Martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur

Timeline

1. 1675Anandpur · AnandpurFacing forced conversion pressure, the Kashmiri pandits traveled to Anandpur seeking help. Tegh Bahadur decided to go personally to Delhi to negotiate, declaring that if he could be forced to convert, others could be too. He traveled south with a small retinue and was promptly detained by the Mughal authorities.
2. 1675Chandni Chowk, Delhi · DelhiTegh Bahadur refused to convert to Islam. His companions Mati Das, Sati Das, and Dayala were first tortured and executed. On November 11 the Guru himself was publicly beheaded at Chandni Chowk. Later generations built the Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib at the site of the beheading to commemorate the martyrdom.
3. 1675Anandpur · AnandpurThe Guru's head and body were smuggled out of Delhi by followers at great risk. That same day his son Gobind Rai was installed as the tenth Guru in Punjab. The martyrdom strengthened Sikh discourse on freedom of faith and armed self-defense, providing the long-term spiritual precondition for the founding of the Khalsa in 1699.