The Martyrdom of Guru Arjan

Guru Arjan compiled the Adi Granth and built Harmandir Sahib. In 1606 he was arrested and killed by Mughal authority. The established core is this: Emperor Jahangir ordered it, the pretext was the Guru’s support for his rebel son Khusrau, and Jahangir’s own memoir says the Guru’s following had grown over three or four generations and that he meant to end it.

Sikh tradition adds a courtier, Chandu Shah, who bore a grudge after the Guru declined to marry his son Hargobind to Chandu’s daughter, and who pressed the emperor. Early documents do not support this. Historians also dispute how Guru Arjan died. In tradition, his friend the Sufi Mian Mir intervened with the authorities.

Counsel

Rage is easy to arm. A rebellion, a rumor and a rival courtier were enough to turn an emperor’s suspicion into a sentence. The Guru’s answer, in tradition, was to refuse krodh in return: not to meet the provocation with its own coin.

Hold the two layers apart. The event is firm. The villain in the story may be the tradition’s, and the contested parts should stay labeled.

Verification

The Mughal execution of Guru Arjan in 1606, and the link to the rebellion of Prince Khusrau, are well attested (Jahangir's own memoir complains of the Guru's growing following). The role of Chandu Shah is Sikh tradition and is not supported by the early documentary sources. The cause of death (execution, torture, drowning in the Ravi) is disputed; J. S. Grewal notes that 17th- and 18th-century sources conflict. Mian Mir's intervention is traditional and not firmly documented. The fine of 200,000 rupees and the demand to remove hymns are Sikh tradition. Source: Wikipedia, 'Guru Arjan', which collects Grewal, McLeod, Pashaura Singh and Fenech. We have not read the primary sources.