Guru Tegh Bahadur Martyrdom Day is observed every year on 24 November. He is also called Hind ki Chadar, or Shield of India. He laid down his life for the rights of a community of people who were not even of his religion. He was beheaded in the year 1675 at the orders of the Mughal emperor, Aurangzeb. He was martyred in Delhi, at Chandni Chowk.
Guru Tegh Bahadur was born on 1 April 1621 and died on 11 November 1675. He was ordained as a guru on 16 April 1664. He was killed on the orders of the Mughal emperor, Aurangzeb, because he resisted the forced conversions into Islam of non-Muslims and Kashmiri Pandits. The Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib marks his place of execution while the Gurudwara Rakab Ganj Sahib marks his place of execution. Guru Tegh Bahadur was the ninth of 10 prophets in the Sikh religion. He was known for his poetic hymns as his spiritual revelations. His public beheading in 1675 was due to his resistance of forced conversions to Islam from the Hindus in Kashmir and refusing himself to Islam conversion.
Aurangzeb aimed to convert the Hindu population in India to Islam at the risk of execution if they rebelled against his diktat. A delegation of Kashmir Pandits sought help from Guru Tegh Bahadur to prevent the conversions.
Guru Tegh Bahadur proclaimed that if the emperor was successful in converting him to Islam, then the others would be ready to convert too. He was then arrested and presented in front of the emperor. Upon refusing to convert to Islam, he was imprisoned for 4 months. Following his refusal to perform a miracle to prove his closeness to God, three of his followers were killed in front of him. Still refusing to be converted, Guru Tegh Bahadur was ordered to be beheaded by the emperor. His beheading was carried out in front of the public in Chandni Chowk, which is a market square near the Red Fort in Delhi. The execution was on 11 November 1675.
A number of Sikh temples have been built in honor of Guru Tegh Bahadur. The Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib in Chandi Chowk was constructed on the site of his execution. A disciple of his, Teg Bahadur, burnt down his house in order to make space for the cremation of Guru’s body, and on that spot rose another gurudwara, the Gurudwara Rakab Ganj Sahib, in Delhi. The Gurudwara Sisganj Sahib in Punjab was built on the site where the head of the Guru was brought all the way from Delhi, in defiance of the Aurangzeb’s orders, and cremated. The execution of the Guru led to the fortification of the Khalsa identity, initiated by his son, who was at that time just 9 years old.
Every year on the Martyrdom Day of Guru Tegh Bahadur, Sikh places of worship reverberate with the sounds of chanting of the composition called Bachittar Natak, which recounts his life and was recorded by his son, Guru Gobind Singh.
Numerous hospitals, schools, universities, and institutes of technology have been constructed and named in honor of Guru Tegh Bahadur.Today, a gurudwara stands at the spot where the Guru was martyred, called the Gurudwara Sis Ganj.
Guru Tegh Bahadur was a contributor to the holy text of the Granth Sahib, in the form of hymns and couplets, including the Saloks towards the end. More than 700 of his compositions are part of the ‘’bani’’ in Sikhism. His writings include a wide range of topics that range from God to the human body, death to deliverance.
During his lifetime, he journeyed through several parts of India and constructed many Sikh temples at the behest of Gobind Sahali in Manali. The places that he visited later became the sites of Sikh temples that are revered to this day. He had also traveled to parts of Assam, Bihar, Bengal, Dhaka, and Kashmir He also founded a city at the foothills of the Himalayas which he named Anandpur Sahib.
On Guru Tegh Bahadur’s martyrdom day, verses composed by his son, Guru Gobind Singh, called the Bachittar Natak, are recited at Sikh places of worship. Memorials are held with the remembrance of religious freedom and to practice one’s belief without fear of persecution from Muslims. This restricted holiday allows government and businesses to remain open.
The execution hardened the resolve of Sikhs against Muslim rule and the persecution.
Pashaura Singh states that, “if the martyrdom of Guru Arjan had helped bring the Sikh Panth together, Guru Tegh Bahadur’s martyrdom helped to make the protection of human rights central to its Sikh identity” Wilfred Smith stated “the attempt to forcibly convert the ninth Guru to an externalized, impersonal Islam clearly made an indelible impression on the martyr’s nine-year-old son, Gobind, who reacted slowly but deliberately by eventually organizing the Sikh group into a distinct, formal, symbol-patterned community”. It inaugurated the Khalsa identity.
Tegh Bahadur has been remembered for giving up his life for freedom of religion, reminding Sikhs and non-Muslims in India to follow and practice their beliefs without fear of persecution and forced conversions by Muslims. Guru Tegh Bahadur was martyred, along with fellow devotees Bhai Mati Dass, Bhai Sati Das and Bhai Dayala. 24 November, the date of his martyrdom, is observed in certain parts of India as a public holiday.
