Sikhs

This article is about an ethnoreligious group. For the Sikh religion, see Sikhism. For a similar word, see Sik.

Sikhs
The Khanda, a common symbol of the Sikh people
Maharaja Ranjit Singh listening to Guru Granth Sahib being recited at the Golden Temple, Amritsar
Total population
c. 25–30 million[8]
Founder
Guru Nanak
Regions with significant populations
India23,786,000–28,000,000[12]
Canada771,790[13][14]
United Kingdom524,140[15][16][17]
United States280,000–500,000[36]
Italy220,000[48]
Australia210,400[49]
Malaysia100,000[50][51][52]
Thailand70,000[53]
Saudi Arabia67,000[54]
United Arab Emirates52,000[55]
Philippines50,000[56][57]
New Zealand40,908[58]
Oman35,540[59]
Portugal35,000[60]
France30,000[61]
Spain26,000[62]
Germany25,000[63]
Greece20,000[64]
Hong Kong15,000[65]
Kuwait15,000[66][67]
Netherlands15,000[68]
Cyprus13,280[69][70]
Singapore12,051[71]
Indonesia10,000–15,000[72]
Belgium10,000[73]
Austria9,000[74]
Pakistan6,146 (NADRA), 20,000 (USDOS)[75][76]
Kenya6,000[77]
Norway4,080[78]
Religions
Sikhism
Scriptures
Guru Granth Sahib
Dasam Granth
Sarbloh Granth
Languages
Contemporarily
Modern Punjabi • Hindi • English •French • Italian • Spanish • Dutch

Historically
Punjabi • Punjabi dialects (Gurmukhi script)[b][79][80][81] • Khalsa bole[82] • Sant Bhasha (liturgical)[83]
This article contains Indic text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks or boxes, misplaced vowels or missing conjuncts instead of Indic text.
Part of a series on
Sikhism
Khanda
Sikh gurus
Selected revered saints
Philosophy
Practices
Scripture
Places and Takhts
General topics
Sikhism and other religions

Sikhs (singular Sikh: /sɪk/ SIK or /siːk/ SEEK; Punjabi: ਸਿੱਖ, romanized: sikkh, IPA: [sɪkkʰ]) are an ethnoreligious group[84][85] who adhere to Sikhism,[86] a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak.[87] The term Sikh has its origin in the Sanskrit word śiṣya, meaning 'seeker',[88] 'disciple' or 'student'.[89][90][91]

According to Article I of Chapter 1 of the Sikh Rehat Maryada ('code of conduct'), the definition of Sikh is:[92] Any human being who faithfully believes in

  1. One Immortal Being
  2. Ten Gurus, from Guru Nanak Sahib to Guru Gobind Singh Sahib
  3. The Guru Granth Sahib
  4. The utterances and teachings of the ten Gurus and
  5. The initiation, known as the Amrit Sanchar, bequeathed by the tenth Guru and who does not owe allegiance to any other religion, is a Sikh.

Male Sikhs generally have Singh ('lion') as their last name, though not all Singhs are necessarily Sikhs; likewise, female Sikhs have Kaur ('princess') as their last name. These unique last names were given by the Gurus to allow Sikhs to stand out and also as an act of defiance to India's caste system, which the Gurus were always against. Sikhs strongly believe in the idea of sarbat da bhala ('welfare of all') and are often seen on the frontline to provide humanitarian aid across the world.[93]

Sikhs who have undergone the Amrit Sanchar ('initiation by Khanda'), an initiation ceremony, are known as Khalsa from the day of their initiation and they must at all times have on their bodies the five Ks:

  1. kesh, uncut hair usually kept covered by a dastār, also known as a turban;
  2. kara, an iron or steel bracelet;
  3. kirpan, a dagger-like sword tucked into a gatra strap or a kamar kasa waistband;
  4. kachera, a cotton undergarment; and
  5. kanga, a small wooden comb.
Tarn Taran Sahib – the world's largest sarovar (sacred pool)

The Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent has been the historic homeland of the Sikhs, having even been ruled by the Sikhs for significant parts of the 18th and 19th centuries. Today, Canada has the largest national Sikh proportion (2.1%) in the world,[13] while the Punjab state in India has the largest Sikh proportion (58%) amongst all administrative divisions in the world. With 25–30 millions, Sikhs represent less than 0.3% of the total world population in 2021.[94] Many countries, such as Canada and the United Kingdom, recognize Sikhs as a designated religion on their censuses[95] and, as of 2020, Sikhs are considered as a separate ethnic group in the United States.[96] The UK also considers Sikhs to be an ethno-religious people, as a direct result of the Mandla v Dowell-Lee case in 1982.[97][98]

  1. ^ "April 2022: Sikh Awareness and Appreciation Month". State of Michigan Office of the Governor. Retrieved 28 March 2023. there are more than 30 million Sikhs worldwide
  2. ^ "US Sikhs tirelessly travel their communities to feed hungry Americans". CNN. 9 July 2020. Retrieved 28 March 2023. Founded some 500 years ago in the Punjab region of India, the faith has some 30 million adherents, making it the fifth largest religion worldwide.
  3. ^ "A Brief Introduction to Sikhism". WTTW. 5 May 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2023. "Sikhism is the world's fifth-largest religion, with 25–30 million adherents around the globe
  4. ^ "Sikhs in America". Retrieved 28 March 2023. There are nearly 30 million Sikhs around the world today, and a vast majority of them live in the Indian state of Punjab.
  5. ^ "Guru Nanak Religious Society". Retrieved 28 March 2023. There are over 30 million Sikhs worldwide.
  6. ^ "Sikhism". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 6 October 2022. In the early 21st century there were nearly 25 million Sikhs worldwide, the great majority of them living in the Indian state of Punjab.
  7. ^ "Sidhu wrongly quotes Sikh population as 14 crores". The Times of India. 11 November 2019.
  8. ^ [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]
  9. ^ a b "India People and Society". The World Factbook. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  10. ^ "Sikh Population in World | Sikh Population in India 2023". 22 December 2021.
  11. ^ "Sikh Religion Census 2011". Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  12. ^ [9][a][10][11]
  13. ^ a b Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (26 October 2022). "Religion by visible minority and generation status: Canada, provinces and territories, census metropolitan areas and census agglomerations with parts". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  14. ^ Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (26 October 2022). "The Daily – The Canadian census: A rich portrait of the country's religious and ethnocultural diversity". www150.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  15. ^ "Religion, England and Wales – Office for National Statistics". www.ons.gov.uk.
  16. ^ "Religion (detailed): All people" (PDF). National Records of Scotland. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  17. ^ "Religion – Full Detail: QS218NI". Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. Archived from the original on 16 September 2017. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  18. ^ "Does the Census Bureau have data for religion?". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  19. ^ "Asian Indian Was The Largest Asian Alone Population Group in 2020". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  20. ^ "Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population". Statistics Canada. 9 February 2022. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  21. ^ a b "Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2012 – Section 1: Population – Table 75: Self-Described Religious Identification of Adult Population: 1990, 2001, and 2008 (page 61)" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  22. ^ a b "How Many U.S. Sikhs?". Pew Research Center. 6 August 2012. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  23. ^ "About Sikhs". Sikh Coalition. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  24. ^ "H. RES. 275–118th Congress (2023–2024)". United States Congress. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  25. ^ "Sikhism Reporter's Guide". Sikh Coalition. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
  26. ^ "The Sikh Community Today". Harvard University. Retrieved 28 March 2023. Today there are well over 500,000 Sikhs in the United States.
  27. ^ "American Sikhs are targets of bigotry, often due to cultural ignorance". Religion News Service. 10 August 2022. Retrieved 28 March 2023. Scholars and government officials estimate the Sikh American population to number around 500,000.
  28. ^ "Sikhs in America:A History of Hate". ProPublica. Retrieved 28 March 2023. There are an estimated 500,000 Sikhs living in the U.S., many in New York and California.
  29. ^ "April 2022: Sikh Awareness and Appreciation Month". State of Michigan Office of the Governor. Retrieved 28 March 2023. Sikhism is the fifth largest religion in the world, and, today, there are more than 30 million Sikhs worldwide and an estimated 500,000 Sikh Americans;
  30. ^ "Want to know about Sikhism?". WUWM. 23 May 2022. Retrieved 28 March 2023. There are more than 500,000 Sikhs in the United States.
  31. ^ "A Brief Introduction to Sikhism". WTTW. 5 May 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2023. Despite its relatively recent arrival in Chicago, Sikhism is the world's fifth-largest religion, with 25 to 30 million adherents around the globe and an estimated 500,000 in America today.
  32. ^ [26][27][28][29][30][31]
  33. ^ "Asian Americans: A Mosaic of Faiths". Pew Research Center. 19 July 2012. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  34. ^ "2020 National Sikh American Survey: Key Findings". Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund. 23 October 2020. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  35. ^ "DP05ACS Demographic and Housing Estimates". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  36. ^ While the U.S. Census does not ask about religion,[18] 70,697 Americans (or 0.02% of the total population) declared Sikh as their ethnicity in the 2020 census.[19] In the 2021 Canadian census, 194,640 Canadians declared Sikh as their ethnicity while 771,790 Canadians declared Sikh as their religion, indicating that the Sikh American population may be around 280,329, or 0.08% of the total population.[20] The U.S. Census Bureau estimated the adult Sikh American population at 78,000 in 2008.[21] The Pew Research Center estimated the Sikh American adult population to be 140,000 and the total population at 200,000 in 2012 while the World Religion Database at Boston University estimated the American Sikh population to be at 280,000 in 2012.[21][22] Sikh organizations like the Sikh Coalition and American Sikh Congressional Caucus estimate the Sikh American population to be as high as 1,000,000, but do not provide any sources for these figures;[23][24][22] 500,000 nevertheless remains the most cited Sikh American population size in news media.[25][32] With 1% of Asian Americans being Sikh, and 90.7% of Sikh Americans being Asian American, the American Sikh population can be estimated around 280,000–500,000 in 2021.[33][34][35]
  37. ^ a b "Over 40,000 Sikhs vote in secessionist Referendum in Italy". Geo News. it had chosen the city of Brixia because Italy had over 200,000 Sikhs living in the county with a majority in Brescia.
  38. ^ a b "Around 45,000 Sikhs vote in Referendum in Italy". Daily Pakistan. That it had chosen the city of Brixia because Italy had over 200,000 Sikhs living in it with a majority in Brescia
  39. ^ a b "Sikhs vote in referendum in Rome". Pakistan Today. About 200,000 Sikhs live in different cities of Italy.
  40. ^ a b "Thousands of Sikhs attend parade in Italy". Bol News. Italy has over 200,000 Sikhs who are active members of the Italian population, which is why this city was chosen
  41. ^ a b "The Continuing Struggle for Religious Freedom by Italy's Sikh Community". The Wire. It is estimated that there are around 220,000 Sikh migrants in Italy. The community, however, has been largely invisible to native Italians. The majority of Sikhs are dairy workers, living far from the cities, and settled mainly in the farms of north and central Italy.
  42. ^ a b "How the recent Punjabi migration to Spain & Italy is a departure for the diaspora". The Economic Times. 29 July 2018. The total number of Indians in Italy has now crossed 200,000, making it the largest Indian diaspora in continental Europe and far greater than the 30,000 estimated in Spain. This Indian contingent is mainly made up of Punjabi Jat Sikhs.
  43. ^ a b "How Sikhs saved the Italian cheese industry". Global Indian. Today, Italy has the largest Sikh population in Europe, only second to the United Kingdom, with an estimated number of 220,000
  44. ^ a b Bertolani, Barbara (2013). "The Sikhs in Italy: A Growing Heterogeneous and Plural Presence". Globalizing Belief, Localizing Gods. Brill Publishers. p. 75. ISBN 9789004254756. According to Gallo (2013), by contrast, the Sikhs would number at least 100,000. Barbara Bertolani estimates in 2013 "My own data gathered within the Sikh community in Italy show Sikh people constituting about 70% of all the Indians present, i.e., at least 84,000 residents
  45. ^ a b "Why the Indian government must help Italian Sikhs". Hindustan Times. Up to 150,000 Sikhs now live there, making it the largest Sikh Community in Europe after the one in Britain
  46. ^ a b "The Sikhs Spearheading The Italian Parmesan Cheese Industry". Homegrown. Despite the estimated 220,000 Sikh immigrants who inhabit the Po Valley, there seems to a whiff of change in the air
  47. ^ a b Tebano, Elena. "Prayer at dawn, zero crime: this is how Sikhs live in Italy, after the sentence of the Cassation". Corriere Della Sera. The vegan diet, the cult, the traditions. Customs and symbols of the 150,000 faithful of the religion born in India who now live in the Bel Paese
  48. ^ [37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47]
  49. ^ [37][38][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][39][47]
  50. ^ "Gobind Singh Deo is Malaysia's first Sikh minister". The Economic Times. Malaysia has nearly 100,000 Sikh population.
  51. ^ "Malaysia gets first Sikh minister". WION. Miri Indian Association president, Councillor Karambir Singh was quoted as saying by the Borneo Post. Malaysia has nearly 100,000 Sikh population
  52. ^ "On the Gurdwara Trail in Malaysia: A Spiritual Experience". SikhNet. 20 January 2023. The Malaysian Sikh community is the fourth largest ethnic group of Malaysian Indians. It is estimated that over 100,000 Sikhs reside in Malaysia. The Sikh population is the largest here among Southeast and East Asia.
  53. ^ "Thailand". U.S. Department of State.
  54. ^ "2021 Report on International Religious Freedom: Saudi Arabia". U.S. Department of State. 2 June 2022.
  55. ^ Gokulan, Dhanusha. "Sikhs in UAE hail country's year of 'respect, inclusion'". Khaleej Times.
  56. ^ "Punjabi Community Involved in Money Lending in Philippines Braces for 'Crackdown' by New President". 18 May 2016.
  57. ^ "2011 Gurdwara Philippines: Sikh Population of the Philippines". Archived from the original on 1 December 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  58. ^ "Losing our religion | Stats NZ".
  59. ^ "National Profiles".
  60. ^ "Portugal Fact Sheet". Embassy of India (Lisbon, Portugal). Sikhs (35,000), In recent years, the number of Indians (especially from Punjab/Haryana) has increased significantly owing to the easing of immigration norms by Portugal. However, since many of them do not have valid residency documents, official figures are not available.
  61. ^ "France's Sikh Minority Looks Set to Vote Against Marine Le Pen". The Wire. 6 May 2017.
  62. ^ Garha, Nachatter Singh (6 February 2020). "Masculinity in the Sikh Community in Italy and Spain: Expectations and Challenges". Religions. 11 (2): 76. doi:10.3390/rel11020076. hdl:2183/38589. ISSN 2077-1444.
  63. ^ "Mitgliederzahlen: Sonstige – REMID – Religionswissenschaftlicher Medien- und Informationsdienst e.V." remid.de (in German). Retrieved 16 August 2017. Sikhs, 25,000 (2020)....The "German Information Center for Sikh Religion, Sikh History, Culture and Science (DISR)" estimates the number of Sikhs in Germany at 18,000 for 2017
  64. ^ Lavin, Talia (26 April 2015). "Vibrant Vaisakhi Celebrates Sikh Life In Greece". Huffington Post. The Sikh community in Greece, numbered at around 20,000 according to a 2012 report, joined together to mark the holy day
  65. ^ "Hong Kong stories: Getting to know the city's Sikh community". Young Post. 31 July 2019.
  66. ^ "Kuwait To Seek Closure Of "Illegal" Sikh Temple". Outlook India. 3 February 2022. Archived from the original on 27 May 2023.
  67. ^ "Sikh Gurdwara discovered by 'intrepid' local reporter". timeskuwait.com/. 14 August 2019. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  68. ^ Lawrence, Mary (22 May 2022). "Het licht van God zien in de ander, daar gaat het om bij de sikhs" [Seeing the light of God in the other, that's what the Sikhs are all about]. Trouw. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2023. In Nederland wonen zo'n 15.000 sikhs, die hier sinds de jaren zestig vanuit Afghanistan, Pakistan en India kwamen, op zoek naar werk of op de vlucht voor de Sovjets, de Taliban of de geradicaliseerde aanhangers van Indira Gandhi, nadat zij in 1984 door haar sikhlijfwacht was vermoord. Ons land telt inmiddels negen gurdwara's. [Some 15,000 Sikhs live in the Netherlands, who have come here from Afghanistan, Pakistan and India since the 1960s, looking for work or fleeing the Soviets, the Taliban or the radicalized followers of Indira Gandhi, after they were killed in 1984. her Sikh bodyguard had been killed. Our country now has nine gurdwaras.]
  69. ^ "Cyprus" (PDF). acninternational.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 February 2023.
  70. ^ "National Profiles". www.thearda.com.
  71. ^ Kaur, Arunajeet (6 December 2008). "The Evolution of the Sikh Identity in Singapore". Religious Diversity in Singapore. ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute. pp. 275–297. ISBN 9789812307552 – via Cambridge University Press.
  72. ^ "Orang-orang Sikh di Indonesia". kumparan (in Indonesian).
  73. ^ Montes, Enrico Castro; Goddeeris, Idesbald (2020). "Hinduism in Belgium". Handbook of Hinduism in Europe (2 vols). Brill. pp. 849–863. doi:10.1163/9789004432284_031. ISBN 9789004432284. S2CID 236835206 – via brill.com.
  74. ^ "Why Sikhism as registered religion in Austria matters". The Times of India.
  75. ^ "Sikh population in Pakistan". Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  76. ^ "Pakistan's Religious Minorities Say They Were Undercounted in Census". VOA. July 2021.
  77. ^ Adam, Michel (1 September 2013). "A diversity with several levels: Kenyan politics of integration and the Kenyan minorities of Indian origin". Les Cahiers d'Afrique de l'Est / The East African Review (47): 23–32. doi:10.4000/eastafrica.402. ISSN 2071-7245. S2CID 199837942. Retrieved 4 September 2020.
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  82. ^ Pashaura Singh; Louis E. Fenech (2014). The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies. Oxford Handbooks. OUP Oxford. p. 380. ISBN 9780191004117.
  83. ^ Mann, Gurinder Singh (2001). The Making of Sikh scripture. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 5. ISBN 9780195130249.
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