Gobind Singh, original name Gobind Rāi, (born 1666, Patna, Bihār, India—died October 7, 1708, Nānded, Mahārāshtra), 10th and last of the personal Sikh Gurūs, known chiefly for his creation of the Khālsā (Punjabi: “the Pure”), the military brotherhood of the Sikhs. He was the son of the ninth Gurū, Tegh Bahādur, who suffered martyrdom at the hands of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.
Gobind Singh was a man of great intellectual attainments. He was a linguist familiar with Persian, Arabic, and Sanskrit as well as his native Punjabi. He further codified Sikh law, wrote martial poetry and music, and was the reputed author of the Sikh work called the Dasam Granth (“Tenth Volume”).
Gobind Singh’s greatest achievement was his creation of the Khālsā in 1699. According to one tradition, one morning after services, he sat in meditation before a great number of Sikhs and asked if any would sacrifice himself for the faith. Finally, one man stepped out. The Gurū and his victim disappeared into a tent. A few minutes later Gobind Singh appeared with his sword dripping with blood, calling for another sacrificial volunteer. This ceremony continued until five men had volunteered.
All five men then reappeared; according to one tradition the men had been slain but were miraculously restored to life, and according to another Gobind Singh had merely tested the men’s faith and slaughtered five goats instead. Initiated with Amrit (sweetened water or nectar) and given the title pañc-piāra (the five beloved), they formed the nucleus of the Khālsā.
With the Khālsā as the guiding spirit of the reconstituted Sikh army, Gobind Singh moved against the Sikhs’ enemies on two fronts: one army against the Mughals and the other against the hill tribes. His troops were totally devoted and totally committed to Sikh ideals, willing to risk everything in the cause of Sikh religious and political freedom. He paid a heavy price for this freedom, however.
In one battle near Ambāla, he lost all four of his sons. Later the struggle claimed his wife, mother, and father. He himself was killed by a Pashtun tribesman in revenge for the death of his father.
Gobind Singh proclaimed that he was the last of the personal Gurūs. From that point forward, the Sikh Gurū was to be the holy book, the Ādi Granth. Gobind Singh stands today in the minds of Sikhs as the ideal of chivalry, the Sikh soldier-saint.