Guru Tegh Bahadur

by Anant Pai

Tegh Bahadur became the Guru of the Sikhs at a time when the Mughal Emperor, Aurangzeb's policy of religious intolerance and persecution had antagonized a vast section of his subjects. The Jat peasantry took up arms in the district of Mathura. The Satnamis rebelled in the Punjab but these rebellions were mercilessly crushed. In the Deccan however, Shivaji's powers continued to be on the rise and in 1674, he proclaimed himself king. This made Aurangzeb even more ruthless in his religious persecution. Denied the freedom to follow their faith, the Hindus of Kashmir approached Guru Tegh Bahadur for help and guidance. The Guru carried the conviction - more than four hundred years ago, when religious intolerance and persecution were common all over the world - that every individual must have the freedom to worship the faith of his or her choice. He wrote to the Emperor, reminding him that the Holy Koran does not sanction forcible conversion. He expressed his willingness to hold discussions on the subject with the Emperor and his advisers on matters of religion and added, "If they succeed in converting me to their opinion, I will embrace your Islam and all the Hindus too might do the same. If on the contrary, they do not succeed in converting me to their opinion, then I request that henceforth all religious persecution should be stopped." Great ingenuity was used in devising new kinds of torture for the Guru and his closest disciples, but Aurangzeb failed to crush their spirit. Thus for a great principle which today is cherished by people in most parts of the world, the Guru laid down his life. Even to this day, he is remembered as Hindi-di-chadar (literally, the coverlet of India), protector of India's honor.

Genres: Comics

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Anant Pai popularly known as Uncle Pai, was an Indian educationalist and creator of Indian comics, in particular the Amar Chitra Katha series in 1967, along with the India Book House publishers, and which retold traditional Indian folk tales, mythological stories, and biographies of historical characters. In 1980, he launched Tinkle, a children's anthology, which was started under Rang Rekha Features, India's first comic and cartoon syndicate, that lasted till 1998, with him as the Managing Director.

Today, Amar Chitra Katha sells about three million comic books a year, in English and more than 20 Indian languages, and has sold about 100 million copies since it inception in 1967 by Anant Pai, and in 2007 was taken over by ACK Media.

Reviews

[Parisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji taught us all about peace.