Religions

Sikhism

SEEK-iz-um

Dharmic (Monotheistic)

Citation Formats

General Reference

Divinity Atlas. "Sikhism." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://divinity.interactivelion.com/religions/sikhism.

APA Style

Divinity Atlas. (n.d.). Sikhism. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://divinity.interactivelion.com/religions/sikhism

BibTeX

@misc{divinityatlas-sikhism,
  author = {Divinity Atlas},
  title = {Sikhism},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://divinity.interactivelion.com/religions/sikhism},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

Origin 1499 to 1708

Sikhism teaches that there is one God, without form, beyond gender and never incarnate, present throughout creation and known through remembrance of the divine name. Its ethic is compact: remember that name, earn an honest living, share what you have. It rejects caste as a religious standing, the worship of images, ritual for its own sake and withdrawal from the world: the householder's life is where liberation is sought. Authority ran through ten Gurus beginning with Guru Nanak and, since the death of the tenth, rests with the scripture itself, the Guru Granth Sahib, which Sikhs regard as the living Guru. Sikhs number roughly twenty-five to thirty million, most of them in the Punjab.

History & Origin

Sikhism traces its origin to the teaching of Guru Nanak, born in Punjab in 1469, and was shaped over two centuries by ten successive human Gurus.

Facts

Belief

Supreme Being

Waheguru, God, held to be one, formless and without gender. 1

Theology

Monotheistic: one God 1

Position on Marriage

Marriage is held to be monogamous, with remarriage after divorce sanctioned under specified conditions 2

The Rehat Maryada holds that generally no Sikh should marry a second wife while the first wife is living, and that a widow or widower who wishes to remarry may do so through the same Anand Karaj ceremony as a first marriage. Marriage crosses caste lines freely, dowry and child marriage are forbidden, and the Anand Karaj is reserved to two Sikhs.

Marriage Position Detail

The Rehat Maryada states a Sikh man and woman should enter wedlock "without giving thought to the prospective spouse's caste and descent," that "a Sikh's daughter must be married to a Sikh," and that child marriage "is taboo for Sikhs." On plurality of spouses it holds that "generally, no Sikh should marry a second wife if the first wife is alive." On widowhood it states "if a woman's husband has died, she may, if she so wishes, finding a match suitable for her, remarry. For a Sikh man whose wife has died, similar ordinance obtains," with the remarriage following the ordinary Anand Karaj. No Sikh should accept payment for arranging a match, and persons professing a faith other than Sikhism cannot be joined in wedlock by the Anand Karaj. 2

Position on Sexuality

Same-sex orientation or practice is held to bar full membership or participation 3

the subject's own accountThe Akal Takht, the highest seat of Sikh temporal-religious authority, issued an edict in January 2005 denouncing same-sex marriage and directing the worldwide Sikh community not to allow it at any Gurdwara. The directive has been reaffirmed in specific enforcement actions since, most recently reported in 2023.

Sexuality Position Detailthe subject's own account

In January 2005, the Jathedar of Sri Akal Takht Sahib, Amritsar, "the highest seat of Sikh temporal-religious (miri-piri) authority for interpreting Sikh teachings, issued an edict denouncing same-sex marriages, and urging the worldwide Sikh community not to allow such marriages to take place at any Gurdwara." In March 2005, Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti of the Akal Takht made a further statement to visiting Sikh-Canadian members of parliament on the same question. 3

Law and State

Establishment Status

Disestablished 10

Maharaja Ranjit Singh founded the Sikh Empire, also called the Khalsa Raj, in 1801, ruling the Punjab region under Khalsa Sikh sovereignty with Sikh religious institutions given state patronage; the empire's final defeat in the Second Anglo Sikh War led the British East India Company to annex Punjab in 1849, ending the only state in history to have established Sikhism, and no country today gives Sikhism any form of establishment.

Status

Current Statusthe subject's own account

Religious authority in Sikhism has resided in the scripture and the community since 1708. Before his death that year, the tenth and last personal Guru, Gobind Singh, declared the line of living human Gurus closed, vesting Guruship jointly in the Guru Granth Sahib, the compiled scripture, and the Khalsa Panth, the collective body of initiated Sikhs. No individual has since been accepted by mainstream Sikh institutions as a personal successor Guru. 4

Status Today

Living tradition, practised today 1

Legal Status

Section 16(2) of the United Kingdom Road Traffic Act 1988, carrying forward the Motor-Cycle Crash Helmets (Religious Exemption) Act 1976, exempts a turban-wearing Sikh from any regulation requiring a motorcycle rider to wear protective headgear. 5

Legal Status

Sections 11 and 12 of the United Kingdom Employment Act 1989 exempt a turban-wearing Sikh from any statutory requirement to wear head protection on a construction site; section 6 of the Deregulation Act 2015 broadened the exemption to cover a requirement to wear head protection at any workplace, not construction sites alone. 6

Legal Status

The Supreme Court of Canada ruled unanimously on 2 March 2006, in Multani v. Commission scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys, that a Quebec school board's outright ban on a Sikh student wearing a kirpan to school violated his freedom of religion under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and that a total ban could not be justified once conditions requiring the kirpan to be worn sealed inside its sheath and under clothing were available as a less restrictive alternative. 7

Practice

Practice Status

Living, and practised in varied local forms 8

the subject's own accountThe Guru Granth Sahib is published and freely available, and Sikh worship, the shared community meal and the Amrit initiation ceremony are documented practices open to observation and outside study. No closed body of teaching is withheld from non-Sikhs; the tradition explicitly rejects secrecy in matters of faith.

Trajectory

Membership Over Timethe subject's own account

At the 2001 Census of India, whose reference date was March 1, 2001, 19,215,730 people in India identified as Sikh, 1.87 percent of the country's population. India holds roughly 90 percent of the world's Sikhs, so this national count, though not a global figure, is the closest dated series available for this body. 11

Membership Over Timethe subject's own account

By the 2011 Census of India, whose reference date was March 1, 2011, the Sikh population had grown to 20,833,116, though its share of India's faster-growing overall population fell slightly to 1.72 percent. Outside India, the World Religion Database (Brill, accessed September 2025) records substantial Sikh populations in Pakistan, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States, among other countries. 11

Membership Figure As Ofthe subject's own account

2001-03-01 11

Membership Figure As Ofthe subject's own account

2011-03-01 11

Basis of the Membership Figurethe subject's own account

National Census 11

Origins

Origin Period

1499 to 1708 1

Place of Origin

The Punjab, in north-west India 1

Founder

Guru Nanak (1469-1539) 1

Form of the Confession

The Mool Mantar, the opening verses of the Guru Granth Sahib, is Sikhism's foundational statement of the nature of God. 1

Reach

Adherents Today

from 25,000,000 1

This fact read 20,833,116, which is India's own 2011 census count of Sikhs in that country alone, not a worldwide figure. Sikhism's own description already states the global count as a range, twenty five to thirty million, since no census counts the whole diaspora at once. Corrected to the bottom of that range, matching Encyclopaedia Britannica, current national census and government data, and Wikipedia's own infobox, all of which converge on the same range.

Adherents Today

to 30,000,000 1

This fact read 20,833,116, which is India's own 2011 census count of Sikhs in that country alone, not a worldwide figure. Sikhism's own description already states the global count as a range, twenty five to thirty million, since no census counts the whole diaspora at once. Corrected to the top of that range, matching Encyclopaedia Britannica, current national census and government data, and Wikipedia's own infobox, all of which converge on the same range.

Giving

Standing Giving Expectation

Dasvandh, giving one tenth of one's earnings for the common good, is implicit in Guru Nanak's own teaching (Guru Granth Sahib 1245: "He alone, O Nanak, knoweth the way who eats out of what he earneth by his honest labour and yet shareth part of it with others"), formalized under Guru Amar Das through the manji administrative structure that channeled Sikh giving to the Guru, and historically collected by masands, tithe collectors appointed to gather offerings from the sangats in their charge. It was codified in the rahitnamas, the codes of Sikh conduct compiled during or soon after Guru Gobind Singh's own lifetime: Bhai Nand Lal's Tankhah Nama records the injunction directly, "one who does not give dasvandh and, telling lies, misappropriates it, is not at all to be trusted." Dasvandh is distinguished in Sikh teaching from dan, ordinary charity, since it is directed specifically to the community's own religious institutions and welfare projects. The modern Rahit Maryada, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee's own 1945 code of conduct, contains no explicit dasvandh provision in its own text, though the SGPC's own website actively solicits Daswandh contributions on a separate donations page with no percentage stated there either; the tradition today is sustained by individual observance rather than institutional enforcement, matching a description of the practice as having "been kept alive by chosen Sikhs who to this day scrupulously fulfil the injunction." 9

Standard Rate Expected

Ten percent. 9

How the Expectation Is Enforced

Customary Norm 9

Learn More

One God, and the Scripture That Is Guru

Sikh teaching opens with a statement of what God is: one, true in name, creator, without fear, without enmity, beyond time, unborn, self-existent. Ik Onkar, the numeral one followed by the word for the divine, stands at the head of the scripture and is the tradition's compressed statement of its central claim. God is beyond form and gender, is not incarnate in any person, and is not to be represented in an image; God is also held to pervade creation and to be knowable within it.

The way to that knowledge is naam simran, the remembrance and repetition of the divine name, in recitation, in the congregational singing of the scripture's hymns, and in the ordinary attention of daily life. The obstacle is haumai, self-centredness, which the tradition treats as the root of everything else that goes wrong.

The ethic is stated in three phrases: remember the name, work honestly for a living, and share the proceeds. Withdrawal from the world is rejected; the householder's life, with its obligations, is where the discipline is practised. Caste as a basis for religious standing is rejected likewise, and the langar, the free kitchen attached to every gurdwara, where all sit together and eat the same food, was instituted as a practical refusal of it.

Authority passed through ten Gurus. Guru Gobind Singh ended the human succession and conferred it on the scripture, which is from that point the Guru Granth Sahib, the Guru in the form of the word. It is not a book about the Guru; it is the Guru, and it is treated accordingly, installed on a throne, attended, ceremonially opened in the morning and closed at night. It contains the compositions of six of the Gurus together with those of a number of earlier devotional poets, among them Kabir, Namdev, Ravidas and Farid, whose inclusion Sikhs read as a statement about where truth may be found.

The Khalsa

In 1699 Guru Gobind Singh instituted the Khalsa, an initiated order with a common discipline, common names, Singh for men, Kaur for women, and an outward form that made its members publicly identifiable. Initiation is by a ceremony involving sweetened water stirred with a double-edged sword.

Initiated Sikhs maintain five articles, conventionally called the five Ks after the initial letter of their Punjabi names: uncut hair, a comb, a steel bracelet, a short sword, and a prescribed undergarment. The uncut hair, kept covered by a turban in the case of most men, is the most visible of them. It is the reason Sikhs are recognisable in public and, in countries where the religion is little known, the reason they are frequently mistaken for members of other traditions.

The Khalsa was founded during a period of armed conflict with Mughal authority, and its discipline has a martial aspect as well as a devotional one. The tradition holds the two together in the ideal of the sant-sipahi, the saint-soldier, and in the doctrine that force may be resorted to, but only in a just cause and only when other means have failed.

Not all Sikhs are initiated. The community distinguishes initiated Sikhs, bound by the full code of conduct, from those who keep the outward form without having taken initiation and those who keep neither. All are Sikhs; what differs is the obligation assumed. The Rahit Maryada, the code of conduct issued in the twentieth century by the community's central religious authority, sets out the standard, though its interpretation is not uniform and some groups follow codes of their own.

How It Is Classified, and Why That Is Disputed

Sikhism is regularly grouped with Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism as a Dharmic or Indian religion, on the grounds of shared geography, a shared vocabulary of karma, rebirth and liberation, and a common setting. Many Sikhs accept the grouping as a matter of description. Others object to it, and the objection is worth stating plainly, because it bears on how the tradition understands itself.

The Sikh account is that Guru Nanak received a distinct revelation rather than reforming something already there. On that view the shared vocabulary is the language of the time and place rather than evidence of derivation, and what the Gurus taught (one formless God, never incarnate, no image, no caste, no priesthood, a scripture that is itself the Guru), departs from the traditions around it at precisely the points that matter.

The description most firmly rejected is that Sikhism is a syncretism, a fusion of Hindu and Muslim elements. It was a common framing in colonial-era scholarship and it still appears in general accounts. Most Sikhs reject it, and the scholarly case against it is that it mistakes a shared idiom for a shared source and cannot account for the specific positions the Gurus took against both traditions. Placing the Gurus' teaching in relation to the wider devotional currents of northern India is a different and considerably less contested claim than fusion, and many historians do that.

The question has had legal weight. Indian law has at times treated Sikhs as falling within a Hindu category for the purposes of personal law, which Sikh bodies have contested, and separate recognition has been a persistent demand.

Spread History

Marker size and shape show how established Sikhism was there: a small filled dot for an arrival, a larger one for an established or dominant presence, and a hollow, distinct marker where it was suppressed or nearly disappeared, never simply absent.

3 events have a recorded place with no map coordinate yet, so they are not marked above: Guru Ram Das Founds the City of Amritsar (Amritsar), Guru Arjan Installs the Adi Granth at Harmandir Sahib (Amritsar), Guru Hargobind Establishes the Akal Takht and the Doctrine of Miri Piri (Amritsar).

View the Full Spread Map

Guru Nanak Founds The Sikh Community At KartarpurPunjab, 1522 to 1539, Arrived
Guru Ram Das Founds the City of AmritsarAmritsar, 1577, Established
Guru Arjan Installs the Adi Granth at Harmandir SahibAmritsar, 1604, Established
Guru Hargobind Establishes the Akal Takht and the Doctrine of Miri PiriAmritsar, 1606, Established
Aurangzeb Executes Guru Tegh Bahadur in DelhiIndia, 1675, Suppressed
The Khalsa Is Founded At Anandpur SahibPunjab, 1699, Established
Guru Gobind Singh Declares the Guru Granth Sahib the Eternal GuruMaharashtra, 1708, Established
Banda Singh Bahadur Captures Sirhind and Proclaims the First Sikh StatePunjab, 1710, Established
Ahmad Shah Durrani's Forces Massacre Sikhs at the Vadda GhallugharaPunjab, 1762, Suppressed
The Sikh Empire Rises And Falls In PunjabPunjab, 1799 to 1849, Dominant
Maharaja Duleep Singh Is Exiled To BritainUnited Kingdom, 1854, Arrived
Sikh Migrants Reach CanadaCanada, 1897, Arrived
The Komagata Maru Incident Blocks Sikh ImmigrationCanada, 1914, Suppressed
Partition Displaces Sikhs From West PunjabPakistan, 1947, Extinct
Operation Blue Star Triggers Violence Against SikhsPunjab, 1984, Suppressed
India and Pakistan Open the Kartarpur Corridor for Sikh PilgrimsPakistan, 2019, Established
Canada's 2021 Census Confirms the Second-Largest Sikh Population Outside IndiaCanada, 2021, Established

Within Sikhism

Denominations

Religious Orders

Nihang

Religious Orders

3 links

In the Texts

Japji 1 (Macauliffe, The Sikh Religion I)The Sikh Religion: Its Gurus, Sacred Writings and Authorsthe limits of knowing

By thinking I cannot obtain a conception of Him, even though I think hundreds of thousands of times. Even though I be silent and keep my attention firmly fixed on Him, I cannot preserve silence. The hunger of the hungry for God subsideth not though they obtain the load of the worlds.

The Sikh Religion: Its Gurus, Sacred Writings and Authors. translated by Max Arthur Macauliffe.

About This Passage

Japji, the Mul Mantar (Macauliffe, The Sikh Religion I)The Sikh Religion: Its Gurus, Sacred Writings and Authorsthe oneness of God

THERE is but one God whose name is true, the Creator, devoid of fear and enmity, immortal, unborn, self-existent by the favour of the Guru. REPEAT HIS NAME. The True One was in the beginning; the True One was in the primal age. The True One is now also, O Nanak; the True One also shall be.

The Sikh Religion: Its Gurus, Sacred Writings and Authors. translated by Max Arthur Macauliffe.

About This Passage

Correspondences & Relations

Pantheons

Sikh

Cross-Tradition Connections

Associated With

Amrit Sarovar

Article 25 of the Constitution of India

Explanation I deems the wearing and carrying of kirpans included in the profession of the Sikh religion.

Source Constitution of India, Article 25, Explanation IConstituent Assembly of India

Ik Onkar

Source SikhismW. H. McLeod

India

Sikhism originated in the Punjab region of India and remains centered there.

Source SikhismW. H. McLeod

Indo-Iranian

The Guru Granth Sahib is composed chiefly in Punjabi and Braj Bhasha, both Indo-Aryan languages within the Indo-Iranian family, which already carries edges to Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism.

Source The Indo-Aryan LanguagesGeorge Cardona and Dhanesh Jain (eds.)

Kartal and Manjira

Kartal or manjira lets any member of a congregation join in keeping rhythm during devotional singing.

Source The Encyclopaedia of SikhismHarbans Singh (editor-in-chief)

Partition of India

Sikh communities in Punjab, concentrated on both sides of the new border, suffered and inflicted some of the heaviest violence of the Partition, and Punjab's division split the Sikh homeland itself between the two new states.

Source Ian Talbot and Gurharpal Singh, The Partition of India (2009)Ian Talbot and Gurharpal Singh

Punjab

Punjab is the homeland of Sikhism.

Punjabi

The Guru Granth Sahib is written in the Gurmukhi script, and Punjabi in Gurmukhi is its primary script and the everyday liturgical medium, though its verses draw on Sant Bhasha and several regional languages.

Source The Encyclopaedia of SikhismHarbans Singh (editor-in-chief)

Punjabis

Sikhism took shape in Punjab and this is its homeland, though its teaching holds membership open regardless of ethnicity.

Source J.S. Grewal, The Sikhs of the Punjab (New Cambridge History of India II.3)J. S. Grewal

Sant

The Guru Granth Sahib includes compositions by fifteen figures who were not Sikh Gurus, among them Kabir, Ravidas and Namdev.

Source The Sants: Studies in a Devotional Tradition of IndiaKarine Schomer and W. H. McLeod (eds.)

Sant Bhasha

Much of the Guru Granth Sahib is composed in Sant Bhasha.

Sodhi family of Kartarpur

Hereditary custodians of the Kartarpur Bir, held to be the original 1604 manuscript of the Adi Granth.

Source Sodhi family of Kartarpur (private holder record)the holders' own account

Tabla

Tabla keeps rhythm under devotional singing in this tradition, though the instrument itself is shared with secular Hindustani classical and film music.

Source The Encyclopaedia of SikhismHarbans Singh (editor-in-chief)

United Religions Initiative

Source United Religions Initiative (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors

Central Rite Substances

Amrit

Karah Prasad

Source J.S. Grewal, The Sikhs of the Punjab (New Cambridge History of India II.3)J. S. Grewal

Conducted

Sikh-Mughal Wars

The Sikh Panth, under its Gurus and then under Banda Singh Bahadur, conducted the armed resistance to Mughal authority that the war names.

Source J.S. Grewal, The Sikhs of the Punjab (New Cambridge History of India II.3)J. S. Grewal

Founded By

Guru Nanak

Source The Oxford Dictionary of World ReligionsJohn Bowker (ed.)

Objects and Practices of This Tradition

Ahankar (Ego)

Source The Guru Granth Sahib: Canon, Meaning and AuthorityPashaura Singh

Akhand Path

Source Historical Dictionary of Sikhism, 3rd editionLouis E. Fenech and W. H. McLeod

Almsgiving / Charity

Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)

Amrit

Source SikhismW. H. McLeod

Amrit Sanchar

Source Sikh Rahit Maryada, the Sikh Code of ConductShiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committeethe holders' own account

Amrit Sarovar

The Amrit Sarovar surrounds the Harmandir Sahib, Sikhism's most important gurdwara, and gives Amritsar its name.

Source SikhismW. H. McLeod

Amritdhari

Anand Karaj

Source Sikh Rahit Maryada, the Sikh Code of ConductShiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committeethe holders' own account

Anand Sahib

Source Guru Granth SahibCompiled by Guru Arjan, 1604; final recension attributed to Guru Gobind Singh, 1706the holders' own account

Anandpur Sahib

Antam Sanskar

Source Sikh Rahit Maryada, the Sikh Code of ConductShiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committeethe holders' own account

Ardas

Source Sikh Rahit Maryada, the Sikh Code of ConductShiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committeethe holders' own account

Ardas Opening

Source Sikh Rahit Maryada, the Sikh Code of ConductShiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committeethe holders' own account

Asa di Var

Source Guru Granth SahibCompiled by Guru Arjan, 1604; final recension attributed to Guru Gobind Singh, 1706the holders' own account

Bandi Chhor Divas

Source The Encyclopaedia of SikhismHarbans Singh (editor-in-chief)

Benti Chaupai

Source Dasam GranthAttributed to Guru Gobind Singh; compilation attributed to Bhai Mani Singhthe holders' own account

Bhai Daya Singh

Bhai Daya Singh was among the first Sikhs initiated into the Khalsa.

Source J.S. Grewal, The Sikhs of the Punjab (New Cambridge History of India II.3)J. S. Grewal

Bhai Dharam Singh

Bhai Dharam Singh was among the first Sikhs initiated into the Khalsa.

Source J.S. Grewal, The Sikhs of the Punjab (New Cambridge History of India II.3)J. S. Grewal

Birth Blessing

Source The Grihya-Sutras: Rules of Vedic Domestic Ceremonies (Sacred Books of the East, vols 29-30)Hermann Oldenberg (trans.)

Chanting / Mantra

Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)

Chaur Sahib

Source J.S. Grewal, The Sikhs of the Punjab (New Cambridge History of India II.3)J. S. Grewal

Coming-of-Age Rites

Source The Grihya-Sutras: Rules of Vedic Domestic Ceremonies (Sacred Books of the East, vols 29-30)Hermann Oldenberg (trans.)

Congregation

A gurdwara is run by an elected committee and its authority in Britain and North America is local, though the Rahit Maryada issued from Amritsar functions as an agreed standard of practice.

Source Encyclopedia of American ReligionsJ. Gordon Melton

Cremation

Source Garuda PuranaAnonymous

Dasam Granth

Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)

Dastar

Source Sikh Rahit Maryada, the Sikh Code of ConductShiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committeethe holders' own account

Daya (Compassion)

Source The Encyclopaedia of SikhismHarbans Singh (editor-in-chief)

Dharma

Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)

Diwali

Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)

Gagan Mai Thaal

Source The Guru Granth Sahib: Canon, Meaning and AuthorityPashaura Singh

Giani

Source J.S. Grewal, The Sikhs of the Punjab (New Cambridge History of India II.3)J. S. Grewal

Granthi

Clergy or specialist role within Sikhism.

Source The Encyclopaedia of SikhismHarbans Singh (editor-in-chief)

Granthi

Source SikhismW. H. McLeod

Gurbani Broadcast from Sri Harmandir Sahib

Source The Reverberation of the Sacred Gurbani's Vibrations at the Darbar Sahib, the Issue of Its Television Broadcasting (Religions)

Gurdwara

Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur

Source J.S. Grewal, The Sikhs of the Punjab (New Cambridge History of India II.3)J. S. Grewal

Gurdwara Reform Movement

The campaign was fought over the control of Sikh places of worship.

Source J.S. Grewal, The Sikhs of the Punjab (New Cambridge History of India II.3)J. S. Grewal

Gurdwara Tuti Gandi Sahib, Muktsar

Gurmukh and manmukh

Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)

Gurmukhi

Source The World's Writing SystemsPeter T. Daniels and William Bright (eds.)

Guru

Source An Introduction to HinduismGavin Flood

Guru Amar Das

Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)

Guru Angad

Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)

Guru Arjan

Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)

Guru Gobind Singh

Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)

Guru Gobind Singh (Punjab, Victoria and Albert Museum, IM.2:128-1917)

Source Guru Gobind Singh, museum number IM.2:128-1917 (Victoria and Albert Museum)

Guru Gobind Singh Gurpurab

Source SikhismW. H. McLeod

Guru Gobind Singh Hunting (Faiz Printing Press, Victoria and Albert Museum, IM.2:21-1917)

Source Guru Gobind Singh Hunting, museum number IM.2:21-1917 (Victoria and Albert Museum)

Guru Granth Sahib

Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)

Guru Har Krishan

Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)

Guru Har Rai

Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)

Guru Hargobind

Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)

Guru Nanak

Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)

Guru Nanak Gurpurab

Source The Sikh Religion: Its Gurus, Sacred Writings and Authors, vol. 1Max Arthur Macauliffe

Guru of Sikhism

Senior leadership office of Sikhism.

Source The Encyclopaedia of SikhismHarbans Singh (editor-in-chief)

Guru Ram Das

Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)

Guru Tegh Bahadur

Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)

Guruship and the one light

Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)

Harmandir Sahib (The Golden Temple)

Source J.S. Grewal, The Sikhs of the Punjab (New Cambridge History of India II.3)J. S. Grewal

Harmonium

Source The Encyclopaedia of SikhismHarbans Singh (editor-in-chief)

Haumai

Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)

Hemkund Sahib

Source J.S. Grewal, The Sikhs of the Punjab (New Cambridge History of India II.3)J. S. Grewal

Hola Mohalla

Source The Encyclopaedia of SikhismHarbans Singh (editor-in-chief)

Hukam

Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)

Hukamnama

Source Historical Dictionary of Sikhism, 3rd editionLouis E. Fenech and W. H. McLeod

Ik Onkar

Source SikhismW. H. McLeod

Ik Onkar

Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)

Jaap Sahib

Source Dasam GranthAttributed to Guru Gobind Singh; compilation attributed to Bhai Mani Singhthe holders' own account

Janam-sakhis

Source Early Sikh Tradition: A Study of the Janam-sakhisW. H. McLeod

Japji Sahib

Source The Guru Granth Sahib: Canon, Meaning and AuthorityPashaura Singh

Japji Sahib Closing Salok

Source The Sikh Religion: Its Gurus, Sacred Writings and Authors, vol. 1Max Arthur Macauliffe

Jathedar

Clergy or specialist role within Sikhism.

Source The Encyclopaedia of SikhismHarbans Singh (editor-in-chief)

Jathedar

Source J.S. Grewal, The Sikhs of the Punjab (New Cambridge History of India II.3)J. S. Grewal

Jot (Divine Light)

Jot, the divine light common to all beings and to the line of Sikh Gurus, is stated directly in the Guru Granth Sahib and underlies the 1708 transfer of Guruship to the scripture itself.

Source SikhismW. H. McLeod

Kabir

The Guru Granth Sahib preserves several hundred compositions under his name, which makes him part of Sikh scripture rather than only a subject of it.

Kachera

Source Sikh Rahit Maryada, the Sikh Code of ConductShiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committeethe holders' own account

Kam (Lust)

Source The Guru Granth Sahib: Canon, Meaning and AuthorityPashaura Singh

Kangha

Source Sikh Rahit Maryada, the Sikh Code of ConductShiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committeethe holders' own account

Kara

Source Sikh Rahit Maryada, the Sikh Code of ConductShiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committeethe holders' own account

Karah Prasad

Source J.S. Grewal, The Sikhs of the Punjab (New Cambridge History of India II.3)J. S. Grewal

Karma

Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)

Kartal and Manjira

Source Encyclopedia of HinduismDenise Cush, Catherine Robinson and Michael York (eds.)

Kartarpur Bir

Source Canon Formation in the Sikh Tradition (Gurinder Singh Mann)Gurinder Singh Mann

Kartarpur Bir

Kesh

Source Sikh Rahit Maryada, the Sikh Code of ConductShiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committeethe holders' own account

Keshdhari

Source Sikh Rahit Maryada, the Sikh Code of ConductShiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committeethe holders' own account

Khalsa

Khalsa Aid International

Khalsa Aid International is founded on and organizes its work around the Sikh principles of seva and langar, so linked to Sikhism.

Source Khalsa Aid International: Charity Commission Filed Accounts, Year Ended 31 March 2025Khalsa Aid International

Khanda

Source The Encyclopaedia of SikhismHarbans Singh (editor-in-chief)

Khanda

Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)

Kirpan

Source J.S. Grewal, The Sikhs of the Punjab (New Cambridge History of India II.3)J. S. Grewal

Kirtan

Source Historical Dictionary of Sikhism, 3rd editionLouis E. Fenech and W. H. McLeod

Kirtan Sohila

Source Guru Granth SahibCompiled by Guru Arjan, 1604; final recension attributed to Guru Gobind Singh, 1706the holders' own account

Kirtan Sohila Opening

Source The Sikh Religion: Its Gurus, Sacred Writings and Authors, vol. 1Max Arthur Macauliffe

Krodh (Anger)

Source The Encyclopaedia of SikhismHarbans Singh (editor-in-chief)

Langar

Source Sikh Rahit Maryada, the Sikh Code of ConductShiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committeethe holders' own account

Lobh (Greed)

Source The Guru Granth Sahib: Canon, Meaning and AuthorityPashaura Singh

Maghi

Source The Encyclopaedia of SikhismHarbans Singh (editor-in-chief)

Mai Bhago

Mai Bhago, warrior who led the Chali Mukte back to Guru Gobind Singh, belongs to Sikhism, its own tradition field.

Source Mai Bhago (reference article)Wikipedia contributors

Marriage Ceremony

Source Code of Canon Law (Codex Iuris Canonici)Holy Seethe holders' own account

Martyrdom of Guru Arjan

Source J.S. Grewal, The Sikhs of the Punjab (New Cambridge History of India II.3)J. S. Grewal

Mata Khivi

The Sikh Religion vol. 1 places her, as Guru Angad's wife, at the founding institutional center of the Sikh community.

Source The Sikh Religion: Its Gurus, Sacred Writings and Authors, vol. 1Max Arthur Macauliffe

Mehndi

Prominent in Sikh wedding customs across South Asia.

Source Hindu Samskaras: Socio-Religious Study of the Hindu SacramentsRajbali Pandey

Miri and piri

Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)

Moh (Attachment)

Source The Guru Granth Sahib: Canon, Meaning and AuthorityPashaura Singh

Moksha

Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)

Mool Mantar

Source The Sikh Religion: Its Gurus, Sacred Writings and Authors, vol. 1Max Arthur Macauliffe

Mukti in Sikh teaching

Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)

Mul Mantar

Source SikhismW. H. McLeod

Mul Mantar

Naam

Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)

Naam Simran

Naam simran is the primary devotional discipline taught throughout the Guru Granth Sahib and named explicitly in the Sikh Rehat Maryada.

Source SikhismW. H. McLeod

Naam Simran

Source SikhismW. H. McLeod

Nagar Kirtan

Source The Encyclopaedia of SikhismHarbans Singh (editor-in-chief)

Nagara

Source The Encyclopaedia of SikhismHarbans Singh (editor-in-chief)

Naming Ceremony

Source The Guru Granth Sahib: Canon, Meaning and AuthorityPashaura Singh

Nanak Shah Fakir (2015)

A dramatized biography of Guru Nanak made for a Sikh audience by a Sikh producer, whose central controversy is an argument within Sikhism about the film's own method rather than an outside portrayal of the tradition.

Source Wikipedia, "Nanak Shah Fakir"Wikipedia contributors

Nankana Sahib

Source Sikh Gurdwaras Act 1925Legislature of the Punjab

Nihang

Source The Construction of Religious Boundaries: Culture, Identity, and Diversity in the Sikh TraditionHarjot Oberoi

Nimrata (Humility)

Source The Encyclopaedia of SikhismHarbans Singh (editor-in-chief)

Nirmala

Nishan Sahib

Source J.S. Grewal, The Sikhs of the Punjab (New Cambridge History of India II.3)J. S. Grewal

Nishan Sahib (Gurdwara Flagpole)

Nitnem

Source Sikh Rahit Maryada, the Sikh Code of ConductShiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committeethe holders' own account

No halal or kosher ritual meat (kutha)

Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)

No tobacco or intoxicants

Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)

One formless God (Ik Onkar)

Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)

Palki Sahib

Source J.S. Grewal, The Sikhs of the Punjab (New Cambridge History of India II.3)J. S. Grewal

Panj Pyare

Parkash

Source Sikh Rahit Maryada, the Sikh Code of ConductShiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committeethe holders' own account

Partition of India

Source Ian Talbot and Gurharpal Singh, The Partition of India (2009)Ian Talbot and Gurharpal Singh

Patit

Source Sikh Rahit Maryada, the Sikh Code of ConductShiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committeethe holders' own account

PK (2014)

Source Qadri and Mufti, "Films and Religion: An Analysis of Aamir Khan's PK," Journal of Religion & Film, 2016Monisa Qadri and Sabeha Mufti

Prayer

Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)

Punjabis

Sikhism arose among Punjabi speakers in the Punjab region and the large majority of its adherents remain ethnically Punjabi, though the tradition itself is not ethnically exclusive.

Source J.S. Grewal, The Sikhs of the Punjab (New Cambridge History of India II.3)J. S. Grewal

Pyaar (Love)

Source The Encyclopaedia of SikhismHarbans Singh (editor-in-chief)

Ragas of the Guru Granth Sahib

Ragi

Clergy or specialist role within Sikhism.

Source The Encyclopaedia of SikhismHarbans Singh (editor-in-chief)

Ragi

Source J.S. Grewal, The Sikhs of the Punjab (New Cambridge History of India II.3)J. S. Grewal

Rehras Sahib

Source Guru Granth SahibCompiled by Guru Arjan, 1604; final recension attributed to Guru Gobind Singh, 1706the holders' own account

Rumala Sahib

Source J.S. Grewal, The Sikhs of the Punjab (New Cambridge History of India II.3)J. S. Grewal

Sach Khand

Sach Khand is the culminating realm of the Five Khands described in Guru Nanak's Japji Sahib, the opening composition of the Guru Granth Sahib.

Source SikhismW. H. McLeod

Sada Kaur

Chief of the Kanhaiya Misl, one of the Sikh confederacies of the pre-Empire period.

Source J.S. Grewal, The Sikhs of the Punjab (New Cambridge History of India II.3)J. S. Grewal

Sahaj Path

Source Historical Dictionary of Sikhism, 3rd editionLouis E. Fenech and W. H. McLeod

Sahajdhari

Source Sikh Rahit Maryada, the Sikh Code of ConductShiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committeethe holders' own account

Samsara

Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)

Santokh (Contentment)

Source The Encyclopaedia of SikhismHarbans Singh (editor-in-chief)

Sarbat da bhala

Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)

Sarbat da Bhala

Source Sikh Rahit Maryada, the Sikh Code of ConductShiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committeethe holders' own account

Sarbloh Granth

Source Historical Dictionary of Sikhism, 3rd editionLouis E. Fenech and W. H. McLeod

Sat (Truth)

Sat, Truth, opens the Mul Mantar and is foundational to Sikh ethical teaching against the Five Thieves.

Source SikhismW. H. McLeod

Seva (selfless service)

Source Guru Granth SahibCompiled by Guru Arjan, 1604; final recension attributed to Guru Gobind Singh, 1706the holders' own account

Shabad

Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)

Shabad Kirtan

Source The Guru Granth Sahib: Canon, Meaning and AuthorityPashaura Singh

Shabad Kirtan: Rababi Bhai Ghulam Mohammad Chand

The publishing university's own department page names this recording as one of its own releases made specifically to promote Sikh sacred music, and the artist's own family tradition traces to Guru Nanak's companion Bhai Mardana, the first musical work the atlas holds for the tradition.

Source Punjabi University Gurmat Sangeet Chair and Dawn Records for Shabad Kirtan, Rababi Bhai Ghulam Mohammad Chand

Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee

The Committee is a Sikh religious body.

Source The Encyclopaedia of SikhismHarbans Singh (editor-in-chief)

Sikh Dietary Code

Source Sikh Rahit Maryada, the Sikh Code of ConductShiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committeethe holders' own account

Sikh Rehat Maryada

Sikh-Mughal Wars

Source J.S. Grewal, The Sikhs of the Punjab (New Cambridge History of India II.3)J. S. Grewal

Singh Sabha

The Singh Sabha was a movement of Sikh reform.

Source The Encyclopaedia of SikhismHarbans Singh (editor-in-chief)

Sodhi family of Kartarpur

The Sodhi family of Kartarpur are descendants of the Guru line and hold the Kartarpur Bir as a family trust. Custody here is hereditary and religious, not institutional.

Source Sodhi family of Kartarpur (private holder record)the holders' own account

Sri Chand

Sukhasan

Source Sikh Rahit Maryada, the Sikh Code of ConductShiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committeethe holders' own account

Sukhmani Sahib

Source Guru Granth SahibCompiled by Guru Arjan, 1604; final recension attributed to Guru Gobind Singh, 1706the holders' own account

Tabla

Source The Encyclopaedia of SikhismHarbans Singh (editor-in-chief)

Takht Sri Damdama Sahib

Source Sikh Gurdwaras Act 1925Legislature of the Punjab

Takht Sri Hazur Sahib

Source J.S. Grewal, The Sikhs of the Punjab (New Cambridge History of India II.3)J. S. Grewal

Takht Sri Keshgarh Sahib

Source J.S. Grewal, The Sikhs of the Punjab (New Cambridge History of India II.3)J. S. Grewal

Takht Sri Patna Sahib

Source The Sikh Religion: Its Gurus, Sacred Writings and Authors, vol. 1Max Arthur Macauliffe

Tav-Prasad Savaiye

Source Dasam GranthAttributed to Guru Gobind Singh; compilation attributed to Bhai Mani Singhthe holders' own account

The Akal Takht

Source J.S. Grewal, The Sikhs of the Punjab (New Cambridge History of India II.3)J. S. Grewal

The Battle of Muktsar

The Birth of Guru Gobind Singh

The Birth of Guru Nanak

The Founding of the Khalsa

The Janamsakhis

The Janamsakhis are the traditional hagiographic literature of Guru Nanak's life, studied extensively by W. H. McLeod and other Sikh studies scholars.

Source SikhismW. H. McLeod

The Khalsa

Its own record calls it the order of initiated Sikhs.

Source J.S. Grewal, The Sikhs of the Punjab (New Cambridge History of India II.3)J. S. Grewal

The Martyrdom of Guru Arjan

The Martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur

The Panj Takht

The Petition of the Ardas

The Pilgrimage to Nankana Sahib

Source J.S. Grewal, The Sikhs of the Punjab (New Cambridge History of India II.3)J. S. Grewal

The Release of Guru Hargobind From Gwalior

The Sarbat Khalsa

The Sarbat Khalsa of 1748

Source J.S. Grewal, The Sikhs of the Punjab (New Cambridge History of India II.3)J. S. Grewal

The Sarbat Khalsa of 1986

Source Fighting for Faith and Nation: Dialogues with Sikh MilitantsCynthia Keppley Mahmood

The Takhts

Its own record calls it the five seats of Sikh temporal authority.

Source J.S. Grewal, The Sikhs of the Punjab (New Cambridge History of India II.3)J. S. Grewal

Udasi

Vaisakhi

Source The Sikh Religion: Its Gurus, Sacred Writings and Authors, vol. 1Max Arthur Macauliffe

Waheguru

Source Historical Dictionary of Sikhism, 3rd editionLouis E. Fenech and W. H. McLeod

Wearing the Five Ks

Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)

Zafarnama (Guru Gobind Singh)

Source The Zafarnama (Wikipedia and SikhiWiki)Wikipedia contributors; SikhiWiki editors

Opposed By

Aurangzeb

He executed the ninth Sikh Guru, Tegh Bahadur, at Delhi in 1675.

Jahangir

The fifth Sikh Guru, Arjan, was executed at Lahore in 1606 under his authority, which Sikh tradition holds as the first martyrdom of a Guru.

Passages on This

Japji 1 (Macauliffe, The Sikh Religion I)

Japji, the Mul Mantar (Macauliffe, The Sikh Religion I)

Persecuted In

The Martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur

Source J.S. Grewal, The Sikhs of the Punjab (New Cambridge History of India II.3)J. S. Grewal

Regions Where This Is Principal

Indian Subcontinent

Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)

Related To

Eckankar

Not a Sikh movement. The connection runs through the Sikh-adjacent Radhasoami and Sant Mat lineage, in particular Kirpal Singh's Ruhani Satsang, which Paul Twitchell studied within before founding Eckankar and from which Eckankar's inner-sound cosmology and much of its early written material closely draws.

Nanak Shah Fakir (2015)

Source Ikeda, "Portraiture of Guru Nanak, the Founder of Sikhism," Sikh Formations, 2022Atsushi Ikeda

Sacred to This Deity

Amritsar

The Harmandir Sahib and the Akal Takht stand here, and the Adi Granth was first installed in the temple in 1604.

Source J.S. Grewal, The Sikhs of the Punjab (New Cambridge History of India II.3)J. S. Grewal

Bihar

Patna Sahib, the birthplace of Guru Gobind Singh, is one of the five takhts.

Gurdwara Tuti Gandi Sahib, Muktsar

The forty liberated ones are named in the daily Sikh prayer.

Kartarpur

The first Sikh community was gathered at Kartarpur around work, worship and the shared meal.

Spread Events

Ahmad Shah Durrani's Forces Massacre Sikhs at the Vadda Ghallughara

Adds a milestone in Sikh history between Banda Singh Bahadur capturing Sirhind and proclaiming the first Sikh state in 1710 and the Sikh Empire rising in Punjab in 1799, both already recorded here: Ahmad Shah Durrani's massacre of an estimated ten to thirty thousand Sikhs at the Vadda Ghallughara on 5 February 1762, an episode the Khalsa survived and rebuilt from within a generation.

Source J.S. Grewal, The Sikhs of the Punjab (New Cambridge History of India II.3)J. S. Grewal

Aurangzeb Executes Guru Tegh Bahadur in Delhi

Adds a specific, dated milestone in Sikhism's history between Guru Arjan installing the Adi Granth at Harmandir Sahib in 1604 and Guru Gobind Singh founding the Khalsa at Anandpur Sahib in 1699, both already recorded here: the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb's execution of Guru Tegh Bahadur at Chandni Chowk in Delhi on 11 November 1675, a martyrdom made in defense of another community's freedom to worship.

Source Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji (DSGMC)

Banda Singh Bahadur Captures Sirhind and Proclaims the First Sikh State

Adds a specific, dated milestone in Sikh history between Guru Gobind Singh declaring the Guru Granth Sahib the eternal Guru in 1708 and the Sikh Empire rising in Punjab in 1799, both already recorded here: Banda Singh Bahadur's capture of Sirhind and proclamation of the first Sikh state in May 1710.

Source Banda Singh Bahadur (SikhNet)

Canada's 2021 Census Confirms the Second-Largest Sikh Population Outside India

Closes a two year gap since 2019's opening of the Kartarpur Corridor, moving the map's Canadian thread from Sikh migrants first reaching Canada in 1897 to the state's own count of what that migration, and the century of arrivals since, had become.

Source Sikhs In Canada (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors

Guru Arjan Installs the Adi Granth at Harmandir Sahib

Adds a specific, dated event between Guru Nanak's 1522 founding of the Sikh community at Kartarpur and the Khalsa's founding at Anandpur Sahib in 1699 already recorded here: Guru Arjan's own 1604 compilation and installation of the Adi Granth at Harmandir Sahib, fixing an authoritative scripture and beginning the continuous daily recitation that has marked the shrine ever since.

Source Guru Granth Sahib (Wikipedia)

Guru Gobind Singh Declares the Guru Granth Sahib the Eternal Guru

Adds a specific, dated milestone in Sikh institutional history between the Khalsa's founding at Anandpur Sahib in 1699 and the Sikh Empire's founding in Punjab in 1799, both already recorded here: Guru Gobind Singh's 1708 declaration at Nanded that the Guru Granth Sahib, not a living person, would be the Sikh Panth's Guru from then on.

Source History (Takhat Sachkhand Sri Hazur Sahib)

Guru Hargobind Establishes the Akal Takht and the Doctrine of Miri Piri

Adds a milestone in Sikhism's relationship to temporal power between Guru Arjan installing the Adi Granth at Harmandir Sahib in 1604 and Aurangzeb executing Guru Tegh Bahadur in Delhi in 1675, both already recorded here: Guru Hargobind's 1606 installation as the sixth Guru, at which he adopted the doctrine of miri and piri and built the Akal Takht at Amritsar.

Source J.S. Grewal, The Sikhs of the Punjab (New Cambridge History of India II.3)J. S. Grewal

Guru Nanak Founds The Sikh Community At Kartarpur

Source Establishment Of Kartarpur (SikhiWiki)SikhiWiki contributors

Guru Ram Das Founds the City of Amritsar

Adds a milestone in Sikh history between Guru Nanak founding the Sikh community at Kartarpur between 1522 and 1539 and Guru Arjan installing the Adi Granth at Harmandir Sahib in 1604, both already recorded here: Guru Ram Das founding the city of Amritsar around 1577 on land granted by Akbar, giving the Sikh community its own sacred center.

Source J.S. Grewal, The Sikhs of the Punjab (New Cambridge History of India II.3)J. S. Grewal

India and Pakistan Open the Kartarpur Corridor for Sikh Pilgrims

Closes a 42 year gap since 1984's Operation Blue Star Triggers Violence Against Sikhs, the most recent event already on Sikhism's map, with the two governments reopening pilgrim access to Guru Nanak's own shrine across the same partition era border.

Source First Anniversary of the Opening of the Kartarpur Corridor (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pakistan)

Maharaja Duleep Singh Is Exiled To Britain

Source British Sikhs (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors

Operation Blue Star Triggers Violence Against Sikhs

Source Operation Blue Star (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors

Partition Displaces Sikhs From West Punjab

Source Sikhs In Pakistan (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors

Sikh Migrants Reach Canada

Source Sikhs In Canada (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors

The Khalsa Is Founded At Anandpur Sahib

Source Khalsa (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors

The Komagata Maru Incident Blocks Sikh Immigration

Source Sikhs In Canada (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors

The Sikh Empire Rises And Falls In Punjab

Source Sikh Empire (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors

Studied By

Joseph Campbell

Drew on Greek myth, alongside Indian, Native American, Polynesian and biblical material, as comparative evidence for the monomyth pattern in The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949).

Source The Hero with a Thousand FacesJoseph Campbell

Symbolized By

Ik Onkar

Its own text: "the single most important symbol of Sikhism."

Source SikhismW. H. McLeod

Khanda

The Khanda is the emblem of Sikhism.

Source SikhismW. H. McLeod

Worship Of

Waheguru

Source Encyclopedia of ReligionMircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.)

Sources

1. Historical Dictionary of Sikhism, 3rd edition

Louis E. Fenech and W. H. McLeod, Rowman and Littlefield, 2014View the Source

2. Rehat Maryada, Article XVIII: Anand Sanskar (Sikhs.org, trans. Kulraj Singh)

Sikhs.orgArticle XVIII, Anand Sanskar

Quote, Article XVIII, Anand Sanskar

A Sikh's daughter must be married to a Sikh. Child marriage is taboo for Sikhs.

View the Source

3. Homosexuality and Sikhism (Wikipedia)

Wikipediathe stated position on sexuality, its detail and its record of that positionView the Source

4. Guru Gobind Singh (Wikipedia)

WikipediaView the Source

5. Road Traffic Act 1988, section 16 (UK Public General Acts, legislation.gov.uk)

UK National Archives, legislation.gov.ukRoad Traffic Act 1988, section 16(2)

Quote, Road Traffic Act 1988, section 16(2)

A requirement imposed by regulations under this section shall not apply to any follower of the Sikh religion while he is wearing a turban.

View the Source

6. Employment Act 1989, sections 11 and 12, as amended by the Deregulation Act 2015 (UK Public General Acts, legislation.gov.uk)

UK National Archives, legislation.gov.ukView the Source

7. Multani v. Commission scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys, 2006 SCC 6, [2006] 1 S.C.R. 256

Supreme Court of Canada, Supreme Court of Canada, 2006View the Source

8. Wikipedia, Sikhism (source)

Wikipedia contributors, Wikipedia

9. Understanding Dasvandh: Sikh Tradition of Giving

The Sikh Encyclopedia (thesikhencyclopedia.com)View the Source

10. Encyclopaedia Britannica (online academic reference)

Encyclopaedia Britannica editors, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc., 2024View the Source

11. Sikhism in India

WikipediaLead section

Quote, Lead section

Indian Sikhs number approximately 21 million people and account for 1.7% of India's population as of 2011. India is home to the vast majority, around 85%, of the global Sikh population of 25 million.

View the Source

The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism

Harbans Singh (editor-in-chief), Punjabi University, Patiala, 1998View the Source

Encyclopedia of Religion

Mircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.), Macmillan Reference, 2005s.v. SikhismView the Source

Census of India 2011

Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India, 2011Population by religious community, 2011View the Source

The Hero with a Thousand Faces

Joseph Campbell, New World Library, 2008View the Source

The Oxford Dictionary of World Religions

John Bowker (ed.), Oxford University Press, 1997View the Source

Punjabi University Gurmat Sangeet Chair and Dawn Records for Shabad Kirtan, Rababi Bhai Ghulam Mohammad Chand

Gurmat Sangeet Chair, Punjabi University, Patiala; Dawn (Pakistan)Objects and Practices of This Tradition: Shabad Kirtan: Rababi Bhai Ghulam Mohammad Chand, punjabiuniversity.ac.in/pages/DepartmentPunjabi.aspx?dsenc=41; dawn.com/news/1180477View the Source

Open Questions (1 open question)

Does Sikhism have a therapeutic practice distinct from seva, its ethic of service?

The facet detector reports Sikhism as carrying no Practice of kind Therapeutic. Sikh medical service, from Bhai Kanhaiya tending the wounded of both sides to gurdwara dispensaries and hospitals, is real and well attested, but it is the ethic of seva applied to medicine rather than a separate named practice. Triage on 2026-07-29 could not decide whether the atlas should record it twice.

What would resolve this A ruling on the atlas facet boundary between Charitable and Therapeutic, plus evidence from the Rehat Maryada and Sikh institutional history for a named healing observance.

Sikh studies, history of South Asian medicineDivinity Atlas Open Questions Register, First Edition

Essays About This Entity (10 essays)

Congregation Is Defined the Same Way in Three Religions and Answers to No One in Only One of Them
Run by an elected committee, locally authoritative, though the Amritsar Rahit Maryada functions as an agreed standard
Birth Blessing Differentiates Three Religions in Detail, and Names a Fourth With No Formal Link
The scripture opened at random in the gurdwara to give the child's first letter
Kabir Is Claimed by Three Communities, Each With Its Own Account of Him
Several hundred of his compositions preserved as scripture in the Guru Granth Sahib
Naming Ceremony Differentiates Three Religions in Detail, and Names Two More With No Formal Link
Naam karan, the scripture opened at random to give the first letter, Singh or Kaur added
Mehndi Crosses Three Religions at Three Different Depths
Sikhism: prominent in Sikh wedding customs across South Asia, geography only
One Practice Ties Almsgiving to Three of Its Six Religions at Once
Institutionalises the duty in vand chhakna and the langar; own record: share what you have
Coming of Age Rites Reach Four Religions, Each Answering a Different Question
Amrit Sanchar, admission to the Khalsa undertaken by adults as often as adolescents
Prayer Is Held by Seven Religions, Each Setting Its Own Terms
Holds prayer as ongoing remembrance of the divine name rather than a fixed count
Marriage Ceremony Reaches Five Religions, and Each Names a Different Act as the One That Counts
Anand Karaj, four circuits of the scripture while four hymns are sung
One Family of Four Religions Converges on Four Different Concepts, Not One
One of the four religions all four concepts converge on

Community

0 members · 25 organizations

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Organizations In This Tradition

Central Gurdwara (Khalsa Jatha) LondonLondon Verified
Dashmesh Culture CentreCalgary Verified
Gurdwara Sahib FremontFremont Verified
Gurdwara Sahib GlenwoodGlenwood Verified
Gurdwara Sahib of El SobranteEl Sobrante Verified
Gurdwara Sahib StocktonStockton
Gurdwara Singh Sabha of WashingtonRenton Verified
Guru Nanak Gurdwara SmethwickSmethwick Verified
Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak JathaBirmingham Verified
Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara SurreySurrey Verified
Guru Tegh Bahadur Gurdwara, LeicesterLeicester Verified
Gurudwara Guru Nanak DarbarMedford Verified

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