History of Sikhism

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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.[1]

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.[2] 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.[3] 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.[4][5]

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,[6] and for opposing the persecution of Sikhs.[7] Of the ten Sikh gurus,[8][9][10][11][12] two, Guru Arjan and Guru Tegh Bahadur, were tortured and executed,[13][14] and close kin of several gurus (such as the seven and nine-year old sons of Guru Gobind Singh), were brutally killed,[15][16] 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[12][15][16] by Mughal rulers for refusing their orders,[6][8][16][15] and for opposing the persecution of Sikhs and Hindus.[7][14][9][12] 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,[17] 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.[18] 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.[19] 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.[20] Currently, most Sikhs live in the Indian state of Punjab, where they formed about 60 percent of the state population.[21]

  1. ^ Mandair, Arvind-Pal S. (22 October 2009). Religion and the Specter of the West: Sikhism, India, Postcoloniality, and the Politics of Translation. Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-51980-9.
  2. ^ "BBC History of Sikhism – The Khalsa". Sikh world history. BBC Religion & Ethics. 29 August 2003. Archived from the original on 14 July 2019. Retrieved 4 April 2008.
  3. ^ Singh, Patwant (2000). The Sikhs. Knopf. pp. 14. ISBN 0-375-40728-6.
  4. ^ "Was Sikhism created to protect Hindus from Muslim rulers?". 13 February 2020. Archived from the original on 30 December 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  5. ^ "The Sikh Gurus and the Bhakti Movement". 5 November 2018. Archived from the original on 30 December 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  6. ^ a b Pashaura Singh (2005), Understanding the Martyrdom of Dhan Dhan Sri Guru Arjan Dev Ji, Journal of Punjab Studies, 12(1), pages 29-62
  7. ^ a b McLeod, Hew (1987). "Sikhs and Muslims in the Punjab". South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies. 22 (s1): 155–165. doi:10.1080/00856408708723379.
  8. ^ a b V. D. Mahajan (1970). Muslim Rule In India. S. Chand, New Delhi, p.223.
  9. ^ a b Irvine, William (2012). Later Mughals. Harvard Press. ISBN 9781290917766.
  10. ^ Pashaura Singh; Louis Fenech (2014). The Oxford handbook of Sikh studies. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. pp. 236–238. ISBN 978-0-19-969930-8.
  11. ^ Gandhi, Surjit (2007). History of Sikh gurus retold. Atlantic Publishers. pp. 653–691. ISBN 978-81-269-0858-5.
  12. ^ a b c Singh, Prithi (2006). The history of Sikh gurus. Lotus Press. p. 124. ISBN 978-81-8382-075-2.
  13. ^ Singh, Prof. Kartar (1 January 2003). Life Story Of Guru Nanak. Hemkunt Press. p. 90. ISBN 978-81-7010-162-8. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
  14. ^ a b Siṅgha, Kirapāla (2006). Select documents on Partition of Punjab-1947. National Book. p. 234. ISBN 978-81-7116-445-5.
  15. ^ a b c Singh, Prithi Pal (2006). The history of Sikh Gurus. Lotus Press. p. 158. ISBN 81-8382-075-1.
  16. ^ a b c Abel, Ernest. "Life of Banda Singh".[permanent dead link‍]
  17. ^ Lafont, Jean-Marie (16 May 2002). Maharaja Ranjit Singh: Lord of the Five Rivers (French Sources of Indian History Sources). USA: Oxford University Press. pp. 23–29. ISBN 0-19-566111-7.
  18. ^ Singh, Pritam (2008). Federalism, Nationalism and Development: India and the Punjab Economy. Routledge. ISBN 9781134049455. A lot of Hindu and Muslim peasants converted to Sikhism from conviction, fear, economic motives, or a combination of the three (Khushwant Singh 1999: 106; Ganda Singh 1935: 73).
  19. ^ Kudaisya, Gyanesh; Yong, Tan Tai (2004). The Aftermath of Partition in South Asia. Routledge. p. 100. ISBN 978-1-134-44048-1. No sooner was it made public than the Sikhs launched a virulent campaign against the Lahore Resolution. Pakistan was portrayed as a possible return to an unhappy past when Sikhs were persecuted and Muslims the persecutor. Public speeches by various Sikh political leaders on the subject of Pakistan invariably raised images of atrocities committed by Muslims on Sikhs and of the martyrdom of their gurus and heroes. Reactions to the Lahore Resolution were uniformly negative and Sikh leaders of all political persuasions made it clear that Pakistan would be 'wholeheartedly resisted'. The Shiromani Akali Dal, the party with a substantial following amongst the rural Sikhs, organized several well-attended conferences in Lahore to condemn the Muslim League. Master Tara Singh, leader of the Akali Dal, declared that his party would fight Pakistan 'tooth and nail'. Not be outdone, other Sikh political organizations, rival to the Akali Dal, namely the Central Khalsa Young Men Union and the moderate and loyalist Chief Khalsa Dewan, declared in an equally strong language their unequivocal opposition to the Pakistan scheme.
  20. ^ "Did Sikh squads participate in an organised attempt to cleanse East Punjab during Partition?". Archived from the original on 30 December 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  21. ^ "Census 2011: %age of Sikhs drops in Punjab; migration to blame?". The Times of India. 27 August 2015. Archived from the original on 27 April 2021. Retrieved 30 December 2022.