Sikhism

Development

Sikhism is rooted in a particular religious experience, piety, and culture and is informed by the unique inner revelations of its founder, Guru Nanak (1469–1539). Declaring his independence from the other thought forms of his day, Nanak tried to kindle the fire of autonomy and courage in those who claimed to be his disciples or sikhs (“learners”). Notwithstanding the influences he absorbed from his contemporary religious environment, suffused with the thought and ideals of the medieval Sants (“poet-saints” such as Kabir, Ravidas, and Namdev) of North India, with whom he shared such traits as iconoclasm and mystical contemplation, Nanak laid down the foundation of a new religious tradition from the standpoint of his own religious ideals. These ideals ultimately engendered the first of the three main elements on which the evolution of Sikhism depended, namely, the religious and cultural innovations of Nanak and his nine successors. The second was the rural base of Punjabi society. The third significant element was the period of Punjab's history during which Sikhism evolved, in tension with the Mughals and Afghans in 17th and 18th centuries. All three elements combined to produce a mutual interaction between ideology and environment in the historical development of Sikhism.

Nanak was born in 1469 to an upper-caste professional Khatri (“merchant”) family in the village of Talwandi, present-day Nankana Sahib in Pakistan. Much of the information concerning his life comes from hagiographical janam-sakhis (“birth narratives”). His life may be divided into three distinct phases: his early contemplative years; the enlightenment experience at the age of 30, accompanied by extensive travels for the next two decades; and a foundational climax that resulted in the establishment of the first Sikh community at Kartarpur (“Creator's Abode”) in 1520s in central Punjab. There he lived for the rest of his life as the spiritual guide of a newly emerging religious community. His charismatic personality and teaching won him many disciples, who received the message of liberation through religious hymns. They began to use these hymns in devotional singing (kirtan) as part of congregational worship. Indeed, the first Sikh families who gathered around Nanak in the early decades of the 16th century at Kartarpur formed the nucleus of a rudimentary organization of the Nanak-Panth, the “Path of Nanak,” referring to the community constituted by early Sikhs who followed Nanak's path of liberation.

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