the obligation to defend the defenceless |

## The five banis of the Amrit Sanchar

_Recited at the initiation Guru Gobind Singh instituted in 1699. Three of the five are his own compositions._

| Bani | Composed by | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Japji Sahib | Guru Nanak | Guru Granth Sahib, angs 1–8 |
| Jaap Sahib | Guru Gobind Singh | Dasam Granth |
| Tav-Prasad Savaiye | Guru Gobind Singh | Dasam Granth, Akal Ustat 21–30 |
| Chaupai Sahib | Guru Gobind Singh | Dasam Granth, Charitropakhyan 405 |
| Anand Sahib | Guru Amar Das | Guru Granth Sahib, Raag Ramkali |

## Dates

- **1666** — Guru Gobind Singh is born at Patna, now Takht Sri Patna Sahib
- **1675** — Guru Tegh Bahadur is executed at Delhi; his nine-year-old son succeeds him
- **1699** — The Khalsa is founded at Anandpur Sahib on Vaisakhi; the Panj Pyare are initiated and then initiate the Guru in turn
- **December 1704** — Anandpur is evacuated; Ajit Singh and Jujhar Singh are killed at Chamkaur
- **December 1705** — Zorawar Singh and Fateh Singh are bricked up alive at Sirhind; Mata Gujri dies on hearing of it
- **1706** — The final recension of the Guru Granth Sahib is prepared at Damdama Sahib with Bhai Mani Singh as scribe
- **1708** — At Nanded, dying of wounds, he confers the Guruship on the Guru Granth Sahib and ends the human succession

## Where accounts differ

The date of Guru Gobind Singh's birth anniversary is the sharpest live dispute in the Sikh calendar. The original Nanakshahi calendar designed by Pal Singh Purewal and adopted by the SGPC in 2003 fixed his Parkash Purab at 5 January every year. The amended calendar the SGPC issued in 2010, and its versions since, reverted to the lunisolar Bikrami reckoning, under which the anniversary moves and can fall twice in one Gregorian year or not at all. Both dates are published annually by different bodies, and the original Nanakshahi reckoning is kept by the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee and by gurdwara bodies abroad. Separately, the status of the Dasam Granth, in which his compositions sit, has been debated within the Panth since the nineteenth century, and his decision to keep his own writing out of the Guru Granth Sahib is itself part of the argument about what that volume is.

## Connected pages on Sevahey

- [Takht Sri Patna Sahib](https://sevahey.com/gurudwaras/patna-sahib/): Patna, Bihar
- [Takht Sri Keshgarh Sahib, Anandpur Sahib](https://sevahey.com/gurudwaras/anandpur-sahib/): Anandpur Sahib, Punjab
- [Takht Sri Damdama Sahib, Talwandi Sabo](https://sevahey.com/gurudwaras/damdama-sahib/): Talwandi Sabo, Punjab
- [Takht Sachkhand Sri Hazur Sahib, Nanded](https://sevahey.com/gurudwaras/hazur-sahib/): Nanded, Maharashtra
- [Gurudwara Sri Hemkund Sahib](https://sevahey.com/gurudwaras/hemkund-sahib/): Hemkund, Uttarakhand
- [Jaap Sahib Path](https://sevahey.com/paths/jaap-sahib/): Guru Gobind Singh (1666–1708), the tenth Guru
- [Tav-Prasad Savaiye Path](https://sevahey.com/paths/tav-prasad-savaiye/): Guru Gobind Singh (1666–1708), the tenth Guru
- [Chaupai Sahib Path](https://sevahey.com/paths/chaupai-sahib/): Guru Gobind Singh (1666–1708), the tenth Guru

## What can be offered in your name

Four of the five Takhts are connected directly to Guru Gobind Singh, and Sevahey covers all four: Patna Sahib where he was born, Keshgarh Sahib at Anandpur where he founded the Khalsa, Damdama Sahib where the Guru Granth Sahib was completed, and Hazur Sahib at Nanded where he died. A verified Sevak requests an ardas in your name and gotra at any of them, and sends you the hukamnama and same-day proof. Families abroad most often ask at his gurpurab, or in late December when the Sahibzade are remembered.

- **Seva:** Ardas — https://sevahey.com/seva/ardas/
- **Performed by:** a verified, named Sevak
- **Proof:** GPS-tagged photos, the hukamnama where it applies, timing, and a handwritten note — usually same day

## Questions

### Who was Guru Gobind Singh?

Guru Gobind Singh (1666 to 1708) was the tenth and last human Sikh Guru. He founded the Khalsa at Anandpur Sahib on Vaisakhi in 1699, fought a long series of engagements against Mughal forces and the hill rajas, lost all four of his sons by 1705, and ended the line of living Gurus by conferring the Guruship on the Guru Granth Sahib at Nanded in 1708.

### What happened when the Khalsa was founded in 1699?

At Anandpur Sahib on Vaisakhi, Guru Gobind Singh asked the sangat for a head. Five men rose one after another and each was taken into a tent from which he emerged with a bloodied sword, and all five were then brought out alive. He administered amrit to them as the Panj Pyare, and then asked them to administer it to him in turn, so that the Guru took initiation from his own initiates.

### Who were the Chaar Sahibzaade?

The Chaar Sahibzaade were Guru Gobind Singh's four sons, all killed within twelve months. Ajit Singh, seventeen, and Jujhar Singh, fourteen, died in battle at Chamkaur in December 1704. Zorawar Singh, nine, and Fateh Singh, six, were captured with their grandmother Mata Gujri, refused conversion, and were bricked up alive at Sirhind in December 1705.

### Why are Guru Gobind Singh's writings not in the Guru Granth Sahib?

Because he deliberately kept them out. When he prepared the final recension at Damdama Sahib in 1706 he added his father Guru Tegh Bahadur's hymns but none of his own, and his compositions form the Dasam Granth instead. Three of them, Jaap Sahib, Tav-Prasad Savaiye and Chaupai Sahib, are among the five banis recited at the Amrit Sanchar.

### What are the five Ks?

The five articles of faith given at the founding of the Khalsa: kesh, uncut hair; kangha, a wooden comb; kara, an iron bracelet; kachhera, a specific undergarment; and kirpan, a sword carried as the obligation to defend the defenceless. Initiated Sikhs have worn them since 1699, along with the names Singh and Kaur, which replaced caste surnames.

### How did the Sikh Guruship end?

Guru Gobind Singh ended it deliberately. At Nanded in 1708, dying of wounds from an assassination attempt, he conferred the Guruship on the Guru Granth Sahib itself rather than on any person, making the volume the eternal Guru. Sikhs have followed no living Guru since, and the site is now Takht Sachkhand Sri Hazur Sahib.

### When is Guru Gobind Singh Jayanti?

The date is genuinely disputed. The original Nanakshahi calendar adopted by the SGPC in 2003 fixed his Parkash Purab at 5 January every year, while the amended calendar issued from 2010 reverted to the lunisolar Bikrami reckoning, under which the anniversary moves and can fall twice in a Gregorian year or not at all. Different Sikh bodies publish different dates annually.

### Who was Mata Gujri?

Mata Gujri was the wife of Guru Tegh Bahadur and the mother of Guru Gobind Singh. She was captured with her two youngest grandsons, Zorawar Singh and Fateh Singh, when Anandpur was evacuated in December 1704, and held at Sirhind. She died on hearing that the boys had been bricked up alive after refusing conversion.

### Can Sevahey arrange an Amrit Sanchar?

No. Initiation into the Khalsa is conducted by the Panj Pyare at a gurudwara and cannot be arranged, booked or represented by any commercial service, Sevahey included. Sevahey also does not supply the five articles of faith. What a verified Sevak can do is request an ardas in your name at Patna Sahib, Anandpur Sahib, Damdama Sahib or Hazur Sahib.

Sevahey is a service platform. It sells nothing connected to a Guru, and does not promise a spiritual, medical, financial, legal, or personal outcome from any prayer, seva, or ritual.