Tegh Bahadur was the youngest son of Guru Hargobind and Bibi Nanki. He was born in Amritsar on April 1, 1621.

In February 1633, he was married to Gujari, daughter of Lal Chand and Bishan Kaur.

Tegh Bahadur, an accomplished swordsman and horse rider, fought along with his father in many battles, but later turned to the path of renunciation and meditation.

When Guru Hargobind settled down at Kiratpur, Tegh Bahadur spent nine years with him.

Later, he settled down in the isolated village of Bakala in 1656.

Guru Hargobind had chosen Har Rai, his grandson, as his successor. Guru Har Rai in turn chose his younger son Harkrishan.

Before dying in Delhi in 1664, Guru Harkrishan had said that his successor was 'Baba Bakala'. After his death the Sikhs flocked to Bakala looking for the new guru. But 22 members of the Sodhi family, each claiming to be the guru, confronted them.

Meanwhile, a wealthy merchant, Makhan Shah, had his cargo ships caught in a storm. He vowed to offer 500 gold coins to the guru if his goods reached home safely.

After his wish was fulfilled. Makhan Shah set out for Delhi to meet the guru. There he learnt that the guru had passed away and his successor was at Bakala. He set out for the village, but on reaching there he found 22 claimants.

Makhan Shah decided to pay homage to all the 22 and placed two gold coins before each. Later, a child told him that a holy man lived across the street. Makhan Shah decided that he might pay him tribute as well.

When Makhan Shah entered the house he found Tegh Bahadur in meditation. Makhan Shah waited until the holy man opened his eyes, then placed two gold coins before him. Tegh Bahadur smiled and said, "I thought you had pledged 500 gold coins."

Makhan Shah realised he had found the real guru and lost no time in proclaiming it to the Sikhs.

Conditions were deteriorating in the country under Aurangzeb's bigoted rule. As the Kashmiri Pandits were reputed to be very learned, the emperor thought that if they converted to Islam, the rest of the country would follow.

A delegation of 500 Pandits went to Anandpur Sahib to seek Guru Tegh Bahadur's help. The delegation was led by Pandit Kirpa Ram Datt -- who later taught Sanskrit to Guru Gobind Singh and eventually become a Sikh.

The guru told the Pandits to inform Aurangzeb that they would embrace Islam if the emperor could convince Tegh Bahadur to do so. Before leaving for Delhi, the guru declared that his son Gobind Rai should be installed as the tenth guru.

Predictably, Aurangzeb was furious when told of Tegh Bahadur's statement and ordered his arrest. The guru and his party were held soon after they had left Anandpur Sahib and taken to Delhi in chains.

In Delhi, the emperor asked Tegh Bahadur to convert to Islam or prove that he was a true man of god by performing a miracle. The guru refused to do either, saying there was only one religion for him, the religion of God, and performing miracles was the job of charlatans.

The emperor had the guru tortured and three of his closest disciples killed in the most gruesome manner in front of his very eyes, but failed to make him change his mind. Frustrated he finally ordered him beheaded in public on November 11, 1675.