Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-t5tsf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-09T19:45:45.260Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

4 - Transformation of the Sikh Panth (1606–1708)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2008

J. S. Grewal
Get access

Summary

During the seventeenth century five Gurus succeeded Guru Arjan. His son, Guru Hargobind was succeeded by a grandson, Guru Har Rai. The younger son of Guru Har Rai, Guru Har Krishan was succeeded by a grand uncle, Guru Tegh Bahadur, the youngest son of Guru Hargobind. Guru Gobind Singh, who succeeded his father Guru Tegh Bahadur in 1675, abolished personal Guruship before his death in 1708.

Interference by the Mughal emperors Jahangir, Shah Jahan and Aurangzeb in the affairs of the Sikh Panth was an important feature of this period. We have already referred to the martyrdom of Guru Arjan at the beginning of Jahangir's rule. A few years later, Jahangir ordered the detention of Guru Hargobind in the fort of Gwalior which was generally used for detaining political prisoners. In the reign of Shah Jahan the Mughal administrators of the Punjab came into armed conflict with Guru Hargobind. 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. State interference was, thus, a serious matter.

State interference encouraged dissent within the Sikh Panth and accentuated disunity. Prithi Chand, significantly, put forth his claim to be the successor of Guru Arjan after his martyrdom, becoming thus a rival of Guru Hargobind. Dhir Mai, a grandson of Guru Hargobind, preferred to remain in the good books of the emperors and chose to have his own centre in the province of Lahore rather than succeeding to the office of Guru Hargobind at his headquarters in a vassal principality.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Sikhs of the Punjab , pp. 62 - 81
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1991

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Banerjee, Indubhushan, Evolution of the Khalsa, Calcutta, 1980, II.Google Scholar
Bedi, Kala Singh (ed.), Vār Sri Bhagautī Jī Kī, New Delhi, 1966.Google Scholar
(Singh, Fauja pbi, ed.), Ma'āsir-i-'ĀlamgīrīPunjabi University, Patiala, 1977.Google Scholar
(Singh, Ganda), Mākhiz-i-Tawārīkh-i-SikhānSikh History, Amritsar, 1949.Google Scholar
Goswamy, B. N.Grewal, J. S., The Mughals and the Jogis of Jakhbar, Indian Institute of Advanced study, Simla, 1967 Documents 9.Google Scholar
Grewal, J. S., ‘The Prophet of Assurance’, From Guru Nanak to Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, 1982 (2nd edn).Google Scholar
Grewal, J. S., Bal, S. S., Guru Gobind Singh (A Biographical Study), Panjab University, Chandigarh, 1967.Google Scholar
Gurdas, Bhai, Grewal, J. S., ‘Religious Literature and Secular History’ Proceedings Indian History Congress, Amritsar, 1985.Google Scholar
Gurdas, Bhai, Vārān Bhāi Gurdās (Singh, Giani Hazara), Wazir-i-Hind Press, Amritsar, 1962.Google Scholar
Habib, Irfan, Agrarian System of Mughal India (1526–1707), Asia Publishing House, Bombay, 1963.Google Scholar
McLeod, W. H., The Evolution of the sikh Community, Oxford Univeristy Press, 1975.Google Scholar
McLeod, W. H., Early Sikh Tradition, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1980Google Scholar
Senapat, , Srī Gursobha (ed. Singh, Ganda), Punjabi University, Patiala, 1980Google Scholar
Singh, Chetan, Region and Empire: Punjab in the Seventeenth Century, Oxford University Press, Delhi 1991.Google Scholar
Singh, Ganda (ed.), Hukmnāmey (Pbi), Punjabi University, Patiala, 1965.Google Scholar
Singh, Harbans: Guru Gobind Singh, Sterling Publishers, New Delhi, 1979.Google Scholar
Singh, Kirpal and published by the Sikh History Research Department of Khalsa College, Amritsar in 1962 as the Janam Sakhī Shri Guru Nanak Dev JīGoogle Scholar
(Singh, Taran ed.), Shabdarth Dasam Granth SahibPunjabi University, Patiala, 1973, I.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×