Adi Granth Compiled

In 1604, Guru Arjan, the fifth Guru of the Sikhs, completed the Adi Granth, the first compiled version of the Sikh scripture, and installed it at the Harmandir Sahib, now widely known as the Golden Temple, in Amritsar. The collection gave the young Sikh community a fixed, authoritative body of sacred text. It also became the foundation for the Guru Granth Sahib, which Sikhs regard as their eternal Guru.

The Sikh tradition began with Guru Nanak in the late fifteenth century in Punjab, and his successors had continued to compose hymns, usually in the name "Nanak" as a sign of shared spiritual authority. These verses circulated orally and in handwritten collections, and some rival groups were also producing their own compositions under the Gurus' names. As the community grew, Guru Arjan evidently saw a need to establish which texts were genuine. He had also overseen the building of the Harmandir Sahib at the center of the new town of Amritsar, giving the Sikhs a physical as well as a textual focus.

Guru Arjan gathered the hymns of the earlier Gurus, added his own, and included compositions by a range of Hindu and Muslim saints and poets, such as Kabir, Ravidas, and Farid. Their inclusion reflected the Sikh emphasis on devotion to one God beyond sectarian boundaries. Tradition holds that Bhai Gurdas acted as scribe, and the text is written in the Gurmukhi script, with verses organized mainly by musical mode, or raga, rather than by author or theme. The completed volume was ceremonially placed in the Harmandir Sahib, with Baba Buddha traditionally named as its first reader.

The Adi Granth soon became central to Sikh worship and identity. Around the end of the seventeenth century, Guru Gobind Singh is traditionally said to have added the hymns of his father, Guru Tegh Bahadur, producing the version known today. Before his death in 1708, he is remembered as declaring that there would be no more human Gurus and that the scripture would serve as the Guru. Sikhs have honored the Guru Granth Sahib ever since, installing it in gurdwaras, reading it continuously on important occasions, and treating it with great reverence.

The compilation also had political consequences. Guru Arjan's growing influence drew the suspicion of the Mughal authorities, and he was arrested and died in Mughal custody in 1606. The circumstances are described differently in Sikh and Mughal sources, but Sikhs remember him as their first great martyr. His death is often seen as a turning point that pushed the community toward greater militarization in the following decades.