Poonch, November 24:
Social activist TP Singh today paid tribute to Guru Tegh Bahadur and his three dearest Sikhs Bai Sati Dasji, Bai Mati Dasji & Bai Dyalaji.
While paying floral tributes to Guru Tegh Bahadur said that today, November 24, is commemorated as the Shaheedi Divas of Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth guru of the Sikhs, who stood up against forcible conversions by the Mughals, and was executed on the orders of Aurangzeb in 1675. At the site of Guru Tegh Bahadur’s execution stands Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib in Delhi’s Chandni Chowk. Tegh Bahadur was born in Amritsar on April 21, 1621 to Mata Nanki and Guru Hargobind, the sixth Sikh guru, who raised an army against the Mughals and introduced the concept of warrior saints.
As a boy, Tegh Bahadur was called Tyag Mal because of his ascetic nature. He spent his early childhood in Amritsar under the tutelage of Bhai Gurdas, who taught him Gurmukhi, Hindi, Sanskrit, and Indian religious philosophy, while Baba Budha trained him in swordsmanship, archery, and horse-riding.
He was only 13 when he distinguished himself in a battle against a Mughal chieftain. His bravery and swordsmanship in the battle earned him the name of Tegh Bahadur.
He was married to Mata Gujri at Kartarpur in 1632, and subsequently left for Bakala near Amritsar.
Aurangzeb was the ruling Mughal emperor at the time. “There were conversions, either through a government order or through coercion. When people were charged with some crime or misdemeanour, they would be pardoned if they converted,” Dr Hardev Singh said. The Guruji was approached by Kirpa Das, a Kashmiri Brahmin who sought his protection with a group from the Valley. Das told Guru Tegh Bahadur that local chieftains had told him to convert or face retribution. The guru assured Das and his group of his protection and told them to tell the Mughals that they should first try to convert the guru. Aurangzeb considered this an open challenge to his authority. According to the ‘Sri Gur Bilas Patshahi Dasmi’, a biography of Guru Gobind Singh by Kavi Sukha Singh written in 1797, the Guru himself went to Delhi where he revealed his identity, and was arrested by the Mughals.
In a paper titled ‘Who killed Guru Tegh Bahadur?’, historian Sardar Kapur Singh wrote that Aurangzeb ordered the public execution of the Guru on November 11, 1675 after the guru declined to embrace Islam. He was tortured to death and beheaded at Chandni Chowk along with his three companions, Bhai Mati Das, who was torn asunder, Bhai Sati Das, who was burnt to death, and Bhai Dyala ji, who was put in boiling water. Till the very end they were asked to change their minds, but they remained resolute. Gurdwara Sis Ganj was built on the site on which they were executed in 1783.
There is some confusion regarding the date of Guru Tegh Bahadur’s martyrdom. Until a decade or so ago, it used to be observed on November 11 but ever since some scholars sought to introduce the Nanakshahi calendar to fix dates of important events in the Sikh history, it has been observed on November 24.
Dr Hardev Singh attributed this confusion to the change in calendars over the years. “The Islamic Hijri calendar was in force when Guru ji was beheaded. Later, Sikh historians started relying on the lunisolar Bikrami Samvat calendar traditionally used in the Indian subcontinent. And then the British introduced the Gregorian calendar. This led to some confusion.”
On the occasion, TP Singh was accompanied by several youths of the area.
