ARJUN

born 1563, Goindwal, Punjab, India died May 30, 1606, Lahore, Punjab, Mughal Empire [now in Pakistan] the Sikh religion's fifth Guru and its first martyr. Arjun compiled the Adi Granth, or Granth Sahib (Lord Book), the sacred scripture of the Sikhs, a book revered almost as a god. One of the greatest of the Sikh Gurus, he quickly completed the Harimandir, or the Golden Temple, at Amritsar, where all Sikhs could worship as they pleased. He expanded that great Sikh centre commercially and thus was the first Guru to serve as both temporal and spiritual head of the Sikhs. The social reform and missionary efforts by earlier Gurus were extended under him. Guru Arjun prospered until the Mughal emperor Akbar died and his successor Jahangir began to oppress the Sikhs. Rumours against the Guru were spread by persons jealous of Arjun's popularity, and he was brought before Jahangir, who fined him 200,000 rupees and ordered the elimination of all sections of the Adi Granth that gave offense to either Vedanta (Hinduism) or Islam. Guru Arjun refused and was tortured to death. From that time on, the Sikhs, recognizing that they would be subject to further persecution by Mughal rulers, became more militaristic.