The iron chains bit into his wrists as the guards dragged him through the narrow streets of Chandni Chowk.

The Siege of the Holy Man: When Guru Tegh Bahadur Faced the Emperor

A Sikh Leader's Final Journey to Delhi's Red Fort

A Sikh Guru walked into Mughal custody to protect Hindu refugees, sparking a martyrdom that transformed his religion forever.

The iron chains bit into his wrists as the guards dragged him through the narrow streets of Chandni Chowk. It was November 8, 1675, and Delhi's bazaars fell silent as merchants recognized the prisoner — Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Sikh Guru, a man who had walked willingly into the Mughal lion's den.

For weeks, Aurangzeb's men had kept him in the Kotwali, the city jail near the Red Fort. The emperor's ultimatum was simple: convert to Islam or die. But the Guru had not come to Delhi seeking mercy. He had come because a delegation of Kashmiri Pandits — Hindu Brahmins facing forced conversion — had traveled to his court at Anandpur begging for protection. According to Sikh tradition, his young son Gobind had spoken words that would echo through centuries: 'Who better than you to protect them?'

On this day, the final confrontation began. Aurangzeb, the most orthodox of Mughal emperors, had consolidated power by imprisoning his own father and executing his brothers. Religious uniformity was his obsession. The Guru represented everything he sought to crush — a living symbol that faith could not be compelled.

Inside the prison, imperial qazis presented their arguments. They showed him…

💡 The site of Guru Tegh Bahadur's imprisonment now houses Sis Ganj Gurudwara, one of Delhi's most sacred Sikh sites, visited by thousands daily who pass through the same streets where he was dragged in chains.