History

Originating in the 16^th century, Sikhism, pronounced “seek”, was created in the Punjab region. 

The followers of this religion are known as Sikhs—in which the term itself means “disciple”. Sikhs are known to be the followers or disciples of the Guru. It has been said that Guru Nanak (1469-1539) was the founder of Sikhism and its first ten Gurus.

Guru Nanak

 The journey to finding and understanding Sikhism began with the story of Nanak going down to the river for his usual daily cleansing and meditation. Strangely, he did not return for three days but when he did, something changed—he claimed there was no Hindu nor was there Muslim.  From there on, he began to search for the truth. He traveled from one end of India to the other—passing through Mecca and Baghdad. He visited many mosques, temples and other religious places and met with various people of different religious beliefs. However, with everyone he encountered, Nanak spoke out against all their religions, believing that what he was seeking was the real truth. He, nevertheless, never tried to convert anybody’s beliefs into his and expressed that they should be faithful and be good religious believers of their religion. These journeys finally came to an end when he settled down in Punjab in a town called Kartapur. There, Nanak shared his experiences of his four journeys and the true beliefs he uncovered during these journeys. Slowly, Muslims, Hindus, and people of other religious beliefs came from all over just to learn from Guru Nanak. Eventually, those people became his followers and there the meaning of Guru was born. They referred to Guru Nanak as his teacher and they were his disciples. Over time, these people who learned from Guru Nanak became who are now known as Sikhists.

Guru Nanak and the 10 Gurus

With Guru Nanak as the foundation, Sikhism was developed and strongly established from the mid-1400s to the 1700s by the first ten Gurus. Sikhs see these Gurus not only as godlike teachers, but also as a connection to learn from God himself. Each of the ten Gurus have had a significant impact on the development and discovery of Sikhism. Beginning with the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak appointed his successor, Guru Angad, who established Gurmukhi. 

Gurmukhi means the mouth of the Guru

The Gurmukhi is an important script used for the use of writing Punjabi in India. The word itself means “the mouth of the Guru”. As the third Guru, Guru Amar not only created equality among the people, but he also introduced the birth and death rituals in Sikhism. Anand Sahib, which is Guru Amar’s most famous hymn, is now a part of a Sikh’s daily ritual. Guru Ram Das and Guru Arjan Dev, as the fourth and fifth Gurus, founded the holy city of Sikhism and the holy book of Sikhism respectively. Before Guru Arjan’s death, he appointed his son, Guru Hargobind, as the sixth Guru. Unfortunately, he stirred up some tension with the Mughal Empire by declaring himself as a military leader. Guru Hargobind was also the first Guru who engaged in warfare. He introduced defense weapons and martial arts and created one of the Sikh seats of power known as the Akal Takht. 

Akal Takht

Afterwards, he chose his grandson to be the next—Guru Har Rai. It seems as though from here on, each Guru chose a blood-related relative as his successor because the seventh Guru appointed his younger son, Guru Har Krishan, as the eighth Guru. Interestingly, he was the youngest Guru to be appointed. At the age of five, he became one of the 10 divine Gurus; unfortunately, he died of smallpox at the age of 8. Therefore, Guru Tegh Bahadur, his great uncle took over. He was prohibited from Amritsar, a large city in India, by Sikh rivals and was also the founder of the Sikh center of Anandpur. His life as a Guru ended when he was beheaded by Muslims for helping people escape Islam conversion. As Guru Tegh Bahadur’s son, and the final and last Guru, Guru Gobind Singh’s beliefs seemed parallel to those of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism. He resisted tyranny from other religions and was the perfect exemplar of a Sikh hero. He established the Khalsa, which are Sikhs who have gone through the sacred Amrit Ceremony.  He also familiarized his people with many of the religions practices seen today. As the tenth Guru, Guru Gobind Singh decided to stop the continuation of living Gurus and appointed the Sikh holy book as the guide for all future Sikhs.

Sikh Holy Book