Origin from 1675
On 11 November 1675, the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb had Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Sikh Guru, publicly beheaded at the kotwali near Chandni Chowk in Delhi, seventy one years after Guru Arjan installed the Adi Granth at Harmandir Sahib in 1604, already recorded here. A delegation of Kashmiri Hindu Pandits, facing forced conversion to Islam under Aurangzeb's rule, had travelled to Anandpur Sahib to ask the Guru for protection, and he resolved to intervene on their behalf; soldiers arrested him near the village of Malikpur Ragharan and imprisoned him at Bassi Pathanan before he was brought to Delhi. Given the choice of performing a miracle, converting to Islam, or facing death, the Guru refused all but the last, and three companions who had refused with him, Bhai Mati Das, Bhai Dayala and Bhai Sati Das, were executed in front of him in the days before his own beheading. Bhai Jaita carried the Guru's severed head back to Anandpur Sahib for cremation, while Bhai Lakhi Shah Vanjara secretly cremated the Guru's body by burning down his own house to conceal the act from the authorities; the execution site and the site of the secret cremation are marked today by Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib and Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib in Delhi. Remembered by Sikhs as a sacrifice made to defend the freedom of another community's faith rather than the Guru's own, the martyrdom deepened Sikh resolve under his son and successor Guru Gobind Singh, twenty four years before Guru Gobind Singh founded the Khalsa at Anandpur Sahib in 1699, already recorded here.
Facts
Dates
StatusSuppressed marks the 11 November 1675 execution of Guru Tegh Bahadur at Chandni Chowk in Delhi on the orders of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, a specific dated milestone between Guru Arjan installing the Adi Granth at Harmandir Sahib in 1604 already recorded here and Guru Gobind Singh founding the Khalsa at Anandpur Sahib in 1699 also recorded here. Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
This source names Anandpur Sahib directly: "Aurangzeb's rule, had travelled to Anandpur Sahib to ask the Guru for protection, and he resolved to intervene on their behalf; soldiers arrested him near the village of Malikpur Ragharan and..."
This source names Aurangzeb directly: "On 11 November 1675, the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb had Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Sikh Guru, publicly beheaded at the kotwali near Chandni Chowk in Delhi, seventy one years after Guru Arjan..."
Delhi, Cities This source names Delhi directly: "at the kotwali near Chandni Chowk in Delhi, seventy one years after Guru Arjan installed the Adi Granth at Harmandir Sahib in 1604, already recorded here."
This source names Guru Arjan directly: "in Delhi, seventy one years after Guru Arjan installed the Adi Granth at Harmandir Sahib in 1604, already recorded here."
This source names Guru Tegh Bahadur directly: "1675, the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb had Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Sikh Guru, publicly beheaded at the kotwali near Chandni Chowk in Delhi, seventy one years after Guru Arjan installed the Adi..."
Sati, Deities This source names Sati directly: "Bhai Mati Das, Bhai Dayala and Bhai Sati Das, were executed in front of him in the days before his own beheading."
Occurred In
Spread Event Of
Adds a specific, dated milestone in Sikhism's history between Guru Arjan installing the Adi Granth at Harmandir Sahib in 1604 and Guru Gobind Singh founding the Khalsa at Anandpur Sahib in 1699, both already recorded here: the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb's execution of Guru Tegh Bahadur at Chandni Chowk in Delhi on 11 November 1675, a martyrdom made in defense of another community's freedom to worship.
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