TEGH BAHADUR

born 1621?, Amritsar, Punjab, India died Nov. 11, 1675, Delhi ninth Sikh Guru and second Sikh martyr, who gave his life for a religion not his own. After the eighth Guru, Hari Krishen, the child Guru, told his followers that his successor would be found in the village of Bakala, a deputation went there and found 22 claimants. Bhai Makhan Shah, a wealthy Sikh merchant, sought out Tegh Bahadur, who, he realized, displayed none of the greed and self-aggrandizement of the other pretenders. Thereupon he proclaimed Tegh Bahadur ninth Guru. Tegh Bahadur ran afoul of the Mughal authorities by giving aid and shelter to some Hindu holy men from Kashmir who had been ordered by the emperor Aurangzeb to accept Islam. The Hindus sent word to the emperor that they would accept Islam if the Guru became a Muslim. Tegh Bahadur was arrested and confined to the fortress in Delhi. Rivals at court, wishing to harm him further, accused him of having worldly desires because he gazed constantly at the emperor's harem, which lay to the west of the prison. When confronted with this charge, the Guru is said to have replied: Emperor, I was not gazing at your queen's apartments. I was looking in the direction of the Europeans who are coming from beyond the western seas to destroy your empire. Aurangzeb, his patience at an end, ordered the Guru to embrace Islam or perform a miracle. Tegh Bahadur refused to do either and, after the Guru recited the Japji (the most important Sikh scripture), the executioner decapitated him. A loyal Sikh took the Guru's head back to Anandpur, and his body was cremated. A Sikh shrine, Gurdwara Rakabgunj, marks the spot.