Early Life
Bhai Gurdas Ji was born in 1551 in Goindwal, a small village in the Punjab. His father was Bhai Ishardas who was a first cousin of Guru Amar Das Ji (see family tree) His mothers name was Jivani Ji and she died in 1554 when Gurdas Ji was only three.
After being orphaned at the age of 12, he was adopted by his uncle Guru Amar Das Ji. He learned Sanskrit, Brajbhasha, Persian and Punjabi (Gurmukhi) and eventually began preaching Sikhism. He spent his early years at Goindval and Sultanpur Lodhi. At Goindval he listened to scholars and swamis who kept visiting the town while traversing the Delhi-Lahore road. He later moved to Varanasi where he studied Sanskrit and Hindu scriptures. There, he was subsequently initiated into Sikhism. After Guru Amar Das Ji died, his successor Guru Ram Das Ji, appointed Gurdas Ji as the Sikh missionary to Agra.
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