Having become the 5th Sikh Guru, Sri Guru Arjan Dev Jee laid the foundation stone for Sri Harmandir Sahib Jee in the middle of the Sarovar.
All of the Sikhs wanted Sri Harmandir Sahib Jee to be the tallest building in the new town. Guru Arjan however felt otherwise. He reminded his followers that humility should be a Sikhs greatest virtue.
So Guru Jee decided to build Sri Harmandir Sahib Jee lower than the rest of the city of Amritsar. Guru Jee did this to show his Sikhs that a Sikh should never have an Ego and should always remain humble.
Sri Harmandir Sahib Jee was built with 4 entrances to counter the Muslim belief that God's House is in the west where Mecca is and the Hindu belief that it is in the east where the sun rises. Sri Guru Arjan Dev Jee exclaimed; "My faith is for the people of all castes and all creeds, from whichever direction they come and to whichever direction they bow."
Sri Guru Arjan Dev Jee was always ready to protect and look after the poor, needy and helpless. Sri Guru Arjan Dev Jee knew the plight of the lepers was really bad. Even their close relatives would not touch them. So Sri Guru Arjan Dev Jee took special care of the lepers and had a Leper Home constructed. Guru Jee personally looked after the lepers by providing them with medicines, dresses and even showering his blessings on them.
Prithi Chand, Sri Guru Arjan Dev Jee’s elder brother was becoming more and more jealous as Guru Jee’s popularity grew. With Guru Jee having no children as yet, Prithi Chand hoped that his own son Mehrban would be able to succeed Sri Guru Arjan Dev Jee as the next Guru of the Sikhs. However, to the delight of all Sikhs, Sri Guru Arjan Dev Jee wife, Mata Ganga Jee became pregnant.
This news did not sit well with Prithi Chand, so he plotted with Sulhi Khan, a revenue officer of the Mughal court to attack Amritsar on the excuse of collecting a tax. Sri Guru Arjan Dev along with his family had already left Amritsar to spread the message of Sikhi throughout India and had settled at Wadali a few miles away. It was here that on June 14, 1595 that Guru Jee was blessed with a son, Hargobind.
Meanwhile Sulhi Khan, upon hearing that Sri Guru Arjan Dev Jee was no longer in Amritsar put off his attack on the city. In Amritsar Prithi Chand tried to convince the Sikhs that he was the real Guru and not Sri Guru Arjan Dev Jee. He was only met with disappointment though, as the Sikhs continued to flock to see Sri Guru Arjan Dev Jee.
Prithi Chand therefore planned to assassinate Guru Jee’s only child, Hargobind. He sent a wet-nurse with poison, got a snake charmer to release a snake near Hargobind, and on another attempt sent a servant with poison milk. All 3 attempts failed with the perpetrators all publicly confessing that it was Prithi Chand who had sent them.
A situation now arose which would require Guru Jee’s complete attention. Reports came to the Guru Jee that Prithi Chand’s son Meharban was composing his own hymns and was passing them to the visiting Sikhs as the compositions of the Sikh Guru Sahibs. Sri Guru Arjan Dev Jee realised that if this situation was allowed to continue, it would undermine the True teachings of Sikhi.
Having given the Sikhs a central place of worship (Sri Harmandir Sahib), Sri Guru Arjan Dev Jee began collecting all the writings of the previous Sikh Guru’s. This was done so Guru Jee could create an authentic Sikh Scripture that only contained true Sikh teachings. This scripture was also to contain the writings of Saints and Holy men whose teachings were inline with Sikh teachings.
This new scripture or Granth was called ‘Sri Adi Granth Sahib Jee’. Sri Adi Granth Sahib Jee was completed in 1604 and placed on a high pedestal within Sri Harmandir Sahib Jee, while Sri Guru Arjan Dev Jee themself sat lower. All Sikhs were instructed to bow to Sri Adi Granth Sahib Jee, not as an idol but as a scripture of divine revelation. It was only from Sri Adi Granth Sahib Jee that Sikhs were now to seek spiritual guidance on their journey.
A little while later, a rich arrogant Hindu banker of Delhi called Chandu Shah tried to marry his daughter to Hargobind, the son of Sri Guru Arjan Dev Jee. But due to his blasphemous remarks about Sikhi, the Sikh sangat refused to accept the marriage proposal. Prithi Chand knew that Chandu Shah had some influence with the Moghul Emporer Jahangir, so he used Chandu Shah's anger at being rejected to cause further trouble.
After the death of his father Akbar, Jahangir became the next Emperor of India. Jahangir was a person of low morals, and was fond of drinking alcohol. So he left much of the administration duties of running his kingdom to others. Because of his lax morals, Jahangir set out to please the Mulim priests which he knew did not approve of his actions, or the tolerant attitude that his father Akbar had previously displayed to other religions.
Jahangir therefore allowed the Muslim priests to implement Islamic law all over India as they pleased. The Muslim priests had already been keeping an eye on Sri Guru Arjan Dev Jee and were annoyed at his growing popularity amongst the people, particularly Muslims.
Prithi Chand saw all this and so conspired with Chandu Shah along with the Hindu and Muslims priests. They all approached Emperor Jahangir and made up rumours about Sri Guru Arjan Dev Jee to him. They said Sri Guru Arjan Dev Jee had created a new scripture that was speaking badly of Hinduism and Islam. This was untrue was Sri Adi Granth Sahib Jee gives respect to all. They also said that as Hindu’s and Muslims were now converting to Sikhi and so Sri Guru Arjan Dev Jee was getting ready to take over India from Jahangir. The rumours annoyed Jahangir as he feared he would lose his kingdom.
Sri Guru Arjan Dev Jee then received the summons to appear before Jahangir. Guru Jee was not afraid but he knew that it was not a good sign and he knew He would not be back. So Guru Jee declared that his son Hargobind should be installed as the next Guru.
Upon reaching Lahore, Jahangir demanded that Sri Guru Arjan Dev Jee revise the Sri Adi Granth Sahib Jee, by removing all references to Islam and Hinduism. This of course Guru Jee refused to do, as Sri Adi Granth Sahib only contained that which was sent by God himself and no one could change God’s Word!
Jahangir immediately had Sri Guru Arjan Dev Jee jailed and ordered that Guru Jee be tortured to death if he did not agree to remove the alleged derogatory references in Sri Adi Granth Sahib and convert to Islam. As there were no derogatory remarks in Sri Adi Granth Sahib nor was Guru Jee willing to become a Muslim, Guru Jee refused and was therefore cruelly tortured.
He was made to sit on a red hot iron sheet. They poured burning hot sand on his body. Guru Jee was dipped in boiling water. But Guru Jee took all these tortures with not a single sign of pain on his face. For five long days he was tortured but Sri Guru Arjan dev Jee remained calm and continued to sing Gurbani. When the torturers found Guru Jee unresponsive to their torture they did not know what to do.
On May 30, 1606 Sri Guru Arjan Dev Jee asked for a bath in the river Ravi by the side of the Mughal fort. Thousands watched Guru Jee, who could barely walk make his way to the river. Guru Jee’s bare body was covered with blisters and marks of beatings and blood. But Sri Guru Arjan Dev Jee showed no sign of anguish or pain. Guru Jee just kept on repeated over and over; "Sweet is Your will, O God; the gift of your Name alone I seek." Sri Guru Arjan Dev Jee then calmly walked into the river bank, bidding his farewell to his followers and was gone forever, his body carried away by the currents. This act of brutality in ending such a saintly life with such cruelty was to forever change the course of Sikhi forever.