GOBIND SINGH

born 1666, Patna, Bihar, India died Oct. 7, 1708, Nanded, Maharashtra original name Gobind Rai 10th and last Sikh Guru, known chiefly for his creation of the Khalsa (q.v.), the military brotherhood of the Sikhs. Gobind Singh inherited his grandfather Guru Hargobind's love of the military life and was also a man of great intellectual attainments. He was a linguist familiar with Persian, Arabic, and Sanskrit as well as his native Punjabi. He further codified Sikh law, wrote poetry, and was the reputed author of the Sikh work called the Dasam Granth (Tenth Volume). Giving the Sikhs a firm military basis was Gobind Singh's greatest achievement. According to one tradition, one morning after services, he sat in meditation before a great number of Sikhs. Suddenly he rose and said, My sword wants a head. Who will come forward and sacrifice himself for the faith? Fear, anxiety, and disbelief spread through the crowd. Finally one man stepped out. The Guru and his victim disappeared into a tent. A few minutes later Gobind Singh appeared with dripping sword, calling for another sacrificial volunteer. This ceremony continued until five men had volunteered. All then reappeared alive. Gobind Singh had merely tested their faith. Given the title pac-piara (the five beloved), they formed the nucleus of the great Sikh military brotherhood known as the Khalsa, founded in 1699. Every move Gobind Singh made was calculated to instill a fighting spirit in his Sikhs. He created a body of martial poetry and music. He developed in his people a love of the swordhis sacrament of steel. With the Khalsa as the guiding spirit of the reconstituted Sikh army, he moved against the Sikhs' enemies on two fronts: one army against the Mughals and the other against the hill tribes. His troops were totally devoted and totally committed to Sikh ideals, willing to risk everything in the cause of Sikh religious and political freedom. He paid a heavy price for this freedom, however. In one battle near Ambala, he lost all four of his sons. Later the struggle claimed his wife, mother, and father. He himself was killed by a Pashtun tribesman in revenge for the death of his father. Gobind Singh proclaimed that he was the last of the personal Gurus. From that point forward, the Sikh Guru was to be the holy book, the Adi Granth. Gobind Singh stands today in the minds of Sikhs as the ideal of chivalry, the Sikh soldier-saint.