Gurdwara Dera Sahib

The gurdwara is located just outside of the Walled City of Lahore, and is part of an ensemble of monuments which includes the Lahore Fort, Samadhi of Ranjit Singh, Hazuri Bagh quadrangle, Tomb of Iqbal, Roshnai Gate, and the Badshahi Mosque. The gurdwara is located at the coordinates 31°35'23.3"N, 74°18'42.5"E.

The gurdwara marks the location where the fifth Sikh guru, Guru Arjan, is believed to have disappeared and died.^[1] The Guru had undergone torture on the orders of the Mughal emperor Jahangir, at a site in Lahore's walled city that is commemorated by the defunct Gurdwara Lal Khoohi – which has been repurposed into a Muslim shrine by the name of Haq Chaar Yaar.^[3][1] The Guru's torture infuriated his close friend and Muslim mystic, Mian Mir. On the fifth day of torture, the Guru's request for a bath in the Ravi river was granted after intercession from Mian Mir.^[4] After submerging himself in the river, the Guru reportedly did not reappear, and a Mughal search party was unable to retrieve him.^[4]

The Guru's son and successor, Guru Hargobind had a memorial built here in 1619.^[1] The main Gurudwara building with gilded dome was built during Maharaja Ranjit Singh's reign, while some other additions were made later up until the partition. Before 1947, the gurdwara had 150 acres of land in Nandipur village in Daska tehsil and a house in Chuna Mandi associated with it.^[1]