Guru Arjan

"Arjun Dev" redirects here. For the Indian historian and educationist, see Arjun Dev (historian).

Guru Arjan^[3][4] (Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰੂ ਅਰਜਨ, pronunciation: [gʊɾuː əɾd͡ʒənᵊ]; 15 April 1563 – 30 May 1606)^[2] was 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 is regarded as the first of the two Gurus martyred in the Sikh faith.

Guru Arjan
ਗੁਰੂ ਅਰਜਨ
Painting of Guru Arjan by the family atelier of Purkhu of Kangra, circa 1800
Title	5th Guru of Sikhism
Personal
Born	15 April 1563 Goindwal, Mughal Empire (present-day Tarn Taran district, Punjab, India)
Died	30 May 1606(1606-05-30) (aged 43)^[2] Lahore, Mughal Empire (present-day Punjab, Pakistan)
Cause of death	Execution
Resting place	Gurdwara Dera Sahib, Walled City of Lahore
Religion	Sikhism
Spouse	Mata Ram Dei Mata Ganga
Children	Guru Hargobind
Parent(s)	Guru Ram Das and Mata Bhani
Known for	Building the Harmandir Sahib Founding Taran Taran Sahib city Compiling the Adi Granth and installing them in Harmandir Sahib Founding Kartarpur, Jalandhar city Composing fifth hymn of Kirtan Sohila Writing Sukhmani Sahib Writing the Prichhia, a prose work^[1]
Other names	Fifth Master Fifth Nanak
Signature
Religious career
Predecessor	Guru Ram Das
Successor	Guru Hargobind

Guru Arjan was born in Goindval, in the Punjab, the youngest son of Bhai Jetha, who later became Guru Ram Das, and Mata Bhani, the daughter of Guru Amar Das.^[5][6] He completed the construction of Darbar Sahib at Amritsar, after the fourth Sikh Guru founded the town and built a sarovar.^[7][8][9] 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.^[7]

Guru Arjan reorganized the masand 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 gurdwaras and langars (shared communal kitchens).^[10]

Guru Arjan was arrested under the orders of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir accusing him of supporting a rebellion under Khusrau Mirza.^{[11][12][7][13]} He was asked to convert himself to Islam.^[14][15] He refused, was tortured and executed in 1606 CE.^[14][16] Historical records and the Sikh tradition are unclear as to whether Arjan was executed by drowning or died during torture.^[14] The Sikh tradition states the Guru's execution was a part of the ongoing persecution of the Sikhs under the Mughal Empire.^[17][18] His martyrdom is considered a watershed event in the history of Sikhism.^[14][19] 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.^[20]

Biography

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. Arjan's birthplace site is now memorialized as the Gurdwara Chaubara Sahib.^[21] He had two brothers: Prithi Chand and Mahadev.^[22][23] 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.^[24]

Guru Arjan spent the first 11 years of his life in Goindwal and the next seven years with his father in Ramdaspur.^[22] 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.^[25] He was appointed as the Sikh Guru in 1581 after the death of his father.^[26] Guru Ram Das was a Khatri of the Sodhi sub-caste. With Arjan's succession, the Guruship remained in the Sodhi family of Guru Ram Das.^[27]

Marriages

According to historians, Guru Arjan wedded twice.^[28] His first wife was Mata Ram Dei, whom he married on 20 June 1579.^[28] His second wife was Mata Ganga, their wedding taking place on 19 May 1589.^[28] Popular Sikh tradition omits his first wife and claims he was only married to Ganga.^[28]

Succession and time as Guru

 

Fresco of Baba Buddha crowning Guru Arjan as the next guru by placing tilak on his forehead, known as the Gurgadi ceremony. Guru Ram Das is depicted to the immediate bottom right of Arjan.

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.^[29] His choice of Guru Arjan as successor, as throughout most of the history of Sikh Guru successions, led to disputes and internal divisions among the Sikhs.^[7][30]

The succession dispute regarding Guru Arjan created a schism that yielded different narratives for the two factions.^[29] In the orthodox Sikh tradition, Prithi Chand is remembered as vehemently opposing Guru Arjan, creating a factional sect of the Sikh community.^[31] The Sikhs following Arjan referred to the breakaway faction as Minas (literally, "scoundrels"). Prithi Chand and his followers attempted to assassinate the young Hargobind thrice.^[32][33] Prithi Chand also befriended Mughal agents.^[29] Subsequent written competing texts written by the Minas, on the other hand, offered a different explanation for the attempt on Hargobind's life, and present him as devoted to his younger brother Arjan. The eldest son of Prithi Chand, Miharvan, is mentioned in both traditions as having received tutelage from both Prithi Chand and Arjan as a child.^[34]

The competing texts acknowledge the disagreements. They state Prithi Chand left Amritsar, became the Sahib Guru after the martyrdom of Guru Arjan and one who disputed the succession of Hargobind as the next Guru.^[35] The followers of Prithi Chand considered themselves the true followers of Guru Nanak as they rejected the increasing emphasis on militarization of the panth under Hargobind to resist Mughal persecution in the wake of Arjan's martyrdom, in favor of non-violent interiorization.^[29] In addition to Prithi Chand, a son of Guru Amar Das named Baba Mohan had also challenged the authority of Arjan.^[36] These challenging claims were asserted by the early Sikh sects in part by their manuscripts of Sikh hymns. Baba Mohan possessed the Goindval pothi containing the hymns of Nanak and other early Gurus, while Prithi Chand possessed the Guru Harsahai pothi then believed to have been the oldest scripture from the time of Nanak.^[36] This, state scholars, may have triggered Guru Arjan to create a much enlarged, official version of the Adi Granth.^[36]

Upon the first parkash of the Adi Granth according to Gurbilas, Guru Arjan said, “Listen you all to my directive. And believe it as ever true. Accept the Granth as equal with the Guru. And think no distinctions between the two.”^[37]

The mainstream Sikh tradition recognised Guru Arjan as the fifth Guru, and Hargobind as the sixth Guru.^[19][31][38] 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.^[19]

Death

 

Painting of the torture and martyrdom of Arjan by the Punjabi painter Sri Ram (1876 – 1926)

Arjan died in Mughal custody; this has been one of the defining, though controversial, issues in Sikh history.^[39][40]

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 Punjabi political conflicts.^[14][40] A similar theory floated in the early 20th-century, asserts that this was just a politically-motivated single execution.^[41] According to this theory, there was an ongoing Mughal dynasty dispute between Jahangir and his son Khusrau suspected of rebellion by Jahangir, wherein Arjan blessed Khusrau and thus the losing side. Jahangir was jealous and outraged, and therefore he ordered the Guru's execution.^{[11][12][7][13]} But according to Jahangir's own autobiography, most probably he didn't understand the importance of Sikh gurus. He referred to 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 Arjan marks a sharp contrast to Jahangir's tolerant attitude towards other religions such as Hinduism and Christianity.^[42][43]

 

The Gurdwara Dera Sahib in Lahore, Pakistan, commemorates the spot where Guru Arjan Dev is traditionally believed to have died.

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,^[17] and that the Mughal rulers of Punjab were alarmed at the growth of the Panth.^[15][40][44] According to Jahangir's autobiography Tuzk-e-Jahangiri (Jahangirnama) which discussed Arjan's support for his rebellious son Khusrau, too many people were becoming persuaded by Arjan's teachings and if Arjan did not become a Muslim, the Sikh Panth had to be extinguished.^{[40][note 1]}

In 1606 CE, the Guru was imprisoned in Lahore Fort, where by some accounts he was tortured and executed,^[15][45] and by other accounts, the method of his death remains unresolved.^[40] The traditional Sikh account states that the Mughal emperor Jahangir demanded a fine of 200,000 rupees and demanded that 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, the Sikh accounts state, led to his execution.^[46] Some Muslim traditional accounts such as of Latif in 19th-century states that Arjan was dictatorial, someone who lived in splendour with "costly attire", who had left aside the rosary and the clothes of a saint (fakir).^[47] Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi cheered the punishment and execution of Arjun, calling the Sikh Guru an infidel.^{[48][note 2]} In contrast, Mian Mir – the Sufi friend of Arjan, lobbied when Jehangir ordered the execution and the confiscation of Arjan's property, then got the confiscation order deferred, according to Rishi Singh.^[51]

Some scholars state that the evidence is unclear whether his death was due to execution, torture or forced drowning in the Ravi river.^[12][52][53] J.S. Grewal notes that Sikh sources from the seventeenth and eighteenth-century contain contradictory reports of Arjan's death.^[54] J. F. Richard states that Jahangir was persistently hostile to popularly venerated saints, not just Sikhism.^[55] Bhai Gurdas was a contemporary of Arjan and is a noted 17th-century Sikh chronicler.^[56] His eyewitness account recorded Arjan's life, and the order by Emperor Jahangir to torture the Guru to death.^[57]

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 commute the torture and death sentence to a heavy fine, but this attempt failed.^[58] Dabistan-i Mazahib Mobad states Jahangir tortured Arjan in the hopes of extracting the money and public repudiation of his spiritual convictions, but the Guru refused and was executed.^[59] Jerome Xavier, in appreciation of the courage of Guru Arjun, wrote back to Lisbon, that Arjan suffered and was tormented.^[3]

According to the Sikh tradition, before his execution, Arjan instructed his son and successor Hargobind to take up arms, and resist tyranny.^[60] His execution led the Sikh Panth to become armed and pursue resistance to persecution under the Mughal rule.^[15][61] Michael Barnes states that the resolve and death of 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".^[3]

 

Guru Arjan hunting while mounted on horseback with a hawk. Painting from Faizabad, circa 1760.

There are several stories and versions about how, where and why Arjan died.^[62][63][64] Recent scholarship^[65][66] have offered alternative analyses, wary of "exaggerating fragmentary traces of documentary evidence in historical analysis". The alternate versions include stories about the role of 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 Arjan for not marrying his son Hargobind to Chandu Shah's daughter. In another Lahore version, Chandu Shah actually prevents 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.^[67] Several alternative versions of the story try to absolve Jahangir and the Mughal empire of any responsibility,^[63][68] 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.^[14][16][69]

Legacy

Amritsar

Arjan's father Guru Ram Das founded the town named after him "Ramdaspur", around a large man-made water pool called "Ramdas Sarovar". Arjan continued the infrastructure-building effort of his father. The town expanded during the time of 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. Arjan installed the scripture of Sikhism inside the new temple in 1604.^[7] The city that emerged is now known as Amritsar, and is the holiest pilgrimage site in Sikhism.^[7][70]

Continuing the efforts of Ram Das, Arjan established Amritsar as a primary Sikh pilgrimage destination. He wrote a voluminous amount of Sikh scripture including the popular Sukhmani Sahib. Arjan is credited with completing many other infrastructure projects, such as water reservoirs called Santokhsar (Pond of Contentment) and Gongsar (Pond of Bells),^[71] founding the towns of Tarn Taran, Kartarpur and Hargobindpur.^[72][73]

Community expansion

While having completing the Harmandir Sahib with dasvand donations during the first decade of his guruship between 1581 and 1589, creating a rallying point for the community and a center for Sikh activity, and a place for the installment of the Adi Granth, Arjan had also gone on a tour of Majha and Doaba in Punjab, where he would found the towns. Due to their central location in the Punjab heartland, the ranks of Sikhs would swell, especially among the Jat peasantry, and create a level of prosperity for them; Arjan would serve not only as a spiritual mentor but as a true emperor (sacchā pādshāh) for his followers in his own right.^[72]

Adi Granth

According to the Sikh tradition, 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.^[74] 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 (Bhagats).^[75][76] The compilation was completed on August 30, 1604, according to the Sikh tradition and installed in the Harmandir Sahib temple on September 1, 1604.^[77]

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 Arjan. According to Christopher Shackle and Arvind-Pal Singh Mandair, Arjan's compositions combined spiritual message in an "encyclopedic linguistic sophistication" with "Braj Bhasha forms and learned Sanskrit vocabulary".^[78]

After Arjan completed and installed the Adi Granth in the Harimandir Sahib, Mughal 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. Arjan sent him a copy on a thali (plate), with the following message that was later added to the expanded text:

In this thali (dish) you will find three things – truth, peace and contemplation:
in this too the nectar Name which is the support of all humanity.

— AG 1429, Translated by William Owen Cole and Piara Singh Sambhi^[79]

The Akbarnama by Abu'l-Fazl Allami mentions that 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.^[80]

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 Arjan, these hymns were distorted and fake, with some blaming Prithi Chand and his Sikh faction for having composed and circulated them.^[29][81] The concern and the possibility of wrong propaganda, immoral teachings and inauthentic Gurbani led 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.^[32][35]

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 Arjan.^[35][82]

Spelling

Some scholars spell Guru Arjan's name as 'Guru Arjun'.^[3][4]

Gallery

•  
  Gurgadi ceremony of Guru Arjan being pronounced as fifth Guru.
•  
  Guru Arjan miniature painting, ca.1800.
•  
  Guru Arjan with Sri Chand, miniature painting.
•  
  Guru Arjun Dev painting from the family workshop of Nainsukh of Guler.
•  
  Fresco of Guru Arjan Dev from Goindwal Baoli Sahib.
•  
  Guru Arjan compiling the Adi Granth with Bhai Gurdas.
•  
  Photograph from Gurdwara Lal Khoohi of the place where Guru Arjan is believed to have been incarcerated

See also

•  India portal
•  Biography portal
•  Punjab portal

• Sukhmani Sahib
• Guru Granth Sahib
• Sarinda (instrument)^[83]

Notes

1. The following is from Jahangir's memoirs:
   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 Murtaza Khan, and I ordered his possessions and goods confiscated and him executed. – Emperor Jahangir's Memoirs, Jahangirnama 27b-28a, (Translator: Wheeler M. Thackston)^[16]
2. This is from records of Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi, composed after the punishment and execution of Guru Arjun:
   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. – Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi, Letter to Murtaza Khan, On the execution of Guru Arjan^[14][49][50]

References

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2. "Arjan, Sikh Guru". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
3. Barnes, Michael (2012). Interreligious learning: dialogue, spirituality, and the Christian imagination. Cambridge University Press. pp. 245–246. ISBN 978-1-107-01284-4. 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
4. Dehsen, Christian (1999). Philosophers and religious leaders. Routledge. p. 14. ISBN 978-1-57958-182-4.
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12. Gandhi, R (14 September 2013). Punjab:A History from Aurangzeb to Mountbatten. Aleph Book Company. p. 34. ISBN 9789383064410. 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.
13. Sikh history from Persian sources : translations of major texts. J. S. Grewal, Irfan Habib, Indian History Congress. Session. New Delhi: Tulika. 2001. p. 4. ISBN 81-85229-17-1. OCLC 47024480. The author of the Dabistan refers to the blessings of Guru Arjan for the rebel Prince Khusrau. A heavy fine was imposed on Guru Arjan, which he was unable to pay. He was bound and kept on the hot sands of Lahore. He died due to the heat of the summer and the tortures inflicted by the officials responsible for collecting the fine.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
14. Pashaura Singh (2005), Understanding the Martyrdom of Guru Arjan 20 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine, Journal of Philosophical Society, 12(1), pages 29-62
15. Kulathungam, Lyman (2012). Quest : Christ amidst the quest. Wipf. pp. 175–177. ISBN 978-1-61097-515-5.
16. Jahangir, Emperor of Hindustan (1999). The Jahangirnama: Memoirs of Jahangir, Emperor of India. Translated by Thackston, Wheeler M. Oxford University Press. p. 59. ISBN 978-0-19-512718-8.
17. Pashaura Singh (2005), Understanding the Martyrdom of Guru Arjan 20 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine, 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."
18. Louis E. Fenech, Martyrdom in the Sikh Tradition, Oxford University Press, pp. 118-121
19. WH McLeod (1989). The Sikhs: History, Religion, and Society. Columbia University Press. pp. 26–51. ISBN 978-0231068154.
20. Eleanor Nesbitt (2016). Sikhism: a Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press. pp. 6, 122–123. ISBN 978-0-19-874557-0.
21. Guru Arjan Birthplace
22. Arvind-pal Singh Mandair (2013). Sikhism: A Guide for the Perplexed. Bloomsbury. pp. 39, 40. ISBN 9781441153661.
23. Mcleod, Hew (1997). Sikhism. London: Penguin Books. p. 26. ISBN 0-14-025260-6.
24. Pashaura Singh (2006). Life and Work of Guru Arjan: History, Memory, and Biography in the Sikh Tradition. Oxford University Press. pp. 50, 64, 98.
25. Life and Work of Guru Arjan: History, Memory, and Biography in the Sikh Tradition. Oxford University Press. p. 69.
26. Sikhism. University of Hawaii Press. 2 March 2012. ISBN 9780824860349.
27. J.S. Grewal (1990). The Sikhs of the Punjab, Volumes 2-3. Cambridge University Press. p. 46. ISBN 9780521637640.
28. Jain, Harish (2003). The Making of Punjab. Unistar Books. p. 275. Historians say that he was married to Mata Ram Dei on 20th June 1579 and to Mata Ganga on 19th May 1589. But the prevalent belief is that he had only one wife (Mata) Ganga who bore him only one son, Har Gobind, who was to become the sixth guru of the Sikhs.
29. Hardip Singh Syan (2013). Sikh Militancy in the Seventeenth Century: Religious Violence in Mughal and Early Modern India. I.B.Tauris. pp. 50–52. ISBN 978-1-78076-250-0.
30. J. S. Grewal (1998). The Sikhs of the Punjab. Cambridge University Press. pp. 54–55, 62–63. ISBN 978-0-521-63764-0.
31. Prītama Siṅgha (1992). Bhai Gurdas. Sahitya Akademi. pp. 27–28. ISBN 978-8172012182.
32. Louis E. Fenech; W. H. McLeod (2014). Historical Dictionary of Sikhism. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 39. ISBN 978-1-4422-3601-1.
33. W. H. McLeod (2009). The A to Z of Sikhism. Scarecrow Press. p. 20. ISBN 978-0-8108-6344-6.
34. Hardip Singh Syan (2013). Sikh Militancy in the Seventeenth Century: Religious Violence in Mughal and Early Modern India. I.B.Tauris. pp. 48–55. ISBN 978-1-78076-250-0.
35. Pashaura Singh; Louis E. Fenech (2014). The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies. Oxford University Press. pp. 171–172. ISBN 978-0-19-969930-8.
36. Arvind-Pal S. Mandair; Christopher Shackle; Gurharpal Singh (2013). Sikh Religion, Culture and Ethnicity. Taylor & Francis. pp. 20–22. ISBN 978-1-136-84634-2.
37. Gandhi, Surjit Singh (2007). History of Sikh Gurus Retold: 1606-1708 C.E. Atlantic Publishers & Dist. p. 946. ISBN 978-81-269-0858-5.
38. DS Dhillon (1988), Sikhism Origin and Development Atlantic Publishers, pp. 99-110
39. Pashaura Singh (2005), Understanding the Martyrdom of Guru Arjan 20 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine, 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."
40. W.H. McLeod (2009). The A to Z of Sikhism. Scarecrow Press. p. 20 (Arjan's Death). ISBN 9780810863446. "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.
41. Pashaura Singh (2005), Understanding the Martyrdom of Guru Arjan 20 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine, 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.”
42. Knappily. "August 31, 1569: Jahangir is born | Knappily". Knappily - The Knowledge App. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
43. Jahangir, Emperor of Hindustan (6 December 2016). Beveridge, Henry (ed.). The Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri: or, Memoirs of Jahangir (Volume 1 of 2). Translated by Rogers, Alexander.
44. J. S. Grewal (1998). The Sikhs of the Punjab. Cambridge University Press. pp. 63–64. ISBN 978-0-521-63764-0.
45. Pashaura Singh (2006). Life and Work of Guru Arjan: History, Memory, and Biography in the Sikh Tradition. Oxford University Press. pp. 23, 217–218. ISBN 978-0-19-567921-2.
46. Nayar, Kamala (2004). The Sikh Diaspora in Vancouver: Three Generations Amid Tradition, Modernity & Multiculturalism. University of Toronto Press. p. 123. ISBN 9780802086310.
47. Singh, Rishi (23 April 2015). State Formation and the Establishment of Non-Muslim Hegemony: Post-Mughal 19th-century Punjab. SAGE Publications India. pp. 40–41. ISBN 9789351505044., 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."
48. Pashaura Singh (2005), Understanding the Martyrdom of Guru Arjan 20 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine, Journal of Philosophical Society, 12(1), page 34
49. Sirhindi, Maktubat-i Imam-i Rabbani, I-iii, letter No. 193, pp. 95-6
50. Friedman Yohanan (1966), Shaikh Ahmad Sirhandi: An Outline of His Image in the Eyes of Posterity, Ph.D. Thesis, McGill University, pp. 110-112
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58. Father Jerome to Father Gasper Fernandes, (British Library 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.
59. 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.
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Bibliography

https://www.amazon.com/History-Sikhs-Vol-Gurus-1469-1708/dp/8121502764/ref=pd_rhf_d_dp_s_ci_mcx_mr_hp_d_sccl_1_3/145-9098560-6919419?pd_rd_w=EhQDc&content-id=amzn1.sym.0a853d15-c5a9-4695-90cd-fdc0b630b803&pf_rd_p=0a853d15-c5a9-4695-90cd-fdc0b630b803&pf_rd_r=43STA5ET49JHAD1KW93F&pd_rd_wg=QgeDc&pd_rd_r=a73a726d-d340-472d-a1b7-10ee05e97b57&pd_rd_i=8121502764&psc=1

1. Jahangir, Emperor of Hindustan (1909). Beveridge, Henry (ed.). The Tuzuk-i-Janhangīrī or Memoirs of Jahāngīr. Translated by Rogers, Alexander. London: Royal Asiatic Society.
2. History of the Panjab, Syad Muhammad Latif, Published by: Kalyani Publishers, Ludhiana, Punjab, India. ISBN 978-81-7096-245-8
3. Philosophy of 'Charhdi Kala' and Higher State of Mind in Sri Guru Granth Sahib, Dr. Harjinder Singh Majhail, 2010, Published by: Deepak Publishers, Jalandhar, Punjab, India. ISBN 81-88852-96-1
4. SIKH HISTORY IN 10 VOLUMES, Dr Harjinder Singh Dilgeer, Published by: The Sikh University Press, Brussels, Belgium. ISBN 2- 930247-41-X

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Preceded by Guru Ram Das

Sikh Guru 1 September 1581 – 25 May 1606

Succeeded by Guru Har Gobind