Guru Gobind Singh: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|Tenth Sikh Guru (1666–1708)}}

{{about|the tenth Guru of Sikhism|the recipient of the Victoria Cross|Gobind Singh (VC)|the Malaysian politician|Gobind Singh Deo}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2022}}

| image              = Guru Gobind Singh contemporary painting.jpg

| alt                = Guru Gobind Singh

| caption            = Contemporary painting of Guru Gobind Singh (seated) found within a Dasam Granth manuscript of [[Anandpur Sahib]]

| birth_place        = [[Patna Sahib]], [[Subah#List of Subahs of the Mughal Empire|Bihar Subah]], [[Mughal Empire]]

| death_place        = [[Hazur Sahib]], [[Subah#List of Subahs of the Mughal Empire|Bidah Subah]], [[Mughal Empire]]

| other_names        = ''Tenth Nanak''<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Pashaura |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8I0NAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA311 |title=The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies |last2=Fenech |first2=Louis E. |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-19-969930-8 |page=311}}</ref><br>''Tenth Master''

| known_for          = * Founding the [[Khalsa]]<ref name="MandairShackle2013p25" /><br  

/> composed the following :

* [[Chaupai (Sikhism)]]

* [[Rudra Avtar]]

| spouse            = [[Mata Jito]]<br>[[Mata Sundari]]<br>[[Mata Sahib Devan]]<ref name=dalbirsingh144/>

| death_cause        = [[Assassination]]<ref name="FenechMcleodp9" /><ref name="Grewal1998p78" />

'''Guru Gobind Singh''' ({{IPA-pa|gʊɾuː goːbɪn̪d̪ᵊ sɪ́ŋgᵊ}}; 22 December 1666 – 7 October 1708),<ref name="eos">{{Cite web |last=Ganda Singh |title=GOBIND SINGH, GURU (1666–1708) |url=https://archive.org/details/TheEncyclopediaOfSikhism-VolumeIiE-l/page/n101 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170729230458/http://www.learnpunjabi.org/eos/index.aspx |archive-date=29 July 2017 |access-date=7 March 2016 |website=Encyclopaedia of Sikhism |publisher=Punjabi University Patiala}}</ref><ref name=colesambhip36/> born '''Gobind Das''' or '''Gobind Rai'''{{refn|<ref>{{harvnb|Grewal|1998|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=2_nryFANsoYC&pg=PA70 70]}}: "Though historians generally refer to the young Gobind as Gobind Rai, in the hukamnamas of Guru Tegh Bahadur he is referred to as Gobind Das."</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Grewal |first=J. S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YDLNDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT45 |title=Guru Gobind Singh (1666–1708): Master of the White Hawk |date=25 July 2019 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-099038-1 |pages=45 |language=en}}</ref>}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cole |first=W. Owen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KVhwDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT68 |title=Understanding Sikhism |date=26 August 2004 |publisher=Dunedin Academic Press Ltd |isbn=978-1-906716-91-2 |pages=68 |language=en |quote=Guru Gobind Singh's name was Gobind Das or sometimes said to be Gobind Rai, but from the founding of the Khalsa he is known to be Guru Gobind Singh.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=McLeod |first=W. H. |url=https://archive.org/details/sikhism00mcle/page/46/mode/2up?view=theater |title=Sikhism |date=1997 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-14-025260-6 |pages=47 |language=en |quote=Gobind Das was the original name of the Tenth Guru, at least so it seems. Muslim sources generally refer to him as Gobind Rai, but documents issued by his father, Guru Tegh Bahadur, give his name as Gobind Das.}}</ref><ref>Guru Gobind Singh in the final verse of his composition, [[Chaupai (Sikhism)|Chaupai Sahib]], refers to himself as Gobind Das.</ref> the tenth Sikh Guru, a [[Spirituality|spiritual master]], [[warrior]], [[poet]] and [[philosopher]]. When his father, [[Guru Tegh Bahadur]], was executed by [[Aurangzeb]],{{efn|Jenkins, Grewal, and Olson state Tegh Bahadur was executed for refusing to convert to Islam.{{sfn|Jenkins|2000|p=200}}{{sfn|Grewal|1998|p=72}}{{sfn|Olson|2007|p=23}} Whereas, Truschke states Tegh Bahadur was executed for causing unrest in the Punjab.{{sfn|Truschke|2017|p=54–55}}}} Guru Gobind Singh was formally installed as the leader of the [[Sikhs]] at the age of nine, becoming the tenth and final human [[Sikh Guru]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mayled |first=Jon |url=https://archive.org/details/sikhism0000mayl_l1v5 |title=Sikhism |publisher=Heinemann |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-435-33627-1 |page=[https://archive.org/details/sikhism0000mayl_l1v5/page/12 12] |url-access=registration}}</ref> His four biological sons died during his lifetime – two in battle, two executed by the [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] governor [[Wazir Khan (Sirhind)|Wazir Khan]].<ref name="Routledge">{{Cite book |last1=Seiple |first1=Chris |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u48rUnVEHbEC&pg=PA93 |title=The Routledge Handbook of Religion and Security |last2=Hoover |first2=Dennis |last3=Otis |first3=Pauletta |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-415-66744-9 |pages=93}};<br />{{Cite book |last=Richards |first=John F. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HHyVh29gy4QC |title=The Mughal Empire |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-521-56603-2 |pages=255–258}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |date=1972 |title=The Sikh Review |journal=Sikh Cultural Centre |volume=20 |issue=218–229 |page=28}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Hardip Singh Syan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9RzzxcEL4C0C |title=Sikh Militancy in the Seventeenth Century: Religious Violence in Mughal and Early Modern India |publisher=I.B.Tauris |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-78076-250-0 |pages=218–222}}</ref>

Among his notable contributions to [[Sikhism]] are founding the ''[[Sikh]]'' warrior community called ''[[Khalsa]]'' in 1699<ref name="MandairShackle2013p25">{{Cite book |last1=Mandair |first1=Arvind-Pal Singh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D8xdAgAAQBAJ |title=Sikh Religion, Culture and Ethnicity |last2=Shackle |first2=Christopher |last3=Singh |first3=Gurharpal |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-136-84627-4 |pages=25–28}}</ref><ref name="BBC">{{Cite web |date=26 October 2009 |title=BBC Religions – Sikhism |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/sikhism/people/gobindsingh.shtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110123020041/http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/sikhism/people/gobindsingh.shtml |archive-date=23 January 2011 |access-date=30 July 2011 |publisher=BBC}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Dhavan |first=P |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-7HJ5idB8_QC&pg=PA45 |title=When Sparrows Became Hawks: The Making of the Sikh Warrior Tradition, 1699–1799 |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-19-975655-1 |pages=3–4}}</ref> and introducing ''[[the Five Ks]]'', the five articles of faith that Khalsa Sikhs wear at all times. Guru Gobind Singh is credited with the ''[[Dasam Granth]]'' whose hymns are a sacred part of Sikh prayers and Khalsa rituals.<ref name=britdasam/><ref name="McLeod1990" /> He is also credited as the one who finalized and enshrined the ''[[Guru Granth Sahib]]'' as Sikhism's primary scripture and eternal [[Guru]].<ref name="MandairShackle2013p11" /><ref name="shelke199">{{Cite book |last=Shelke |first=Christopher |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rmr71DjRNV8C |title=Divine covenant: rainbow of religions and cultures |publisher=Gregorian Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-88-7839-143-7 |page=199}}</ref>

Gobind Singh was the only son of [[Guru Tegh Bahadur]], the ninth [[Sikh guru]], and [[Mata Gujri]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Happy Guru Gobind Singh Jayanti: Wishes, Pics, Facebook Messages To Share |url=https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/happy-guru-gobind-singh-jayanti-2021-wishes-messages-pics-sms-status-for-whatsapp-facebook-2355113 |access-date=20 January 2021 |website=NDTV.com}}</ref> He was born in [[Patna]], [[Bihar]] on 22 December 1666 while his father was visiting [[Bengal]] and [[Assam]].<ref name=eos/> His birth name was Gobind Das/Rai, and a shrine named [[Takht Sri Patna Sahib|Takht Sri Patna Harimandar Sahib]] marks the site of the house where he was born and spent the first four years of his life.<ref name=eos/> In 1670, his family returned to Punjab, and in March 1672 they moved to Chakk Nanaki in the Himalayan foothills of north India, called the Sivalik range, where he was schooled.<ref name=eos/><ref name="BBC" />

His father Guru Tegh Bahadur was petitioned by [[Kashmiri Pandit]]s<ref name="pslf">{{Cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Pashaura |title=The Oxford handbook of Sikh studies |last2=Fenech |first2=Louis |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-19-969930-8 |location=Oxford, UK |pages=445}}</ref> in 1675 for protection from the fanatic persecution by Iftikar Khan, the [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] governor of Kashmir under Mughal Emperor [[Aurangzeb]].<ref name=eos/>{{better source needed|date=February 2022}} Tegh Bahadur considered a peaceful resolution by meeting Aurangzeb, but was cautioned by his advisors that his life may be at risk. The young Gobind Rai – to be known as Gobind Singh after 1699<ref name="colesambhip36">{{Cite book |last1=Owen Cole |first1=William |title=The Sikhs: Their Religious Beliefs and Practice |last2=Piara Singh Sambhi |publisher=Sussex Academic Press |year=1995 |page=36}}</ref> – advised his father that no one was more worthy to lead and make a sacrifice than him.<ref name=eos/> His father made the attempt, but was arrested then publicly beheaded in [[Delhi]] on 11 November 1675 under the orders of Aurangzeb for refusing to convert to [[Islam]] and the ongoing conflicts between Sikhism and the Islamic Empire.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Seiple |first=Chris |title=The Routledge handbook of religion and security |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-415-66744-9 |location=New York |page=96}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Pashaura Singh and Louis Fenech |title=The Oxford handbook of Sikh studies |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-19-969930-8 |location=Oxford, UK |pages=236–237}}</ref> Before dying Guru Tegh Bahadur wrote a letter to Guru Gobind Rai (the letter was called Mahalla Dasven and it is part of the [[Guru Granth Sahib]]) as one last test to find the next Guru, after his father's martyrdom he was made the tenth Sikh Guru on [[Vaisakhi]] on 29 March 1676.<ref name="Hansra2007">{{Cite book |last=Hansra |first=Harkirat S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RDlMUfGiEO8C&pg=PA28 |title=Liberty at Stake:sikhs: the Most Visible |publisher=iUniverse |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-595-43222-6 |pages=28–29}}</ref>

Guru Gobind Singh had three wives:<ref name="dalbirsingh144">{{Cite book |last=Dhillon |first=Dr Dalbir Singh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=osnkLKPMWykC&pg=PA144 |title=Sikhism – Origin and Development |date=1988 |publisher=Atlantic Publishers and Distributors |page=144 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160917230548/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=osnkLKPMWykC&pg=PA144 |archive-date=17 September 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Jones |first1=Constance A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OgMmceadQ3gC |title=Encyclopedia of Hinduism |last2=Ryan |first2=James D. |date=2007 |publisher=Facts on File, Inc. |isbn=978-0-8160-5458-9 |location=New York |page=417 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160923030417/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=OgMmceadQ3gC&pg=PA417&dq=guru+gobind+singh+three+wives&hl=en&ei=8ri0To_TCsKIrAfqpInoAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=guru%20gobind%20singh%20three%20wives&f=false |archive-date=23 September 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>

*At age 10, he married [[Mata Jito]] on 21 June 1677 at Basantgaṛh, 10&nbsp;km north of Anandpur. The couple had three sons: [[Jujhar Singh]] (b. 1691), [[Zorawar Singh (Sikhism)|Zorawar Singh]] (b. 1696) and [[Fateh Singh (Sikhism)|Fateh Singh]] (b. 1699).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ashok |first=Shamsher Singh |title=JITOJI MATA |url=http://www.learnpunjabi.org/eos/index.aspx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170729230458/http://www.learnpunjabi.org/eos/index.aspx |archive-date=29 July 2017 |access-date=14 September 2016 |website=Encyclopaedia of Sikhism |publisher=Punjabi University Patiala}}</ref>

*at age 17, he married [[Mata Sundari]] on 4 April 1684 at Anandpur. The couple had one son, [[Ajit Singh (Sikhism)|Ajit Singh]] (b. 1687).<ref>{{cite web |title=SUNDARI MATA |url=https://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Mata_Sunder_Kaur |date=9 December 2019 |access-date=17 August 2022}}</ref>

*at age 33, he married [[Mata Sahib Kaur|Mata Sahib Devan]] on 15 April 1700 at Anandpur. They had no children, but she had an influential role in Sikhism. Guru Gobind Singh proclaimed her as the ''Mother of the Khalsa''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ashok |first=Shamsher Singh |title=SAHIB DEVAN |url=http://www.learnpunjabi.org/eos/index.aspx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170729230458/http://www.learnpunjabi.org/eos/index.aspx |archive-date=29 July 2017 |access-date=16 August 2016 |website=Encyclopaedia of Sikhism |publisher=Punjabi University Patiala}}</ref> The Guru initially rejected her marriage proposal he was married already and have four sons. The Sangat and the Guru's family agreed to the marriage. but Guru Gobind Singh made it clear that his relationship with Mata Sahib Diwan will be spiritual one and not physical<ref>{{Cite web |date=19 December 2000 |title=SAHIB DEVAN |url=https://www.thesikhencyclopedia.com/biographical/famous-women/sahib-devan/ |access-date=25 March 2022 |website=The Sikh Encyclopedia |language=en-US}}</ref>

The life example and leadership of Guru Gobind Singh have been of historical importance to the Sikhs. He institutionalized the [[Khalsa]] (literally, Pure Ones), who played the key role in protecting the Sikhs long after his death, such as during the nine invasions of Panjab and the holy war led by [[Ahmad Shah Durrani|Ahmad Shah Abdali]] from Afghanistan between 1747 and 1769.<ref name=colesambhip36/>

In 1699, the Guru requested the Sikhs to congregate at [[Anandpur Sahib|Anandpur]] on [[Vaisakhi]] (the annual spring [[harvest festival]]).<ref name="Cynthia_Mahmood_Faith_Baisakhi">{{Cite book |last=Mahmood |first=Cynmthia Keppley |title=Fighting for faith and nation dialogues with Sikh militants |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-8122-1592-2 |location=Philadelphia |pages=43–45 |oclc=44966032}}</ref> According to the Sikh tradition, he asked for a volunteer. One came forward, whom he took inside a tent. The Guru returned to the crowd alone, with a bloody sword.<ref name="Cynthia_Mahmood_Faith_Baisakhi" /> He asked for another volunteer, and repeated the same process of returning from the tent without anyone and with a bloodied sword four more times. After the fifth volunteer went with him into the tent, the Guru returned with all five volunteers, all safe. He called them the ''[[Panj Pyare]]'' and the first Khalsa in the Sikh tradition.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Macauliffe |first=Max Arthur |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/cbo9781139506595 |title=The Sikh Religion |date=2009 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-50659-5 |location=Cambridge |doi=10.1017/cbo9781139506595}}</ref>

Guru Gobind Singh then mixed water and sugar into an iron bowl, stirring it with a double-edged sword to prepare what he called [[Amrita|Amrit]] ("nectar"). He then administered this to the ''Panj Pyare'', accompanied with recitations from the Adi Granth, thus founding the ''khande ka pahul'' (baptization ceremony) of a Khalsa – a warrior community.<ref name="Cynthia_Mahmood_Faith_Baisakhi" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Dhavan |first=P |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-7HJ5idB8_QC |title=When Sparrows Became Hawks: The Making of the Sikh Warrior Tradition, 1699–1799 |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-19-975655-1 |page=49}}</ref> The Guru also gave them a new surname "[[Singh]]" (lion). After the first five Khalsa had been baptized, the Guru asked the five to baptize him as a Khalsa. This made the Guru the sixth Khalsa, and his name changed from Guru Gobind Rai to Guru Gobind Singh.<ref name="Cynthia_Mahmood_Faith_Baisakhi" /> This initiation ceremony replaced the charan pahul ritual practiced by the previous gurus, in which an initiate would drink the water either the Guru or a [[masand]] of the guru had dipped their right toe in.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Pashaura |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7YwNAwAAQBAJ |title=The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies |last2=Fenech |first2=Louis E. |date=27 March 2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-100411-7 |pages=595 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Hawley |first1=John Stratton |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tAO0bIu5tvYC&pg=PA176 |title=Studying the Sikhs: Issues for North America |last2=Mann |first2=Gurinder Singh |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-1-4384-0619-0 |pages=176 |language=en}}</ref>

Guru Gobind Singh initiated the [[Five K's]] tradition of the Khalsa,<ref name="colesambhip37">{{Cite book |last1=Cole |first1=W. Owen |url=https://archive.org/details/sikhs00cole |title=The Sikhs: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices |last2=Sambhi, Piara Singh |publisher=Routledge |year=1978 |isbn=0-7100-8842-6 |page=[https://archive.org/details/sikhs00cole/page/37 37] |url-access=registration}}</ref>

He also announced a code of discipline for Khalsa warriors. Tobacco, eating 'halal' meat (a way of slaughtering in which the animal's throat is slit open and it is left to bleed before being slaughtered), fornication and adultery were forbidden.<ref name=colesambhip37/><ref name="johnkoller313">{{Cite book |last=John M Koller |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lgg3DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA313 |title=The Indian Way: An Introduction to the Philosophies & Religions of India |publisher=Routledge |year=2016 |isbn=978-1-315-50740-8 |pages=312–313}}</ref> The Khalsas also agreed to never interact with those who followed rivals or their successors.<ref name=colesambhip37/> The co-initiation of men and women from different castes into the ranks of Khalsa also institutionalized the principle of equality in Sikhism regardless of one's caste or gender.<ref name=johnkoller313/> Guru Gobind Singh's significance to the Sikh tradition has been very important, as he institutionalized the Khalsa, resisted the ongoing persecution by the Mughal Empire, and continued the defence of dharma, by which he meant True Religion, against the assault of Aurangzeb.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Cole |first1=W. Owen |url=https://archive.org/details/sikhs00cole |title=The Sikhs: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices |last2=Sambhi, Piara Singh |publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul |year=1978 |isbn=0-7100-8842-6 |location=London |page=[https://archive.org/details/sikhs00cole/page/36 36-37] |url-access=registration |no-pp=true}}</ref>

He introduced ideas that indirectly challenged the discriminatory taxes imposed by the Mughal authorities. For example, Aurangzeb had imposed taxes on non-Muslims that were collected from the Sikhs as well, the [[jizya]] (poll tax on non-Muslims), pilgrim tax, and ''Bhaddar'' tax – the last being a tax to be paid by anyone following the Hindu ritual of shaving the head after the death of a loved one and cremation.<ref name="MandairShackle2013p25" /> Guru Gobind Singh declared that Khalsa does not need to continue this practice, because ''Bhaddar'' is not [[dharma|dharam]], but a ''bharam'' (illusion).<ref name="MandairShackle2013p25" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Dhavan |first=P |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-7HJ5idB8_QC |title=When Sparrows Became Hawks: The Making of the Sikh Warrior Tradition, 1699–1799 |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-19-975655-1 |pages=43–44}}</ref> Not shaving the head also meant not having to pay the taxes by Sikhs who lived in Delhi and other parts of the Mughal Empire.<ref name="MandairShackle2013p25" /> However, the new code of conduct also led to internal disagreements between Sikhs in the 18th century, particularly between the Nanakpanthi and the Khalsa.<ref name="MandairShackle2013p25" />

Guru Gobind Singh had a deep respect for the Khalsa and stated that there is no difference between the True Guru and the ''sangat'' (panth).<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Cole |first1=W. Owen |url=https://archive.org/details/sikhs00cole |title=The Sikhs: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices |last2=Sambhi, Piara Singh |publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul |year=1978 |isbn=0-7100-8842-6 |location=London |pages=[https://archive.org/details/sikhs00cole/page/38 38–39] |url-access=registration}}</ref> Before his founding of the Khalsa, the Sikh movement had used the Sanskrit word ''Sisya'' (literally, disciple or student), but the favored term thereafter became Khalsa.<ref name="Oberoi1994p59" /> Additionally, prior to the Khalsa, the Sikh congregations across India had a system of ''Masands'' appointed by the Sikh Gurus. The ''Masands'' led the local Sikh communities, local temples, and collected wealth and donations for the Sikh cause.<ref name="Oberoi1994p59" /> Guru Gobind Singh concluded that the ''Masands'' system had become corrupt, he abolished them and introduced a more centralized system with the help of Khalsa that was under his direct supervision.<ref name="Oberoi1994p59">{{Cite book |last=Oberoi |first=Harjot |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1NKC9g2ayJEC |title=The Construction of Religious Boundaries: Culture, Identity, and Diversity in the Sikh Tradition |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-226-61592-9 |pages=59–62}}</ref> These developments created two groups of Sikhs, those who initiated as Khalsa, and others who remained Sikhs but did not undertake the initiation.<ref name="Oberoi1994p59" /> The Khalsa Sikhs saw themselves as a separate religious entity, while the Nanak-panthi Sikhs retained their different perspective.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Oberoi |first=Harjot |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1NKC9g2ayJEC |title=The Construction of Religious Boundaries: Culture, Identity, and Diversity in the Sikh Tradition |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-226-61592-9 |pages=24, 77–78, 89–90}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Mandair |first1=Arvind-Pal S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=79ZcAgAAQBAJ |title=Sikh Religion, Culture and Ethnicity |last2=Shackle |first2=Christopher |last3=Singh |first3=Gurharpal |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-136-84634-2 |pages=30–33}}</ref>

The Khalsa warrior community tradition started by Guru Gobind Singh has contributed to modern scholarly debate on pluralism within Sikhism. His tradition has survived into the modern times, with initiated Sikh referred to as Khalsa Sikh, while those who do not get baptized referred to as Sahajdhari Sikhs.<ref name="SinghFenech2014p23">{{Cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Pashaura |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7YwNAwAAQBAJ |title=The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies |last2=Fenech |first2=Louis E. |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-19-100411-7 |pages=23–24}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Fenech |first1=Louis E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xajcAwAAQBAJ |title=Historical Dictionary of Sikhism |last2=W. H. McLeod |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-4422-3601-1 |pages=84–85}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Jacobsen |first1=Knut A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fU8BAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA142 |title=Sikhs Across Borders: Transnational Practices of European Sikhs |last2=Myrvold |first2=Kristina |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-4411-0358-1 |pages=142–147, 156–157}}</ref>

[[File:Dasam Granth frontispiece British Library Manuscript Or 6298 1825-1850 CE.jpg|thumb|The [[Dasam Granth]] is attributed to Guru Gobind Singh. It incorporates among other things the warrior-saint mythologies of ancient India.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rinehart |first=Robin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=58AVDAAAQBAJ |title=Debating the Dasam Granth |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-19-975506-6 |pages=59–62}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Murphy |first=Anne |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r13hjYfoI6MC&pg=PA96 |title=The Materiality of the Past: History and Representation in Sikh Tradition |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-19-991629-0 |pages=96}}</ref>]]

Guru Gobind Singh is credited in the Sikh tradition with finalizing the Kartarpur Pothi (manuscript) of the ''[[Guru Granth Sahib]]'' – the primary scripture of Sikhism.<ref name="MandairShackle2013p11" /> The final version did not accept the extraneous hymns in other versions, and included the compositions of his father Guru Tegh Bahadur.<ref name="MandairShackle2013p11">{{Cite book |last1=Mandair |first1=Arvind-Pal Singh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D8xdAgAAQBAJ |title=Sikh Religion, Culture and Ethnicity |last2=Shackle |first2=Christopher |last3=Singh |first3=Gurharpal |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-136-84627-4 |pages=11–12, 17–19}}</ref> Guru Gobind Singh also declared this text to be the eternal Guru for Sikhs.<ref name=shelke199/><ref>{{Cite web |title=Adi Granth {{!}} Sikh sacred scripture |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Adi-Granth-Sikh-sacred-scripture |access-date=20 January 2021 |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en}}</ref>

 

Guru Gobind Singh is also credited with the ''[[Dasam Granth]]''.<ref name="britdasam">[https://www.britannica.com/topic/Dasam-Granth Dasam Granth], Encyclopaedia Britannica</ref> It is a controversial [[religious text]] considered to be the second scripture by some Sikhs, and of disputed authority to other Sikhs.<ref name="SinghFenech2014p136">{{Cite book |last=Rinehart |first=Robin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8I0NAwAAQBAJ |title=The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-0-19-969930-8 |editor-last=Pashaura Singh and Louis E Fenech |pages=136–138}}</ref><ref name="McLeod1990">{{Cite book |last=McLeod |first=W. H. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7xIT7OMSJ44C |title=Textual Sources for the Study of Sikhism |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=1990 |isbn=978-0-226-56085-4 |author-link=W. H. McLeod}}, pages 2, 67</ref> The standard edition of the text contains 1,428 pages with 17,293 verses in 18 sections.<ref name="SinghFenech2014p136" /><ref name="hss54">{{Cite book |last=Singha |first=H. S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gqIbJz7vMn0C |title=The Encyclopedia of Sikhism (over 1000 Entries) |publisher=Hemkunt Press |year=2000 |isbn=978-81-7010-301-1}}, pp. 53–54</ref> The ''Dasam Granth'' includes hymns, mythological tales from [[Hindu texts]],<ref name=britdasam/> a celebration of the feminine in the form of goddess [[Durga]],<ref name="Nesbitt2016p107">{{Cite book |last=Nesbitt |first=Eleanor |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zD8SDAAAQBAJ |title=Sikhism: A Very Short Introduction |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2016 |isbn=978-0-19-106277-3 |pages=107–109}}</ref> erotic fables,<ref name=britdasam/> an autobiography, secular stories from the [[Puranas]] and the ''[[Mahabharata]]'', letters to others such as the [[Mughal Empire|Mughal emperor]], as well as reverential discussion of warriors and theology.<ref name="SinghFenech2014p136" /><ref>Christopher Shackle and Arvind Mandair (2005), Teachings of the Sikh Gurus, Routledge, {{ISBN|978-0415266048}}, page xx</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Deol |first=J |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D8xdAgAAQBAJ |title=Sikh Religion, Culture and Ethnicity |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-136-84627-4 |editor-last=Arvind-Pal Singh Mandair |pages=30–34 |display-editors=etal}}</ref>

According to the Bansavlinama, written in 1755 by Kesar Singh Chibbar,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gujral |first=Maninder S. |date=19 December 2000 |title=BANSAVALINAMA DASAN PATSHAHIAN KA |url=https://www.thesikhencyclopedia.com/sikh-scriptures-and-literature/eighteenth-century-literature/bansavalinama-dasan-patshahian-ka/ |access-date=1 October 2022 |website=The Sikh Encyclopedia |language=en-US}}</ref> Sikhs requested that Guru Gobind Singh merge Dasam Granth with the Guru Granth Sahib. Guru Gobind Singh responded to the request by saying, "This is the Adi Guru Granth; The root book. That one (Dasam Granth) is only for my diversion. Let this be kept in the mind and let the two stay separate."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Kesar |title=Bansavalinama |pages=161}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Gujral |first=Maninder S. |date=19 December 2000 |title=DASAM GRANTH |url=https://www.thesikhencyclopedia.com/sikh-scriptures-and-literature/sri-guru-granth-sahib-and-guru-gobind-singhs-bani/dasam-granth/ |access-date=1 October 2022 |website=The Sikh Encyclopedia |language=en-US}}</ref>

The ''Dasam Granth'' has a significant role in the initiation and the daily life of devout Khalsa Sikhs.<ref>Christopher Shackle and Arvind Mandair (2005), Teachings of the Sikh Gurus, Routledge, {{ISBN|978-0415266048}}, pages xvii–xx</ref><ref>J Deol (2000), Sikh Religion, Culture and Ethnicity (Editors: AS Mandair, C Shackle, G Singh), Routledge, {{ISBN|978-0700713899}}, pages 31–33</ref> Parts of its compositions such as the [[Jaap Sahib]], [[Tav-Prasad Savaiye]] and [[Chaupai (Sikhism)|Benti Chaupai]] are the daily prayers ([[Nitnem]]) and sacred liturgical verses used in the initiation of Khalsa Sikhs.<ref name="McLeod1990" /><ref name="JacobsenMyrvold2012p233">{{Cite book |last1=Jacobsen |first1=Knut A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZdZLAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA234 |title=Sikhs Across Borders: Transnational Practices of European Sikhs |last2=Myrvold |first2=Kristina |publisher=A&C Black |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-4411-1387-0 |pages=233–234}}</ref><ref>Robert Zaehner (1988), The Hutchinson Encyclopedia of Living Faiths, Hutchinson, {{ISBN|978-0091735760}}, pages 426-427</ref>

  |source  = – Guru Gobind Singh, ''Zafarnamah''<ref>{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Mohinder |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W95iulFxS6gC |title=History and Culture of Panjab |publisher=Atlantic Publishers |year=1988 |page=10}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Pashaura |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fCjVRqPD-HQC |title=Fighting Words: Religion, Violence, and the Interpretation of Sacred Texts |publisher=University of California Press |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-520-95408-3 |editor-last=Renard |editor-first=John |pages=211–218}}</ref>

The period following the execution of Guru Tegh Bahadur – the father of Guru Gobind Singh, was a period where the Mughal Empire under Aurangzeb was an increasingly hostile enemy of the Sikh people.<ref name="ReichbergSyse2014p673">{{Cite book |last=Brekke |first=Torkel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t3CFAwAAQBAJ |title=Religion, War, and Ethics: A Sourcebook of Textual Traditions |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-139-95204-0 |editor-last=Gregory M. Reichberg and Henrik Syse |pages=673–674}}</ref> The Sikh resisted, led by Gobind Singh, and the Muslim-Sikh conflicts peaked during this period.<ref name="ReichbergSyse2014p673" /> Both Mughal administration and Aurangzeb's army had an active interest in Guru Gobind Singh. Aurangzeb issued an order to exterminate Guru Gobind Singh and his family.<ref>{{Cite book |last=J. S. Grewal |url=https://archive.org/details/sikhsofpunjab0000grew |title=The Sikhs of the Punjab |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-521-63764-0 |page=[https://archive.org/details/sikhsofpunjab0000grew/page/62 62] |url-access=registration}}, Quote: "Aurangzeb took an active interest in the issue of succession, passed orders for the execution of Guru Tegh Bahadur, and at one time ordered total extirpation of Guru Gobind Singh and his family".</ref>

Guru Gobind Singh believed in a ''Dharam Yudh'' (war in defence of righteousness), something that is fought as a last resort, neither out of a wish for revenge nor for greed nor for any destructive goals.<ref name="Wright2003p153" /> To Guru Gobind Singh, one must be prepared to die to stop tyranny, end persecution, and to defend one's own religious values.<ref name="Wright2003p153">{{Cite book |last=Christopher J. H. Wright |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xW33ZuBnNC0C&pg=PA153 |title=God and Morality |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-19-914839-4 |pages=153}}</ref> He led fourteen wars with these objectives, but never took captives nor damaged anyone's place of worship.<ref name="Wright2003p153" />

Guru Gobind Singh fought 13 battles against the [[Mughal Empire]] and the kings of [[Sivalik Hills|Siwalik Hills]].

* [[Battle of Bhangani]] (1688), which states chapter 8 of Gobind Singh's ''Bicitra Natak'', when Fateh Shah, along with mercenary commanders Hayat Khan and Najabat Khan,<ref name="Grewal1998p73">{{Cite book |last=J. S. Grewal |url=https://archive.org/details/sikhsofpunjab0000grew |title=The Sikhs of the Punjab |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-521-63764-0 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/sikhsofpunjab0000grew/page/73 73]–74 |url-access=registration}}</ref> attacked his forces without any purpose. The Guru was aided by the forces of Kripal (his maternal uncle) and a Brahmin named Daya Ram, both of whom he praises as heroes in his text.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=squPx387FuwC |title=Birth of the Khalsa, The: A Feminist Re-Memory of Sikh Identity |publisher=State University of New York Press |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-7914-8266-7 |pages=26–28}}</ref> The Guru's cousin named Sango Shah was killed in the battle, a cousin from [[Guru Hargobind]]'s daughter.<ref name="Grewal1998p73" />

* [[Battle of Nadaun]] (1691), against the Islamic armies of Mian Khan and his son Alif Khan, who were defeated by the allied forces of Guru Gobind Singh, Bhim Chand and other Hindu kings of Himalayan foothills.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jaques |first=Tony |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dh6jydKXikoC |title=Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: F-O |publisher=Greenwood |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-313-33538-9 |pages=704}}</ref> The non-Muslims aligned to the Guru had refused to pay tribute to the Islamic officials based in Jammu.<ref name="Grewal1998p73" />

In 1693, Aurangzeb was fighting the Hindu Marathas in the Deccan region of India, and he issued orders that Guru Gobind Singh and Sikhs should be prevented from gathering in Anandpur in large numbers.<ref name="Grewal1998p73" /><ref name="Fenech2013p14">{{Cite book |last=Fenech |first=Louis E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aUUfAQAAQBAJ |title=The Sikh Zafar-namah of Guru Gobind Singh: A Discursive Blade in the Heart of the Mughal Empire |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-19-993145-3 |pages=14}}</ref>

* [[Battle of Guler (1696)]], first against the Muslim commander Dilawar Khan's son Rustam Khan, near Sutlej river, where the Guru teamed up with the Hindu king of Guler and routed the Muslim army.<ref name="Jaques2007p420" /> The commander sent his general Hussain Khan against the armies of the Guru and the Guler kingdom, a war fought near Pathankot, and Hussain Khan was defeated and killed by the joint forces.<ref name="Jaques2007p420">{{Cite book |last=Jaques |first=Tony |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dh6jydKXikoC |title=Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: F-O |publisher=Greenwood |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-313-33538-9 |pages=420}}</ref>

* [[Battle of Anandpur (1700)]], against the Mughal army of Aurangzeb, who had sent 10,000 soldiers under the command of Painda Khan and Dina Beg.<ref name="Jaques2007p48" /> In direct combat between Guru Gobind Singh and Painda Khan, the latter was killed. His death led to the Mughal army fleeing the battlefield.<ref name="Jaques2007p48" />

* [[Battle of Anandpur (1701)]], The hill Rajas of northern Punjab regrouped after defeat at Anandpur the previous year and resumed their campaign against Sikh Guru Gobind Singh, joining forces with Gujar tribesmen to besiege Anandpur, northeast of Ludhiana. Gujar leader Jagatullah was killed on the first day and the Rajas were driven off after a brilliant defence led by the Guru's son Ajit Singh.<ref name="Jaques2007p48">{{Cite book |last=Jaques |first=Tony |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3amnMPTPP5MC |title=Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: A-E |publisher=Greenwood Publishing |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-313-33537-2 |pages=48–49}}</ref><ref name="Rinehart2011p22" /><ref name="Fenech2013p14" />

* [[Battle of Basoli]] (1702), against the Mughal army; named after the kingdom of Basoli whose Raja Dharampul supported the Guru in the battle.<ref name="Jaques2007p112">{{Cite book |last=Jaques |first=Tony |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dh6jydKXikoC |title=Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: F-O |publisher=Greenwood |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-313-33538-9 |pages=112}}</ref> The Mughal army was supported by rival kingdom of Kahlur led by Raja Ajmer Chand. The battle ended when the two sides reached a tactical peace.<ref name="Jaques2007p112" />

* [[First Battle of Chamkaur|First Battle of Chamkaur (1702)]], Mughal Army was repulsed.<ref name="Jaques2007p48" />

* [[First Battle of Anandpur (1704)]], Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb sent a fresh force into northern Punjab under General Saiyad Khan, later replaced by Ramjan Khan. Ramjan was mortally wounded in further very heavy fighting around the Sikh stronghold at Anandpur, northeast of Ludhiana, and his force again withdrew.<ref name="Jaques2007p48" />  

* [[Second Battle of Anandpur]], According to scholars, this battle was triggered by the proliferation of armed Sikhs in Anandpur, the increasing numbers creating a shortage of supplies. This led the Sikhs to raid local villages for supplies, food, and forage, which in turn dramatically frustrated the local pahari rajas who forged alliances and mounted an attack on Guru Gobind Singh's patrimony.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Malhotra |first1=Anshu |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_vQtDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT135 |title=Punjab Reconsidered: History, Culture, and Practice |last2=Mir |first2=Farina |date=21 February 2012 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-908877-5 |pages=135 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Grewal1998p73" /> The Mughal general was fatally wounded by Sikh soldiers, and the army withdrew. Aurangzeb then sent a larger army with two generals, Wazir Khan and Zaberdast Khan in May 1704, to destroy the Sikh resistance.<ref name="Jaques2007p48" /> The approach the Islamic army took in this battle was to lay a protracted siege against Anandpur, from May to December, cutting off all food and other supplies moving in and out, along with repeated battles.<ref name="FenechMcleodp9">{{Cite book |last1=Fenech |first1=Louis E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xajcAwAAQBAJ |title=Historical Dictionary of Sikhism |last2=W. H. McLeod |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-4422-3601-1 |pages=9}}</ref> Some Sikh men deserted the Guru during the Anandpur siege in 1704 and escaped to their homes where their women shamed them and they rejoined the Guru's army and died fighting with him in 1705.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fenech |first=Louis E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FI3XAAAAMAAJ |title=Martyrdom in the Sikh Tradition: Playing the "game of Love" |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-19-564947-5 |pages=92}}</ref><ref name="mcleod2009p43">{{Cite book |last=W. H. McLeod |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vgixwfeCyDAC |title=The A to Z of Sikhism |publisher=Scarecrow |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-8108-6344-6 |pages=43}}</ref> Towards the end, the Guru, his family, and followers accepted an offer by Aurangzeb of safe passage out of Anandpur.<ref name="Prithi_PS_History">{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Prithi Pal |title=The History of Sikh Gurus |publisher=Lotus Books |year=2007 |isbn=978-81-8382-075-2 |pages=128–147}}</ref> However, as they left Anandpur in two batches, they were attacked, and one of the batches with Mata Gujari and Guru's two sons – Zorawar Singh aged 8 and Fateh Singh aged 5 – were taken captive by the Mughal army.<ref name="Rinehart2011p22">{{Cite book |last=Rinehart |first=Robin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=58AVDAAAQBAJ |title=Debating the Dasam Granth |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-19-975506-6 |pages=22–23}}</ref><ref name=syanp220/> Both his children were executed by burying them alive into a wall.<ref name="FenechMcleodp9" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w8yWAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT84 |title=Sikhism: An Introduction |publisher=I.B.Tauris |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-85773-549-2 |pages=84–85}}</ref> The grandmother Mata Gujari died there as well.<ref name="Rinehart2011p22" />

* [[Battle of Sarsa]] (1704), against the Mughal army led by general Wazir Khan; the Muslim commander had conveyed Aurangzeb's promise of a safe passage to Guru Gobind Singh and his family in early December.<ref name="syanp220">{{Cite book |last=Hardip Singh Syan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9RzzxcEL4C0C |title=Sikh Militancy in the Seventeenth Century: Religious Violence in Mughal and Early Modern India |publisher=I.B.Tauris |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-78076-250-0 |pages=220–222}}</ref> However, when the Guru accepted the offer and left, Wazir Khan took captives, executed them and pursued the Guru.<ref name="Jaques2007p914" /> The retreating troops he was with were repeatedly attacked from behind, with heavy casualties to the Sikhs, particularly while crossing the Sarsa river.<ref name="Jaques2007p914">{{Cite book |last=Jaques |first=Tony |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3amnMPTPP5MC |title=Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: A-E |publisher=Greenwood Publishing |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-313-33537-2 |pages=914}}</ref>

* [[Battle of Chamkaur (1704)]] Regarded as one of the most important battles in Sikh history. It was against the Mughal army led by Nahar Khan;<ref name="fenechmcleod218">{{Cite book |last1=Fenech |first1=Louis E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xajcAwAAQBAJ |title=Historical Dictionary of Sikhism |last2=W. H. McLeod |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-4422-3601-1 |pages=218}}</ref> the Muslim commander was killed,<ref name=fenechmcleod218/> while on Sikh side the remaining two elder sons of the Guru – Ajit Singh and Jujhar Singh, along with other Sikh soldiers were killed in this battle.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Raju |first=Karam Singh |title=Guru Gobind Singh: Prophet of peace |year=1999 |isbn=9380213646}}</ref><ref name="Rinehart2011p22" /><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Fenech |first1=Louis E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xajcAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA79 |title=Historical Dictionary of Sikhism |last2=W. H. McLeod |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-4422-3601-1 |pages=79}}</ref>

* [[Battle of Muktsar]] (1705), the Guru's army was re-attacked by the Mughal army, being hunted down by general Wazir Khan, in the arid area of Khidrana-ki-Dhab. The Mughals were blocked again, but with many losses of Sikh lives – particularly the famous ''Chalis Mukte'' (literally, the "forty liberated ones"),<ref name=mcleod2009p43/> and this was the last battle led by Guru Gobind Singh.<ref name="Grewal1998p78" /> The place of battle called Khidrana was renamed about a 100 years later by [[Ranjit Singh]] to Mukt-sar (literally, "lake of liberation"), after the term "Mukt" ([[moksha]]) of the ancient Indian tradition, in honour of those who gave their lives for the cause of liberation.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sir Lepel Henry Griffin |url=https://archive.org/details/ranjitsnghandsi00grifgoog |title=Ranjit Síngh and the Sikh Barrier Between Our Growing Empire and Central Asia |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1898 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/ranjitsnghandsi00grifgoog/page/n61 55]–56}}</ref>

===Mughal accounts===

The Muslim historians of the Mughal court wrote about Guru Gobind Singh as well as the geopolitics of the times he lived in, and these official Persian accounts were readily available and the basis of colonial era English-language description of Sikh history.<ref name=Dhavanp165/><ref>{{Cite book |last=Murphy |first=Anne |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r13hjYfoI6MC |title=The Materiality of the Past: History and Representation in Sikh Tradition |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-19-991629-0 |pages=110–113}}</ref>

According to Dhavan, the Persian texts that were composed by Mughal court historians during the lifetime of Guru Gobind Singh were hostile to him but presented the Mughal perspective.<ref name="Dhavanp165">{{Cite book |last=Dhavan |first=P |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-7HJ5idB8_QC |title=When Sparrows Became Hawks: The Making of the Sikh Warrior Tradition, 1699–1799 |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-19-975655-1 |pages=165–167, 13–24}}</ref> They believed that the religious Guru tradition of Sikhs had been corrupted by him, through the creation of a military order willing to resist the Imperial army.<ref name=Dhavanp165/> Dhavan writes that some Persian writers who wrote decades or a century after the death of Guru Gobind Singh evolved from relying entirely on court histories of the Mughals which disparage the Guru, to including stories from the Sikh ''gurbilas'' text that praise the Guru.<ref name=Dhavanp165/><ref>{{Cite book |last=Murphy |first=Anne |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WWysAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA47 |title=Time, History and the Religious Imaginary in South Asia |publisher=Routledge |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-136-70729-2 |pages=47–50}}</ref>

 

The Mughal accounts suggest that the Muslim commanders viewed the Sikh ''panth'' as one divided into sects with different loyalties.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dhavan |first=P |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-7HJ5idB8_QC&pg=PA45 |title=When Sparrows Became Hawks: The Making of the Sikh Warrior Tradition, 1699–1799 |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-19-975655-1 |pages=51–53}}</ref>

=== Relationship with other religious groups ===

{{Main|Sikh Rehat Maryada}}

As a result of the violent hostility between the Sikhs and the Mughal armies, Guru Gobind Singh ordered the social segregation of the Khalsa from the Muslims, the sentiments of which are reiterated in the contemporary and posthumous rahit-namas. To a lesser extent, injunctions were also made prohibiting the partake in certain Hindu rituals and beliefs as well as against schismatic Sikh factions opposed to the orthodox Khalsa community.{{refn|<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nesbitt |first=Eleanor M. |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Sikhism/XebnCwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA118&printsec=frontcover |title=Sikhism: A Very Short Introduction |date=2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-874557-0 |pages=59–60 ,118 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Morgan |first=Peggy |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Ethical_Issues_in_Six_Religious_Traditio/vt-qBgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA120&printsec=frontcover |title=Ethical Issues in Six Religious Traditions |date=16 February 2007 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |isbn=978-0-7486-3002-8 |pages=120 |language=en |quote=Ever since the time of Guru Gobind Singh (d. CE 1708), codes of conduct (rahitnamas), for example Rahitnama Bhai Chaupa and Prem Sumarg, have been in circulation. These laid down the behaviour required of Sikhs. The eighteenth and nineteenth-century rahitnamas reflected their period, and one clear purpose was the social segregation of Sikhs and Muslims.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Fenech |first1=Louis E. |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Historical_Dictionary_of_Sikhism/xajcAwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA214&printsec=frontcover |title=Historical Dictionary of Sikhism |last2=McLeod |first2=W. H. |date=11 June 2014 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-4422-3601-1 |pages=214 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Oberoi |first=Harjot |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Construction_of_Religious_Boundaries/1NKC9g2ayJEC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA68&printsec=frontcover |title=The Construction of Religious Boundaries: Culture, Identity, and Diversity in the Sikh Tradition |date=15 December 1994 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-61593-6 |pages=68 |language=en}}</ref>}}{{refn|<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Cush |first1=Denise |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Encyclopedia_of_Hinduism/kzPgCgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA792&printsec=frontcover |title=Encyclopedia of Hinduism |last2=Robinson |first2=Catherine |last3=York |first3=Michael |date=21 August 2012 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-18979-2 |pages=792 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Coward |first=Harold G. |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Modern_Indian_Responses_to_Religious_Plu/rA278MzR5-kC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA283&printsec=frontcover |title=Modern Indian Responses to Religious Pluralism |date=1987 |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-0-7914-9992-4 |pages=283 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Cook |first=Michael |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Ancient_Religions_Modern_Politics/F3CYDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA238&printsec=frontcover |title=Ancient Religions, Modern Politics: The Islamic Case in Comparative Perspective |date=6 December 2016 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-17334-4 |pages=238 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Grewal |first=J. S. |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Guru_Gobind_Singh_1666_1708/YDLNDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PT96&printsec=frontcover |title=Guru Gobind Singh (1666–1708): Master of the White Hawk |date=25 July 2019 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-099038-1 |pages=96 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Malhotra |first1=Anshu |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Speaking_of_the_Self/PdvDCgAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PT195&printsec=frontcover |title=Speaking of the Self: Gender, Performance, and Autobiography in South Asia |last2=Lambert-Hurley |first2=Siobhan |date=23 October 2015 |publisher=Duke University Press |isbn=978-0-8223-7497-8 |pages=195 |language=en |quote=From the time of the establishment of the Khalsa in 1699, some from within the Sikhs, more specifically the Khalsa, tried to create religious norms and codes of behavior that worked toward imparting a distinct Sikh identity partly by distancing from the Muslims. A stream within the Khalsa set about creating codes of conduct, the rahit literature, that began "othering" the Muslim/Turak (used interchangeably), passing tenets that included the avoidance of halal meat associated with the Muslims, and sleeping with Muslim women.}}</ref>}}

Some of the various spots in north, west, and central India where the Guru lived after 1705, include Hehar with Kirpal Das (maternal uncle), Manuke, Mehdiana, Chakkar, Takhtupura, and Madhe and Dina ([[Malwa (Punjab)]] region). He stayed with relatives or trusted Sikhs such as the three grandsons of Rai Jodh, a devotee of [[Guru Har Gobind]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Johar |first=Surinder Singh |title=Holy Sikh shrines |publisher=M D Publications |year=1998 |isbn=978-81-7533-073-3 |location=New Delhi |page=63 |oclc=44703461}}</ref>

Guru Gobind Singh saw the war conduct of Aurangzeb and his army against his family and his people as a betrayal of a promise, unethical, unjust, and impious.<ref name=syanp220/> After all of Guru Gobind Singh's children had been killed by the Mughal army and the battle of Muktsar, the Guru wrote a defiant letter in Persian to Aurangzeb, titled ''Zafarnama'' (literally, "epistle of victory"), a letter which the Sikh tradition considers important towards the end of the 19th century.<ref name=syanp220/><ref>{{Cite book |last=W. H. McLeod |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vgixwfeCyDAC |title=The A to Z of Sikhism |publisher=Scarecrow |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-8108-6344-6 |pages=xxv, 52, 214–215}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Murphy |first=Anne |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r13hjYfoI6MC |title=The Materiality of the Past: History and Representation in Sikh Tradition |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-19-991629-0 |pages=73}}</ref>

The Guru's letter was stern yet conciliatory to Aurangzeb. He indicted the Mughal Emperor and his commanders in spiritual terms, and accused them of a lack of morality both in governance and in the conduct of war.<ref name="Hadley2001p20" /> The letter predicted that the Mughal Empire would soon end, because it persecutes, and is full of abuse, falsehood, and immorality. The letter is spiritually rooted in Guru Gobind Singh's beliefs about justice and dignity without fear.<ref name="Hadley2001p20">{{Cite book |last=Hadley |first=Michael L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z33Hn02GOwIC |title=Spiritual Roots of Restorative Justice, The |publisher=State University of New York Press |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-7914-9114-0 |pages=20, 207–214}}</ref>

Aurangzeb died in 1707, and immediately a succession struggle began between his sons who attacked each other.<ref name="Dhavan2011p45" /> Guru Gobind Singh supported Bahadur Shah in the [[Battle of Jajau]] by sending 200 – 300 Sikhs under Bhai Dharam Singh and later joining the battle themselves.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gandhi |first=Surjit |title=A Historian's Approach to Guru Gobind Singh |year=2004 |isbn=8172053061 |pages=323, 324}}</ref> According to Sikh sources it was Guru Gobind Singh who killed [[Muhammad Azam Shah|Azam Shah]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=A Historian's Approach to Guru Gobind Singh |pages=324}}</ref><ref>Gurbilas Patashahi 10 Chapter 19</ref> the official successor Bahadur Shah, invited Guru Gobind Singh with his army to meet him in person in the Deccan region of India for reconciliation. Guru Gobind Singh hoped to get Anandpur, his former stronghold back, and remained close to the imperial camp for nearly a year. His appeals for the restoration of his lands turned out to be ineffectual however as Bahadur Shah went on postponing any restoration to the [[Status quo ante bellum|status quo ante]] as he was not willing to offend either the Guru or the hill rajas.<ref name="FenechMcleodp9" /><ref name="Dhavan2011p45">{{Cite book |last=Dhavan |first=P |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-7HJ5idB8_QC&pg=PA45 |title=When Sparrows Became Hawks: The Making of the Sikh Warrior Tradition, 1699–1799 |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-19-975655-1 |pages=45–46}}</ref>{{sfn|Grewal|1998|p=79}}<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Metcalf |first1=Barbara D. |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_Concise_History_of_Modern_India/c7UgAwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA33&printsec=frontcover |title=A Concise History of Modern India |last2=Metcalf |first2=Thomas R. |date=24 September 2012 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-139-53705-6 |pages=33 |language=en}}</ref>

[[Wazir Khan (Sirhind)|Wazir Khan]], a Muslim army commander and the Nawab of [[Sirhind-Fategarh|Sirhind]], against whose army the Guru had fought several wars,<ref name="Grewal1998p78" /> commissioned two Afghans, Jamshed Khan, and Wasil Beg, to follow the Guru's army as it moved for the meeting with Bahadur Shah, and then [[assassination|assassinate]] the Guru. The two secretly pursued the Guru whose troops were in the Deccan area of India, and entered the camp when the Sikhs had been stationed near river [[Godavari River|Godavari]] for months.<ref name="Syan2013p223">{{Cite book |last=Hardip Singh Syan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9RzzxcEL4C0C |title=Sikh Militancy in the Seventeenth Century: Religious Violence in Mughal and Early Modern India |publisher=I.B.Tauris |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-78076-250-0 |pages=222–223}}</ref> They gained access to the Guru and Jamshed Khan stabbed him two times resulting in a fatal wound at [[Nanded]].<ref name="FenechMcleodp9" /><ref name="pri">{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Prithi Pal |title=The history of Sikh Gurus |date=15 September 2007 |publisher=Lotus Press |isbn=978-81-8382-075-2 |page=158}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Santhok |title=Suraj Granth |publisher=CSJS |pages=486 |language=Punjabi |translator-last=Singh |translator-first=Sodhi Teja}}</ref> Some scholars state that the assassin who killed Guru Gobind Singh may not have been sent by Wazir Khan, but was instead sent by the Mughal army that was staying nearby.<ref name="Grewal1998p78">{{Cite book |last=J. S. Grewal |url=https://archive.org/details/sikhsofpunjab0000grew |title=The Sikhs of the Punjab |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-521-63764-0 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/sikhsofpunjab0000grew/page/78 78]–79 |url-access=registration}}</ref>

According to Senapati's ''Sri Gur Sobha'', an early 18th-century writer, the fatal wounds of the Guru was one below his heart. The Guru fought back and killed the assassin, while the assassin's companion was killed by the Sikh guards as he tried to escape.<ref name="Syan2013p223" />

The Guru died of his wounds a few days later on 7 October 1708{{refn |However Hardip Singh Syan gives the date as 18 October 1708.<ref name="Syan2013p223" />}} His death fuelled a long and bitter war of the Sikhs with the Mughals.<ref name="Syan2013p223" />

 

According to the Bansavalinama by Kesar Singh Chibber written in 1768, the Guru's last words were, "The Granth is the Guru and it will bring you to [[God in Sikhism|Akal]]. The Guru is the Khalsa and the Khalsa is the Guru. The seat has been given to Sri Sahib [[Mata Sahib Kaur|Mata Devi]]. Love each other and expand the community. Follow the words of the Granth. The Sikh that follows Sikhi shall be with the Guru. Follow the conduct of the Guru. Always remain with [[Waheguru]]."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Kesar |title=Bansavalinama |publisher=Singh Brothers |pages=189–190 |language=Punjabi}}</ref>

While Sikh Gurus are generally not portrayed on screen due to certain beliefs in Sikhism{{Citation needed|date=December 2022}}, a number of Indian films surrounding Guru Gobind Singh's life have been made. These include:<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Pashaura |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8I0NAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA478 |title=The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies |last2=Fenech |first2=Louis E. |date=March 2014 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-969930-8 |page=478}}</ref>

*''Sarbans Dani Guru Gobind Singh'', a 1998 Indian [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]]-language drama film directed by Ram Maheshwari. The film follows Guru's life but he is not directly portrayed by an actor.

*''[[Chaar Sahibzaade]]'', a 2014 Indian computer-animated film by [[Harry Baweja]]. It is based on the sacrifices of the sons of Guru Gobind Singh – [[Ajit Singh (Sikhism)|Ajit Singh]], [[Jujhar Singh]], [[Jorawar Singh]], and [[Fateh Singh (Sikhism)|Fateh Singh]].

*''[[Chaar Sahibzaade: Rise of Banda Singh Bahadur]]'', a 2016 Indian computer-animated film by Harry Baweja. It is a sequel to [[Chaar Sahibzaade]] and follows [[Baba Banda Singh Bahadur]]'s fight against the Mughals under the guidance of Guru Gobind Singh.

==References==

{{reflist}}

*{{Cite book |last=Grewal |first=J. S. |title=The Sikhs of the Punjab |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-521-63764-0 |volume=2-3 |page=72}}

*{{Cite book |last=Jenkins |first=Everett |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kSYkCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA200 |title=The Muslim Diaspora (Volume 2, 1500-1799): A Comprehensive Chronology of the Spread of Islam in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas |publisher=McFarland |year=2000 |isbn=978-1-4766-0889-1 |pages=200}}

*{{Cite book |last=Olson |first=Carl |title=The Many Colors of Hinduism: A Thematic-historical Introduction |publisher=Rutgers University Press |year=2007}}

*{{Cite book |last=Truschke |first=Audrey |title=Aurangzeb: The Life and Legacy of India's Most Controversial King |publisher=Stanford University Press |year=2017}}

'''Further reading'''

* {{Cite book |last=Deora |first=Man Singh |title=Guru Gobind Singh: a literary survey |publisher=Anmol Publications |year=1989 |isbn=978-81-7041-160-4 |location=New Delhi |oclc=21280295}}

* {{Cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Gobind |title=The Zafarnama of Guru Gobind Singh |last2=Jasbir Kaur Ahuja |publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan |year=1996 |location=Mumbai |oclc=42966940}}

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