7,365
edits
m
Removed empty portal template using script
>The Eloquent Peasant (Changing short description from "The fifth Guru of Sikhism" to "The fifth Sikh Guru" (Shortdesc helper)) |
m (Removed empty portal template using script) |
||
| (One intermediate revision by one other user not shown) | |||
| Line 3: | Line 3: | ||
{{EngvarB|date=May 2014}} | {{EngvarB|date=May 2014}} | ||
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}} | {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}} | ||
{{Sikhism sidebar}} | {{Sikhism sidebar}} | ||
'''Guru Arjan'''<ref name=mb12/><ref name="Dehsen 1999 14">{{cite book | last=Dehsen | first=Christian | title=Philosophers and religious leaders | publisher=Routledge | year=1999 | isbn=978-1-57958-182-4 | page=14}}</ref> ([[Gurmukhi]]: ਗੁਰੂ ਅਰਜਨ, pronunciation: {{IPA-pa|gʊɾuː əɾd͡ʒənᵊ|}} | '''Guru Arjan Dev'''<ref name=mb12/><ref name="Dehsen 1999 14">{{cite book | last=Dehsen | first=Christian | title=Philosophers and religious leaders | publisher=Routledge | year=1999 | isbn=978-1-57958-182-4 | page=14}}</ref> ([[Gurmukhi]]: ਗੁਰੂ ਅਰਜਨ, pronunciation: {{IPA-pa|gʊɾuː əɾd͡ʒənᵊ|}}; 15 April 1563 – 30 May 1606)<ref name=Britannica>{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/34850/Arjan |title=Arjan, Sikh Guru |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=5 May 2015}}</ref> was the first of the two Gurus [[Martyrdom in Sikhism|martyred]] in the [[Sikh]] faith and the fifth of the ten total [[Sikh Gurus]]. He compiled the first official edition of the Sikh scripture called the Adi Granth, which later expanded into the [[Guru Granth Sahib]]. | ||
He was born in [[Goindval]], in the [[Punjab (region)|Punjab]], the youngest son of Bhai Jetha, who later became [[Guru Ram Das]], and [[Mata Bhani]], the daughter of [[Guru Amar Das]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Mcleod|first=Hew|title=Sikhism|year=1997|publisher=Penguin Books|location=London|isbn=0-14-025260-6|page=[https://archive.org/details/sikhism00mcle/page/28 28]|url=https://archive.org/details/sikhism00mcle/page/28}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=William Owen Cole|author2=Piara Singh Sambhi|title= The Sikhs: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zIC_MgJ5RMUC |year=1995| publisher= Sussex Academic Press|isbn=978-1-898723-13-4|page=24}}</ref> He completed the construction of Darbar Sahib at [[Amritsar]], after the fourth Sikh Guru founded the town and built a | He was born in [[Goindval]], in the [[Punjab (region)|Punjab]], the youngest son of Bhai Jetha, who later became [[Guru Ram Das]], and [[Mata Bhani]], the daughter of [[Guru Amar Das]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Mcleod|first=Hew|title=Sikhism|year=1997|publisher=Penguin Books|location=London|isbn=0-14-025260-6|page=[https://archive.org/details/sikhism00mcle/page/28 28]|url=https://archive.org/details/sikhism00mcle/page/28}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=William Owen Cole|author2=Piara Singh Sambhi|title= The Sikhs: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zIC_MgJ5RMUC |year=1995| publisher= Sussex Academic Press|isbn=978-1-898723-13-4|page=24}}</ref> He completed the construction of Darbar Sahib at [[Amritsar]], after the fourth Sikh Guru founded the town and built a sarovar.<ref name="ShackleMandair2013xv">{{cite book|author1=Christopher Shackle|author2=Arvind Mandair|title=Teachings of the Sikh Gurus: Selections from the Sikh Scriptures |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VvoJV8mw0LwC |year=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-45101-0|pages=xv–xvi}}</ref><ref name="Arshi1989p5">{{cite book|author=Pardeep Singh Arshi|title=The Golden Temple: history, art, and architecture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rcmfAAAAMAAJ|year=1989|publisher=Harman|isbn=978-81-85151-25-0|pages=5–7}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Louis E. Fenech|author2=W. H. McLeod|title=Historical Dictionary of Sikhism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xajcAwAAQBAJ |year=2014|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|isbn=978-1-4422-3601-1|page=33}}</ref> Guru Arjan compiled the hymns of previous Gurus and of other saints into Adi Granth, the first edition of the Sikh scripture, and installed it in the Harimandir Sahib.<ref name="ShackleMandair2013xv"/> | ||
Guru Arjan reorganized the [[Masand]]s system initiated by [[Guru Ram Das]], by suggesting that the Sikhs donate, if possible, one-tenth of their income, goods or service to the Sikh organization (''[[ | Guru Arjan reorganized the [[Masand]]s system initiated by [[Guru Ram Das]], by suggesting that the Sikhs donate, if possible, one-tenth of their income, goods or service to the Sikh organization (''[[dasvandh]]''). The ''Masand'' not only collected these funds but also taught tenets of Sikhism and settled civil disputes in their region. The ''dasvand'' financed the building of [[gurdwara]]s and [[Langar (Sikhism)|langars]] (shared communal kitchens).<ref>DS Dhillon (1988), [https://books.google.com/books?id=osnkLKPMWykC&pg=PA205&f=false Sikhism Origin and Development] Atlantic Publishers, pp. 213-215, 204-207</ref> | ||
Guru Arjan was arrested under the orders of the Mughal Emperor [[Jahangir]] and asked to convert to Islam.<ref name=ps5/><ref name=lkca/> He refused, was tortured and executed in 1606 CE.<ref name=ps5/><ref name=thackston /> Historical records and the Sikh tradition are unclear whether Guru Arjan was executed by drowning or died during torture.<ref name=ps5/><ref>Louis E. Fenech, Martyrdom in the Sikh Tradition, Oxford University Press, pp. 118-121</ref> His martyrdom is considered a watershed event in the history of Sikhism.<ref name=ps5/><ref name=whm/> It is remembered as ''Shaheedi Divas of Guru Arjan'' in May or June according to the [[Nanakshahi calendar]] released by the [[Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee]] in 2003.<ref name=nesbitt122>{{cite book|author=Eleanor Nesbitt|title=Sikhism: a Very Short Introduction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XebnCwAAQBAJ |year=2016|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-874557-0|pages=6, 122–123}}</ref> | Guru Arjan was arrested under the orders of the Mughal Emperor [[Jahangir]] and asked to convert to Islam.<ref name=ps5/><ref name=lkca/> He refused, was tortured and executed in 1606 CE.<ref name=ps5/><ref name=thackston /> Historical records and the Sikh tradition are unclear whether Guru Arjan was executed by drowning or died during torture.<ref name=ps5/><ref>Louis E. Fenech, Martyrdom in the Sikh Tradition, Oxford University Press, pp. 118-121</ref> His martyrdom is considered a watershed event in the history of Sikhism.<ref name=ps5/><ref name=whm/> It is remembered as ''Shaheedi Divas of Guru Arjan'' in May or June according to the [[Nanakshahi calendar]] released by the [[Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee]] in 2003.<ref name=nesbitt122>{{cite book|author=Eleanor Nesbitt|title=Sikhism: a Very Short Introduction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XebnCwAAQBAJ |year=2016|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-874557-0|pages=6, 122–123}}</ref> | ||
== | ==Early life== | ||
Guru Arjan was born in [[Goindval]] to Bibi Bhani and Jetha Sodhi. Bibi Bhani was the daughter of [[Guru Amar Das]], and her husband Jetha Sodhi later came to be known as [[Guru Ram Das]]. Guru Arjan's birthplace site is now memorialized as the Gurdwara Chaubara Sahib.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=BCyYDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT32 Guru Arjan Birthplace]</ref> He had two brothers: [[Prithi Chand]] and Mahadev.<ref name=Perplexed>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jn_jBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA40 |title=Sikhism: A Guide for the Perplexed|publisher=Bloomsbury |pages=39, 40|author=Arvind-pal Singh Mandair| year=2013|isbn=9781441153661}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Mcleod|first=Hew|title=Sikhism|year=1997|publisher=Penguin Books|location=London|isbn=0-14-025260-6|page=[https://archive.org/details/sikhism00mcle/page/26 26]|url=https://archive.org/details/sikhism00mcle/page/26}}</ref> Various Sikh chroniclers give his birth year as 1553 or 1563, the latter is accepted by scholarly consensus as the actual year of birth with 15 April as the accepted birth date.<ref>{{cite book|title=Life and Work of Guru Arjan: History, Memory, and Biography in the Sikh Tradition|pages=50, 64, 98|publisher=Oxford University Press|author=Pashaura Singh|year=2006}}</ref> | Guru Arjan was born in [[Goindval]] to Bibi Bhani and Jetha Sodhi. Bibi Bhani was the daughter of [[Guru Amar Das]], and her husband Jetha Sodhi later came to be known as [[Guru Ram Das]]. Guru Arjan's birthplace site is now memorialized as the Gurdwara Chaubara Sahib.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=BCyYDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT32 Guru Arjan Birthplace]</ref> He had two brothers: [[Prithi Chand]] and Mahadev.<ref name=Perplexed>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jn_jBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA40 |title=Sikhism: A Guide for the Perplexed|publisher=Bloomsbury |pages=39, 40|author=Arvind-pal Singh Mandair| year=2013|isbn=9781441153661}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Mcleod|first=Hew|title=Sikhism|year=1997|publisher=Penguin Books|location=London|isbn=0-14-025260-6|page=[https://archive.org/details/sikhism00mcle/page/26 26]|url=https://archive.org/details/sikhism00mcle/page/26}}</ref> Various Sikh chroniclers give his birth year as 1553 or 1563, the latter is accepted by scholarly consensus as the actual year of birth with 15 April as the accepted birth date.<ref>{{cite book|title=Life and Work of Guru Arjan: History, Memory, and Biography in the Sikh Tradition|pages=50, 64, 98|publisher=Oxford University Press|author=Pashaura Singh|year=2006}}</ref> | ||
Guru Arjan spent the first 11 years of his life in Goindwal and the next seven years with his father in Ramdaspur.<ref name=Perplexed/> Per Sikh tradition, he had stayed for two years in [[Lahore]] during his youth after being sent by his father to attend the wedding of his first cousin Sahari Mal's son as well as to establish a Sikh congregation.<ref>{{cite book|title=Life and Work of Guru Arjan: History, Memory, and Biography in the Sikh Tradition|page=69|publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref> He was appointed as the Sikh Guru in 1581 after the death of his father.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h8wy2FZRgPAC&q=jetha+sodhi&pg=PT70 |title= Sikhism |date= 2 March 2012 |publisher=University of Hawaii Press|isbn= 9780824860349 }}</ref> Guru Ram Das was a ''[[Khatri]]'' of the [[Sodhi]] sub-caste. With Guru Arjan's succession, the Guruship remained in the Sodhi family of Guru Ram Das.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2_nryFANsoYC&pg=PA46|title=The Sikhs of the Punjab, Volumes 2-3|page=46|publisher=Cambridge University Press|author=J.S. Grewal|year=1990|isbn=9780521637640}}</ref> | Guru Arjan spent the first 11 years of his life in Goindwal and the next seven years with his father in Ramdaspur.<ref name=Perplexed/> Per Sikh tradition, he had stayed for two years in [[Lahore]] during his youth after being sent by his father to attend the wedding of his first cousin Sahari Mal's son as well as to establish a Sikh congregation.<ref>{{cite book|title=Life and Work of Guru Arjan: History, Memory, and Biography in the Sikh Tradition|page=69|publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref> He was appointed as the Sikh Guru in 1581 after the death of his father.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h8wy2FZRgPAC&q=jetha+sodhi&pg=PT70 |title= Sikhism |date= 2 March 2012 |publisher=University of Hawaii Press|isbn= 9780824860349 }}</ref> Guru Ram Das was a ''[[Khatri]]'' of the [[Sodhi]] sub-caste. With Guru Arjan's succession, the Guruship remained in the Sodhi family of Guru Ram Das.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2_nryFANsoYC&pg=PA46|title=The Sikhs of the Punjab, Volumes 2-3|page=46|publisher=Cambridge University Press|author=J.S. Grewal|year=1990|isbn=9780521637640}}</ref> | ||
==Succession== | |||
Guru Ram Das chose Arjan, the youngest, to succeed him as the fifth Sikh Guru. Mahadev, the middle brother chose the life of an [[ascetic]].<ref name="Syan2013p50">{{cite book|author=Hardip Singh Syan|title=Sikh Militancy in the Seventeenth Century: Religious Violence in Mughal and Early Modern India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9RzzxcEL4C0C&pg=PA50 |year=2013|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=978-1-78076-250-0|pages=50–52}}</ref> His choice of Arjan as successor, as throughout most of the history of Sikh Guru successions, led to disputes and internal divisions among the Sikhs.<ref name="ShackleMandair2013xv"/><ref name="Grewal1998p54">{{cite book|author=J. S. Grewal|title=The Sikhs of the Punjab|url=https://archive.org/details/sikhsofpunjab0000grew|url-access=registration| year=1998| publisher= Cambridge University Press|isbn= 978-0-521-63764-0|pages=[https://archive.org/details/sikhsofpunjab0000grew/page/54 54]–55, 62–63}}</ref> | Guru Ram Das chose Arjan, the youngest, to succeed him as the fifth Sikh Guru. Mahadev, the middle brother chose the life of an [[ascetic]].<ref name="Syan2013p50">{{cite book|author=Hardip Singh Syan|title=Sikh Militancy in the Seventeenth Century: Religious Violence in Mughal and Early Modern India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9RzzxcEL4C0C&pg=PA50 |year=2013|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=978-1-78076-250-0|pages=50–52}}</ref> His choice of Arjan as successor, as throughout most of the history of Sikh Guru successions, led to disputes and internal divisions among the Sikhs.<ref name="ShackleMandair2013xv"/><ref name="Grewal1998p54">{{cite book|author=J. S. Grewal|title=The Sikhs of the Punjab|url=https://archive.org/details/sikhsofpunjab0000grew|url-access=registration| year=1998| publisher= Cambridge University Press|isbn= 978-0-521-63764-0|pages=[https://archive.org/details/sikhsofpunjab0000grew/page/54 54]–55, 62–63}}</ref> | ||
| Line 52: | Line 25: | ||
The mainstream Sikh tradition recognised Guru Arjan as the fifth Guru, and Hargobind as the sixth Guru.<ref name=whm>{{cite book|isbn=978-0231068154|publisher=Columbia University Press|author=WH McLeod|date=1989|title=The Sikhs: History, Religion, and Society|url=https://archive.org/details/sikhshistoryreli00mcle|url-access=registration|pages=[https://archive.org/details/sikhshistoryreli00mcle/page/26 26–51]}}</ref><ref name=psbg/><ref>DS Dhillon (1988), [https://books.google.com/books?id=osnkLKPMWykC&pg=PA99&f=false Sikhism Origin and Development] Atlantic Publishers, pp. 99-110</ref> Arjan, at age 18, became the fifth Guru in 1581 inheriting the title from his father. After his execution by the Muslim officials of the [[Mughal Empire]], his son Hargobind became the sixth Guru in 1606 CE.<ref name=whm/> | The mainstream Sikh tradition recognised Guru Arjan as the fifth Guru, and Hargobind as the sixth Guru.<ref name=whm>{{cite book|isbn=978-0231068154|publisher=Columbia University Press|author=WH McLeod|date=1989|title=The Sikhs: History, Religion, and Society|url=https://archive.org/details/sikhshistoryreli00mcle|url-access=registration|pages=[https://archive.org/details/sikhshistoryreli00mcle/page/26 26–51]}}</ref><ref name=psbg/><ref>DS Dhillon (1988), [https://books.google.com/books?id=osnkLKPMWykC&pg=PA99&f=false Sikhism Origin and Development] Atlantic Publishers, pp. 99-110</ref> Arjan, at age 18, became the fifth Guru in 1581 inheriting the title from his father. After his execution by the Muslim officials of the [[Mughal Empire]], his son Hargobind became the sixth Guru in 1606 CE.<ref name=whm/> | ||
== | ==Death== | ||
[[File:Gurdwara Dera Sahib and Samadhi of Ranjit Singh.jpg|thumb|The [[Gurdwara Dera Sahib]] in [[Lahore]], [[Pakistan]], commemorates the spot where Guru Arjan Dev is traditionally believed to have died.]] | [[File:Gurdwara Dera Sahib and Samadhi of Ranjit Singh.jpg|thumb|The [[Gurdwara Dera Sahib]] in [[Lahore]], [[Pakistan]], commemorates the spot where Guru Arjan Dev is traditionally believed to have died.]] | ||
Guru Arjan | Guru Arjan died in Mughal custody; this has been one of the defining, though controversial, issues in Sikh history.<ref>Pashaura Singh (2005), [http://www.global.ucsb.edu/punjab/journal_12_1/3_singh.pdf Understanding the Martyrdom of Guru Arjan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620214905/http://www.global.ucsb.edu/punjab/journal_12_1/3_singh.pdf |date=20 June 2010 }}, Journal of Philosophical Society, 12(1), page 29, '''Quote:''' "The most controversial issue in Sikh history is related to Guru Arjan’s execution in Mughal custody. A number of interpretations of this event have emerged in scholarly and quasi-scholarly writings."</ref><ref name= "McLeodp20"/> | ||
Most Mughal historians considered Guru Arjan's execution as a political event, stating that the Sikhs had become formidable as a social group, and Sikh Gurus became actively involved in the [[Punjab (region)|Punjab]]i political conflicts.<ref name=ps5>Pashaura Singh (2005), [http://www.global.ucsb.edu/punjab/journal_12_1/3_singh.pdf Understanding the Martyrdom of Guru Arjan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620214905/http://www.global.ucsb.edu/punjab/journal_12_1/3_singh.pdf |date=20 June 2010 }}, Journal of Philosophical Society, 12(1), pages 29-62</ref><ref name= "McLeodp20">{{cite book|title= The A to Z of Sikhism|author= W.H. McLeod|author-link= W.H. McLeod|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=vgixwfeCyDAC|publisher= Scarecrow Press|year= 2009|isbn= 9780810863446|page= 20 (Arjan's Death)|quote="The Mughal rulers of the Punjab were evidently concerned with the growth of the Panth, and in 1605 the Emperor Jahangir made an entry in his memoirs, the ''Tuzuk-i-Jahāṅgīrī'', concerning Guru Arjan's support for his rebellious son [[Khusrau Mirza]]. Too many people, he wrote, were being persuaded by his teachings, and if the Guru would not become a Muslim, the Panth had to be extinguished. Jahangir believed that Guru Arjan was a Hindu who pretended to be a saint, and that he had been thinking of forcing Guru Arjan to convert to Islam or his false trade should be eliminated, for a long time. Mughal authorities seem plainly to have been responsible for Arjan's death in custody in Lahore, and this may be accepted as an established fact. Whether death was by execution, the result of torture, or drowning in the Ravi River remains unresolved. For Sikhs, Arjan is the first martyr Guru.}}</ref> A similar theory floated in early 20th-century, asserts that this was just a politically-motivated single execution.<ref>Pashaura Singh (2005), [http://www.global.ucsb.edu/punjab/journal_12_1/3_singh.pdf Understanding the Martyrdom of Guru Arjan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620214905/http://www.global.ucsb.edu/punjab/journal_12_1/3_singh.pdf |date=20 June 2010 }}, Journal of Philosophical Society, 12(1), page 29, '''Quote:''' Similarly, in the early decades of twentieth century Beni Prasad treated this whole affair as “a single execution due primarily to political reasons.”</ref> According to this theory, there was an ongoing Mughal dynasty dispute between Jahangir and his son Khusrau suspected of rebellion by Jahangir, wherein Guru Arjan blessed Khusrau and thus the losing side. Jahangir was jealous and outraged, and therefore he ordered the Guru's execution.<ref>Pashaura Singh (2005), [http://www.global.ucsb.edu/punjab/journal_12_1/3_singh.pdf Understanding the Martyrdom of Guru Arjan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620214905/http://www.global.ucsb.edu/punjab/journal_12_1/3_singh.pdf |date=20 June 2010 }}, Journal of Philosophical Society, 12(1), pages 32-33</ref><ref name= "Gandhi">{{cite book|title= Punjab:A History from Aurangzeb to Mountbatten| last=Gandhi| first=R| date=14 September 2013| author-link= Rajmohan Gandhi| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Ifs9AQAAQBAJ| publisher= Aleph Book Company| isbn= 9789383064410| page= 34|quote='''Quote:''' Jahangir, Akbar's son and successor, had ordered the execution. We know from Jahangir's own handwriting that he was jealous of Guru Arjan Dev's popularity and that a gesture from the Guru towards Khusrau, a son rebelling against Jahangir, had outraged him.}}</ref><ref name="ShackleMandair2013xv"/> But according to Jahangir's own autobiography, most probably he didn't understand the importance of Sikh gurus. He referred to Guru Arjan as a Hindu, who had ''"captured many of the simple-hearted of the Hindus and even of the ignorant and foolish followers of Islam, by his ways and manners...for | Most Mughal historians considered Guru Arjan's execution as a political event, stating that the Sikhs had become formidable as a social group, and Sikh Gurus became actively involved in the [[Punjab (region)|Punjab]]i political conflicts.<ref name=ps5>Pashaura Singh (2005), [http://www.global.ucsb.edu/punjab/journal_12_1/3_singh.pdf Understanding the Martyrdom of Guru Arjan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620214905/http://www.global.ucsb.edu/punjab/journal_12_1/3_singh.pdf |date=20 June 2010 }}, Journal of Philosophical Society, 12(1), pages 29-62</ref><ref name= "McLeodp20">{{cite book|title= The A to Z of Sikhism|author= W.H. McLeod|author-link= W.H. McLeod|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=vgixwfeCyDAC|publisher= Scarecrow Press|year= 2009|isbn= 9780810863446|page= 20 (Arjan's Death)|quote="The Mughal rulers of the Punjab were evidently concerned with the growth of the Panth, and in 1605 the Emperor Jahangir made an entry in his memoirs, the ''Tuzuk-i-Jahāṅgīrī'', concerning Guru Arjan's support for his rebellious son [[Khusrau Mirza]]. Too many people, he wrote, were being persuaded by his teachings, and if the Guru would not become a Muslim, the Panth had to be extinguished. Jahangir believed that Guru Arjan was a Hindu who pretended to be a saint, and that he had been thinking of forcing Guru Arjan to convert to Islam or that his false trade should be eliminated, for a long time. Mughal authorities seem plainly to have been responsible for Arjan's death in custody in Lahore, and this may be accepted as an established fact. Whether the death was by execution, the result of torture, or drowning in the Ravi River remains unresolved. For Sikhs, Arjan is the first martyr Guru.}}</ref> A similar theory floated in the early 20th-century, asserts that this was just a politically-motivated single execution.<ref>Pashaura Singh (2005), [http://www.global.ucsb.edu/punjab/journal_12_1/3_singh.pdf Understanding the Martyrdom of Guru Arjan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620214905/http://www.global.ucsb.edu/punjab/journal_12_1/3_singh.pdf |date=20 June 2010 }}, Journal of Philosophical Society, 12(1), page 29, '''Quote:''' Similarly, in the early decades of twentieth-century Beni Prasad treated this whole affair as “a single execution due primarily to political reasons.”</ref> According to this theory, there was an ongoing Mughal dynasty dispute between Jahangir and his son Khusrau suspected of rebellion by Jahangir, wherein Guru Arjan blessed Khusrau and thus the losing side. Jahangir was jealous and outraged, and therefore he ordered the Guru's execution.<ref>Pashaura Singh (2005), [http://www.global.ucsb.edu/punjab/journal_12_1/3_singh.pdf Understanding the Martyrdom of Guru Arjan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620214905/http://www.global.ucsb.edu/punjab/journal_12_1/3_singh.pdf |date=20 June 2010 }}, Journal of Philosophical Society, 12(1), pages 32-33</ref><ref name= "Gandhi">{{cite book|title= Punjab:A History from Aurangzeb to Mountbatten| last=Gandhi| first=R| date=14 September 2013| author-link= Rajmohan Gandhi| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Ifs9AQAAQBAJ| publisher= Aleph Book Company| isbn= 9789383064410| page= 34|quote='''Quote:''' Jahangir, Akbar's son and successor, had ordered the execution. We know from Jahangir's own handwriting that he was jealous of Guru Arjan Dev's popularity and that a gesture from the Guru towards Khusrau, a son rebelling against Jahangir, had outraged him.}}</ref><ref name="ShackleMandair2013xv"/> But according to Jahangir's own autobiography, most probably he didn't understand the importance of Sikh gurus. He referred to Guru Arjan as a Hindu, who had ''"captured many of the simple-hearted of the Hindus and even of the ignorant and foolish followers of Islam, by his ways and manners...for the three or four generations(of spiritual successors) they had kept this shop warm."'' The execution of Guru Arjan Dev marks a sharp contrast to Jahangir's tolerant attitude towards other religions such as Hinduism and Christianity.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Knappily|title=August 31, 1569: Jahangir is born {{!}} Knappily|url=http://knappily.com/onthisday/jahangir-mughal-life-legacy-739|access-date=2020-09-02|website=Knappily - The Knowledge App|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Jahangir|first=Emperor of Hindustan|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/53674|title=The Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri: or, Memoirs of Jahangir (Volume 1 of 2)|date=2016-12-06|editor-last=Beveridge|editor-first=Henry|language=en|translator-last=Rogers|translator-first=Alexander}}</ref> | ||
The Sikh tradition has a competing view. It states that the Guru's execution was a part of the ongoing persecution of the Sikhs by Islamic authorities in the Mughal Empire,<ref>Pashaura Singh (2005), [http://www.global.ucsb.edu/punjab/journal_12_1/3_singh.pdf Understanding the Martyrdom of Guru Arjan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620214905/http://www.global.ucsb.edu/punjab/journal_12_1/3_singh.pdf |date=20 June 2010 }}, Journal of Philosophical Society, 12(1), page 29, '''Quote:''' "In contrast to this viewpoint, however, most of the Sikh scholars have vehemently presented this event as the first of the long series of religious persecutions that Sikhs suffered at the hands of Mughal authorities."</ref> and that the Mughal rulers of Punjab were alarmed at the growth of the Panth.<ref name=lkca>{{cite book | last=Kulathungam | first=Lyman | title=Quest : Christ amidst the quest | publisher=Wipf | year=2012 | isbn=978-1-61097-515-5 | pages=175–177}}</ref><ref name= "McLeodp20"/><ref>{{cite book|author=J. S. Grewal|title=The Sikhs of the Punjab|url= https://archive.org/details/sikhsofpunjab0000grew |url-access=registration|year=1998| publisher= Cambridge University Press|isbn= 978-0-521-63764-0|pages=[https://archive.org/details/sikhsofpunjab0000grew/page/63 63]–64}}</ref> According to [[Jahangir]]'s autobiography ''[[Tuzk-e-Jahangiri]]'' (''Jahangirnama'') which discussed Guru Arjan's support for his rebellious son Khusrau Mirza, too many people were becoming persuaded by Guru Arjan's teachings and if Guru Arjan did not become a Muslim, the Sikh Panth had to be extinguished.<ref name="McLeodp20"/>{{refn|group=note|name=wmt1|The following is from Jahangir's memoirs:<br />There was a Hindu named Arjan in Gobindwal on the banks of the Beas River. Pretending to be a spiritual guide, he had won over as devotees many simple-minded Indians and even some ignorant, stupid Muslims by broadcasting his claims to be a saint. They called him guru. Many fools from all around had recourse to him and believed in him implicitly. For three or four generations they had been peddling this same stuff. For a long time I had been thinking that either this false trade should be eliminated or that he should be brought into the embrace of Islam. At length, when Khusraw passed by there, this inconsequential little fellow wished to pay homage to Khusraw. When Khusraw stopped at his residence, [Arjan] came out and had an interview with [Khusraw]. Giving him some elementary spiritual precepts picked up here and there, he made a mark with saffron on his forehead, which is called ''qashqa'' in the idiom of the Hindus and which they consider lucky. When this was reported to me, I realized how perfectly false he was and ordered him brought to me. I awarded his houses and dwellings and those of his children to Murtaza Khan, and I ordered his possessions and goods confiscated and him executed. – Emperor Jahangir's Memoirs, Jahangirnama 27b-28a, (Translator: Wheeler M. Thackston)<ref name=thackston>{{cite book |last=Jahangir, Emperor of Hindustan |date=1999 |title=The Jahangirnama: Memoirs of Jahangir, Emperor of India |translator-last=Thackston |translator-first=Wheeler M. |translator-link=Wheeler Thackston |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=59 |isbn=978-0-19-512718-8}}</ref>}} | The Sikh tradition has a competing view. It states that the Guru's execution was a part of the ongoing persecution of the Sikhs by Islamic authorities in the Mughal Empire,<ref>Pashaura Singh (2005), [http://www.global.ucsb.edu/punjab/journal_12_1/3_singh.pdf Understanding the Martyrdom of Guru Arjan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620214905/http://www.global.ucsb.edu/punjab/journal_12_1/3_singh.pdf |date=20 June 2010 }}, Journal of Philosophical Society, 12(1), page 29, '''Quote:''' "In contrast to this viewpoint, however, most of the Sikh scholars have vehemently presented this event as the first of the long series of religious persecutions that Sikhs suffered at the hands of Mughal authorities."</ref> and that the Mughal rulers of Punjab were alarmed at the growth of the Panth.<ref name=lkca>{{cite book | last=Kulathungam | first=Lyman | title=Quest : Christ amidst the quest | publisher=Wipf | year=2012 | isbn=978-1-61097-515-5 | pages=175–177}}</ref><ref name= "McLeodp20"/><ref>{{cite book|author=J. S. Grewal|title=The Sikhs of the Punjab|url= https://archive.org/details/sikhsofpunjab0000grew |url-access=registration|year=1998| publisher= Cambridge University Press|isbn= 978-0-521-63764-0|pages=[https://archive.org/details/sikhsofpunjab0000grew/page/63 63]–64}}</ref> According to [[Jahangir]]'s autobiography ''[[Tuzk-e-Jahangiri]]'' (''Jahangirnama'') which discussed Guru Arjan's support for his rebellious son Khusrau Mirza, too many people were becoming persuaded by Guru Arjan's teachings and if Guru Arjan did not become a Muslim, the Sikh Panth had to be extinguished.<ref name="McLeodp20"/>{{refn|group=note|name=wmt1|The following is from Jahangir's memoirs:<br />There was a Hindu named Arjan in Gobindwal on the banks of the Beas River. Pretending to be a spiritual guide, he had won over as devotees many simple-minded Indians and even some ignorant, stupid Muslims by broadcasting his claims to be a saint. They called him a guru. Many fools from all around had recourse to him and believed in him implicitly. For three or four generations they had been peddling this same stuff. For a long time, I had been thinking that either this false trade should be eliminated or that he should be brought into the embrace of Islam. At length, when Khusraw passed by there, this inconsequential little fellow wished to pay homage to Khusraw. When Khusraw stopped at his residence, [Arjan] came out and had an interview with [Khusraw]. Giving him some elementary spiritual precepts picked up here and there, he made a mark with saffron on his forehead, which is called ''qashqa'' in the idiom of the Hindus and which they consider lucky. When this was reported to me, I realized how perfectly false he was and ordered him brought to me. I awarded his houses and dwellings and those of his children to [[Shaikh Farid Bukhari|Murtaza Khan]], and I ordered his possessions and goods confiscated and him executed. – Emperor Jahangir's Memoirs, Jahangirnama 27b-28a, (Translator: Wheeler M. Thackston)<ref name=thackston>{{cite book |last=Jahangir, Emperor of Hindustan |date=1999 |title=The Jahangirnama: Memoirs of Jahangir, Emperor of India |translator-last=Thackston |translator-first=Wheeler M. |translator-link=Wheeler Thackston |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=59 |isbn=978-0-19-512718-8}}</ref>}} | ||
In 1606 CE, the Guru was imprisoned in [[Lahore Fort]], where by some accounts he was tortured and executed,<ref name=lkca/><ref>{{cite book|author=Pashaura Singh| title= Life and Work of Guru Arjan: History, Memory, and Biography in the Sikh Tradition| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FbPXAAAAMAAJ| year=2006| publisher=Oxford University Press| isbn=978-0-19-567921-2| pages=23, 217–218}}</ref> and by other accounts the method of his death remains unresolved.<ref name= "McLeodp20"/> The traditional Sikh account states that the Mughal emperor Jahangir demanded a fine of 200,000 rupees and demanded that Guru Arjan erase some of the hymns in the text that he found offensive. The Guru refused to remove the lines and pay the fine, which state the Sikh accounts, led to his execution.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Nayar|first1=Kamala|title=The Sikh Diaspora in Vancouver: Three Generations Amid Tradition, Modernity & Multiculturalism|url=https://archive.org/details/sikhdiasporainva00naya|url-access=registration|date=2004|isbn=9780802086310|page=[https://archive.org/details/sikhdiasporainva00naya/page/123 123]}}</ref> Some Muslim traditional accounts such as of Latif in 19th-century states that Guru Arjan was dictatorial, someone who lived in splendour with "costly attire", who had left aside the rosary and the clothes of a saint (''fakir'').<ref>{{cite book|last1=Singh|first1=Rishi|title=State Formation and the Establishment of Non-Muslim Hegemony: Post-Mughal 19th-century Punjab|date=23 April 2015|publisher=SAGE Publications India|isbn=9789351505044|pages=40–41}}, Quote: "Latif, writing his work in 19th century, states that Guru Arjan assumed dictatorship, and adds that he was the first one to lay aside the rosary and the garb of a fakir, and dressed himself in costly attire and converted the saintly gaddi (the seat) of his pious predecessors into a princely rostrum. He adds that Guru Arjan kept fine horses and elephants, and lived in splendour."</ref> Shaikh [[Ahmad Sirhindi]] cheered the punishment and execution of Guru Arjun, calling the Sikh Guru an infidel.<ref>Pashaura Singh (2005), [http://www.global.ucsb.edu/punjab/journal_12_1/3_singh.pdf Understanding the Martyrdom of Guru Arjan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620214905/http://www.global.ucsb.edu/punjab/journal_12_1/3_singh.pdf |date=20 June 2010 }}, Journal of Philosophical Society, 12(1), page 34</ref>{{refn|group=note|This is from records of Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi, composed after the punishment and execution of Guru Arjun:<br />These days the accursed infidel of Gobindwal was very fortunately killed. It is a cause of great defeat for the reprobate Hindus. With whatever intention and purpose they are killed – the humiliation of infidels is for Muslims, life itself. Before this Kafir ([[Infidel]]) was killed, I had seen in a dream that the Emperor of the day had destroyed the crown of the head of Shirk or infidelity. It is true that this infidel [Guru Arjun] was the chief of the infidels and a leader of the Kafirs. The object of levying [[Jizya]] (tax on non-Muslims) on them is to humiliate and insult the Kafirs, and [[Jihad]] against them and hostility towards them are the necessities of the Mohammedan faith. – [[Ahmad Sirhindi|Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi]], Letter to Murtaza Khan, On the execution of Guru Arjan<ref name=ps5/><ref name=smii>Sirhindi, Maktubat-i Imam-i Rabbani, I-iii, letter No. 193, pp. 95-6</ref><ref>Friedman Yohanan (1966), Shaikh Ahmad Sirhandi: An Outline of His Image in the Eyes of Posterity, Ph.D. Thesis, McGill University, pp. 110-112</ref>}} In contrast, [[Mian Mir]] – the Sufi friend of Guru Arjan, lobbied when Jehangir ordered the execution and the confiscation of Guru Arjan's property, then got the confiscation order deferred, according to Rishi Singh.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Singh|first1=Rishi|title=State Formation and the Establishment of Non-Muslim Hegemony: Post-Mughal 19th-century Punjab|date=23 April 2015|publisher=SAGE Publications India|isbn=9789351505044|page=35}}</ref> | In 1606 CE, the Guru was imprisoned in [[Lahore Fort]], where by some accounts he was tortured and executed,<ref name=lkca/><ref>{{cite book|author=Pashaura Singh| title= Life and Work of Guru Arjan: History, Memory, and Biography in the Sikh Tradition| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FbPXAAAAMAAJ| year=2006| publisher=Oxford University Press| isbn=978-0-19-567921-2| pages=23, 217–218}}</ref> and by other accounts, the method of his death remains unresolved.<ref name= "McLeodp20"/> The traditional Sikh account states that the Mughal emperor Jahangir demanded a fine of 200,000 rupees and demanded that Guru Arjan erase some of the hymns in the text that he found offensive. The Guru refused to remove the lines and pay the fine, which state the Sikh accounts, led to his execution.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Nayar|first1=Kamala|title=The Sikh Diaspora in Vancouver: Three Generations Amid Tradition, Modernity & Multiculturalism|url=https://archive.org/details/sikhdiasporainva00naya|url-access=registration|date=2004|isbn=9780802086310|page=[https://archive.org/details/sikhdiasporainva00naya/page/123 123]}}</ref> Some Muslim traditional accounts such as of Latif in 19th-century states that Guru Arjan was dictatorial, someone who lived in splendour with "costly attire", who had left aside the rosary and the clothes of a saint (''fakir'').<ref>{{cite book|last1=Singh|first1=Rishi|title=State Formation and the Establishment of Non-Muslim Hegemony: Post-Mughal 19th-century Punjab|date=23 April 2015|publisher=SAGE Publications India|isbn=9789351505044|pages=40–41}}, Quote: "Latif, writing his work in 19th century, states that Guru Arjan assumed dictatorship, and adds that he was the first one to lay aside the rosary and the garb of a fakir, and dressed himself in costly attire and converted the saintly gaddi (the seat) of his pious predecessors into a princely rostrum. He adds that Guru Arjan kept fine horses and elephants, and lived in splendour."</ref> Shaikh [[Ahmad Sirhindi]] cheered the punishment and execution of Guru Arjun, calling the Sikh Guru an infidel.<ref>Pashaura Singh (2005), [http://www.global.ucsb.edu/punjab/journal_12_1/3_singh.pdf Understanding the Martyrdom of Guru Arjan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620214905/http://www.global.ucsb.edu/punjab/journal_12_1/3_singh.pdf |date=20 June 2010 }}, Journal of Philosophical Society, 12(1), page 34</ref>{{refn|group=note|This is from records of Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi, composed after the punishment and execution of Guru Arjun:<br />These days the accursed infidel of Gobindwal was very fortunately killed. It is a cause of great defeat for the reprobate Hindus. With whatever intention and purpose they are killed – the humiliation of infidels is for Muslims, life itself. Before this Kafir ([[Infidel]]) was killed, I had seen in a dream that the Emperor of the day had destroyed the crown of the head of Shirk or infidelity. It is true that this infidel [Guru Arjun] was the chief of the infidels and a leader of the Kafirs. The object of levying [[Jizya]] (tax on non-Muslims) on them is to humiliate and insult the Kafirs, and [[Jihad]] against them and hostility towards them are the necessities of the Mohammedan faith. – [[Ahmad Sirhindi|Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi]], Letter to [[Shaikh Farid Bukhari|Murtaza Khan]], On the execution of Guru Arjan<ref name=ps5/><ref name=smii>Sirhindi, Maktubat-i Imam-i Rabbani, I-iii, letter No. 193, pp. 95-6</ref><ref>Friedman Yohanan (1966), Shaikh Ahmad Sirhandi: An Outline of His Image in the Eyes of Posterity, Ph.D. Thesis, McGill University, pp. 110-112</ref>}} In contrast, [[Mian Mir]] – the Sufi friend of Guru Arjan, lobbied when Jehangir ordered the execution and the confiscation of Guru Arjan's property, then got the confiscation order deferred, according to Rishi Singh.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Singh|first1=Rishi|title=State Formation and the Establishment of Non-Muslim Hegemony: Post-Mughal 19th-century Punjab|date=23 April 2015|publisher=SAGE Publications India|isbn=9789351505044|page=35}}</ref> | ||
Some scholars state that the evidence is unclear whether his death was due to execution, torture or forced drowning in the [[Ravi river]].<ref name="Gandhi"/><ref name= "McLeod">{{cite book|title= The A to Z of Sikhism|author= W.H. McLeod|author-link= W.H. McLeod|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=vgixwfeCyDAC|publisher= Scarecrow Press|year= 2009|isbn= 9780810863446|page= 20}}</ref><ref name= "Bhalla">{{cite book|title= In Search of Roots: Guru Amar Das and Bhallas|author= A.S. Bhalla|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=1KfLydMHLhYC|publisher= Rupa & Co. |year= 2008|isbn= 9788129113337|page= 20}}</ref> J.S. Grewal notes that Sikh sources from the seventeenth and eighteenth century contain contradictory reports of Guru Arjan's death.<ref>J.S. Grewal, The Sikhs of the Punjab, in [[The New Cambridge History of India]]. 2, 3. Gen eds. Chris Bayly, Gordon Johnson, [[John F. Richards]]. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998, pp. 63-64.</ref> J. F. Richard states that Jahangir was persistently hostile to popularly venerated | Some scholars state that the evidence is unclear whether his death was due to execution, torture or forced drowning in the [[Ravi river]].<ref name="Gandhi"/><ref name= "McLeod">{{cite book|title= The A to Z of Sikhism|author= W.H. McLeod|author-link= W.H. McLeod|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=vgixwfeCyDAC|publisher= Scarecrow Press|year= 2009|isbn= 9780810863446|page= 20}}</ref><ref name= "Bhalla">{{cite book|title= In Search of Roots: Guru Amar Das and Bhallas|author= A.S. Bhalla|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=1KfLydMHLhYC|publisher= Rupa & Co. |year= 2008|isbn= 9788129113337|page= 20}}</ref> J.S. Grewal notes that Sikh sources from the seventeenth and eighteenth-century contain contradictory reports of Guru Arjan's death.<ref>J.S. Grewal, The Sikhs of the Punjab, in [[The New Cambridge History of India]]. 2, 3. Gen eds. Chris Bayly, Gordon Johnson, [[John F. Richards]]. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998, pp. 63-64.</ref> J. F. Richard states that Jahangir was persistently hostile to popularly venerated saints, not just Sikhism.<ref>Richards, John F. The Mughal Empire, in The New Cambridge History of India. 1, 5. Gen eds. Chris Bayly, Gordon Johnson, [[John F. Richards]]. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993, p. 97.</ref> [[Bhai Gurdas]] was a contemporary of Guru Arjan and is a noted 17th-century Sikh chronicler.<ref>Vir Singh, ed. Varam Bahi Gurdas Satki, 9th edition. New Delhi: Bhai Vir Singh Sahitya Sadan, 1997), p. 386.</ref> His eyewitness account recorded Guru Arjan's life, and the order by Emperor Jahangir to torture the Guru to death.<ref>{{cite book|isbn=978-8172012182|title=Bhai Gurdas|author=Prītama Siṅgha|date=1992|pages=25–32}}</ref> | ||
A contemporary Jesuit account, written by Spanish Jesuit missionary [[Jerome Xavier]] (1549–1617), who was in [[Lahore]] at the time, records that the Sikhs tried to get Jahangir to substitute the torture and death sentence to a heavy fine, but this attempt failed.<ref>Father Jerome to Father Gasper Fernandes, (BM add MS 9854, ff. 38-52), 1617, in Sicques, Tigers or Thieves: Eyewitness Accounts of the Sikhs (1606-1809). Eds. Amandeep Singh Madra and Parmjit Singh. Palgrave Macmillan, 2004, p. 7.</ref> Dabistan-i Mazahib Mobad states Jahangir tortured Guru Arjan in the hopes of extracting the money and public repudiation of his spiritual convictions, but the Guru refused and was executed.<ref>Mobad', Dabistan-i Mazahib, 1645-46, in Sikh history from Persian sources. Eds. J.S. Grewal and Irfan Habib. Indian History Congress: Tulika, 2001. p. 67.</ref> Jerome Xavier, in appreciation of the courage of Guru Arjun, wrote back to [[Lisbon]], that Guru Arjan suffered and was tormented.<ref name=mb12>{{cite book | last=Barnes | first=Michael | title=Interreligious learning : dialogue, spirituality, and the Christian imagination | publisher=Cambridge University Press | year=2012 | isbn=978-1-107-01284-4 | pages=245–246| quote=In that way, their good Pope died, overwhelmed by the sufferings, torments and dishonours. – Jerome Xavier, Letter to Gasper Fernandes in Lisbon, On the execution of Guru Arjan}}</ref> | A contemporary Jesuit account, written by Spanish Jesuit missionary [[Jerome Xavier]] (1549–1617), who was in [[Lahore]] at the time, records that the Sikhs tried to get Jahangir to substitute the torture and death sentence to a heavy fine, but this attempt failed.<ref>Father Jerome to Father Gasper Fernandes, (BM add MS 9854, ff. 38-52), 1617, in Sicques, Tigers or Thieves: Eyewitness Accounts of the Sikhs (1606-1809). Eds. Amandeep Singh Madra and Parmjit Singh. Palgrave Macmillan, 2004, p. 7.</ref> Dabistan-i Mazahib Mobad states Jahangir tortured Guru Arjan in the hopes of extracting the money and public repudiation of his spiritual convictions, but the Guru refused and was executed.<ref>Mobad', Dabistan-i Mazahib, 1645-46, in Sikh history from Persian sources. Eds. J.S. Grewal and Irfan Habib. Indian History Congress: Tulika, 2001. p. 67.</ref> Jerome Xavier, in appreciation of the courage of Guru Arjun, wrote back to [[Lisbon]], that Guru Arjan suffered and was tormented.<ref name=mb12>{{cite book | last=Barnes | first=Michael | title=Interreligious learning: dialogue, spirituality, and the Christian imagination | publisher=Cambridge University Press | year=2012 | isbn=978-1-107-01284-4 | pages=245–246| quote=In that way, their good Pope died, overwhelmed by the sufferings, torments and dishonours. – Jerome Xavier, Letter to Gasper Fernandes in Lisbon, On the execution of Guru Arjan}}</ref> | ||
According to the Sikh tradition, before his execution, Guru Arjan instructed his son and successor [[Hargobind]] to take up arms, and resist tyranny.<ref name=mcleod2021>{{cite book|title= The A to Z of Sikhism|author= W.H. McLeod|author-link= W.H. McLeod| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=vgixwfeCyDAC|publisher= Scarecrow Press|year= 2009|isbn= 9780810863446| pages= 20–21}}</ref> His execution led the Sikh Panth to become armed and pursue resistance to persecution under the | According to the Sikh tradition, before his execution, Guru Arjan instructed his son and successor [[Hargobind]] to take up arms, and resist tyranny.<ref name=mcleod2021>{{cite book|title= The A to Z of Sikhism|author= W.H. McLeod|author-link= W.H. McLeod| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=vgixwfeCyDAC|publisher= Scarecrow Press|year= 2009|isbn= 9780810863446| pages= 20–21}}</ref> His execution led the Sikh Panth to become armed and pursue resistance to persecution under the Mughal rule.<ref name="lkca"/><ref>{{cite book | author=Pashaura Singh, Louis Fenech | title=The Oxford handbook of Sikh studies | publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2014 | isbn=9780199699308 | pages=236–237}}</ref> Michael Barnes states that the resolve and death of Guru Arjun strengthened the conviction among Sikhs that, "personal piety must have a core of moral strength. A virtuous soul must be a courageous soul. Willingness to suffer trial for one's convictions was a religious imperative".<ref name=mb12/> | ||
==Historical reconstruction== | |||
There are several stories and versions about how, where and why Guru Arjan died.<ref>Sajida S. Alvi (1987), “Religion and State during the Reign of Mughal Emperor Jahangir (1605-27): Nonjuristical Perspectives,” in Studia Islamica, pp. 113-114</ref><ref name=ps6>{{cite book | author=Pashaura Singh | title=Life and work of Guru Arjan: history, memory, and biography in the Sikh tradition | publisher=Oxford University Press| year=2006 | isbn=978-0-19-567921-2 | pages=211–219, 233}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last=Gandhi | first=Rajmohan | title=Revenge and reconciliation | publisher=Penguin Books | location=New Delhi New York, NY | year=1999 | isbn=978-0-14-029045-5 | pages=93–95}}</ref> Recent scholarship<ref>Pashaura Singh (2005), [http://www.global.ucsb.edu/punjab/journal_12_1/3_singh.pdf Understanding the Martyrdom of Guru Arjan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620214905/http://www.global.ucsb.edu/punjab/journal_12_1/3_singh.pdf |date=20 June 2010 }}, Journal of Philosophical Society, 12(1), pp. 38-39</ref><ref>Louis Fenech (2001), [https://www.jstor.org/stable/606726 Martyrdom and the Execution of Guru Arjan in Early Sikh Sources], Journal of the American Oriental Society, 121(1), pp. 20-31</ref> have offered alternative analyses, wary of "exaggerating fragmentary traces of documentary evidence in historical analysis". The alternate versions include stories about the role of Guru Arjan in a conflict between the Mughal Emperor Jahangir and his son who Jahangir suspected of trying to organize a patricidal coup. An alternate version highlights the role of a Hindu minister of Jahangir named Chandu Shah. He, in one version, takes revenge on Guru Arjan for not marrying his son Hargobind to Chandu Shah's daughter. In another Lahore version, Chandu Shah actually prevents Guru Arjan from suffering torture and death by Muslims by paying 200,000 rupees (100,000 crusados) to Jahangir, but then keeps him and emotionally torments him to death in his house.<ref>Kirpal Singh (2000), Perspectives on Sikh Gurus, National Book Shop, pp. 125-127</ref> Several alternative versions of the story try to absolve Jahangir and the Mughal empire of any responsibility,<ref name=ps6/><ref>Pashaura Singh (2011), [http://www.global.ucsb.edu/punjab/journal/v18_1-2/articles/11_InResponse.pdf Reconsidering the Sacrifice of Guru Arjan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924022617/http://www.global.ucsb.edu/punjab/journal/v18_1-2/articles/11_InResponse.pdf |date=24 September 2015 }}, Journal of Punjab Studies, University of California Press, 18(1&2), pp. 295-316</ref> but have no trace or support in the documentary evidence from early 17th century, such as the records of Jesuit priest Jerome Xavier and the memoirs of Jahangir.<ref name=ps5/><ref name=thackston/><ref>Louis E. Fenech (2010), Martyrdom: W.H. McLeod and his Students, Journal of Punjab | There are several stories and versions about how, where and why Guru Arjan died.<ref>Sajida S. Alvi (1987), “Religion and State during the Reign of Mughal Emperor Jahangir (1605-27): Nonjuristical Perspectives,” in Studia Islamica, pp. 113-114</ref><ref name=ps6>{{cite book | author=Pashaura Singh | title=Life and work of Guru Arjan: history, memory, and biography in the Sikh tradition | publisher=Oxford University Press| year=2006 | isbn=978-0-19-567921-2 | pages=211–219, 233}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last=Gandhi | first=Rajmohan | title=Revenge and reconciliation | publisher=Penguin Books | location=New Delhi New York, NY | year=1999 | isbn=978-0-14-029045-5 | pages=93–95}}</ref> Recent scholarship<ref>Pashaura Singh (2005), [http://www.global.ucsb.edu/punjab/journal_12_1/3_singh.pdf Understanding the Martyrdom of Guru Arjan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620214905/http://www.global.ucsb.edu/punjab/journal_12_1/3_singh.pdf |date=20 June 2010 }}, Journal of Philosophical Society, 12(1), pp. 38-39</ref><ref>Louis Fenech (2001), [https://www.jstor.org/stable/606726 Martyrdom and the Execution of Guru Arjan in Early Sikh Sources], Journal of the American Oriental Society, 121(1), pp. 20-31</ref> have offered alternative analyses, wary of "exaggerating fragmentary traces of documentary evidence in historical analysis". The alternate versions include stories about the role of Guru Arjan in a conflict between the Mughal Emperor Jahangir and his son who Jahangir suspected of trying to organize a patricidal coup. An alternate version highlights the role of a Hindu minister of Jahangir named Chandu Shah. He, in one version, takes revenge on Guru Arjan for not marrying his son Hargobind to Chandu Shah's daughter. In another Lahore version, Chandu Shah actually prevents Guru Arjan from suffering torture and death by Muslims by paying 200,000 rupees (100,000 crusados) to Jahangir, but then keeps him and emotionally torments him to death in his house.<ref>Kirpal Singh (2000), Perspectives on Sikh Gurus, National Book Shop, pp. 125-127</ref> Several alternative versions of the story try to absolve Jahangir and the Mughal empire of any responsibility,<ref name=ps6/><ref>Pashaura Singh (2011), [http://www.global.ucsb.edu/punjab/journal/v18_1-2/articles/11_InResponse.pdf Reconsidering the Sacrifice of Guru Arjan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924022617/http://www.global.ucsb.edu/punjab/journal/v18_1-2/articles/11_InResponse.pdf |date=24 September 2015 }}, Journal of Punjab Studies, University of California Press, 18(1&2), pp. 295-316</ref> but have no trace or support in the documentary evidence from early 17th century, such as the records of Jesuit priest Jerome Xavier and the memoirs of Jahangir.<ref name=ps5/><ref name=thackston/><ref>Louis E. Fenech (2010), Martyrdom: W.H. McLeod and his Students, Journal of Punjab Studies, University of California Press, 17(1&2), pp. 75-94</ref> | ||
== | ==Legacy== | ||
[[File:Guru Arjun Dev being pronounced fifth guru.jpg|thumb|Guru Arjan being pronounced as fifth Guru.]] | [[File: Guru Arjun Dev being pronounced fifth guru.jpg|thumb|Guru Arjan being pronounced as fifth Guru.]] | ||
===Amritsar=== | ===Amritsar=== | ||
Guru Arjan's father Guru Ram Das founded the town named after him "Ramdaspur", around a large man-made water pool called "Ramdas Sarovar". Guru Arjan continued the infrastructure building effort of his father. The town expanded during the time of Guru Arjan, financed by donations and constructed by voluntary work. The pool area grew into a temple complex with the [[gurdwara]] [[Harmandir Sahib]] near the pool. Guru Arjan installed the scripture of Sikhism inside the new temple in 1604.<ref name="ShackleMandair2013xv"/> The city that emerged is now known as [[Amritsar]], and is the holiest pilgrimage site in Sikhism.<ref name="ShackleMandair2013xv"/><ref name="McLeod1990p28">{{cite book|author=W.H. McLeod|title=Textual Sources for the Study of Sikhism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7xIT7OMSJ44C&pg=PA28 |year=1990|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-56085-4|pages=28–29}}</ref> | Guru Arjan's father Guru Ram Das founded the town named after him "Ramdaspur", around a large man-made water pool called "Ramdas Sarovar". Guru Arjan continued the infrastructure-building effort of his father. The town expanded during the time of Guru Arjan, financed by donations and constructed by voluntary work. The pool area grew into a temple complex with the [[gurdwara]] [[Harmandir Sahib]] near the pool. Guru Arjan installed the scripture of Sikhism inside the new temple in 1604.<ref name="ShackleMandair2013xv"/> The city that emerged is now known as [[Amritsar]], and is the holiest pilgrimage site in Sikhism.<ref name="ShackleMandair2013xv"/><ref name="McLeod1990p28">{{cite book|author=W.H. McLeod|title=Textual Sources for the Study of Sikhism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7xIT7OMSJ44C&pg=PA28 |year=1990|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-56085-4|pages=28–29}}</ref> | ||
Continuing the efforts of Guru Ram Das, Guru Arjan established Amritsar as a primary Sikh pilgrimage destination. He wrote a voluminous amount of Sikh scripture including the popular [[Sukhmani Sahib]]. Guru Arjan is credited with completing many other infrastructure projects, such as water reservoirs called ''Santokhsar'' (lake of peace) and ''Gongsar'' (lake of Gongaga), founding the towns of Tarn Taran, Kartarpur and Hargobindpur.<ref name=mandair42>{{cite book|author=Mohinder Singh Joshi|title=Guru Arjan Dev |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PCQaSH_29i4C&pg=PA6 |year= 1994| publisher=Sahitya Akademi| isbn=978-81-7201-769-9|pages=6–8}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Arvind-Pal Singh Mandair|title=Sikhism: A Guide for the Perplexed|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jn_jBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA42 |year=2013|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic|isbn=978-1-4411-5366-1|pages=42–43}}</ref> | Continuing the efforts of Guru Ram Das, Guru Arjan established Amritsar as a primary Sikh pilgrimage destination. He wrote a voluminous amount of Sikh scripture including the popular [[Sukhmani Sahib]]. Guru Arjan is credited with completing many other infrastructure projects, such as water reservoirs called ''Santokhsar'' (lake of peace) and ''Gongsar'' (lake of Gongaga), founding the towns of Tarn Taran, Kartarpur and Hargobindpur.<ref name=mandair42>{{cite book|author=Mohinder Singh Joshi|title=Guru Arjan Dev |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PCQaSH_29i4C&pg=PA6 |year= 1994| publisher=Sahitya Akademi| isbn=978-81-7201-769-9|pages=6–8}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Arvind-Pal Singh Mandair|title=Sikhism: A Guide for the Perplexed|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jn_jBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA42 |year=2013|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic|isbn=978-1-4411-5366-1|pages=42–43}}</ref> | ||
| Line 83: | Line 56: | ||
===Adi Granth=== | ===Adi Granth=== | ||
According to the Sikh tradition, Guru Arjan compiled the Adi Granth by collecting hymns of past Gurus from many places, then rejecting those that he considered as fakes or to be diverging from the teachings of the Gurus.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Mohinder|first1=Joshi|title=Guru Arjan Dev|date=1994|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|isbn=9788172017699|page=4}}</ref> His approved collection included hymns from the first four Gurus of Sikhism, those he composed, as well as 17 Hindu bards and 2 Muslim bards.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Mohinder|first1=Joshi|title=Guru Arjan Dev|date=1994|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|isbn=9788172017699|pages=4–5}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Singh|first1=Nikky-Guninder Kaur|title=Sikhism: An Introduction|date=2011|location=New York|page=30}}</ref> The compilation was completed on August 30, 1604, according to the Sikh tradition and installed in the Harmandir Sahib temple on September 1, 1604.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Largen|first1=Kristin|title=Finding God Among our Neighbors, Volume 2: An Interfaith Systematic Theology|date=2017|publisher=Fortress Press|location=Minneapolis|isbn=9781506423302|page=39}}</ref> | According to the Sikh tradition, Guru Arjan compiled the Adi Granth by collecting hymns of past Gurus from many places, then rejecting those that he considered as fakes or to be diverging from the teachings of the Gurus.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Mohinder|first1=Joshi|title=Guru Arjan Dev|date=1994|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|isbn=9788172017699|page=4}}</ref> His approved collection included hymns from the first four Gurus of Sikhism, those he composed, as well as 17 Hindu bards and 2 Muslim bards.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Mohinder|first1=Joshi|title=Guru Arjan Dev|date=1994|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|isbn=9788172017699|pages=4–5}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Singh|first1=Nikky-Guninder Kaur|title=Sikhism: An Introduction|date=2011|location=New York|page=30}}</ref> The compilation was completed on August 30, 1604, according to the Sikh tradition and installed in the Harmandir Sahib temple on September 1, 1604.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Largen|first1=Kristin|title=Finding God Among our Neighbors, Volume 2: An Interfaith Systematic Theology|date=2017|publisher=Fortress Press|location=Minneapolis|isbn=9781506423302|page=39}}</ref> | ||
Guru Arjan was a prolific poet | Guru Arjan was a prolific poet who composed 2,218 hymns. More than half of the volume of ''Guru Granth Sahib'' and the largest collection of hymns has been composed by Guru Arjan. According to Christopher Shackle and Arvind-Pal Singh Mandair, Guru Arjan's compositions combined spiritual message in an "encyclopedic linguistic sophistication" with "Braj Bhasha forms and learned Sanskrit vocabulary".<ref>{{cite book|author1=Christopher Shackle|author2=Arvind Mandair|title=Teachings of the Sikh Gurus: Selections from the Sikh Scriptures |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VvoJV8mw0LwC |year=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-45101-0|pages=xviii–xix, xxii}}</ref> | ||
After Guru Arjan completed and installed the Adi Granth in the Harimandir Sahib, Emperor Akbar was informed of the development with the allegation that it contained teachings hostile to Islam. He ordered a copy be brought to him. Guru Arjan sent him a copy on a ''thali'' (plate), with the following message that was later added to the expanded text: | After Guru Arjan completed and installed the Adi Granth in the Harimandir Sahib, Emperor Akbar was informed of the development with the allegation that it contained teachings hostile to Islam. He ordered a copy be brought to him. Guru Arjan sent him a copy on a ''thali'' (plate), with the following message that was later added to the expanded text: | ||
| Line 101: | Line 70: | ||
The ''[[Akbarnama]]'' by [[Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak|Abu'l-Fazl Allami]] mentions that Guru Arjan met the Mughal emperor [[Akbar]] and his cortege in 1598. According to Louis Fenech, this meeting likely influenced the development of Sikh [[manuscriptology]] and the later martial tradition.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com |title=The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies|pages=45–46|publisher=Oxford University Press| editor=Pashaura Singh, Louis E. Fenech|author=Louis Fenech| year= 2014| isbn= 978-0-19-969930-8}}</ref> | The ''[[Akbarnama]]'' by [[Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak|Abu'l-Fazl Allami]] mentions that Guru Arjan met the Mughal emperor [[Akbar]] and his cortege in 1598. According to Louis Fenech, this meeting likely influenced the development of Sikh [[manuscriptology]] and the later martial tradition.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com |title=The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies|pages=45–46|publisher=Oxford University Press| editor=Pashaura Singh, Louis E. Fenech|author=Louis Fenech| year= 2014| isbn= 978-0-19-969930-8}}</ref> | ||
One of the Sikh community disputes following Guru Ram Das was the emergence of new hymns claiming to have been composed by Nanak. According to the faction led by Guru Arjan, these hymns were distorted and fake, with some blaming Prithi Chand and his Sikh faction for having composed and circulated them.<ref name="Syan2013p50"/><ref>{{cite book|author=W.H. McLeod|title=Textual Sources for the Study of Sikhism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7xIT7OMSJ44C&pg=PA29 |year=1990|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-56085-4|pages=29–30}}</ref> The concern and the possibility of wrong propaganda, immoral teachings and inauthentic ''Gurbani'' led Guru Arjan to initiate a major effort to collect, study, approve and compile a written official scripture, and this he called ''Adi Granth'', the first edition of the Sikh scripture by 1604.<ref name=fenech39/><ref name=pashaura171/> | |||
The composition of both Prithi Chand and his followers have been preserved in the Mina texts of Sikhism, while the mainstream and larger Sikh tradition adopted the ''Guru Granth Sahib'' scripture that ultimately emerged from the initiative of Guru Arjan.<ref name=pashaura171/><ref name="Syan2013p52-54">{{cite book|author=Hardip Singh Syan|title=Sikh Militancy in the Seventeenth Century: Religious Violence in Mughal and Early Modern India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9RzzxcEL4C0C&pg=PA52|year=2013|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=978-1-78076-250-0|pages=52–54}}</ref> | |||
==Spelling== | ==Spelling== | ||
Some scholars spell Guru Arjan's name as Guru Arjun.<ref name=mb12/><ref name="Dehsen 1999 14"/> | Some scholars spell Guru Arjan's name as 'Guru Arjun'.<ref name=mb12/><ref name="Dehsen 1999 14"/> | ||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
* [[Sukhmani Sahib]] | * [[Sukhmani Sahib]] | ||
* [[Guru Granth Sahib]] | |||
==Notes== | ==Notes== | ||
| Line 148: | Line 122: | ||
[[Category:Executed Indian people]] | [[Category:Executed Indian people]] | ||
[[Category:Indian city founders]] | [[Category:Indian city founders]] | ||
[[Category:People executed for refusing to convert to Islam]] | [[Category: People executed for refusing to convert to Islam]] | ||
[[Category:17th-century executions in India]] | [[Category:17th-century executions in India]] | ||