History of Sikhism

Guru Nanak founded the Sikh faith in the Punjab region of the northern part of the Indian subcontinent in the end of fifteenth century. He was first of the ten Sikh Gurus. The tenth, Guru Gobind Singh, formalised its practices on 13 April 1699. He baptised five Sikh people from different parts of India, with different social backgrounds, to form Khalsa fauj (ਖ਼ਾਲਸਾ ਫੌਜ). Those five Beloved Ones, the Pañj Piārē, then baptised him into the Khalsa fold. This gives the order of Khalsa a history of around 500 years. Historical theory and analysis suggests that Sikhism came into existence during the early Medieval period of the Bhakti movement and also after repeated invasions by Muslim rulers upon the Hindu community during Mughal rule, which lasted between (1526–1857 A.D) especially in the region of North India. Although the history of the Sikh faith is closely associated with the history of Punjab and the socio-political situation in the north-west of the Indian subcontinent during 17th century. From the rule of India by the Mughal Emperor Jahangir ( 1605 -1627), Sikhism came into conflict with Mughal laws, because they were affecting political successions of Mughals while cherishing sufi saints from Islam. Mughal rulers killed many prominent Sikhs for refusing to obey their orders, and for opposing the persecution of Sikhs. Of the total ten Sikh gurus, two, Guru Arjan Dev and Guru Tegh Bahadur, were tortured and executed, and close kin of several gurus (such as the 5 and 7 year old sons of Guru Gobind Singh), were brutally killed, along with numerous other main revered figures of Sikhism (such as Banda Bahadur (1716), Bhai Mati Das, Bhai Sati Das and Bhai Dayala), who were also tortured and killed by Mughal rulers for refusing their orders, and for opposing the persecution of Sikhs and Hindus. Subsequently, Sikhism militarised itself to oppose Mughal hegemony. The emergence of the Sikh Confederacy under the misls and Sikh Empire under the reign of the Maharajah Ranjit Singh ( 1792 - 1839) was characterised by religious tolerance and pluralism with Christians, Muslims and Hindus in positions of power.