Amritsar
Born Jetha in 1534 and orphaned young, he became a devoted follower of Amar Das, married his daughter, and succeeded him in 1574. His principal act was the founding of a new settlement on land in central Punjab, first called Ramdaspur, where he had a tank excavated — the amrit sarovar, pool of nectar, from which the city of Amritsar takes its name.
He invited traders and artisans of many trades to settle there, giving the community an urban centre with an economic base rather than merely a religious one. The city became and remains the focus of Sikh life.
The masand system
Ram Das extended his predecessor's arrangements into the masand system, appointing representatives to preach, to collect offerings and to remit them to the centre. This financed the excavation at Amritsar and later the building of the Harmandir.
The system worked well initially and deteriorated later, with masands accused of retaining what they collected; Guru Gobind Singh abolished it. Its early success, however, is what made large-scale building possible.
Compositions
His hymns occupy a large place in the Guru Granth Sahib. The Lavan, four stanzas recited as the couple circles the scripture, constitutes the Sikh marriage rite, Anand Karaj, and is his most widely used composition. Ram Das was also the first Guru whose son succeeded him, beginning the hereditary line that continued to the tenth Guru.
Further reading
- Fenech, Louis E. The Sikh Zafar-namah of Guru Gobind Singh. Oxford University Press, 2013
- Grewal, J. S. The Sikhs of the Punjab. Cambridge University Press, 1998
- Grewal, J. S. Guru Nanak in History. Panjab University, 1969
- McLeod, W. H. Guru Nanak and the Sikh Religion. Oxford University Press, 1968
- Singh, Khushwant. A History of the Sikhs. Oxford University Press, 2004
See also
This entry was last revised on 31 July 2026.