Sikh gurus are the spiritual leader of the Sikh sect, who established the sect over the course of nearly two and a half centuries, beginning in 1469. The year 1469 marks the birth of Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh faith. By 1708, he had been succeeded by nine other gurus, until finally the Gurushahi was passed on by the tenth Guru in the holy Sikh scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib, who is now regarded by followers of the Sikh panth as a living guru.
1. Guru Nanak Dev Ji
Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of Sikhism, was born on April 15, 1469, at a place called ‘Talwandi’. Nanak ji’s father’s name was Kalyanchand or Mehta Kalu ji and his mother’s name was Tripta. After the birth of Nanak, Talwandi was named Nankana. Presently this place is in Pakistan. Nanak jiwas married to Nanak Sulakhni. He had two sons Srichand and Laxmichand.
He established a city called Kartarpur, which is now in Pakistan. Guru Nanak Ji died at this place in 1539. Guru Nanak’s first ‘Udasi’ (Vicaran Yatra) in 1507 AD. He stayed till 1515 AD. He visited places like Haridwar, Ayodhya, Prayag, Kashi, Gaya, Patna, Assam, Jagannathpuri, Rameshwar, Somnath, Dwarka, Narmadat, Bikaner, Pushkar pilgrimage, Delhi, Panipat, Kurukshetra, Multan, Lahore, etc.
2. Guru Angad Dev Ji
Guru Angad Dev was the second Guru of the Sikhs. Nanak Dev left his two sons and made him his successor. He was born on March 31, 1504, in Firozpur, Punjab. His father’s name was Feru Ji, and he was a businessman by profession. His mother’s name was Mata Ramo Ji. Guru Angad Dev is also known as ‘Lahina Ji’. Angad Dev ji is the father of the Punjabi script ‘Gurmukhi’. Guru Angad Dev was married to a woman named Khivi. They had four children, two sons, and two daughters.
Their names were Dasu and Datu and the names of two daughters were Amro and Anokhi. He lived with Guru Nanak Dev for about seven years and then took over the throne of the Sikh Panth. He remained on the throne from September 1539 to March 1552. Guru Angad Dev ji started the langar practice, moving away from the caste distinction and started promoting the Punjabi language.
3. Guru Amar Das Ji
Guru Amar Das became the third Guru of Sikhism after Guru Angad Dev. He made an important contribution to ending evils like the caste system, high-low, female murder, and sati system. He was born on May 23, 1479, in a village in Amritsar. His father’s name was Tejbhan and his mother’s name was Lakhmi. He made Guru Angad Dev Ji his guru at the age of 61 and served him continuously for 11 years.
Seeing his service and dedication, Angad Dev Ji handed over the Gurugaddi to him. Guru Amar Das died on September 1, 1574. Guru Amardas Ji freed Sikhism from the evil practices of Hinduism. He promoted inter-caste marriages and allowed the remarriage of widows. He strongly opposed the practice of Sati.
4. Guru Ramdas Ji
Guru Ramdas sat on the throne after Guru Amardas. He was the fourth Guru of Sikhism. He took the post of Guru in 1574 AD. On this post, he stayed till in 1581 AD. He was the son-in-law of Amardas, the third Guru of the Sikhs. He was born in Lahore. When Guru Ramdas was still a child, his mother died. His father also died when he was about seven years old. After that, he started living with his grandmother. Seeing the tolerance, humility, and obedience of Guru Ramdas, Guru Amardas ji married his younger daughter to him.
Guru Ramdas in 1577 AD. A city named ‘Amrit Sarovar’ was established in AD, which later became famous as Amritsar. Guru Ramdas was a very saintly person. For this reason, even Emperor Akbar used to respect him. At the behest of Guru Ramdas, Akbar did not collect revenue from Punjab for one year.
5. Guru Arjan Dev Ji
Guru Arjan Dev became the fifth Guru of the Sikhs. He was born on April 25, 1563. He was the son of Ram Das Dev Ji, the fourth Guru of Sikhism. This is 1581 AD. He sat on the throne. The sacrifice of Arjun Dev, the fifth Guru of the Sikhs, is considered great in the tradition established by the Sikh Gurus to protect humanity by sacrificing their lives.
He got the ‘Amrit Sarovar’ built and got the ‘Harmandir Sahib’ (Golden Temple) built in it, whose foundation was laid by the hands of Sufi Saint Mian Mir. He died on 30 May 1606.
6. Guru Hargobind Singh Ji
Guru Hargobind Singh was the sixth Gurus of the Sikh. He was the son of Arjan Dev, the fifth Guru of the Sikhs. It was Guru Hargobind Singh who inspired the Sikhs to take training in weapons and gave the warrior character to the Sikh Panth. He was a revolutionary warrior. Before this the Sikh Panth was inactive. He took over the throne after Arjan, the fifth Guru of Sikhism, was executed.
He had gathered a small army. Angered by this, Jahangir imprisoned him for 12 years. After being released, he rebelled against Shah Jahan in 1628 AD. Defeated the imperial army in a battle near Amritsar. In the year 1644 AD. He died in Kiratpur, Punjab.
7. Guru Har Rai Ji
Guru Harrai was the seventh Gurus of the Sikh. He was born on January 16, 1630 AD. He was born in Punjab. Guru Harrai Ji was the younger son of Baba Gurdita Ji, the son of the sixth Guru of Sikhism. He was married to Kishan Kaur ji. He had two sons Guru Ram Rai Ji and Harkishan Sahib Ji.
Guru Harrai helped Dara Shikoh, brother of the Mughal ruler Aurangzeb, in the rebellion. Guru Harrai died in 1661 AD.
8. Guru Harkishan Sahib Ji
Guru Harkishan Sahib became the eighth Guru of the Sikhs. He was born on July 17, 1656, in Kiratpur Saheb. He got the throne at a very young age. This was opposed by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. Aurangzeb called Guru Harkishan to Delhi to decide the matter. When Guru Harkishan reached Delhi, there was an epidemic of cholera.
After providing health benefits to many people, he got smallpox. While dying on 09 April 1664, the words ‘Baba Bakale’ came out of his mouth, which meant that his successor should be found in Bakala village. Also, Guru Sahib instructed all the people that no one should cry about his death.
9. Guru Tegh Bahadur Singh
Guru Tegh Bahadur Singh was born on April 18, 1621, in Amritsar city of Punjab. He was the ninth Gurus of the Sikhs. He was the son of Guru Hargobind Singh, the sixth Gurus of Sikhism, and Mata Nanaki. Guru Tegh Bahadur Singh sacrificed his everything for the protection of religion and religious freedom and was rightly called ‘Hind Ki Chadar’. At that time the Mughal rulers were forcibly converting people’s religion. Distressed by this, Kashmiri Pandits came to Guru Tegh Bahadur and told him how they were being tortured for accepting Islam.
After this, he told the pundits that you go and tell Aurangzeb that if Guru Tegh Bahadur converted to Islam, then we too would convert to Islam after him and if you could not get Guru Tegh Bahadur to convert to Islam, we too would not convert to Islam. Aurangzeb accepted this. He went to the court of Aurangzeb. Aurangzeb gave him different types of greed, but Guru Tegh Bahadur ji did not agree, he was tortured, was imprisoned, an attempt was made to scare Guru Tegh Bahadur ji by killing two disciples, but he did not agree. After this, he issued an order to behead Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji at Chandni Chowk in Delhi and Guru Ji sacrificed himself on November 24, 1675, to protect the religion.
10. Guru Gobind Singh Ji
Guru Gobind Singh is considered the tenth and last incarnate Guru of the Sikhs. He was born on December 22, 1666 AD. Was born in Patna. He was the son of Ninth Guru Tegh Bahadur. He got Gurugaddi at the age of 9. At the time of Guru Gobind Singh’s birth, the country was ruled by the Mughals. Guru Gobind Singh sacrificed everything for the pride and glory of religion, culture, and nation.
His elder son Baba Ajit Singh and another son Baba Jujhar Singh attained martyrdom in the battle of Chamkaur. While among the younger sons, Baba Zorawar Singh and Fateh Singh were elected alive by the Nawab in the walls. Later, Guru Gobind Singh ended the practice of Gurus and accepted Guru Granth Sahib as the only Guru.
