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1 History of Sikhism
Guru Nanak ( 1469– 1538), the founder of Sikhism, was born in the village of Talwandi, now called Nankana Sahib, near Lahore in present-day Pakistan. His parents were of Hindu background and he belonged to the mercantile caste. Even as a boy, Nanak was fascinated by religion, and his desire to explore the mysteries of life eventually led him to leave home. He wandered all over India in the manner of Hindu saints. It was during this period that Nanak met Kabir ( 1441– 1518), a saint revered by both Hindus and Muslims. He made four distinct major journeys, which are called Udasis spanning many thousands of miles.
In 1538, Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji chose Lehna , his disciple as a successor to the Guruship rather than his son. Bhai Lehna was named Guru Angad and became the second guru of the Sikhs. He continued the work started by the Founder. Sri Guru Amar Das Dev Ji became the third Sikh guru in 1552 at the age of 73. Goindwal became an important centre for Sikhism during the Guruship of Sri Guru Amar Das Dev Ji. Guruji continued to preach the principle of equality for women, the prohibition of Sati and the practise of Langar. In 1567, even Emperor Akbar sat with the ordinary and poor people of Punjab to have Langar. Guruji trained 140 apostles of which 52 were women to manage the rapid expansion of the religion. Before Guruji died in 1574 aged 95, he appointed his son-in-law, Jetha as the fourth Sikh Guru.
Jetha became Sri Guru Ram Das Dev Ji and vigorously undertook his duties as the new guru. He is responsible for the establishment of the city of Ramdaspur later to be named Amritsar. In 1581, Guru Arjan Dev , youngest son of fourth guru became the Fifth Guru of the Sikhs. Guruji was responsible for the construction of the Golden Temple. He was also responsible for preparing the Sikh Sacred text and his personal addition of some 2000 plus hymns in the SGGS. In 1604 Guruji installed the Adi Granth for the first time as the Holy Book of the Sikhs. In 1606, for refusing to make changes to the SGGS Guruji was tortured and killed by the Mughal rulers of the time.
Sri Guru Hargobind Dev Ji , became the sixth guru of the Sikhs. Guruji carried two swords – one for Spiritual reasons and one for temporal (worldly) reasons. From this point onward, the Sikhs became a military force and always had trained fighting force to defend their independence. In 1644, Sri Guru Har Rai Ji Ji became Guru followed by Sri Guru Har Krishan Ji , the Boy Guru in 1661. Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Dev Ji became Guru in 1665 and led the Sikhs until 1675, when he sacrificed his life to save the Kashmiri Hindus who had come to him for help.
The final Sikh Guru in human form was Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji who in 1708 made Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji the last, perpetual living guru of the Sikhs.
2 The Gurus of Sikhism
2.1 The Ten Gurus of Sikhism
Sikhism was established by ten Gurus, teachers or masters, over the period 1469 to 1708. These teachers were enlightened souls whose main purpose in life was the spiritual and moral well-being of the masses. Each master added to and reinforced the message taught by the previous, resulting to the creation of the religion of Sikhism. Guru Nanak Dev was the first Guru and Guru Gobind Singh the final Guru in human form. When Guru Gobind Singh left this world, he made the Sri Guru Granth Sahib (SGGS) the ultimate and final Sikh Guru.
The ten Gurus were:
- Guru Nanak Dev
- Guru Angad Dev
- Guru Amar Das
- Guru Ram Das
- Guru Arjan Dev
- Guru Hargobind
- Guru Har Rai
- Guru Har Krishan
- Guru Teg Bahadur
- Guru Gobind Singh
