On 24 November 2026, Kartik Purnima, Sikhs mark Guru Nanak's Prakash Purab, the birth anniversary of the first Guru, with kirtan, nagar kirtans and langar in every gurdwara. India also observes Guru Tegh Bahadur's Shaheedi Diwas on 24 November, remembering the ninth Guru, who was beheaded in Delhi in 1675. The two dates frame one of the most examined stories in medieval history: ten Gurus, from 1469 to 1708, who gave a regional faith its institutions, its scripture and finally its sword. UPSC asks which Guru did what, and this page is built around that question.
The Ten Gurus at a Glance
By Narendra Singh · GS faculty, The Cavalier · 15 years teaching GS
The word Sikh means a disciple. The community grew slowly for a century and then changed character quickly. Learn the table first, and the stories fall into place.
| # | Guru | Guru from | What to remember |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nanak | Born 1469; Guru until 1539 | Founder. One formless God, no caste, common kitchen (langar), sangat; settled at Kartarpur |
| 2 | Angad | 1539 | Standardised the Gurmukhi script; organised langar; based at Khadur |
| 3 | Amar Das | 1552 | Manji system of preaching districts; Goindwal baoli; against sati and purdah; Anand hymn |
| 4 | Ram Das | 1574 | Founded Ramdaspur (Amritsar) and dug its sarovar; the masand system |
| 5 | Arjan Dev | 1581 | Harmandir Sahib; Adi Granth (1604); dasvandh; Tarn Taran; first martyr, 1606 |
| 6 | Hargobind | 1606 | Akal Takht; two swords (miri and piri); a standing armed guard; moved to Kiratpur |
| 7 | Har Rai | 1644 | Kept the army but avoided war; Kiratpur; sided with Dara Shikoh (tradition) |
| 8 | Har Krishan | 1661 | Child Guru (aged five); died of smallpox in Delhi, 1664 |
| 9 | Tegh Bahadur | 1664 | Founded Anandpur; travelled east; beheaded in Delhi, 1675 |
| 10 | Gobind Singh | 1675 | Khalsa (1699), five Ks, Zafarnama, ended the line of human Gurus (1708) |
Five Gurus of peaceful growth, Hargobind's turn to arms, three quieter Gurus, then two martyrdoms that led to the Khalsa.
Nanak to Ram Das: Building the Panth
Guru Nanak (1469–1539) was born into a Hindu merchant family at Talwandi, now Nankana Sahib, in a mostly Muslim Punjab. He trained as an accountant and worked under the governor Daulat Khan Lodi, then left the job, travelled widely and settled at Kartarpur. His message was nirguna bhakti: God has no form or gender, and the way to the Divine is to remember and repeat the Divine Name. He rejected image worship, ritual baths and austerities, and sang his hymns (shabad) in Punjabi. Tradition sums up his teaching as remember God, earn an honest living, share with others. The wider background is on our bhakti and Sufi movements page.
Two practices turned his followers into a community. He organised them into a sangat, a congregation with rules for collective recitation, and he asked everyone to eat together in the langar, the common kitchen, whatever their caste. Before his death he named a disciple, Angad, as successor, and that practice of choosing a Guru lasted nearly two hundred years.
UPSC has asked this directly (see the past papers). The sangat and its rules go back to Guru Nanak, not to the later Gurus. Likewise, langar began with Nanak; Angad organised it and Amar Das made it compulsory for visitors.
Guru Angad (Guru 1539–52) standardised Gurmukhi, the script of the Sikh scriptures. The letters existed before him, but his version became the standard. He trained the volunteers who ran the langar and set up wrestling arenas (mall akharas). Guru Amar Das (Guru 1552–74) moved the centre to Goindwal on the Beas and built there a step-well (baoli) of 84 steps, the first great Sikh pilgrimage site. His idea was administrative: he divided the community into manjis, preaching districts under trusted sangatias, men or women (tradition counts twenty-two). He spoke against sati and purdah and composed the Anand hymn, still recited at Sikh weddings. Tradition says Akbar sat in the row and ate langar before meeting him: "first pangat (the row), then sangat".
Guru Ram Das (Guru 1574–81) founded Ramdaspur, today's Amritsar, and finished the great pool (sarovar) around which it grew, inviting merchants and artisans to settle. He also began the masand system, agents in distant places who led congregations and collected offerings for the Guru. It later became linked with corruption.
Guru Arjan Dev: Amritsar, the Adi Granth and the First Martyrdom
With Guru Arjan (1563–1606; Guru from 1581) the Sikh community acquired a capital, a scripture and a treasury, and it also entered Mughal politics for the first time.
| Achievement | Detail |
|---|---|
| Harmandir Sahib | Built in the middle of the Amritsar sarovar, with a door on each side. Tradition says the Sufi saint Mian Mir of Lahore laid its foundation. Now the Golden Temple. |
| Adi Granth (1604) | Compiled with Bhai Gurdas as scribe: Guru Nanak's hymns and those of his successors up to Arjan, with verses of saints such as Kabir, Ravidas, Namdev and the Sufi Baba Farid. Installed in the Harmandir Sahib on 1 September 1604, with Baba Buddha as the first granthi. |
| Dasvandh and masands | Reorganised the masand system and asked Sikhs to give one-tenth (dasvandh) of their income, which paid for gurdwaras and langar |
| New towns | Tarn Taran, Kartarpur (in Jalandhar) and Hargobindpur |
By placing Sufi and bhakti voices beside the Gurus, the Adi Granth gave Sikhs one written authority and showed a community built on shared devotion.
The growth worried the Mughal state. In 1606 Emperor Jahangir faced a revolt by his son Khusrau. Sikh tradition says Arjan blessed the rebel prince, and Jahangir's memoirs treat the Guru as a religious leader who had gathered too many followers. Arjan was arrested and died in Mughal custody at Lahore in 1606. Accounts of how he died differ, but Sikhs remember him as their first martyr. His son and successor Hargobind answered by taking up arms.
Hargobind to Tegh Bahadur: Sword and Spirit
Guru Hargobind (1595–1644; Guru from 1606) was eleven at his accession. At the ceremony he wore two swords: piri for spiritual authority and miri for worldly authority. Opposite the Harmandir Sahib he built the Akal Takht ("throne of the Timeless"), the seat of the community's worldly decisions, and kept an armed force. Jahangir held him in Gwalior Fort. Under Shah Jahan, Sikh and Mughal forces fought openly (Amritsar, 1634). He then withdrew to the Shivalik foothills, founded Kiratpur and died there in 1644.
Guru Har Rai (1644–61) kept the armed guard but avoided war; tradition says he helped Dara Shikoh in the war of succession. Guru Har Krishan became Guru in 1661 at the age of five, the youngest ever. Called to Delhi, he fell ill with smallpox and died in March 1664; Gurdwara Bangla Sahib stands where he died.
Guru Tegh Bahadur (1621–75; Guru from 1664) founded Anandpur in the Shivalik foothills and travelled east to Patna, Dhaka and Assam. In 1675, with Aurangzeb's religious policy pressing hard on Kashmir, a group of Kashmiri Pandits sought his protection. He was arrested, taken to Delhi and asked to perform a miracle or convert. He refused and was beheaded in Chandni Chowk in 1675, after three of his companions, Bhai Mati Das, Bhai Sati Das and Bhai Dayal Das, were killed before him. Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib marks the spot, and Rakab Ganj Sahib marks where a disciple burned his own house to cremate the body. He is remembered as Hind di Chadar, "shield of India".
The year 1675 is certain, but sources give the day differently (11 November in some, while the Shaheedi Diwas is observed on 24 November). In an exam, rely on the year.
Guru Gobind Singh: The Khalsa and the Eternal Guru
Guru Gobind Singh (1666–1708) was born at Patna and became Guru at nine, after his father's execution. The lesson the community drew was that prayer alone could not protect it. He fortified Anandpur, fought hill chiefs at Bhangani in 1688 and on Baisakhi, 13 April 1699, founded the Khalsa ("the pure") there.
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| The first five | Panj Pyare: five volunteers who offered their heads, were initiated with amrit (sweetened water stirred with a double-edged sword), and then initiated the Guru himself |
| Names | Men took the surname Singh ("lion"); Kaur for women became universal later |
| The five Ks | Kesh (uncut hair), kangha (comb), kara (steel bracelet), kirpan (dagger), kachera (short breeches) |
Wars followed. In December 1704 the Mughal and hill armies attacked the Guru's party at Chamkaur, where his two elder sons died fighting. His two younger sons, held at Sirhind by the governor Wazir Khan, were put to death for refusing to convert. In 1705 he wrote the Zafarnama, a Persian letter accusing Aurangzeb of breaking his word. At Damdama Sahib he is said to have added his father's hymns to the Adi Granth, giving the Guru Granth Sahib.
At Nanded in 1708 he was stabbed by an Afghan attacker. Before dying in October 1708 he declared that the line of human Gurus would end and that the Guru Granth Sahib (with the Khalsa Panth) would be the Guru from then on.
Mughal Relations and Banda Bahadur
| Mughal ruler | Relations with the Gurus |
|---|---|
| Akbar (1556–1605) | Friendly. Tradition says he ate in the Goindwal langar |
| Jahangir (1605–27) | Break. Arjan died in custody in 1606 (the Khusrau affair); Hargobind was jailed at Gwalior |
| Shah Jahan (1628–58) | Armed clashes with Hargobind (Amritsar, 1634) |
| Aurangzeb (1658–1707) | Open hostility: Tegh Bahadur beheaded (1675); wars with Gobind Singh; the Zafarnama |
| Bahadur Shah I (1707–12) | Conciliation with Gobind Singh, a high mansab; then a campaign against Banda |
For how Mughal revenue and rank worked, see our Mughal administration page.
After Guru Gobind Singh, leadership passed to his disciple Banda Singh Bahadur (born Lachman Dev, 1670; he met the Guru at Nanded in 1708). Banda rallied the Sikh peasants and in May 1710 won the battle of Chappar Chiri, where Wazir Khan was killed. He took Sirhind, made Lohgarh his capital, issued his own coins and ended the zamindari system by giving land to the cultivators. Banda was captured at Gurdas Nangal in December 1715 and executed in Delhi in June 1716.
As Nadir Shah's and Abdali's invasions broke Punjab's government, the Sikhs rose again, much as the Marathas rose elsewhere. Organised into twelve misls (confederacies), they controlled Punjab between 1765 and 1800. Ranjit Singh took Lahore in 1799 and Amritsar in 1802, and the Treaty of Amritsar (1809) with the British fixed the Sutlej as the limit of his kingdom.
The line of Gurus ended in 1708. Any option calling Banda "the eleventh Guru" is wrong.
How UPSC Has Asked It: Past Papers Solved
These are actual UPSC questions on the Sikh Gurus and the Bhakti and Punjab themes around them. Three are from the CAPF (Assistant Commandants) paper. The common trap is to attach a famous institution to the wrong Guru, so learn the table in the first section.
The rules for congregational worship (Sangat) involving collective recitation were organized by
(a) Guru Nanak (b) Guru Angad (c) Guru Arjan (d) Guru Govind Singh
Answer: (a). Guru Nanak organised his followers and set up the rules of congregational worship, then named Angad as successor. Angad is the tempting option because he continued the work.
Consider the following statements 1. The early Sikh Gurus were religious preachers and did not interfere in politics but Guru Arjan extended his good wishes for the rebel prince Khusrau. 2. Guru Arjan attempted to organize the finances by introducing the system of more or less compulsory 'spiritual tribute' to be collected by his agents called Masands. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only (b) 2 only (c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer: (c). Statement 1 is the Khusrau affair behind Arjan's death. Statement 2 is dasvandh, collected by masands (begun by Ram Das, reorganised by Arjan).
Who among the following Bhakti saints did not belong to Nirguna School of Bhakti?
(a) Kabir (b) Nanak (c) Dadu (d) Chaitanya
Answer: (d). Kabir, Nanak and Dadu worshipped a God without form. Chaitanya was a devotee of Krishna, a saguna form.
Consider the following statements about the Treaty of Amritsar (1809): 1. The Treaty fixed the Sutlej as the boundary between the Punjab and British India 2. It was after this treaty that Maharaja Ranjit Singh was able to annex Jammu, Multan and Kashmir to his domains. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only (b) 2 only (c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer: (c). The treaty stopped Ranjit Singh at the Sutlej, so he expanded north and west: Multan (1818), Kashmir (1819), Peshawar (1823).
Which one of the following pairs denoting various forms of 'Bhakti' is not correctly matched?
(a) Saguna: Belief in Gods with attributes (b) Nirguna: Belief in Gods without attributes (c) Alvars: Believed in devotion of Shakti (d) Nayanars: Believed in devotion of Shiva
Answer: (c). The Alvars were devotees of Vishnu, the Nayanars of Shiva. Neither worshipped Shakti.
Expect "which Guru did X" questions, Bhakti-stream questions that test Nanak as nirguna, and Punjab history after the Gurus (misls, Ranjit Singh, Treaty of Amritsar).
Practice MCQs (with answers)
- Which Guru is credited with standardising the Gurmukhi script?
- Guru Nanak
- Guru Angad
- Guru Amar Das
- Guru Arjan
- The two swords worn by Guru Hargobind, miri and piri, stood for
- war and peace
- the Khalsa and the sangat
- Sikhs and Hindus
- worldly and spiritual authority
- Which pair is correctly matched?
- Guru Ram Das: founded Ramdaspur (Amritsar)
- Guru Amar Das: compiled the Adi Granth
- Guru Har Rai: founded the Khalsa
- Guru Arjan: founded Anandpur
- Guru Tegh Bahadur was beheaded in Delhi in 1675 on the orders of
- Jahangir
- Shah Jahan
- Aurangzeb
- Bahadur Shah I
- Which of these places was NOT founded by Guru Arjan?
- Tarn Taran
- Hargobindpur
- Anandpur
- Kartarpur (Jalandhar)
- Banda Singh Bahadur killed the Sirhind governor Wazir Khan at the battle of
- Chappar Chiri
- Chamkaur
- Bhangani
- Muktsar
- In 1708 the line of personal Gurus ended when Guru Gobind Singh gave the guruship to
- Banda Bahadur
- the Panj Pyare alone
- the Dasam Granth
- the Guru Granth Sahib
- Which Guru became Guru at the age of five and died of smallpox in Delhi?
- Guru Hargobind
- Guru Har Krishan
- Guru Har Rai
- Guru Gobind Singh
1-b, 2-d, 3-a, 4-c, 5-c, 6-a, 7-d, 8-b. Q3: the others swap Amar Das (manji), Arjan (Adi Granth), Gobind Singh (Khalsa) and Tegh Bahadur (Anandpur). Q5: Tegh Bahadur founded Anandpur. Q7: the Dasam Granth is a separate text. Q8: Hargobind was eleven and Gobind Singh nine at accession.
Quick Revision
- Nanak (1469–1539): nirguna; sangat, langar; Kartarpur. Angad: Gurmukhi. Amar Das: manji, Goindwal baoli, against sati and purdah. Ram Das: Amritsar, masand.
- Arjan: Harmandir Sahib; Adi Granth 1604; dasvandh; first martyr, 1606 (Jahangir, Khusrau). Hargobind: Akal Takht, miri and piri, Kiratpur. Har Krishan: child Guru, smallpox, 1664.
- Tegh Bahadur: Anandpur; beheaded 1675 by Aurangzeb at Chandni Chowk (Sis Ganj); Shaheedi Diwas 24 Nov.
- Gobind Singh: Khalsa, Baisakhi 1699, Anandpur; Panj Pyare; five Ks; Chamkaur 1704; Zafarnama 1705; Guru Granth Sahib the eternal Guru, 1708.
- Banda: Chappar Chiri 1710; Lohgarh; captured 1715, executed 1716. Twelve misls; Ranjit Singh; Treaty of Amritsar 1809 (Sutlej).
Frequently asked questions
What did Guru Nanak teach?
Guru Nanak taught nirguna bhakti: one formless God, reached by remembering the Divine Name. He rejected caste, ritual baths and image worship, asked his followers to remember God, earn honestly and share, and began the common kitchen (langar).
Which Guru founded Amritsar and which built the Golden Temple?
Guru Ram Das founded Ramdaspur, now Amritsar, in 1574 and completed its sacred pool. His son Guru Arjan built the Harmandir Sahib (the Golden Temple) in the pool and installed the Adi Granth there in 1604.
Why were Guru Arjan Dev and Guru Tegh Bahadur executed?
Jahangir had Guru Arjan arrested in 1606, accusing him of backing the rebel prince Khusrau and seeing the Sikh community's growth as a threat. Aurangzeb had Guru Tegh Bahadur beheaded in 1675 after he refused to convert; tradition says he had taken up the cause of Kashmiri Pandits.
What is the Khalsa and who founded it?
The Khalsa ("the pure") is the order of initiated Sikhs founded by Guru Gobind Singh on Baisakhi, 13 April 1699, at Anandpur. Its first members were the Panj Pyare. Members take the name Singh or Kaur and wear the five Ks.
Who was the last Sikh Guru?
Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Guru, was the last human Guru. Before dying at Nanded in October 1708 he declared the Guru Granth Sahib to be the Guru from then on. Banda Singh Bahadur led the Sikhs afterwards but was never a Guru.
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