The Five Seats, and When Each Was Established

The five Takhts that anchor the office are historically and geographically distinct rather than a single system built at one time: the Akal Takht in Amritsar, established by Guru Hargobind in 1606 directly facing the Harmandir Sahib, was the first and remains the senior seat; Takht Sri Patna Sahib marks the birthplace of Guru Gobind Singh; Takht Sri Keshgarh Sahib at Anandpur marks the site of the founding of the Khalsa in 1699; Takht Sri Damdama Sahib is associated with Guru Gobind Singh's later compilation of the scripture; and Takht Sri Hazur Sahib at Nanded marks the place of the tenth Guru's death, so each seat carries the authority of a specific historical event in the life of the Gurus rather than functioning as an administrative division of equal and interchangeable seats.

Because the jathedars of the takhts can issue edicts, summon Sikhs to appear before them and impose religious sanctions, and because their appointment runs through the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, a body itself elected in ordinary Punjab politics, the office sits at a point where religious authority and electoral politics meet directly, and jathedars have at times been removed or reappointed in ways critics on various sides have characterised as politically motivated rather than purely religious, a recurring friction inherent in vesting religious authority in an office appointed by a political body.