Sikh Gurus

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The Sikh Gurus (ਸਿੱਖ ਗੁਰੂ) are the spiritual masters of Sikhism, who established this religion over the course of about two and a half centuries, beginning in 1469. The year 1469 marks the birth of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism. He was succeeded by nine other gurus until, in 1708, the Guruship was finally passed on by the tenth guru to the holy Sikh scripture, Guru Granth Sahib, which is now considered the living Guru by the followers of the Sikh faith.

Etymology and definition

Main article: Guru

Guru (ɡʊruː, गुरु, ਗੁਰੂ) is a Sanskrit term for a “teacher, guide, expert, or master” of certain knowledge or field. Bhai Vir Singh, in his dictionary of Guru Granth Sahib describes the term Guru as a combination of two separate units: “Gu;(ਗੁ)” meaning darkness and “Rū;(ਰੂ)” which means light. Hence, Guru is who brings light into darkness or in other words, the one who enlightens.

Bhai Vir Singh’s definition provides further insight about Sikhi itself and explains why Guru Granth Sahib is considered the living Guru. The word Sikh is derived from the Sanskrit term shishya (ਸਿੱਖ) which means a disciple or a student. Thus, Sikhs have a student–teacher relationship with their Gurus since their teachings, written in Guru Granth Sahib, serve as a guide for the sikhs.

The Gurus

No.	Name	Birth Date	Guruship	Birth Place	Born as	Father	Mother	Date of death	Reason	Place of death
1	Guru Nanak Dev Ji	14 April 1469 ^{[note 1]}	Since birth	Nankana Sahib, Punjab, Delhi Sultanate	Hindu Khatri	Kalyan Das Bedi	Mata Tripta	22 September 1539	Natural causes	Kartarpur, Punjab, Mughal Empire
2	Guru Angad Dev Ji	31 March 1504	7 September 1539	Muktsar, Punjab, Mughal Empire	Hindu Khatri	Baba Pheru Mal	Mata Ramo	29 March 1552	Natural causes	Khadur Sahib, Punjab, Mughal Empire
3	Guru Amar Das Ji	5 May 1479	26 April 1552	Amritsar, Punjab, Mughal Empire	Hindu Khatri	Tej Bhan Bhalla	Mata Lachmi	1 September 1574	Natural causes	Goindval, Lahore Subah, Mughal Empire
4	Guru Ram Das Ji	24 September 1534	1 September 1574	Lahore, Punjab, Mughal Empire	Hindu Khatri	Baba Har Das	Mata Daya	1 September 1581	Natural causes	Goindval, Lahore Subah, Mughal Empire
5	Guru Arjan Dev Ji	15 April 1563	1 September 1581	Goindval, Punjab, Mughal Empire	Sikh	Guru Ram Das Ji	Mata Bhani	30 May 1606	Execution by Mughal Emperor Jahangir	Lahore, Lahore Subah, Mughal Empire
6	Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji	19 June 1595	25 May 1606	Amritsar, Lahore Subah, Mughal Empire	Sikh	Guru Arjun Dev Ji	Mata Ganga	28 February 1644	Natural causes	Kiratpur Sahib, Lahore Subah, Mughal Empire
7	Guru Har Rai Ji	16 January 1630	3 March 1644	Kiratpur Sahib, Lahore Subah, Mughal Empire	Sikh	Baba Gurditta	Mata Nihal Kaur	6 October 1661	Natural causes	Delhi, Delhi Subah, Mughal Empire
8	Guru Har Krishan Ji	7 July 1656	7 October 1661	Kiratpur Sahib, Lahore Subah, Mughal Empire	Sikh	Guru Har Rai Ji	Mata Krishan Kaur	30 March 1664	Smallpox	Delhi, Delhi Subah, Mughal Empire
9	Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji	1 April 1621	20 March 1664	Amritsar, Lahore Subah, Mughal Empire	Sikh	Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji	Mata Nanaki	11 November 1675	Execution by Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb	Delhi, Delhi Subah, Mughal Empire
10	Guru Gobind Singh Ji	05 January 1666	11 November 1675	Patna Sahib, Bihar Subah, Mughal Empire	Sikh	Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji	Mata Gujri	7 October 1708	Assassinated by Jamshed Khan and Wasil Beg on order of Wazir Khan	Hazur Sahib, Bidar Subah, Mughal Empire