Guru Amar Das Ji occupies an important place in the history of Sikh religion. The seeds of the religion which Guru Nanak Dev Ji had sowed, sprouted during the period of Guru Angad Dev Ji. Guru Amar Das Ji raised a fence around the new religion and saved it from getting absorbed into Hindu religion. Guru Amar Das Ji helped the Sikh community to adopt new customs and traditions in their social life, which developed the real traits of Sikh religion.

They were different from the social customs and traditions of the Hindu religion. No doubt, Guru Sahib was a great divine soul. Payne, a scholar, called him an aggressive reformer. Another scholar has praised Guru Sahib as a genius and a man of justice. It is a historical fact that it was during his period that Sikh religion established its distinctive identity.

A brief survey of the work of Guru Amar Das Ji is as follows:

1. Construction of Baoli at Goindwal: Guru Amar Das Ji completed the construction work of Baoli at Goindwal which was started during the period of Guru Angad Dev Ji. Guru Amar Das Ji constructed 84 steps in the Baoli. Guru Sahib said that a Sikh could get freedom from the cycle of births and deaths covering 84 lakh forms of lives by reciting the hymns of Jupji Sahib on each step. The Baoli of Goindwal became an important place of pilgrimage for the Sikhs.

2. Langar System: Guru Amar Das Ji also made the Langar system popular which helped further in the spread of Sikhism. Guru Sahib made some more rules for Langar System. As per the new rules, whosoever wanted to earn the benefit of participation in Sangat, he must partake Langar with the rest of the Sangat before joining it in the presence of Guru Sahib. While partaking food in the Langar, Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishs, Shudras, Kings, common men and people of all castes and tribes sat in one row and partook food.

Langar system propagated the message of Sikh religion in a more forceful and effective manner. It ended the discrimination based on castes. It developed the feelings of unity and equality in the Sikh Sangat. As a consequence, it bound the Sikhs into a strong bond of unity.

3. Collection of the Sayings of Guru Sahiban: Guru Angad Dev collected the true ‘Bani’ of Guru Nanak Dev Ji and added his own ‘Bani’ also. Guru Angad Dev Ji entrusted the sacred collection to Guru Amar Das Ji. Guru Amar Das Ji also composed his ‘Bani’ and added to the collection. In this manner, the true ‘Bani’ was preserved in a pure form and later found place in the ‘Adi Granth Sahib’. The grandson of Guru Amar Das Ji, Guru Arjan Dev Ji accomplished the ultimate task.

4. Manji System: The number of followers of Sikhism had increased manifold by the time of Guru Amar Das Ji. Guru Amar Das Ji found it difficult to reach all his disciples who were spread over a large area. Guru Sahib divided his spiritual territory into 22 regions. Each region was called a ‘Manji’. Each Manji was a centre of religious preaching and Guru Sahib appointed learned and reliable Sikh devotees to control each Manji.

The establishment of Manji system was an important step in the systematic organisation of the Sikh religion. G.C. Narang in his book ‘Transformation of Sikhism’, remarks that the introduction of Manji System by Guru Sahib had strengthened the Sikh religion and contributed to the spread of Guru’s divine message in different regions of the country in a more effective way.

5. Separation of Sikhs from the Udasis: The Udasi sect of Baba Sri Chand had also become popular in the early period of Guru Amar Das Ji’s Guru Gaddi, There was a possibility of Sikh religion losing its identity by being merged with the Udasi sect. It is recognised by many historians that Guru Amar Das Ji had judged the situation and strongly spoken against the main principles of asceticism of Udasi sect, which were against the principles of Sikh religion as founded by Guru Nanak Dev Ji. Guru Amar Das Ji helped the Sikh Sangat to understand clearly that they would not be able to become true Sikhs, if they adopted the principles of Udasi sect. In this manner, because of the efforts of Guru Amar Das Ji, the Sikh religion maintained its separate identity and flourished.

6. Separate Sikh ceremonies: Guru Amar Das Ji instructed the Sikhs to discontinue useless customs and traditions. Among the Hindus, it was a tradition of weeping and crying over the death of one’s near ones. Guru Sahib advised his disciples to meditate on God in such situations in one’s life instead of performing useless ceremonies and rites. Guru Sahib also started a new ceremony for marriage which was called Anand Karaj.

7. Composition of Anand Sahib: Guru Sahib composed a new Bani which is called ‘Anand Sahib’. Anand Sahib ended the importance of Vedic hymns for the Sikhs and gave them their own sacred literature.

Thus, the period of Guru Amar Das Ji’s Gurugaddi and his sacred literature occupy the most important place in the history of Sikh religion. Guru Sahib constructed a Baoli, introduced Manji System, elaborated the Langar System, and introduced new traditions and customs in the Sikh religion which was well-organised during his days.