Guru Amar Das
Guru Amar Das was born on May 5, 1479. See ranking, bio blurb, and everyone else born that day.
About Guru Amar Das
Guru Amar Das (Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰੂ ਅਮਰ ਦਾਸ, pronunciation: [gʊɾuː əməɾᵊ d̯aːsᵊ]; 5 May 1479 – 1 September 1574), sometimes spelled as Guru Amardas, was the third guru of Sikhism and became Sikh Guru on 26 March 1552 at age 73. Before becoming a Sikh, on a pilgrimage after having been prompted to search for a guru, he heard his nephew's wife, Bibi Amro, reciting a hymn by Guru Nanak, and was deeply moved by it. Amro was the daughter of Guru Angad, the second Guru of the Sikhs. Amar Das persuaded Amro to introduce him to her father. In 1539, Amar Das, at the age of sixty, met Guru Angad and became a Sikh, devoting himself to the Guru. In 1552, before his death, Guru Angad appointed Amar Das as the third Guru of Sikhism. Guru Amar Das was an important innovator in the teachings of Guru who introduced a religious organization called the Manji system by appointing trained clergy, a system that expanded and survives into the contemporary era. He also established the Peerah system for propagating the religion to women. He wrote and compiled hymns into a Pothi (book) that ultimately helped create the Adi Granth. He also enacted social reforms, such as by allowing widow remarriage, promoting intercaste alliance, encouraging monogamy, banning sati, and discouraging purdah. Amar Das remained the Guru of the Sikhs till age 95, and named his son-in-law Bhai Jetha, who was later remembered by the name Guru Ram Das, as his successor.