Sikhism

Sikhism is an Indian religion and philosophy that originated in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent around the end of the 15th century CE. It is one of the most recently founded major religions and is followed by 25–30 million adherents, known as Sikhs.

Sikhism developed from the spiritual teachings of Guru Nanak (1469–1539), the faith's first guru, and the nine Sikh gurus who succeeded him. The tenth guru, Guru Gobind Singh (1666–1708), named the Guru Granth Sahib, which is the central religious scripture in Sikhism, as his successor. This brought the line of human gurus to a close. Sikhs regard the Guru Granth Sahib as the 11th and eternally living guru.

The core beliefs and practices of Sikhism, articulated in the Guru Granth Sahib and other Sikh scriptures, include faith and meditation in the name of the one creator (Ik Onkar), the divine unity and equality of all humankind, engaging in selfless service to others (sevā), striving for justice for the benefit and prosperity of all (sarbat da bhala), and honest conduct and livelihood. Following this standard, Sikhism rejects claims that any particular religious tradition has a monopoly on absolute truth. As a consequence, Sikhs do not actively proselytise, although voluntary converts are generally accepted. Sikhism emphasises meditation and remembrance as a means to feel God's presence (simran), which can be expressed musically through kirtan or internally through naam japna (lit. 'meditation on God's name'). Baptised Sikhs are obliged to wear the five Ks, which are five articles of faith which physically distinguish Sikhs from non-Sikhs. Among these include the kesh (uncut hair). Most religious Sikh men thus do not cut their hair but rather wear a turban.

The definition of a Sikh, according to the Rehat Maryada, the Sikh code of conduct, is any human being who faithfully believes in the following:

and who does not owe allegiance to any other religion.

The religion developed and evolved in times of religious persecution, gaining converts from both Hinduism and Islam. The Mughal emperors of India tortured and executed two of the Sikh gurus—Guru Arjan (1563–1605) and Guru Tegh Bahadur (1621–1675)—after they refused to convert to Islam. The persecution of the Sikhs triggered the founding of the Khalsa by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699 as an order to protect the freedom of conscience and religion, with members expressing the qualities of a sant-sipāhī ("saint-soldier").

The majority of Sikh scriptures were originally written in the alphabet of Gurmukhī, a script standardised by Guru Angad out of Laṇḍā scripts historically used in present-day Pakistan and North India. Adherents of Sikhism are known as Sikhs, meaning "students" or "disciples" of the guru. The English word Sikhism derives from the Punjabi word for the religion Sikhi (Punjabi: ਸਿੱਖੀ Sikkhī, [ˈsɪk.kʰiː] ^ⓘ, from Punjabi: ਸਿੱਖ, romanized: Sikh, lit. 'disciple'), which connotes the "temporal path of learning" and is rooted in the verb sikhana (lit. 'to learn').

Some Sikhs oppose the exonym term Sikhism as they claim the word was coined by the British colonists rather than by Sikhs themselves, and they instead prefer the endonym Sikhi. They argue that an "-ism" connotes a fixed and immutable worldview which is not congruent with the internally fluid nature of the Sikh philosophy.