# Guru Tegh Bahadur, the Ninth Guru

> Guru Tegh Bahadur (1621 to 1675) was the ninth Sikh Guru, executed at Delhi in 1675 on the orders of the emperor Aurangzeb after refusing to convert to Islam. He had taken up the cause of Kashmiri Pandits facing forced conversion, which makes his the rare martyrdom undertaken for the religious freedom of another community. He founded the town that became Anandpur Sahib and composed 115 hymns, added to the Guru Granth Sahib by his son Guru Gobind Singh.

- **Position in the succession:** Ninth Guru of ten
- **Born:** 1621 at Amritsar, Punjab, as Tyag Mal
- **Died:** 1675 at Chandni Chowk, Delhi, beheaded on the orders of Aurangzeb
- **Guruship:** 1665 to 1675
- **Preceded by:** Guru Har Krishan, his grand-nephew, who indicated him with the words Baba Bakala
- **Succeeded by:** Guru Gobind Singh, his son, then aged nine
- **In the Guru Granth Sahib:** 115 hymns and saloks, added by Guru Gobind Singh at Damdama Sahib in 1706. Counts vary, with 118 also cited
- **Gurpurab:** His martyrdom is observed in November, though the exact date differs between the calendars Sikh bodies follow
- **Known for:** Founding Anandpur Sahib, and martyrdom at Delhi for the religious freedom of Kashmiri Pandits
- **This page:** https://sevahey.com/gurus/guru-tegh-bahadur/

## What Sevahey does not do

Sevahey sells nothing connected to Guru Tegh Bahadur and publishes no image of him. Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib and Gurudwara Rakab Ganj Sahib in Delhi, which mark his execution and cremation, are not among the gurudwaras on Sevahey, so no Sevak can be sent to either. Bangla Sahib is the Delhi gurudwara Sevahey does cover.

This page carries no portrait of Guru Tegh Bahadur. 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 Tegh Bahadur

Guru Tegh Bahadur was born Tyag Mal at Amritsar in 1621, the youngest son of Guru Hargobind. The name he is known by was given after the battle of Kartarpur in 1635, where he fought as a teenager: Tegh Bahadur, brave of the sword. He then spent something like twenty years in seclusion and meditation at Bakala, which is why the dying words of Guru Har Krishan pointed there, and why he was found among more than twenty men claiming the Guruship for themselves.

He travelled widely as Guru, through Punjab and east into Bihar and Assam, and in 1665 founded Chak Nanaki in the Shivalik foothills, the town that became Anandpur Sahib. It would be the seat from which his son founded the Khalsa thirty-four years later and is now one of the five Takhts.

The crisis came from Kashmir. Under Aurangzeb's policy of forced conversion, a delegation of Kashmiri Pandits came to Anandpur and asked for help. Sikh accounts have his nine-year-old son Gobind Rai suggesting that no one was more fit to offer himself than his father. Guru Tegh Bahadur sent word to the emperor that if he could be converted, the Pandits would follow, and he went to Delhi. He was imprisoned, and after refusing conversion and declining to perform miracles on demand, he was beheaded publicly at Chandni Chowk in November 1675. Three Sikhs who accompanied him, Bhai Mati Das, Bhai Sati Das and Bhai Dyala, were tortured to death before him.

Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib marks the place of the execution and Gurudwara Rakab Ganj Sahib the place where his body was cremated. The distinguishing fact of this martyrdom is that the faith he died defending was not his own, and no Sikh was being forced to convert in the episode that prompted it. His 115 hymns were added to the volume by Guru Gobind Singh at Damdama Sahib in 1706, completing the Guru Granth Sahib in the form it has held since.

## The Delhi martyrdom of 1675

| Detail | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Why he went | Kashmiri Pandits facing forced conversion came to Anandpur; he offered himself in their place |
| Who ordered it | The emperor Aurangzeb, after Guru Tegh Bahadur refused conversion and declined to perform miracles |
| Killed with him | Bhai Mati Das, Bhai Sati Das and Bhai Dyala, tortured to death before him |
| Where he was executed | Chandni Chowk, Delhi, now marked by Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib |
| Where he was cremated | Now marked by Gurudwara Rakab Ganj Sahib, Delhi |

## The two Guru martyrdoms

_Two of the ten Gurus were executed by Mughal emperors, sixty-nine years apart._

| Guru | Year and place | Under which emperor |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Guru Arjan | 1606 at Lahore | Jahangir |
| Guru Tegh Bahadur | 1675 at Delhi | Aurangzeb |

## Dates

- **1621** — Tyag Mal, later Guru Tegh Bahadur, is born at Amritsar, youngest son of Guru Hargobind
- **1635** — He fights at the battle of Kartarpur and is renamed Tegh Bahadur, brave of the sword
- **1665** — Found at Bakala, he takes the Guruship and founds Chak Nanaki, the town that became Anandpur Sahib
- **1675** — A delegation of Kashmiri Pandits comes to Anandpur; he goes to Delhi and is beheaded at Chandni Chowk in November
- **1706** — Guru Gobind Singh adds his 115 hymns to the volume at Damdama Sahib, completing the Guru Granth Sahib

## Connected pages on Sevahey

- [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
- [Gurudwara Bangla Sahib](https://sevahey.com/gurudwaras/bangla-sahib/): New Delhi, Delhi
- [Sehaj Path](https://sevahey.com/paths/sehaj-path/): Not a composition. A reading of the whole Guru Granth Sahib, all 1,430 angs

## What can be offered in your name

Anandpur Sahib, which Guru Tegh Bahadur founded as Chak Nanaki, is a gurudwara Sevahey covers, and so is Damdama Sahib, where his hymns were added to the volume. A verified Sevak requests an ardas in your name and gotra at either, the granthi speaks it aloud before the Guru Granth Sahib, and you receive the hukamnama and same-day proof. Families abroad most often ask in November, when his martyrdom is observed.

- **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 Tegh Bahadur?

Guru Tegh Bahadur (1621 to 1675) was the ninth Sikh Guru, executed at Delhi on the orders of Aurangzeb after refusing to convert to Islam. He had taken up the cause of Kashmiri Pandits facing forced conversion, founded the town that became Anandpur Sahib, and composed 115 hymns that his son Guru Gobind Singh added to the Guru Granth Sahib.

### Why was Guru Tegh Bahadur executed?

A delegation of Kashmiri Pandits facing forced conversion under Aurangzeb came to Anandpur and asked for help. Guru Tegh Bahadur sent word that if he could be converted the Pandits would follow, and went to Delhi. After refusing conversion and declining to perform miracles on demand, he was beheaded publicly at Chandni Chowk in November 1675.

### What makes Guru Tegh Bahadur's martyrdom distinctive?

The faith he died defending was not his own. No Sikh was being forced to convert in the episode that prompted it: the community under pressure was Kashmiri Pandits, and Guru Tegh Bahadur offered himself in their place. That makes his one of the few martyrdoms in any tradition undertaken explicitly for another community's religious freedom.

### Which gurudwaras mark Guru Tegh Bahadur's death?

Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib in Chandni Chowk marks the place of his execution, and Gurudwara Rakab Ganj Sahib marks where his body was cremated. Both are in Delhi. Three Sikhs who accompanied him, Bhai Mati Das, Bhai Sati Das and Bhai Dyala, were tortured to death before him.

### Did Guru Tegh Bahadur found Anandpur Sahib?

Yes. He founded it in 1665 as Chak Nanaki, in the Shivalik foothills, shortly after taking the Guruship. The town became Anandpur Sahib and was the seat from which his son Guru Gobind Singh founded the Khalsa in 1699. It is now home to Takht Sri Keshgarh Sahib, one of the five Takhts.

### Why was he called Tegh Bahadur?

Guru Tegh Bahadur was born Tyag Mal at Amritsar in 1621, and was renamed Tegh Bahadur, meaning brave of the sword, after fighting as a teenager at the battle of Kartarpur in 1635. He then spent roughly two decades in seclusion and meditation at Bakala, which is where Guru Har Krishan's dying words Baba Bakala pointed.

### When were Guru Tegh Bahadur's hymns added to the Guru Granth Sahib?

In 1706, thirty-one years after his death, when Guru Gobind Singh prepared the final recension at Damdama Sahib with Bhai Mani Singh as scribe. The 115 hymns and saloks of Guru Tegh Bahadur were the last material added, completing the volume in the form it has held ever since. Some sources give the count as 118.

### Can Sevahey arrange an ardas at Sis Ganj Sahib?

No. Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib and Gurudwara Rakab Ganj Sahib are not among the gurudwaras Sevahey covers, so no Sevak can be sent to either. Bangla Sahib is the Delhi gurudwara Sevahey does cover, and Anandpur Sahib and Damdama Sahib are both connected directly to Guru Tegh Bahadur and available for an ardas in your name.

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.