The sixth Sikh Guru, Hargobind Singh

This image of the sixth guru clearly expresses the transformation that occurred in Sikh leadership by the mid-eighteenth century. In contrast to images of Guru Nanak, Guru Hargobind Singh (1595– 1644) is portrayed not as a holy man engrossed in scripture, but rather as a resolute leader in imperial guise. The early loss of his father, who died at the hands of the Mughal emperor Jahangir, catapulted the child into guruship at a young age and transformed the tone of Sikhism. Hargobind eventually established his own army.

The guru holds a staff suggesting his political authority in one hand, while in his left hand he holds a string of prayer beads, a literal expression of the two dimensions of his power. The doctrine of the interdependence of the temporal and spiritual (miri and piri), alluded to in this image, became central to Sikh philosophy and discourse.