Life and times

Sri Guru Har Rai Ji

Sri Guru Har Rai Ji was the seventh Sikh Guru. Born at Kiratpur in January 1630, the grandson of Sri Guru Hargobind Ji, Guru Ji led the community from 1644 until passing away in October 1661, aged thirty-one. Guru Ji composed no hymns, fought no recorded battle, and is remembered for gentleness, for preaching journeys and for one hard decision about the succession.

Very little written in Guru Ji's lifetime survives. The one close outside witness is the author of the Dabistan-i-Mazahib, who says he knew Guru Ji personally and gives only a few lines. Nearly everything else, including the meeting with Prince Dara Shukoh and Ram Rai's appearance at the Mughal court, reaches us through Sikh narrative works written a century or more later, as gathered by the Encyclopaedia of Sikhism and by Macauliffe.

The outline of the life is not seriously contested. The details are another matter, and this page marks them accordingly. No Mughal record of the Ram Rai affair was read for this page, so the story stands on Sikh tradition.

Dates, family and related people →

The times

Shah Jahan and the hills

Shah Jahan was crowned in February 1628, two years before Sri Guru Har Rai Ji's birth. The early part of his reign brought open clashes between Mughal forces and Sri Guru Hargobind Ji, who withdrew in 1635 to Kiratpur, at the foot of the Shivalik hills in the Rajput state of Kahlur, also called Bilaspur.

The move shaped Sri Guru Har Rai Ji's whole life. The rulers of Kahlur stayed on good terms with the Gurus at this time, and Kiratpur remained the Gurus' seat. Sikh leadership therefore sat just outside direct Mughal administration, yet within reach of it.[EoS][EoS][EoS][EoS]

The war of succession

Shah Jahan fell ill in September 1657 and named his eldest son, Dara Shukoh, as heir. His other sons, Shuja in Bengal, Aurangzeb in the Deccan and Murad in Gujarat, did not accept this. Aurangzeb and Murad joined forces, beat an imperial army at Dharmat near Ujjain, and then defeated Dara himself at Samugarh near Agra on 29 May.

The Encyclopaedia's entries on Sri Guru Har Rai Ji and on Aurangzeb give the year of Samugarh as 1658, while its entry on Dara Shukoh gives 1657 for that battle and for the events around it. Aurangzeb took the throne on 21 July 1658. Dara fled through the Punjab, Sindh and beyond, was captured, and was put to death in Delhi during the night of 30 to 31 August 1659.[EoS][EoS][EoS]

Dara Shukoh and religious life

Dara Shukoh was drawn to Sufi and Upanishadic thought. He revered two Qadiri saints, Mian Mir and Mulla Shah, and completed a Persian translation of fifty Upanishads in 1657. Sikh chroniclers say he knew Sri Guru Har Rai Ji, and Mian Mir is said to have been known to the Sikh Gurus as well. That background makes a meeting plausible, whatever its details.

Aurangzeb's first decade was spent securing power. His harsher measures against non-Muslims, as the Encyclopaedia dates them, came after Sri Guru Har Rai Ji's time, in 1669 and 1679.[EoS][EoS][EoS]

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A childhood at Kiratpur

1630-1644

Sri Guru Har Rai Ji was born at Kiratpur on 16 January 1630, a son of Baba Gurditta and so a grandson of Sri Guru Hargobind Ji. Guru Ji was married in 1640 to Sulakhni, whose father Daya Ram came from Anupshahr in present-day Uttar Pradesh.

The sources present a gentle child who was a favourite of the grandfather. An older brother, Dhir Mall, stayed behind at Kartarpur, kept the original volume of the Adi Granth and was passed over. He set himself up as a rival Guru, a dispute that outlasted Sri Guru Har Rai Ji.[EoS][EoS]

Agreed in traditionBefore 1644Kiratpur

The torn flowers

As a boy, Guru Ji damaged a flowering bush with a robe and wept over it, and the grandfather turned the moment into a lesson.

According to the story the Encyclopaedia takes from old texts, the young Sri Guru Har Rai Ji was riding home when he saw Sri Guru Hargobind Ji sitting in the garden. Eager to pay respect, Guru Ji jumped down and hurried across. The robe caught on a bush and snapped several flowers from their stems.

Guru Ji stopped on the spot and began to cry. Sri Guru Hargobind Ji came over with comfort and some advice: go on wearing the robe, but mind how you walk, because those who serve God should be tender towards everything. The tellers take this as a lesson in living fully in the world while keeping watch on oneself.

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Note. Both items are entries in one encyclopaedia passing on the same tradition, and neither names its old text. They do not count as independent witnesses.

What the sources say (2)

Later traditionReports from unnamed old texts that Guru Ji, as a young rider, broke some blooms while hurrying to greet the grandfather, wept, and was told to walk with care.[EoS]
Later traditionSuggests the Naulakkha garden at Kiratpur as the likely setting and adds that Guru Ji later kept a small zoo there.[EoS]

DisputedMarch 1644Kiratpur

Anointed by the grandfather

Sri Guru Hargobind Ji chose this grandson as successor, but the Encyclopaedia's own entries do not agree on the date of the ceremony.

Note. The two dates cannot both stand if the grandfather performed the rite himself. The fact of the succession is not in doubt, only this detail.

What the sources say (2)

ScholarshipSays the grandfather consecrated Guru Ji before passing away on 3 March 1644, giving no date for the rite itself.[EoS]
ScholarshipDates the anointing at Takht Kot Sahib to 8 March 1644, five days after the 3 March date given for the grandfather passing away.[EoS]

Teacher at Kiratpur

1644-1658

Guru Ji kept the outward state introduced by Sri Guru Hargobind Ji, including armed attendants, but the sources record no fighting. Kiratpur was the settled base. Mornings were spent in the congregation explaining doctrine, using the hymns of earlier Gurus, since Guru Ji composed none. The Encyclopaedia says Guru Ji often repeated a passage of Bhai Gurdas on the conduct of a true Sikh, and ate plain food earned by personal labour.

The community kitchen went on as before. Preachers were sent well beyond the Punjab, and Guru Ji toured the Malwa in person.[EoS][EoS][EoS]

Well attested1644-1661Kiratpur

The armed household

Guru Ji maintained an armed force, as an eyewitness writer confirms, but the numbers differ and no battle is recorded.

Note. The Dabistan's figures are the closer witness. The larger round figure comes from later accounts, and the two may describe different things or different dates.

What the sources say (3)

From the timeQuotes the author, who knew Guru Ji, as saying the stable held 700 horses with 300 horsemen and 60 gunners in service.[EoS]
ScholarshipGives 2,200 armed followers and says no further conflict with the ruling power took place.[EoS]
ScholarshipSpeaks of 2,200 mounted soldiers kept on the instruction of the grandfather, most of them camped about 6 km south of Kiratpur.[EoS]

Agreed in tradition1644-1661Eastern India, Rajasthan, Kabul, Dhaka, Multan and the Malwa

Preachers and the Malwa

Three preaching missions and several individual envoys spread the teaching far from Kiratpur.

Note. The Encyclopaedia says Sri Guru Har Rai Ji confirmed the blessing on Phul, founder of the Patiala, Nabha and Jind families. Its entry on Phul credits the original words to the earlier Guru as a legend.

What the sources say (2)

Later traditionNames Bhagat Bhagwan in the east and Bhai Pheru in Rajasthan and the southern Punjab, along with Bhai Gonda to Kabul, Bhai Natha to Dhaka and Bhai Jodh to Multan.[EoS]
Later traditionTells of the blessing on the boy Phul, ancestor of the Phulkian houses, given by Sri Guru Hargobind Ji at the time of the battle of Mehraj.[EoS]

Agreed in traditionBefore 1658

Herbs for the prince

Sikh tradition remembers that Dara Shukoh recovered from a grave illness with herbs sent by Guru Ji.

As Sikh tradition tells it, Prince Dara Shukoh once fell seriously ill and did not recover until herbs reached him from Sri Guru Har Rai Ji. The prince remembered the kindness. When his fortunes collapsed years later, this old favour is given as one reason he looked for Guru Ji on his flight through the Punjab.

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Note. No date or early text was found for this. It explains why a fleeing prince might turn to Guru Ji, which may be part of why it was remembered.

What the sources say (2)

Later traditionRecords it as something Sikh tradition recalls, without naming a text or date.[EoS]
Later traditionRepeats the tradition that rare herbs from Guru Ji had once cured the prince.[EoS]

Dara Shukoh in the Punjab

1658-1660

The war of succession reached Guru Ji in the summer of 1658, at Goindwal on the Beas. Dara Shukoh, beaten at Samugarh and chased by Aurangzeb's army, came there in the last week of June, according to the Encyclopaedia, and asked for Guru Ji's blessing.

Guru Ji then went on tour through districts where Sikhs had settled, and then to Kashmir. Vaisakhi 1660 was spent at Sialkot, as the guest of Nand Lal Puri. Guru Ji reached Srinagar on 19 May 1660 and came back through Akhnur and Jammu.[EoS][EoS][EoS][EoS]

Agreed in traditionLast week of June 1658Goindwal

The meeting at Goindwal

The defeated Dara Shukoh called on Guru Ji and sought a blessing.

Note. Later Sikh chronicles are the only basis read for this meeting. The entry on Dara dates his flight a year earlier than the others, which seems to be a slip in that entry.

What the sources say (3)

Later traditionSays the prince came to Goindwal late in June 1658 for comfort from Guru Ji.[EoS]
Later traditionCredits the meeting to Sikh chroniclers and specifically to Sarup Das Bhalla, after the prince crossed the Beas.[EoS]
Later traditionRepeats the meeting and says exaggerated reports of it were carried to the new emperor.[EoS]

Single account1658Goindwal, on the Beas

Holding the ferry

Guru Ji is said to have posted troops at a river crossing to slow down the pursuit of Dara Shukoh.

According to Sarup Das Bhalla's Mahima Prakash, Aurangzeb's soldiers were close behind Dara Shukoh when he reached the Beas. Sri Guru Har Rai Ji placed armed followers along the river and closed the ferry. The Encyclopaedia's entry on the prince, drawing on this account, says the crossing stayed shut for about six hours, long enough for him to get clear. His cause was already lost, and he soon left Lahore for Multan.

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Note. All three items go back to one work written over a century later, so this is labelled a single account. It would mean a real break with the record of no conflict with the state, so it deserves caution.

What the sources say (3)

Later traditionIdentifies the author as Sarup Das Bhalla, writing in 1776, and warns the work is not free from errors of fact.[EoS]
Later traditionReports from Mahima Prakash that the crossing was blocked for about six hours.[EoS]
Later traditionReports from the same work that troops were deployed at the ferry to delay the army.[EoS]

Agreed in tradition1660Sialkot, Srinagar, Akhnur, Jammu

The journey to Kashmir

Guru Ji toured the northern congregations and reached Srinagar in May 1660.

Note. The precise dates suggest a family or bardic register behind this account, but the entries do not show their source for the 1660 journey.

What the sources say (3)

Later traditionGives the route, the Vaisakhi at Sialkot and the arrival at Srinagar on 19 May 1660.[EoS]
Later traditionSays the trader Makkhan Shah received Guru Ji in his home during this visit.[EoS]
Later traditionSays Aru Ram of Mattan met Guru Ji in Kashmir in 1660, father of the Kirpa Ram who later led the Pandits to Anandpur.[EoS]

Ram Rai at court and the choice of a younger son

1661

Reports reached Aurangzeb that Guru Ji had helped his rival and that the Sikh scripture spoke against Islam. The emperor used Raja Jai Singh of Amber as go-between. The raja's envoy, Hari Chand, reached Kiratpur at Vaisakhi 1661 with a summons.

Guru Ji did not go. Ram Rai, the elder son, born on 11 March 1646, left for Delhi on 30 March 1661, accompanied by the steward Dargah Mall. Guru Ji passed away on 6 October 1661 at Kiratpur. The Encyclopaedia's entry on Kiratpur says Sri Guru Har Krishan Ji was anointed there the next day, while its entry on the eighth Guru describes the choice as made before Guru Ji passed away.[EoS][EoS][EoS][EoS][EoS]

Agreed in tradition1661Delhi

Ram Rai alters the verse

Asked about a line of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji that seemed to slight Muslims, Ram Rai changed a word to satisfy the emperor.

The story, as Macauliffe retells it from the Sikh chronicles and as the Encyclopaedia summarises it, begins with Ram Rai winning favour in Delhi through wonders performed at court. Then he was asked to explain a line from the Asa ki Var, in which Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji says that the clay of a Muslim's grave falls to the potter, who shapes it into pots and bricks that cry out as they burn.

To the emperor's advisers this sounded like an insult, since burning was linked to damnation. Ram Rai thought quickly and said the text had been corrupted by careless people. Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji had written faithless, he said, not Muslim. The court was satisfied and Ram Rai was rewarded.

The Sikhs of Delhi sent a messenger to Kiratpur. Sri Guru Har Rai Ji was deeply hurt that the words of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji had been bent to please a ruler, and refused to see the son again. Ram Rai remained in Mughal favour, received land in the Garhwal hills, and set up the centre from which Dehra Dun takes its name.

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Note. The line itself can be checked in the Asa ki Var, but the court exchange rests on later Sikh tellings. The miracle stories told of Ram Rai belong to the same tradition, and this page reports rather than judges them.

What the sources say (3)

Later traditionSays Ram Rai substituted beiman, faithless, for Musalman in the Asa ki Var line about a grave's clay and the potter.[EoS]
Later traditionReports that the misreading was deliberate, that the accompanying Sikhs sent word, and that Guru Ji barred Ram Rai from the presence.[EoS]
Later traditionRetells the court scene at length, with Ram Rai reasoning that a sulky emperor would make all his earlier miracles worthless. (pp. 308-309)[Macauliffe]

Agreed in tradition1661Kiratpur

The choice of Sri Guru Har Krishan Ji

Guru Ji passed over Ram Rai and named the younger son, then about five years old.

Note. Aurangzeb's motive in that last item is the modern writer's reading, not a record of what he intended.

What the sources say (3)

Later traditionSays the younger son was chosen and anointed before Guru Ji passed away on 6 October 1661.[EoS]
Later traditionSays the five-year-old was given the seat and that the Sikhs were told to see him as Guru Ji's very image.[EoS]
ScholarshipArgues that the emperor kept Ram Rai in Delhi hoping to control the next Guru, which the choice defeated.[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 Rai 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 925208 (as credited on Commons). Public domain. Source

The sources, and how far to trust them

Dabistan-i-Mazahib17th centuryFrom the time
A Persian survey of religions now attributed to Maubad Zulfiqar Ardastani, who says he met Sri Guru Hargobind Ji and Sri Guru Har Rai Ji at Kiratpur. It is an outsider's account, sympathetic in tone, with some errors of fact elsewhere in its Sikh section. For Sri Guru Har Rai Ji it is brief but it is the only witness from the lifetime. Read here through the Encyclopaedia's description and quotations, not in the Persian.[EoS]
Mahima Prakash Vartakc. 1741Later tradition
An unpublished prose collection of anecdotes, commonly credited to Kripal Das Bhalla, with 17 stories on Sri Guru Har Rai Ji. Episodic and didactic. Known here only through the Encyclopaedia.[EoS]
Mahima Prakash of Sarup Das Bhalla1776Later tradition
A verse life of the ten Gurus with 22 stories on Sri Guru Har Rai Ji, written over a century after the events. The Encyclopaedia itself warns that it is not plain history. It is the source named for the claim that troops were posted at a ferry to delay Dara Shukoh's pursuers.[EoS][EoS]
Guru kian SakhianPrinted edition 1986; date of composition not checked hereLater tradition
Cited by the Encyclopaedia for the words Guru Ji spoke to Ram Rai on his departure. Read only as quoted there.[EoS]
Sri Gur Pratap Suraj Granth of Bhai Santokh Singh19th centuryLater tradition
A huge epic in Braj verse and the fullest narrative of the Gurus' lives. Valuable as the classic form of the tradition, but written long after these events and shaped by poetic and devotional aims. Known here through quotations in the Encyclopaedia.[EoS]
Macauliffe, The Sikh Religion, vol. 41909Later tradition
A colonial-era English compilation that retells the Sikh chronicles closely, in its own framing. It is useful as a readable witness to what the tradition says, not as an independent check on it.[Macauliffe]
Encyclopaedia of Sikhism1992-1998Scholarship
The main modern reference and the source of the Common Era dates used here. Its entries were written by different authors and sometimes disagree. It often repeats traditional narrative in its own voice, so an entry's confidence does not by itself show early evidence.[EoS][EoS][EoS]

Cite this page

"Life and times of Sri Guru Har Rai Ji". Sikh History: lives of the Gurus. https://sikh-history.co.uk/lives/guru-har-rai/