He was the Tenth of the Eleven Sikh Gurus. Born in Patna, Bihar in India, he was also a Warrior, Poet and Philosopher. He became Guru on November 24, 1675 at the age of nine, following in the footsteps of his father Guru Teg Bahadur ji.

The tenth Guru (teacher) of the Sikh faith, was born Gobind Rai. It may not be out of context to say here that throughout the chronicles of human history, there was no other individual who could be of more inspiring personality than Guru Gobind Singh. He contributed much to Sikhism.

Guru Gobind Singh Ji was a great scholar studying Persian, Sanskrit, Brig Bhasha and Arabic but also a great military genius. Guru Gobind Singh Ji accepted the use of power and the sword to fight tyranny in defence of religious freedom when other approaches failed. He fought twelve battles and the Guru ́s four sons (Char Sahib Zaday) were killed in campaigns against tyranny.

On the 13th April 1699, the first day of Vaisakhi, Guru Gobind Singh Ji transformed the Sikh community into the Khalsa Order or saint-soldiers. He asked for five volunteers who would give their lives for the Guru.

The five that accepted Guru Gobind Singh Ji’s call were all from different castes:

• Dharam Das was a jat (farmer)
• Daya Ram was a khatri (soldier)
• Mokham Chand was a dhobi (washermen)
• Himmat Rai was a jhir (water carrier)
• Sahib Chand was a nai (barber)

Guru Gobind Singh, the last of the living Sikh Gurus, passed the Guruship of the Sikhs to the Eleventh and Eternal Guru of the Sikhs, the Guru Granth Sahib.