Guru Gobind Singh-ji
North India, Lahore, dated by inscription 1912
Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 60x 36 inches (152.4 x 91.4 cm)

Guru Gobind Singh (1675-1708) was the tenth and final guru of Sikism. He became a guru at the age of nine. Through his studies of the art of war, Gobind Singh began to organize the Sikhs into a fighting force to destroy all evil. He established a group of casteless Sikhs known as the Khalsa, or Order of the Pure, that were willing to take up arms in the face of injustice and tyranny. Though he was defeated in 1704 by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, Gobind Singh escaped through enemy lines, leaving his family to be slain. He would later be murdered by two trusted Pathans, but not before he was able to put the final touches to the Guru Granth, or sacred book, which is the guide to Sikhism.

The tenth guru sits formally on an ornate floral rug holding a golden bow and arrow. He has propped himself up again a large, deep red bolster with a gold floral design. Gobind Singh is dressed in a green jama embroidered heavily with a golden floral pattern. A gold and red sash hangs from his waist in which he has tucked his sword. Gold, pearls, and jewels drape from his neck and arms. An elaborately decorated turban sits atop his head with an embellished turla hanging from the top. A radiating nimbus bursts behind his head. The guru sits on a terrace with a picturesque landscape in the distance. Flowers bloom before a gleaming lake, as mountains stretch out to the distance.