History of Sikhism
- In the latter half of the 15th century, the Sikh religion was established in the Indian subcontinent.
- The two dominant religious traditions in India at the time—Hinduism and Islam—were becoming more at odds with one another, which led to the birth of Sikhism.
- It was founded by Guru Nanak, and nine additional Gurus served as its leaders afterward.
- In Sultanpur, Guru Nanak got enlightenment in 1496 at the age of 30.
- He traveled widely after attaining enlightenment to share the message of love and fraternity.
- Guru Nanak’s followers grew throughout the sixteenth century.
- They belonged to several castes, but the majority were traders, farmers, artists, and craftspeople. They were also expected to contribute to the group of followers’ general funds.
- The town of Ramdaspur (Amritsar) had grown up around the great Gurdwara known as Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple) by the start of the seventeenth century.
- Modern historians describe the early seventeenth-century Sikh community as “a state within the state” since it was essentially self-governing.
Sikhism And The Sikh Gurus
The founders of Sikhism, known as the Sikh Gurus, began their work in 1469 and continued for around two and a half centuries. Sikhism’s founder, Guru Nanak, was born in the year 1469. He was followed by nine more gurus till the Guruship was eventually transferred in 1708 by the tenth guru to the revered Guru Granth Sahib, which is currently regarded as the living Guru by Sikh believers. The Sanskrit word Shishya, which means student or pupil, is from where the word Sikh originated. Approximately 24 million Sikhs live in the world today. The majority of them reside in Punjab, an Indian state.
The establishment of the Singh Sabha in 1873 was crucial in the purification of Sikhism. In response to reforms in the gurudwara administration, the British enacted the Sikh Gurudwara Act 1925 to govern gurudwara management. Power politics is a problem for Punjab’s gurudwara administration today. The Sikh community was defined by the Haryana High Court as the persons who adhere to all five tenets of the Sikhism faith.