Agreed in tradition1661-1663Delhi
Ram Rai complains to the emperor
The passed-over elder brother, supported by Dhir Mall, took the succession to Aurangzeb.
Note. No Mughal record of the complaint was read.
Life and times
Sri Guru Har Krishan Ji
Sri Guru Har Krishan Ji was the eighth Sikh Guru, the younger son of Sri Guru Har Rai Ji and Mata Sulakhni. Born at Kiratpur on 7 July 1656, Guru Ji took up the office at five and passed away in Delhi on 30 March 1664, aged seven, during an epidemic of smallpox.
No document from these years was read for this page. What we have is a Sikh narrative tradition, written down much later, with some dated entries of uncertain origin. Only one or two stories are told in detail, and the Mahima Prakash Vartak, the earliest collection of stories about all the Gurus, gives Guru Ji a single anecdote.
The sources agree on the main events: the summons to Delhi, the stay with the Amber family, the illness, and the final words pointing to Bakala. They disagree on whether Guru Ji ever met the emperor and on exactly where Guru Ji passed away.
The times
Aurangzeb in his first years
Aurangzeb had won the throne in 1658 by defeating his brothers. The Encyclopaedia describes his first ten years as a time of consolidation in northern India, before the harsher religious measures of 1669 and 1679. A dispute inside the Sikh leadership gave him an opening, and he treated it as a matter for him to settle.[EoS]
The Amber family at the Mughal court
Raja Jai Singh of Amber, titled Mirza Raja, was a senior Mughal general who had backed Aurangzeb in the succession war and was rewarded with the governorship of Delhi city. The Encyclopaedia says the family admired the Sikh Gurus, going back to Sri Guru Hargobind Ji. Aurangzeb used him as go-between in summoning both Sri Guru Har Rai Ji and Sri Guru Har Krishan Ji.
Later in 1664 Jai Singh left for the Deccan to fight Shivaji, and his son Kanwar Ram Singh represented the family at court from their palace in Raisina.[EoS][EoS]
Rival claimants
The succession of a small child invited challenge. Ram Rai, in favour at court and passed over, complained to the emperor. Dhir Mall, a grandson of Sri Guru Hargobind Ji who held the original Adi Granth at Kartarpur, had been running a rival seat for years and joined Ram Rai's complaint. Guru Ji's time in office was thus shaped by family rivalry as much as by the state.[EoS][EoS][EoS]
Kiratpur and the hills
Show
A child on the seat of the Gurus
1656-1663
Sri Guru Har Krishan Ji was born at Kiratpur on 7 July 1656. When Sri Guru Har Rai Ji chose the five-year-old as successor, the Sikhs were told to regard the boy as the father's own image. The Encyclopaedia's entry on Kiratpur dates the anointing at Takht Kot Sahib to 7 October 1661, the day after the father passed away.
The chroniclers portray a child with an unusual ability to explain the scripture. Their language is devotional, and there is no independent evidence of what the child actually did in these two years.[EoS][EoS]
The road to Delhi
January to March 1664
The summons came through Raja Jai Singh. The Encyclopaedia's entry on Panjokhara gives the departure from Kiratpur as Basant Panchami of 1720 Bikrami, 22 January 1664. Guru Ji's grandmother Mata Bassi and mother Mata Sulakhni came too, by way of Ropar, Banur, Rajpura and Ambala. Sikhs joined along the road.
On arrival Guru Ji stayed in the Amber family's house at Raisina, on the site of today's Gurdwara Bangla Sahib. The entry on Delhi places this stay in February and March 1664. Sources name either Jai Singh or his son Ram Singh as host, since Jai Singh was soon to leave for the Deccan.[EoS][EoS][EoS][EoS][EoS]
Single accountEarly 1664Panjokhara, near Ambala
The water-carrier and the Gita
Challenged by a learned Pandit, Guru Ji had an illiterate water-carrier explain the Bhagavad Gita.
According to Sri Gur Pratap Suraj Granth by Bhai Santokh Singh, as the Encyclopaedia reports it, Guru Ji's party halted at Panjokhara because a Sikh asked for a day's stop so that congregations from Peshawar, Kabul and Kashmir could arrive. A learned local Pandit named Lal Chand came to mock: this child sits on the seat of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, he said, but what does he know of the old texts?
At that moment Chhajju Ram, the village water-carrier, who could not read, happened to walk by. Sri Guru Har Krishan Ji had him called over and asked him to explain the meaning of the Gita to the Pandit. The poem says the man gave a clear commentary that amazed everyone there.
Lal Chand's pride gave way. Both men, the poem says, became followers and went with Guru Ji as far as Kurukshetra.
Note. The story rests on one nineteenth-century epic. The site reports what it says and takes no position on the miracle. The Encyclopaedia adds that Lal Chand, as Lal Singh, later fell at Chamkaur in 1705, a claim not checked elsewhere.
Single account1664Delhi
The test of the queens
Asked to test Guru Ji, the raja had his chief queen dressed as a servant, and Guru Ji is said to have picked her out.
As Macauliffe retells it, the emperor told Raja Jai Singh to find out whether the child had any superhuman gifts. The raja was wary of testing holy men, but talked it over with his chief queen and they agreed on a plan. She would dress as a servant and sit behind the other queens when Guru Ji visited.
Sri Guru Har Krishan Ji, the account says, knew what was planned and was saddened, since holy people hide such powers. Guru Ji at first declined to see the raja but finally agreed. In the women's quarters Guru Ji touched each lady in turn with a small wand and said she was not the chief queen, until reaching the disguised woman at the back and recognising her.
Note. Macauliffe is the one witness read for this. His version is framed as an order from the emperor to test whether the child had supernatural power. The site reports the story without asserting or denying the miracle.
What the sources say (1)
- Later traditionTells how the head queen sat disguised among servant women at the back and how Guru Ji, wand in hand, passed over the others to reach her. (pp. 324-325)[Macauliffe]
In Delhi
March 1664
Sources give Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji, returning from a long journey east, as reaching Delhi on 21 March 1664 and calling on Guru Ji with condolences for the father. Smallpox was raging in the city, and the entry on Delhi adds cholera. The chroniclers say Guru Ji went out to the sick, an act still remembered at Gurdwara Bangla Sahib.[EoS][EoS][EoS][EoS]
Disputed25 March 1664, in one accountDelhi
Did Guru Ji meet the emperor?
One line of tradition gives a visit to court and a test with two trays, while another has Guru Ji refusing to go.
Guru kian Sakhian, as reported in the Encyclopaedia, says Sri Guru Har Krishan Ji went to court on 25 March 1664. Aurangzeb had two large trays set out. One held jewels, clothes and toys, and the other a holy man's cloak and cap. Guru Ji pushed away the first tray and took the second, and the emperor was impressed.
He then meant to send for Guru Ji again and ask for a miracle. Guru Ji sensed this and privately resolved not to see him any more, remembering how Sri Guru Har Rai Ji had treated Ram Rai for performing wonders at court.
Macauliffe tells it differently. In his version Guru Ji sends a message that the elder brother is already with the emperor and is the one to deal with such things, adding that a meeting could only sharpen a family quarrel. The emperor, he says, was astonished to hear this from a seven-year-old.
Note. Both versions are later Sikh tellings. Neither is backed by a Mughal record read for this page.
What the sources say (3)
- Later traditionReports from Guru kian Sakhian a visit to court on Chet sudi 9, 1721 Bikrami, 25 March 1664, with a choice between trays of finery and of a holy man's dress.[EoS]
- Later traditionRepeats the 25 March visit and says the demand for a miracle made Guru Ji resolve never to see the emperor again.[EoS]
- Later traditionHas Guru Ji decline an audience, reasoning that a father near the end of his life had left dealings with the emperor to the elder brother, and repeating the refusal near the end. (pp. 322-323, 328)[Macauliffe]
Agreed in traditionMarch 1664Delhi
Tending the sick
Guru Ji is remembered as going among smallpox and cholera victims, and then catching the disease.
Note. That Guru Ji passed away from smallpox is common to all the sources read. The nursing of the sick and the healing water associated with Bangla Sahib are remembered by tradition. The site does not assert or deny any healing.
What the sources say (3)
- Later traditionSays Guru Ji came out to tend the sick during the smallpox epidemic and soon fell ill.[EoS]
- Later traditionSays Guru Ji served the sick and destitute in a city gripped by cholera and smallpox, and was infected in the process.[EoS]
- ScholarshipStates only that smallpox struck a few days after the court visit and proved fatal.[EoS]
The last days and Baba Bakale
March 1664
The illness was brief. Asked about the succession, Guru Ji could manage only two words. Mata Bassi, Guru kian Sakhian says, had Bhai Gurdas, a descendant of Bhai Bahilo, begin a reading of the scripture in memory of Guru Ji.
Guru Ji was cremated by the Yamuna, at what is now Gurdwara Bala Sahib. The name is said to echo Bala Pir, young holy man, as people in Delhi called Guru Ji. Bhatt Vahis cited in the Encyclopaedia say the ashes were carried to Patalpuri at Kiratpur and immersed in the Sutlej on 22 August 1664.[EoS][EoS][EoS]
Disputed30 March 1664Delhi
Where did Guru Ji pass away?
The date is agreed, but the Encyclopaedia's entries place the passing either at the Amber house or at a camp by the Yamuna.
Note. This disagreement is why both Bangla Sahib and Bala Sahib matter here. The Encyclopaedia does not resolve it, and neither does this page.
What the sources say (4)
- ScholarshipSays that before passing away Guru Ji asked to leave the raja's bungalow for a camp by the Yamuna.[EoS]
- ScholarshipGives the move to the river, explaining that it was to protect the raja's household from infection, and then notes that some chroniclers put the passing in the raja's house with only the body taken to the bank.[EoS]
- ScholarshipSays Guru Ji passed away in the bungalow of the raja, where Gurdwara Bangla Sahib stands today.[EoS]
- ScholarshipSays Guru Ji fell ill and passed away while staying with Kanwar Ram Singh, whose stay is marked by Gurdwara Bangla Sahib.[EoS]
Agreed in traditionMarch 1664Delhi
Baba Bakale
Too weak to say more, Guru Ji named a successor with two words: Baba Bakale, the elder at Bakala.
As Macauliffe tells it, the Sikhs gathered at the sickbed and voiced their fear. Ram Rai was close to the emperor, Dhir Mall and other Sodhis were waiting in the Punjab, and every one of them would claim the seat. Sri Guru Har Krishan Ji answered that the tree planted by Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji would not wither.
Guru Ji then asked for five paise and a coconut. Unable to move, Guru Ji waved a hand three times in the air, as if walking around the next Guru in respect, and said Baba Bakale.
The word baba meant an elder, here the brother of a grandfather. It pointed to Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji, living at Bakala. But the phrase named no one, and within months, the sources say, twenty-two men of the family had set up there as Gurus.
Note. The earliest evidence read is well after the event, and the ambiguity of the words is built into the story of what followed at Bakala. The speech about the Granth given in Sri Gur Pratap Suraj Granth is a later composition in its present form.
What the sources say (3)
- Later traditionSays the marks of succession were asked for and that all Guru Ji could utter was the two words.[EoS]
- Later traditionExplains the phrase as pointing to the brother of Guru Ji's grandfather, who lived at Bakala, and says the town took its present name from it.[EoS]
- Later traditionDescribes Guru Ji calling for five paise and a coconut, waving a hand three times as a token of circling the successor, then speaking the words. (pp. 328-329)[Macauliffe]
Single account22 August 1664Patalpuri, Kiratpur
The ashes at Kiratpur
The Bhatt Vahis say the ashes were brought back from Delhi and immersed in the Sutlej.
Note. This register was read only through the Encyclopaedia's citation.
What the sources say (1)
- From the timeCites the Bhatt Vahis for the immersion at Patalpuri on Bhadon sudi 11, 1721 Bikrami, 22 August 1664.[EoS]
Images
A later artist's imagining of the ten Gurus, from Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji to Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji, from the workshop of Purkhu of Kangra. No portrait from any Guru's lifetime is established.
Purkhu of Kangra, Early 19th century. Kapany Collection (as credited on Commons). Public domain. Source
A later artist's imagining of Sri Guru Har Krishan Ji, from a set of the first nine Gurus painted about 1800-1840. No portrait from Guru Ji's lifetime is established.
Unknown, c. 1800-1840. Royal Collection Trust, RCIN 925209 (as credited on Commons). Public domain. Source
A hukamnama of Sri Guru Har Krishan Ji to the congregation of Pakpattan, dated on Commons to about 1661-1664. Its description comes from a social media page.
Sri Guru Har Krishan Ji and his scribe, c. 1661-1664. Public domain. Source
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_issued_by_Guru_Har_Krishan_to_the_Sangat_(Sikh_congregation)_of_Pakpattan.jpg)
The sources, and how far to trust them
- Mahima Prakash Vartak and Mahima Prakashc. 1741 and 1776Later tradition
The prose collection has one story on Guru Ji and Sarup Das Bhalla's verse work has four. That small number is itself a reminder of how little was known or thought worth recording. Known here through the Encyclopaedia.[EoS]
- Guru kian SakhianPrinted edition 1986; date of composition not checked hereLater tradition
The source for the visit to court on 25 March 1664, with a trial involving two trays. It gives precise Bikrami dates, which look exact but should not be taken as proof of early recording. Read only through the Encyclopaedia.[EoS][EoS]
- Bhatt VahisRegisters kept by hereditary bards; transcripts obtained in the 1950sFrom the time
Family registers that record dates and places, cited here for the immersion of ashes at Kiratpur. The Encyclopaedia cautions that bards often wrote events up afterwards and sometimes second hand. They also reach scholars through modern transcripts of a private script. Treat as useful but not as eyewitness diaries.[EoS][EoS]
- Sri Gur Pratap Suraj Granth of Bhai Santokh Singh19th centuryLater tradition
The source for most of the speeches attached to Guru Ji, including the last instructions on the Granth. A child of seven is unlikely to have spoken these lines as given. They show how the tradition understood the moment. Known here through the Encyclopaedia.[EoS][EoS]
- Macauliffe, The Sikh Religion, vol. 41909Later tradition
Retells the chronicles in English. On one key point, a meeting with the emperor, its version differs from Guru kian Sakhian as reported by the Encyclopaedia.[Macauliffe]
- Encyclopaedia of Sikhism1992-1998Scholarship
The source of the dates used here. Its entries differ among themselves on where Guru Ji passed away, and it is open about that in its entry on Delhi.[EoS][EoS][EoS][EoS]
Cite this page
"Life and times of Sri Guru Har Krishan Ji". Sikh History: lives of the Gurus. https://sikh-history.co.uk/lives/guru-har-krishan/