Guru Ram Dasਗੁਰੂ ਰਾਮ ਦਾਸ

Early life

Guru Ram Das was born as Jetha in 1534 in Lahore, to Hari Das and Daya Kaur. He lost both parents when he was young and was raised by his grandmother in the village of Basarke. As a boy he made his living selling boiled grams, but he was drawn to spiritual life and became a devoted follower of Guru Amar Das, the third Sikh Guru. His devotion and humility so impressed the Guru that Amar Das gave him his daughter, Bibi Bhani, in marriage.

Jetha served the Guru with complete dedication for years, and in 1574 Guru Amar Das chose him - rather than his own sons - as the fourth Sikh Guru, renaming him Ram Das, servant of God. It was a decision that confirmed the Sikh principle that spiritual authority passes to the most worthy, not merely to kin.

Founding of Ramdaspur

Guru Ram Das's name is forever linked with the city he founded. Around 1577 he acquired a tract of land - Sikh tradition holds it was a grant from the Mughal emperor Akbar - and began building a new town around a pool of water he named Amrit Sarovar, the Pool of Nectar. The settlement was first called Ramdaspur, the city of Ram Das. It would grow into Amritsar, the holiest city of Sikhism and the centre of Sikh life to this day.

He invited traders, craftsmen and artisans from across the region to settle in the new town, offering them plots and encouraging commerce. His vision was of a self-sustaining Sikh city - a place where the community could live, worship and trade together. He also continued the Manji system of missionary dioceses, sending trained teachers to spread Sikhism beyond Punjab.

Compositions and family life

Guru Ram Das was a gifted poet. His 638 hymns in the Guru Granth Sahib include the Lavan, the four wedding hymns that are still recited at every Sikh marriage ceremony. His verses are marked by deep devotion and by practical guidance for householders - he wrote for people living ordinary lives, not for ascetics withdrawn from the world. His relationship with Bibi Bhani is remembered as a model of Sikh family life; their three sons were Prithi Chand, Mahadev and Arjan.

Toward the end of his life, the question of succession arose. His eldest son, Prithi Chand, expected to inherit the Guruship, but Guru Ram Das tested his sons and found the youngest, Arjan, the most spiritually fit. In 1581 he installed Arjan as the fifth Guru - the first time the Guruship passed from father to son, though still on the principle of merit.

Later life and legacy

Guru Ram Das died in 1581 at Goindval, the town of his predecessor. He had been Guru for only seven years, but those years were transformative. He gave the Sikhs their holy city, their wedding hymns, and an organised missionary structure.

Every Sikh who marries to the recitation of the Lavan, every pilgrim who bathes in the Amrit Sarovar, and every resident of Amritsar lives in the legacy of Guru Ram Das. The city he founded as Ramdaspur is now one of the great religious centres of the world, and the Golden Temple at its heart stands on the ground he chose.