Guru Arjan

Also called: Guru Arjan Dev · Topic: Regional Resistance: Rajputs, Ahoms, Sikhs · NCERT: Class 8, Ch 2 "Reshaping India's Political Map"; Class 12, Ch 2 "Bhakti-Sufi Traditions"

Meaning

Guru Arjan (also called Guru Arjan Dev, 1563–1606) was the fifth Sikh Guru. He compiled the first Sikh holy book, the Adi Granth, at Amritsar in 1603–04 and built the Harimandir (Golden Temple). He was tortured to death on the orders of the Mughal emperor Jahangir [3].

He matters because he gave the Sikhs one holy book and one sacred centre. His death also turned a peaceful religious movement towards armed resistance under his son, Guru Hargobind.

Explanation

Background: a spiritual movement

• Guru Nanak (1469–1539) started the Sikh faith in Punjab. He taught Ik Onkar ("there is one God") and the equality of all people [2].
• After Nanak died, nine more Gurus led the community in turn [2]. Guru Arjan was the fifth.
• Before the Adi Granth existed, the Gurus' hymns were not collected in a single book.
• In the early years Sikhism was purely spiritual. It was about God, honest living and service, not about war or land.

Main work 1: compiling the Adi Granth

• Guru Arjan put together the first version of the Sikh holy book at Amritsar in 1603–04. This first version is called the Adi Granth ("the first book") [3].
• What it contains:
• hymns of Guru Arjan himself
• hymns of the four Gurus before him: Nanak, Angad, Amar Das and Ram Das [3]

• devotional songs of Hindu and Muslim saints, most notably Kabir [3]. NCERT also names Baba Farid and Ravidas (also called Raidas).

• Hymns of Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Guru, were added later. The enlarged book is the Guru Granth Sahib.

• Today it holds nearly 6,000 hymns. The modern printed edition runs to 1,430 pages [3].
• What it teaches:
• one God for all, who "established the earth as a home for Dharma" (Dharma here means righteous living)
• four rules for daily life: truthfulness, compassion, humility and self-control
• its best-known line: "Truth is high but higher still is truthful living." Knowing what is right matters less than actually living by it.

Main work 2: building the Harimandir

• Guru Arjan built the Harimandir at Amritsar. It is now known as the Golden Temple [3].
• It was open to all Sikhs to worship as they wished [3].
• It became the spiritual capital of the Sikhs [3].
• Result: the Sikhs now had one book and one shrine. This gave a scattered following a shared identity.

His death and the turn to arms

• Jahangir learned that Guru Arjan had supported his rebellious son (Prince Khusrau).
• Jahangir had the Guru tortured to death in 1606.

• This was the first time the Mughal state used direct violence against a Sikh Guru.

• What happened next:

• His son and successor Guru Hargobind (the sixth Guru) started martial training (teaching Sikhs to fight).

• Guru Hargobind raised the first Sikh army, which fought several battles against Mughal forces.

• From this point the Sikhs were both a religious community and a fighting power.

Time, place and evidence

• Period: late 16th to early 17th century. He lived from 1563 to 1606, during the reigns of Akbar and Jahangir.
• Region: Punjab. Amritsar was where he compiled the Adi Granth and built the Harimandir [3]. He died at Lahore.
• Key people:
• Guru Ram Das, the fourth Guru and Guru Arjan's father and predecessor
• Jahangir, who ordered his death
• Guru Hargobind, his son and successor

• Kabir and other saints whose hymns he included [3]

• How we know:

• the Adi Granth itself, which survives and carries his own hymns [3]
• Jahangir's own memoir, the Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri, which records his anger at the Guru
• Sikh tradition

Don't confuse with

• Guru Tegh Bahadur: the ninth Guru, executed by Aurangzeb (1675), not Jahangir. His hymns were added later to the Guru Granth Sahib. He did not compile the first version.
• Guru Hargobind: Guru Arjan's son and the sixth Guru. He, not Guru Arjan, started martial training and raised the first Sikh army.
• Adi Granth vs Dasam Granth: the Adi Granth was compiled by Guru Arjan (1603–04). The Dasam Granth is linked to the tenth Guru, Guru Gobind Singh.
• Harimandir vs Akal Takht: Guru Arjan built the Harimandir (Golden Temple). The Akal Takht, the seat of worldly (temporal) authority beside it, is linked to Guru Hargobind.

Prelims Hooks

• Guru Arjan, the fifth Sikh Guru, compiled the Adi Granth at Amritsar in 1603–04 [3].
• The Adi Granth includes hymns of Nanak, Angad, Amar Das, Ram Das, Guru Arjan himself, and Hindu and Muslim saints such as Kabir [3] (and, per NCERT, Baba Farid and Ravidas).
• Trap: Guru Tegh Bahadur's hymns are in the Guru Granth Sahib, but they were added after Guru Arjan's compilation.
• Guru Arjan built the Harimandir (Golden Temple) at Amritsar [3].
• Jahangir had Guru Arjan tortured to death (1606) for backing his rebellious son.
• Order of Gurus: Nanak → Angad → Amar Das → Ram Das → Arjan → Hargobind (first Sikh army).

Mains Points

• Persecution turned a spiritual movement into a military one.
• Sikhism began as a faith of equality and devotion.
• Jahangir's killing of Guru Arjan pushed Guru Hargobind to arm the community.

• This is a good case study of how a religious reform movement becomes political when the state attacks it.

• Scripture and shrine built a shared identity.

• The Adi Granth (1603–04) gave a scattered following one fixed text. By including Hindu and Muslim saints like Kabir, it showed that the faith was open to all [3].
• The Harimandir gave them one sacred centre at Amritsar [3].

• This shared identity later sustained Sikh resistance to the Mughals. Like the Rajputs and Ahoms, the Sikhs challenged Mughal power. The difference is that Sikh resistance grew out of a religious community, not a ruling dynasty.

• A link with the Bhakti–Sufi traditions. By placing the hymns of saints such as Kabir and Baba Farid beside the Gurus' own hymns, the Adi Granth shows that devotional ideas were shared across religions in medieval India. It is useful evidence for GS-I questions on Bhakti and Sufi traditions.

Related concepts

• Guru Angad
• Guru Amar Das
• Guru Ram Das
• Masand system
• Harmandir Sahib
• Guru Granth Sahib
• Guru Hargobind
• Miri-piri
• Akal Takht

Read more

• Rise of Sikhism: Guru Nanak to Guru Hargobind