Guru Tegh Bahadur: The Ninth Sikh Guru (Sikh Comics)

Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Guru of the Sikhs, lived during one of the most turbulent times in Indian history. When his grandfather, the fifth Sikh Guru, Arjan Dev, refused to embrace Islam, the Mughal Emperor Jahangir martyred him after torturing him for days. Guru Tegh Bahadur's father, the sixth Sikh Guru, Guru Hargobind had several wars imposed upon him by Jahangir and his successor Shah Jahan. Mughal tyranny and the religious persecution of Hindus and Sikhs reached its peak when Aurangzeb ascended the throne in Delhi. He had long held the ambition to convert India to the land of Islam and vigorously started destroying temples and forcing Hindus to either embrace Islam or face death.

Fearing the imminent destruction of their religion, a group of Kashmiri Brahmins visited Amarnath, the abode of the Hindu lord Shiva, to invoke his mercy. At Amarnath, lord Shiva visited the Brahmins in their dreams and urged them to visit Guru Tegh Bahadur and plead for his help in saving the Hindu dharma.

Guru Tegh Bahadur agreed to visit Aurangzeb in Delhi to ask him to stop the persecution and murder of Hindus. On his way to Delhi, the Mughals arrested the Guru at Agra and brought him in chains before the emperor. Aurangzeb asked Guru Tegh Bahadur to either embrace Islam or show a miracle to save his life. He refused and was executed along with three of his companions. Many saints, sages, and heroes have died for the sake of their own convictions, but no one in the history of the world has ever laid down his life to protect a religion or ideals in which he did not fully believe. Guru Tegh Bahadur, deeply imbued with the spirit of kindness and self-sacrifice, fearlessly stood up for the Hindus even though he did not subscribe to the Hindu faith. He died to save their honour and to defend their freedom to practice their religion.