History of Sikhism

Guru Nanak founded the Sikh religion in the Punjab region of the northern part of the Indian subcontinent in the 15th century and opposed many traditional practices like fasting, Upanayana, idolatry, caste system, ascetism, azan, economic materialism, and gender discrimination.

Guru Gobind Singh, tenth of the ten Sikh Gurus, founded the Khalsa panth in the Punjab region of the northern part of the Indian subcontinent in the end of seventeenth century. He baptised five Sikh people from different parts of India, with different social backgrounds, to form the Khalsa. Those five Beloved Ones, the Pañj Piārē, then baptised him into the Khalsa fold. This gives the order of Khalsa a history of around 500 years. Historical theory and analysis suggests that Sikhism came into existence during the early medieval period of the Bhakti movement and also after repeated invasions by Muslim rulers upon the Hindu community during Mughal rule, which lasted between (1526–1857 AD) especially in the region of North India.

The history of the Sikh faith is closely associated with the history of Punjab and the socio-political situation in the north-west of the Indian subcontinent during the 17th century. From the rule of India by the Mughal Emperor Jahangir (r. 1605–1627), Sikhism came into conflict with Mughal laws, because they were affecting political successions of Mughals while cherishing Sufi saints from Islam. Mughal rulers killed many prominent Sikhs for refusing to obey their orders, and for opposing the persecution of Sikhs. Of the ten Sikh gurus, two, Guru Arjan and Guru Tegh Bahadur, were tortured and executed, and close kin of several gurus (such as the seven and nine-year old sons of Guru Gobind Singh), were brutally killed, along with numerous other main revered figures of Sikhism (such as Banda Bahadur (1716), Bhai Mati Das, Bhai Sati Das and Bhai Dayala), who were also tortured and killed by Mughal rulers for refusing their orders, and for opposing the persecution of Sikhs and Hindus. Subsequently, Sikhism militarised itself to oppose Mughal hegemony. The emergence of the Sikh Confederacy under the misls and Sikh Empire under the reign of the Maharajah Ranjit Singh (r. 1792–1839) was characterised by religious tolerance and pluralism with Christians, Muslims and Hindus in positions of power. The establishment of the Sikh Empire in 1799 is commonly considered the zenith of Sikhism in the political sphere, during its existence (from 1799 to 1849) the Sikh Empire came to include Kashmir, Ladakh, and Peshawar. A number of Hindu and Muslim peasants converted to Sikhism. Hari Singh Nalwa, the Commander-in-chief of the Sikh army along the northwest Frontier from 1825 to 1837, took the boundary of the Sikh Empire to the very mouth of the Khyber Pass. The Sikh Empire's secular administration integrated innovative military, economic and governmental reforms.

Sikh organizations, including the Chief Khalsa Dewan and Shiromani Akali Dal led by Master Tara Singh, strongly opposed the partition of India, viewing the possibility of the creation of Pakistan as inviting persecution. The months leading up to the partition of India in 1947, saw heavy conflict in the Punjab between Sikhs and Muslims, which saw the effective religious migration of Punjabi Sikhs and Hindus from West Punjab and organized ethnic cleansing of Punjabi Muslims from East Punjab. Currently, most Sikhs live in the Indian state of Punjab, where they formed about 60 percent of the state population.

Guru Nanak (1469–1539), founder of Sikhism, was born to Mehta Kalu and Mata Tripta, in the village of Talwandi, now called Nankana Sahib, near Lahore. His father, Mehta Kalu, was a Patwari, an accountant of land revenue in the government. Nanak's mother was Mata Tripta, and he had one older sister, Bibi Nanki.

From an early age, Guru Nanak seemed to have acquired a questioning and enquiring mind and refused as a child to wear the ritualistic sacred thread called a janeu and instead said that he would wear the true name of God in his heart as protection, as the thread which could be broken, be soiled, burnt or lost could not offer any security at all. From early childhood, Bibi Nanki saw in her brother the Light of God but she did not reveal this secret to anyone. She is known as the first disciple of Guru Nanak.

Even as a boy, his desire to explore the mysteries of life eventually led him to leave home. Nanak married Sulakhni, daughter of Moolchand Chona, a trader from Batala, and they had two sons, Sri Chand and Lakhmi Chand.

His brother-in-law, Jai Ram, the husband of his sister Nanki, obtained a job for him in Sultanpur as the manager of the government granary. One morning, when he was twenty-eight, Guru Nanak went as usual down to the river to bathe and meditate. It was said that he was gone for three days. When he reappeared, it is said he was "filled with the spirit of God". His first words after his re-emergence were: "There is no Hindu, there is no Muslim". With this secular principle he began his missionary work. He made four distinct major journeys, in the four different directions, which are called Udasis, spanning many thousands of kilometres, preaching the message of God.