The Martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur
Tegh Bahadur (1621-75) was the ninth of the ten gurus who established the Sikh religion. As he grew up he wrote beautiful poetry that was included in the Guru Granth.
Tegh Bahadur's father had predicted that he would become the next guru but his mother wondered if such a humble and unambitious person could attain that rank. He did, though, succeed to the leadership of the Sikhs just at the time when the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb was imposing Islam on the people. Aurangzeb closed down Hindu schools, demolished temples or turned them into mosques, charged non-Muslims heavy taxes and inflicted cruel punishments on those who would not conform.
Guru Tegh Bahadur refused Aurangzeb's order to convert to Islam and, in 1675, was brought to Delhi and beheaded on a site that later became an important gurdwara (Sikh temple). He is honoured as a man who died for religious freedom for all peoples, not just Sikhs.
To commemorate his supreme sacrifice, Sikhs have a day of religious processions and sing hymns in the gurdwaras.
