Sikhism

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History
Sikhs are followers of Sikhism, an Indian religion that originated in the Punjab in northwest India. In 1995, India had approximately 18.7 million Sikhs, 1.9% of the population. Small communities of Sikhs also exist in the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, Malaysia, and East Africa. The movement was founded in the Punjab by Guru Nanak (1469-1539), who sought to combine Hindu and Muslim elements in a single religious creed. He taught "the unity of God, brotherhood of man, rejection of caste and the futility of idol worship." He was followed by nine masters, the last of whom was Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708; guru 1675-1708), who involved his followers in an unsuccessful martial struggle against Mogul rule. After Guru Gobind's assassination, the Muslim Mogul rulers persecuted the Sikhs until 1799 when, under Ranjit Singh (1780-1839), they laid claim to a large part of northwest India. After Ranjit's death his Sikh kingdom disintegrated into anarchy. The British moved into the Punjab, and the Sikh Wars followed (1845-46, 1848-49). The Sikhs were defeated, and the British annexed the Punjab. Sikhism did not recover until the 20th century, when the Sikhs were given control of their holy places (gurdwaras). When the Indian subcontinent was partitioned in 1947, the western Punjab became Pakistani territory and the eastern Punjab part of India. The Sikhs were victimized by the ensuing communal rioting, especially in Pakistan's Punjab, and about 2,500,000 moved from Pakistan into India. The holiest place for Sikhs is the Golden Temple at Amritsar (now in the Indian state of Punjab) founded by the fourth guru, Ram Das (guru 1574-81). The fifth guru, Arjun (guru 1581-1606), gave Sikhism its holy book, the Granth Sahib, which contains hymns of Sikh gurus as well as those of Hindu and Muslim saints such as Kabir. Sikhs are readily identifiable by their turbans. They take a vow not to cut their hair as well as not to smoke or dr...