Guru Har Rai was born to (Mata) Kishan Kaur (also known as Mata Bassi and Mata Ananti) and Gurditta (son of Guru Hargobind) on the 16th of January 1630 at Keeratpur. In 1635 his grandfather (Guru Hargobind) too moved to Keeratpur, and he spent the next nine years in his company; that is why he had several qualities similar to his grandfather. He got his early education from Diwan Dargah Mall as well as Bhai Aru Ram Dutt and Jaati Mall Purohit.
Guru Har Rai also received training as a soldier too; Bhai Bidhi Chand Chhina taught him horse-riding, sword-wielding, arrow-shooting and other martial arts; and, by the age of thirteen, he had become well versed in military arts. He had good command over the study of Gurbani too. The Sikhs visiting Keeratpur loved to have dialogue with him; his intelligence surprised them and they had a feeling that he had all the qualities to be a successor of the Guru. Guru Hargobind too had observed all this and on the 2nd of February 1641, he (Guru) had expressed such a feeling.
Guru Har Rai was very intelligent, soft-spoken, humble, and had a helpful nature. He had such a delicate nature that once, when he was having a walk in the garden, a flower was struck into his cloak and its petal leaves were broken. This made him very sad; his grandfather Guru Hargobind was watching all this. He went to Har Rai and asked him not to be sad as the petal leaves can‟t be fixed again on it and he should take it as the command of God; all that he could do is to be very careful in future.
Guru Har Rai used to advise the Sikhs that even the plants have life; he asserted that one should enjoy the sight of living flowers instead of holding „dead‟ flowers in hand or in garlands or even for so-called worship. He used to recite the verse:
(O! gardener-girl), you pluck the leaves, know that every leaf has life.
For the stone (idols) you are plucking leaves (&) that stone is inanimate.
In this way, the gardener-girl is mistaking.
The true Guru, the divine is awakening). 1
When, in 1644, Guru Har Rai took the command of the Sikh mission, he always remembered this incident and dealt with every situation very carefully.
Guru Har Rai spent most of the early period of his life time at Keeratpur with the exception of some 12-13 years (from 1645 to 1657) when he had to move to village Thappal (in Sirmaur/Nahan state) due to rebellion of Tara Chand, the ruler of Bilaspur State, who had stopped paying tribute to the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. The Guru asked him to declare sovereignty and be ready to fight against the Mughal Emperor or pay him the amount of tribute. But he did not bother as a result he was arrested. After his release, Tara Chand visited Thappal and requested Guru Sahib to return to Keeratpur; thus the Guru returned to Keeratpur in 1657.
Guru Har Rai was so fond of flowers and herbs that he had planted several herbs in his garden. He had good knowledge of herbs and he had also employed some Hakims and Vaids (doctors) who were always engaged in the research of medicines. Due to great veriety of the flowers, the Guru’s garden was known as „garden of heavens‟. According to a tradition, one of these herbs was used to cure some disease of Dara Shikoh, the emperor‟s son (and this led to friendly relations between the Guru and Dara Shikoh).
1 paatee torai maalini paatee paatee jee-o.
jis paahan ka-o paatee torai so paahan nirjee-o.
bhoolee maalnee hai ay-o.
satgur jaagtaa hai day-o. (Guru Granth Sahib, page 479)
Guru Har Rai’s Missionary Journeys
Although Guru Har Rai spent most of his time at Keeratpur but he used to make missionary journeys to different zones to preach Sikhism and have a dialogue with the Sikhs of different areas. Some of his major tours were as follows:
During all these missionary journeys, the Guru visited several families, held discourses and discussed the affairs of the Panth. He stayed with several prominent Sikhs including Bhai Binjhu, Binda, Gaajar (at Kotla Shamas Khan), Gharhia, Sukhia, Chowdhry Sood (at Nurmahal), Rup Chand (at Bhai Rupa), Kirpal, Bidhi Chand, Tara, Gurdas (sons of Bhai Bahilo), Bihari (at Daroli Bhai), Zaid Parana, Kauras and Bhullars (at Nathana), Chowdhry Kala, Sandali, Phul etc (at Mehraj), Sangatia (at Mian Ki Maur, Lahore), Sabla (at Jalalpur Jattan), Padma Chauhan, Durga Das Chauhan (at Daburji Udey Karan Wali, Sialkot), Kiratia (at Galotian Khurd), Nand Lal Puri (grandfather of Haqiqt Singh) and his relatives (at Sialkot), Dasa and his son Makhan Shah Lubana (at Tanda Lubana also known as Mota Tanda), Aru Ram Dutt and Kirpa Ram Dutt (at Mattan, Kashmir), Gautam Chhiber (at Kariala, Jehlum) etc.
Besides these missionary tours, Guru Har Rai made several visits to Kartarpur (Jalandhar), which had been founded by Guru Arjan. He took special interest into its development; he got Gangsar well and the sarovar (tank) renovated. During Kartarpur and Goindwal visits, he used to make stop-overs at Phagwara, Puadara, Nurmahal, Nakodar, Sultanpur and several other villages. Gurdwaras have been established in several villages of this area.
He made some visits to presently known as Malwa area too. He visited Daroli (the village of his mother’s sister where his father Gurditta was born in 1608 and his grandmother had died), Bhai Rupa, Nathana, Mehraj, Moga and Zira too. He also visited Goindwal several times and also made stopovers at Harike, Tarn Taran, Guru-Da-Chakk (Amritsar) also. He had a long tour of Jammu and Kashmir in 1660-61.
He used to frequently visit villages around Keeratpur. Gurdwaras built in the memory of his visit, in the villages Daulowal, Raipur Sani, Malerh, Barhuwal, Shahpur and Chanauli have preserved the history of his visits. He had a stable for his horses at Chanauli village (he had 2200 horses) and a fort at Daulowal where he used to make frequent visits.
Guru Har Rai’s Family
Guru Har Rai was just ten years old when his father died; he was looked after by his grandfather Guru Hargobind. He was married to Sulakkhani (daughter of Bhai Daya Ram of village Anupnagar, district Gujranwala) on the 14th of January 1640;2 at the time of the marriage Sulakkhani was just ten years old. After some time, her father moved to village
2 Guru Kian Sakhian, sakhi no. 4, pp.42-43 has given detail of this marraige.
Kalyanpur, near Keeratpur; when she was 12 years old she joined her husband, on the 16th of June 1642. Sulakkhani was also known as Kotkalyani (because her parents began living at Kot Kalyanpur). She gave birth to three children:3 (Ram Rai on 24.2.1646, Roop Kaur on 9.4.1649 and (Guru) Harkrishan on 20.7.16524), and due to this she was also known as Triveni (literally: flow of three rivers in one, here three children). It is noteworthy that some writers (including Kahan Singh Nabha, in Mahan Kosh) have mentioned that the Guru was married to seven real sisters. It is simply ridiculous; no father will marry his all seven daughters to ten years old boy, even if that boy was the son/grandson of a Guru; secondly, in this case, the youngest girl must be a baby of a few days (if all of them were born with a difference of just one year each). Several such improbable and incorrect stories have been added to the Sikh history by inept and irresponsible writers (mostly by Santokh Singh and Giani Gian Singh).
Guru Hargobind had passed away on the 3rd of March 1644 after giving Gurgaddi (the charge of the Sikh mission) to Guru Har Rai. He was just fourteen years and two and half months old at that time; but, he had remarkable understanding and training of the organizational system of the Sikh Panth. Moreover, he was an intelligent person with knowledge of Sikh philosophy and history. Even during the time of Guru Hargobind, he had been actively participating in all the activities of the Guru.
Helping Dara Shikoh
The first major situation that Guru Har Rai had to face was the rebellion of Tara Chand, the ruler of Bilaspur against the Mughal emperor (in 1645). As a result Guru Sahib left Keeratpur and moved to Thappal village (in Sirmaur/Nahan State).
In 1657, Shah Jahan, the Mughal emperor, had been suffering from some disease and was bed-ridden; he had realized that he won’t be able to carry his royal duties, so he declared his eldest son Dara Shikoh as emperor-designate. On the other hand, Aurangzeb, another son of Shah Jahan, too wanted to be emperor. Aurangzeb had a personal army of several thousand soldiers and had several loyal generals; besides, he had ‘friendly’ relations with the Hindu- Rajput chieftains too; the Jaipur-Amber chief Jai Sinh Mirza was his most loyal general.
When Shah Jahan declared Dara Shikoh as emperor-designate, Aurangzeb decided to occupy the throne by force; he led a big army to capture Agra (the then capital of the Mughal emperor). A major battle between his army and the emperor’s army (under the command of Dara Shikoh) was fought on the 29th of May 1657 at Shamugarh, which resulted into Aurangzeb‟s victory. Aurangzeb occupied the throne, arrested his father Shah Jahan, and imprisoned him in the fort at Agra. (This broke the heart of Shah Jahan; he was permanently confined to bed and died there, in prison, after 9 years).
On the other hand, having been defeated, Dara Shikoh fled towards the land of five rivers; he wanted to occupy Lahore so that he may make preparations to launch an attack on Aurangzeb. Aurangzeb knew this, so he wanted to get rid of Dara Shikoh forever; he sent army, under the command of Jai Sinh Mirza, who was his most loyal general, to capture Dara Shikoh.
In the meanwhile, Dara Shikoh crossed river Beas at Goindwal, on the first of July 1658. After crossing the ferry, he visited Guru Har Rai and sought his help; the Guru promised that his soldiers will help him in case he would choose to fight against Aurangzeb. On the advice of the Guru, the Bilaspur and other hill states too had promised him help. After this, Dara Shikoh marched towards Lahore. In the meanwhile, Aurangzeb’s army, under the command of Jai Sinh Mirza, too reached near river Beas. By that time, the Guru had already removed
3 Guru Kian Sakhian, sakhi no. 5, pp.43-44.
4 Another popular date is 1656 but primary sources confirm 1652.
all the boats from the river so that Aurangzeb’s forces may not be able to cross the river; hence it took Jai Sinh Mirza several days to arrange for new boats.
During all this period Dara Shikoh tried to organize help from Iran and Afghanistan, but it could not materialize; even in the Punjab zone (Lahore, Multan and Dipalpur states) he could not get enough support. Having lost heart, he left Lahore on the 18th of August and fled towards Multan. Aurangzeb’s army took control of Lahore on the 19th of August; within a few days Dara Shikoh too was captured and Aurangzeb ordered severing off his head, which was executed on the night of the 30th and the 31st of August 1659.
Aurangzeb Summons Guru Sahib
Although Aurangzeb was now free from Dara Shikoh but he felt that he was not fully safe on his throne; so, he ordered arrest of all those who had even expressed sympathy for Dara Shikoh. Having tested the credentials of all these persons he punished those who could pose even a little danger to him. Those of the rest, who assured their loyalty in future, were released. Aurangzeb had received reports about Guru Har Rai’s sympathies with Dara Shikoh. He decided to summon Guru Har Rai too.
At that time the Guru had already set for his missionary tour. He spent the chumasa (literally: four months of the rainy season, i.e. mid July to mid October,) of 1659 at Jalalpur Jattan. Here, Bhai Sabla and his family served the Guru in a royal manner. For about four months, daily congregation was held at his residence and everyday people would attend in great numbers.
In October, Bhai Padma Chauhan (of Doburji Udaykaran Wali, district Sialkot) visited Jalalpur and requested the Guru to visit his village. Padma, his brother Durga Das and father Kaulji Das had been the visiting the court of the Guru since long; and this family had the charge of the local Sikh missionary centre. The Guru spent two months at Doburji. Before he could leave the village, the whole of the area had adopted the Sikh faith.
In the last days of November, Bhai Kiratia of Galotian Khurd visited Doburji and requested the Guru to pay a visit to his village; the Guru oblieged him and spent the winter season at Galotian Khurd. During these three months hundreds of residents of the area joined Sikh faith.
In March 1660, Bhai Nand Lal Puri of Sialkot (grandfather of Shaheed Veer Haqiqat Singh) visited Galotian and requested the Guru to spend a few weeks at Sialkot. The Guru agreed and spent more than one month in Sialkot; hundreds used to visit him every day to listen to his sermons. Bhai Nand Lal, his sons Bhag Mall and Bagh Chand served the Guru with devotion; their house became a shrine which thousands of local residents visited.
In early April, Bhai Makhan Shah Lubana visited Guru Sahib at the residence of Bhai Nand Lal and requested the Guru to visit Kashmir. Makhan Shah used to live in village Tanda Lubana (which was also known as Mota Tanda), which was not far from Srinagar. The Guru obliged him and travelled to Kashmir in his tanda (merchant caravan). His first major stop-over was Srinagar where he reached on 20th of April 1660.
From here, the Guru went to Tanda Lubana and stayed with the family of Makhan Shah Lubana. During the Guru’s stay at Tanda, Bhai Dasa (father of Makhan Shah) breathed his last; his cremation was performed by the Guru himself. Having visited a few more villages in the area, he began his return journey; on his way back to Keeratpur, he visited Akhnur, Jammu, Ramgarh, Khirari, Samba, Pathankot etc.
On the 29th of March 1661 (the first of Visakh month of Bikrami calender), a large number of Sikhs visited Keeratpur to attend annual congregation of the Panth. On this day, Diwan Paras Ram, minister of Raja Jai Sinh Mirza, one of the senior courtiers of Aurangzeb, too came to Keeratpur to deliver letter (summons) from Aurangzeb asking the Guru to appear in his court, to explain his help to Dara Shikoh. The Guru sent Ram Rai, his elder son, to talk
to Aurangzeb. Ram Rai was escorted by Diwan Dargah Mall, Binna Uppal, Daria Parmar and Gurdas (son of Bhai Bahilo).
Ram Rai reached Delhi in the first week of April 1661 and stayed with a Sikh family in the village of Chandraval Khera on the bank of river Yamuna (now Majnu Tilla). Diwan Paras Ram informed the court of Aurangzeb about the arrival of Ram Rai. After some days Ram Rai was called into the court, inside the Red Fort. Aurangzeb asked Jai Sinh Mirza to keep Ram Rai in his ‘supervision’ (perhaps as a security). It is likely that Ram Rai had to be present in the court premises everyday because Aurangzeb could have called him any time. One day, when Ram Rai was present in the court of Aurangzeb, the latter asked him to explain a hymn from the Granth; some fanatic Hindus had informed him about that hymn with a view to antagonize him against the Guru. This hymn said that the soil formed by dead remains of a Muslim (also) goes to a potter who burns it to makes utensils etc;5 burning of the dead body is a sin (and the worst punishment) for a Muslim; hence such reference could be considered offensive. When Ram Rai was asked to read and explain this hymn, he translated it as “a Muslim, who is ‘dishonest’, soil of his body, buried in grave, will go to a potter to be used for making utensils and it will get burnt when utensils are baked.” Ram Rai had done this in order to please Aurangzeb and it was an act of flattery as well as a blasphemy.
This incident was reported to Guru Har Rai, who expressed his disapproval of the act of Ram Rai and issued orders asking him not to enter Keeratpur again; when Ram Rai got this message, he became despondent and after leaving Delhi, instead of going to Keeratpur, he went to Lahore. When the Sikhs of Lahore did not accept him, he realized that he had, now, no place in the Sikh world; he went to Bilaspur too6 but they too did not want to disobey the orders of the Guru. Having been rejected by all, he decided to go to Delhi where Aurangzeb consoled him and added him to the guild of his faithful followers; he granted him a jagir of Khurvadhi and six villages in the hills where he established his dera (now known as Dehradun). According to a tradition, he was granted a daily allowance also; when the Guru came to know about it, he fully separated Ram Rai from Sikh mission.
Guru Har Rai breathed his last on the 6th of October 1661 and before his death he installed his younger son Harkrishan as his successor; he told his successor not to compromise principle while dealing with anyone; it may be even the mighty emperor like Aurangzeb. Guru Har Rai was cremated on the bank of river Satluj. Then, this place was used by all the residents of Keeratpur for cremations; later, in the second half of the twentieth century, the Sikhs built Gurdwara Patalpuri at this site and began immersing ashes of their dead in Satluj River.
Guru Har Rai lived in this world for 31 years and five months only; out of this, he served the Gurgaddi for seventeen years and seven months. He was an expert of history, philosophy, medicine, diplomacy, weapon-wielding, horse-riding etc; he had friendly relations with several rulers and chiefs; Dara Shikoh, the eldest son of Shah Jahan was one of his admirers and had visited Keeratpur too.
Guru Har Rai had a big army too. He had 2200 horses. Mani Ram (later Bhai Mani Singh), Dial Das (martyr 11.11.1675), sons and grandsons of Sukhia Mandan, Daya Ram Purohit, Aalam Ram Rathore (later Aalam Singh Nachanna) etc were among his major generals. In spite of such a big army, he never made aggression on any land or group; this army was there for the defence of the Sikh-city as well as the Panth. Guru Har Rai was a great organiser; he wanted to first organize the nation into a big force and then plan any action. Even during the time of Guru Hargobind, the Sikh army never launched any offensive. Zulfiqar Ardastani7, a contemporary writer, confirms that the Gurus never touched
5 Mitti musalmaan ki pairhay payee ghumiaar; gharh bhanday ittan kiyaa jaldee karay pukaar.
6 Ganesha Singh Bedi, Shashhi Bans Binod.
7 In his book Dabistan-i-Mazahib.
their weapons even in anger and they believed that the use of arms was the last resort and for defence only.
During his time, Guru Har Rai Sahib spread the message of Sikhism in far off areas; a very large number of Rajputs, Lubanas, Khatris and Jats joined the Sikh Panth. He travelled through various areas and created among the Sikhs the feeling of brotherhood. He established 360 centres of Sikh mission in different areas and these were headed by a masand (a sort of manager) or a manji-dar (literally: holder of a manji/seat, i.e. unit chief); the chiefs of these centres used to visit Keeratpur Sahib frequently to discuss the affairs of the Sikh Panth with the Guru.
During his time, a large number of Udasis too joined Sikh mission and played active role in the spread of Sikh mission. Baba Almast, Balu Hasna, Suthra Shah, Bhagt Gir (Bhagt Bhagwan) were among the prominent Udasis. The Guru had granted three bakhshish (special status of missionary) to those Sikhs who had been very actively participating in the spread of Sikh mission. During his time, the Sikh Panth spread not only in Manjha, Doaba, Malwa and the area of the baars but also in Kashmir, Delhi, present Uttra Pradesh, Bihar, Bengal and Assam. The Sikhs from these areas used to make regular visits to Keeratpur Sahib. It was Guru Har Rai’s organised mission that, in spite of the fact that the Gurus could not visit several areas of the sub-continent, the Sikhs remained attached to the Guru through masands, udasis as well as sangats (local organised groups); this establishes the fact that the Guru was a great organiser too. In just a young man of 31 years, he made great achievements.
–Dr. Harjinder Singh Dilgeer