Guru Ram Das
| Guru Ram Das ਗੁਰੂ ਰਾਮਦਾਸ |
|
|---|---|
Opaque watercolour on paper c 1800
Government Museum, Chandigarh |
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| Born |
Bhai Jetha 24 September 1534 Chuna Mandi, Lahore, Punjab, Mughal Empire (Present day Pakistan) |
| Died |
September 1, 1581 (aged 46) Goindval, Mughal Empire (Present day India) |
| Other names | The Fourth Master |
| Occupation | Guru |
| Years active | 1574–1581 |
| Known for | founder of Amritsar city |
| Predecessor | Guru Amar Das |
| Successor | Guru Arjan |
| Spouse(s) | Bibi Bhani |
| Children | Baba Prithi Chand, Baba Mahan Dev, and Guru Arjan |
| Parent(s) | Hari Das and Mata Anup Devi |
Guru Ram Das ([ɡʊru ɾɑm dɑs]; 1534–1581) was the fourth of the ten Gurus of Sikhism. He was born on 24 September 1534 in a poor Hindu family based in Lahore, part of now Pakistan. His birth name was Jetha, he was orphaned at age 7, and thereafter grew up with his maternal grandmother in a village.
At age 12, Bhai Jetha and his grandmother moved to Goindval, where they met Guru Angad. The boy thereafter accepted Guru Angad as mentor and served him. The daughter of Guru Angad married Bhai Jetha, and he thus became part of Guru Angad's family. As with the first two Gurus of Sikhism, Guru Amar Das instead of choosing his own sons, chose him as his successor and renamed him as Ram Das or "servant or slave of god (Rama)".
Ram Das became the Guru of Sikhism in 1574 and served as the Sikh leader until his death in 1581. He faced hostilities from the sons of Guru Amar Das, shifted his official base to lands identified by Guru Amar Das as Guru-ka-Chak. This newly founded town was eponymous Ramdaspur, later to evolve and get renamed as Amritsar – the holiest city of Sikhism. He is also remembered in the Sikh tradition for expanding the manji organization for clerical appointments and donation collections to theologically and economically support the Sikh movement. He appointed his own son as his successor, and unlike the first four Gurus who were not related through descent, the fifth through tenth Sikh Gurus were the direct descendants of Guru Ram Das.
His father was Hari Das and his mother Anup Devi (Daya Kaur), a Sodhi Khatri caste family. He married Bibi Bhani, the younger daughter of Guru Amar Das. They had three sons: Prithi Chand, Mahadev and Guru Arjan.
Guru Ram Das died on 1 September 1581, in the city of Amritsar, Punjab.
Guru Ram Das is credited with founding the holy city of Amritsar in the Sikh tradition. Two versions of stories exist regarding the land where Guru Ram Das settled. In one based on a Gazetteer record, the land was purchased with Sikh donations, for 700 rupees from the owners of the village of Tung. In another version, Emperor Akbar is stated to have donated the land to the wife of Guru Ram Das.
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