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Guru
Arjan Dev Ji was born in a small town in Goindwal, in
Amritsar District, on April 15th 1563.
He was the youngest son of the three sons of Guru
Amar Das Ji. His
mother’s name was Mata Bhani.
He was the first Guru to have been as a son of
a Guru. At
the age of eighteen on September 1st 1581, Guru Arjan
Dev Ji became the Fifth Guru of the Sikhs.
His first step was the development
of the new township of Ramdaspur.
He completed the Amrit-Sarovar (The Pool of Nectar)
and started the construction of the central Temple in
1591 and called Harmandar Sahib. |
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Guru
Arjan Dev Ji preached the ideals of Guru Nanak Dev Ji,
devotion, humility and complete surrender to the will
of God. He
strengthened the Massand system
by new appointments and enlarging the sphere
of their duties.
The people were asked to pay one tenth of their
income to Massands who in turn brought it to the Guru's
treasury at the annual Baisakhi-Festival.
The collective offerings provided a regular flow
of financial resources to the development of the new
township and additional projects of public welfare.
Guru Arjan Dev Ji collected the Hymns of all the earlier
four Guru’s and added his own (2218 hymns in 30 ragas)
and included the Hymns of Saints, arranged them all
under various Ragas and prepared the Adi Granth, the
Holy Book of Sikhs.
His most famous writing is the Sukhmani.
He built a Gurdwara at Tarn Taran.
Guru Arjan Dev Ji wanted his Sikhs
to engage them selves in honest work.
Sikhs were sent to different parts of Asia to
buy good horses.
Quickly Sikhs learned how to ride the horses.
The growing popularity and influence
was not like by the Guru Arjan Dev Ji’s enemies.
They were afraid of the large amount of people
(Hindus and Muslims) started to follow the path of Guru
Arjan Dev Ji. The growing power and prestige aroused
the jealousy of Emperor Jahangir.
Jahangir desired to suppress Sikhism
by all means at his command.
He founded an excuse to haul up Guru Arjan, when
mischievous people alleged that the Sikhs scripture
contained words derogatory to Islam.
Mughal Emperor Jahangir took Guru
Arjan in custody and tortured him to death.
Guru Arjan’s Martyrdom was a “Great turning point
in the development of the Sikh community.
Guru Arjan was the first Sikh martyr.
He sacrificed his life to uphold the sovereignty
of the Sikh scripture and to resist injustice.
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