Sikhism originated around the 15th century. Guru Nanak (1469–1539), the founder of Sikhism, was born in the village of
Rāi Bhōi dī Talwandī, now called
Nankana Sahib (in present-day Pakistan). His parents were
Punjabi Khatri Hindus. According to the
hagiography Puratan Janamsakhi composed more than two centuries after his death and probably based on
oral tradition, Nanak as a boy was fascinated by religion and spiritual matters, spending time with wandering ascetics and holy men. Although the exact account of his itinerary is disputed, hagiographic accounts state he made five major journeys, spanning thousands of miles: the first tour being east towards
Bengal and
Assam; the second south towards
Andhra and
Tamil Nadu; the third north to
Kashmir,
Ladakh, and
Mount Sumeru in
Tibet; and the fourth to
Baghdad. In his last and final tour, he returned to the banks of the Ravi River to end his days. There are two competing theories on Guru Nanak's teachings. One, according to Cole and Sambhi, is based on hagiographical
Janamsakhis, and states that Nanak's teachings and Sikhism were a revelation from God, and not a social protest movement nor any attempt to reconcile Hinduism and Islam in the 15th century. The other states that Nanak was a
guru. According to Singha, "Sikhism does not subscribe to the theory of incarnation or the concept of prophethood. But it has a pivotal concept of Guru. He is not an incarnation of God, not even a prophet. He is an illumined soul." The second theory continues that hagiographical
Janamsakhis were not written by Nanak, but by later followers without regard for historical accuracy, and contain numerous legends and myths created to show respect for Nanak. The term
revelation, clarify Cole and Sambhi, in Sikhism is not limited to the teachings of Nanak, but is extended to all Sikh gurus, as well as the words of past, present and future men and women, who possess divine knowledge intuitively through meditation. The Sikh revelations include the words of non-Sikh
bhagats, some who lived and died before the birth of Nanak, and whose teachings are part of the Sikh scriptures. The Adi Granth and successive Sikh gurus repeatedly emphasised, states Mandair, that Sikhism is "not about hearing voices from God, but it is about changing the nature of the human mind, and anyone can achieve direct experience and spiritual perfection at any time". The development of Sikhism was influenced by the
Bhakti movement; however, Sikhism was not simply an extension of the Bhakti movement. Sikhism, for instance, disagreed with some of the views of Bhakti saints Kabir and Ravidas. The Islamic era persecution of Sikhs triggered the founding of the
Khalsa, as an order for freedom of conscience and religion. A Sikh is expected to embody the qualities of a "Sant-Sipāhī" a
saint-soldier.
Growth of Sikhism explaining
Sikh teachings to
Sadhus After its inception, Sikhism grew as it gained converts among Hindus and Muslims in the Punjab region. In 1539, Guru Nanak chose his disciple Lahiṇā as a successor to the Guruship rather than either of his sons. Lahiṇā was named
Guru Angad and became the second guru of the Sikhs. Nanak conferred his choice at the town of
Kartarpur on the banks of the river
Ravi.
Sri Chand, Guru Nanak's son was also a religious man, and continued his own commune of Sikhs. His followers came to be known as the
Udasi Sikhs, the first parallel sect of Sikhism that formed in
Sikh history. The Udasis believe that the Guruship should have gone to Sri Chand, since he was a man of pious habits in addition to being Nanak's son.
Guru Amar Das became the third Sikh guru in 1552 at the age of 73. He adhered to the
Vaishnavism tradition of Hinduism for much of his life, before joining the commune of Guru Angad.
Goindval became an important centre for Sikhism during the Guruship of Guru Amar Das. He was a reformer, and discouraged veiling of women's faces (a Muslim custom) as well as
sati (a Hindu custom). He encouraged the
Kshatriya people to fight in order to protect people and for the sake of justice, stating this is
Dharma. Guru Amar Das started the tradition of appointing
manji (zones of religious administration with an appointed chief called
sangatias), and the famed
langar tradition of Sikhism where anyone, without discrimination of any kind, could get a free meal in a communal seating. The collection of revenue from Sikhs through regional appointees helped Sikhism grow. Guru Amar Das named his disciple and son-in-law Jēṭhā as the next guru, who came to be known as
Guru Ram Das. The new guru faced hostilities from the sons of Guru Amar Das and therefore shifted his official base to lands identified by Guru Amar Das as Guru-ka-Chak. He moved his commune of Sikhs there and the place then was called Ramdaspur, after him. This city grew and later became
Amritsar – the holiest city of Sikhism. Guru Ram Das expanded the
manji organisation for clerical appointments in Sikh temples, and for revenue collections to theologically and economically support the Sikh movement. The elder son of Guru Ram Das named
Prithi Chand is remembered in the Sikh tradition as vehemently opposing Guru Arjan, creating a faction Sikh community which the Sikhs following Guru Arjan called as
Minaas (literally, "scoundrels"). Guru Arjan is remembered among Sikhs for many accomplishments. He built the first
Harimandir Sahib (later to become the
Golden Temple). He was a poet, and he created the first edition of Sikh sacred text known as the
Ādi Granth (literally "the first book") and included the writings of the first five gurus and other enlightened 13 Hindu and 2 Muslim Sufi saints. In 1606, he was tortured and killed by the
Mughal emperor Jahangir, for refusing to convert to Islam. His martyrdom is considered a watershed event in the history of Sikhism.
Political advancement After the martyrdom of Guru Arjan, his son
Guru Hargobind at age eleven became the sixth guru of the Sikhs, and Sikhism dramatically evolved to become a political movement in addition to being religious. Guru Hargobind carried two swords, calling one spiritual and the other for temporal purpose, reflecting the concept of Miri Piri. According to the Sikh tradition, Guru Arjan asked his son Hargobind to start a military tradition to protect the
Sikh people and always keep himself surrounded by armed Sikhs. The building of an armed Sikh militia began with Guru Hargobind. He married three women, built a fort to defend Ramdaspur and created a formal court called
Akal Takht, now the highest Khalsa Sikh religious authority. In 1644, Guru Hargobind named his grandson
Har Rai as the guru. The Mughal emperor
Shah Jahan attempted political means to undermine the Sikh tradition, by dividing and influencing the succession. Guru Har Rai is famed to have met Dara Shikoh during a time Dara Shikoh and his younger brother Aurangzeb were in a bitter succession fight. Aurangzeb summoned Guru Har Rai, who refused to go and sent his elder son Ram Rai instead. Guru Har Krishan became the eighth guru at the age of five, and died of smallpox before reaching the age of eight. No hymns composed by these three gurus are included in the Guru Granth Sahib.
Guru Tegh Bahadur, the uncle of Guru Har Krishan, became guru in 1665. Tegh Bahadur resisted the forced conversions of
Kashmiri
Pandits and non-Muslims to
Islam, and was publicly beheaded in 1675 on the orders of
Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in
Delhi for refusing to convert to Islam. His beheading traumatised the Sikhs. His body was cremated in Delhi, while the head was carried secretively by Sikhs and cremated in
Anandpur. He was succeeded by his son, Gobind Rai, who militarised his followers by creating the
Khalsa in 1699, and baptising the
Pañj Piārē. From then on, he was known as
Guru Gobind Singh, and Sikh identity was redefined into a political force resisting religious persecution. File:Interior-view-Gurudwara-Sis-Ganj-Sahib.jpg|
Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib in Delhi. The long window under the marble platform is the location where
Guru Tegh Bahadur was executed by the Mughals. File:Bhai Mati Das.jpg|Artistic rendering of the execution of
Bhai Mati Das by the Mughals. This image is from a
Sikh Ajaibghar near the towns of Mohali and Sirhind in Punjab, India.
Sikh confederacy and the rise of the Khalsa Mehdiana 5.jpg|Sculpture at
Mehdiana Sahib of the execution of
Banda Singh Bahadur in 1716 by the Mughals Bodyguard of Ranjit Singh.jpg|Some bodyguards of
Maharaja Ranjit Singh at the Sikh capital, Lahore, Punjab
Guru Gobind Singh inaugurated the
Khalsa (the collective body of all
initiated Sikhs) as the Sikh temporal authority in the year 1699. It created a community that combines its spiritual purpose and goals with political and military duties. After the Guru Gobind's death,
Banda Singh Bahadur became the commander-in-chief of the Khalsa. He organised the civilian rebellion and abolished or halted the
Zamindari system in time he was active and gave the farmers
proprietorship of their own land. The Sikh empire, with its capital in
Lahore, spread over almost comprising what is now northwestern
Indian subcontinent. The Sikh Empire entered into a treaty with the colonial British powers, with each side recognising Sutlej River as the line of control and agreeing not to invade the other side. Ranjit Singh's most lasting legacy was the restoration and expansion of the
Harmandir Sahib, most revered
Gurudwara of the Sikhs, with marble and gold, from which the popular name of the "
Golden Temple" is derived. After the death of Ranjit Singh in 1839, the Sikh Empire fell into disorder. Ranjit Singh had failed to establish a lasting structure for Sikh government or stable succession, and the Sikh Empire rapidly declined after his death. Factions divided the Sikhs, and led to
Anglo-Sikh wars. The British defeated the confused and demoralised
Khalsa forces, then disbanded them into destitution. The youngest son of Ranjit Singh, named
Duleep Singh, ultimately succeeded, but he was arrested and exiled after the defeat of the Sikhs.
Singh Sabha movement The Singh Sabha movement, a movement to revitalise Sikhism, also saw the resurgence of the
Khalsa after their defeat in wars with the British – latterly in the
Second Anglo-Sikh War – and the subsequent decline and corruption of Sikh institutions during colonial rule, and the proselytisation of other faith groups in the Punjab. It was started in the 1870s, and after a period of interfactional rivalry, united under the Tat Khalsa to reinvigorate Sikh practice and institutions. The last Maharaja of the Sikh Empire, Duleep Singh, converted to Christianity in 1853, a controversial but influential event in Sikh history. Along with his conversion, and after Sikh Empire had been dissolved and the region made a part of the colonial British Empire,
proselytising activities of
Christians,
Brahmo Samajis,
Arya Samaj, Muslim Anjuman-i-Islamia and Ahmadiyah sought to convert the Sikhs in northwestern Indian subcontinent into their respective faiths. Shortly thereafter, Nihang Sikhs began influencing the movement, followed by a sustained campaign by the
Tat Khalsa, which had quickly gained dominance by the early 1880s. The movement became a struggle between Sanatan Sikhs and Tat Khalsa in defining and interpreting Sikhism. The Sikh Sabha movement expanded in north and northwest Indian subcontinent, leading to more than 100 Singh Sabhas. replaced by the
Anand Karaj marriage ceremony in accordance with Sikh scripture, and the idols and the images of Sikh gurus from the Golden Temple in 1905, traditions which had taken root during the administration of the
mahants during the 1800s. They undertook a sustained campaign to standardise how Sikh gurdwaras looked and ran, while looking to Sikh scriptures and the early Sikh tradition to purify the Sikh identity. The spiritual successors of the Singh Sabha include the
Akali movement of the 1920s, as well as the modern-day
Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), a gurdwara administration body, and the
Akali Dal political party.
Partition of India of March 1947, which preceded the partition and were the first partition-related violence in Punjab to show clear signs of
ethnic cleansing Sikhs participated and contributed to the decades-long Indian independence movement in the first half of the 20th century. Ultimately when the British Empire recognised independent India, the
land was partitioned into Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan (East and West) in 1947. According to Banga, the partition was a watershed event in Sikh history. The Sikhs had historically lived in northwestern region of Indian subcontinent on both sides of the partition line ("
Radcliffe Line"). According to Banga and other scholars, the Sikhs had strongly opposed the
Muslim League demands and saw it as "perpetuation of Muslim domination" and anti-Sikh policies in what just a hundred years before was a part of the Sikh Empire. As such, Sikh organisations, including the
Chief Khalsa Dewan and
Shiromani Akali Dal led by
Master Tara Singh, condemned the
Lahore Resolution and the movement to create Pakistan, viewing it as inviting possible persecution; the Sikhs largely thus
strongly opposed the partition of India. During the discussions with the colonial authorities, Tara Singh emerged as an important leader who campaigned to prevent the partition of colonial India and for the recognition of Sikhs as a third community. When partition was announced, the newly created line divided the Sikh population. Along with Hindus, Sikhs suffered organised violence and riots against them in West Pakistan. As a result, Sikhs moved en masse to the Indian side, leaving behind their property and holy sites. personnel march past during the
Republic day parade in New Delhi, India. Between March and August 1947, a series of riots, arson, plunder of Sikh and property, assassination of Sikh leaders, and killings in Jhelum districts, Rawalpindi, Attock and other places led to Tara Singh calling the situation in Punjab a "civil war", while
Lord Mountbatten stated "civil war preparations were going on." The riots had triggered the early waves of migration in April, with some 20,000 people leaving northwest Punjab and moving to Patiala. When the partition line was formally announced in August 1947, the violence was unprecedented, with Sikhs being one of the most affected religious community both in terms of deaths, as well as property loss, injury, trauma and disruption. The fierce engagement took place in the precincts of Darbar Sahib and resulted in many deaths, including Bhindranwale. It also resulted in the destruction of the Sikh Reference Library, which was considered a national treasure that contained over a thousand rare manuscripts and the Akal Takht. Numerous soldiers, civilians and militants died in the cross fire. Within days of the Operation Bluestar, some 2,000 Sikh soldiers in India mutinied and attempted to reach Amritsar to liberate the
Golden Temple. According to Donald Horowitz, while anti-Sikh riots led to much damage and deaths, many serious provocations by militants also failed to trigger ethnic violence in many cases throughout the 1980s. The Sikhs and their neighbours, for most part, ignored attempts to provoke riots and communal strife. ==Sikh people==