Guru Nanak

History glossary

Also called: Baba Guru Nanak · Topic: Bhakti and Sufi Traditions · NCERT: Class 8, Ch 2 "Reshaping India's Political Map"; Class 12, Ch 2 "Bhakti-Sufi Traditions"

Meaning

Baba Guru Nanak (1469–1539) was a saint-poet from Punjab who taught nirguna bhakti (love for a God with no form and no image). The Sikh tradition grew out of his teachings. NCERT says he did not wish to start a new religion himself.

He matters for two reasons:

  • He rejected ritual and the scriptures of both Hindus and Muslims.
  • He built a lasting community, the sangat, and a line of gurus. That is why his path survived in an organised form, while some other bhakti saints left only songs.

Explanation

Background: the man and his world

  • Born in a Hindu merchant family at Nankana Sahib, near the river Ravi in Punjab.
  • Trained as an accountant and studied Persian, the office language of the Sultanate.
  • So he could read and write, and he knew town life well.

  • He was not a forest ascetic (a holy man who lives alone in the forest, away from society).

  • He kept company with sufis and bhaktas and travelled widely. Their ideas shaped his own.

  • He belongs to the "new" devotional paths that began from about the 14th century. Kabir, Mirabai and Shankaradeva are also part of this group. These saints:
  • wrote in local languages, not Sanskrit
  • turned away from priests, temples, idols, pilgrimages and fasts.

His message: nirguna bhakti

  • What he rejected:
  • animal sacrifices
  • ritual bathing
  • worship of images
  • harsh bodily austerities (hurting or starving the body for religion)

  • the scriptures of both Hindus and Muslims. This was an unusual stand that treated both faiths the same way.

  • What he taught:

  • He called the Absolute "rab". It has no gender and no form.

  • The only way to reach it is to repeat the Divine Name.

  • How he taught:

  • He composed shabad (hymns) in Punjabi, the language of ordinary people.
  • The hymns were sung. His attendant Mardana played the rabab (a string instrument) as they were sung.

What he built and how it changed after him

  • Sangat: congregational worship. Followers sat together, sang together and ate together.
  • Guru ka Langar: according to Britannica, he started this community kitchen in his last years at Kartarpur [2].
  • Succession: he appointed Angad as his successor. This began a line of gurus that lasted nearly 200 years.
  • Later steps:
  • Guru Arjan, the fifth guru, compiled the Adi Granth Sahib. Britannica dates this to 1604 and says it drew on the earlier Goindval Pothis, prepared under Guru Amar Das [3].
    • It holds the hymns of Nanak and his four successors.
    • It also holds hymns by Baba Farid (a sufi), Ravidas/Raidas and Kabir.
    • These hymns are called gurbani, and they are in several languages.
  • Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth guru, added the hymns of Guru Tegh Bahadur. The enlarged book became the Guru Granth Sahib.

  • Guru Gobind Singh also founded the Khalsa Panth ("army of the pure"). It has five symbols: uncut hair, dagger, shorts, comb and steel bangle.

  • Result: a separate Sikh identity hardened later, under his successors. It did not come from Nanak's own plan.

Time, place and evidence

  • When: 1469–1539. This was during the Sultanate period, when Persian was the language of government.
  • Where:
  • He was born at Nankana Sahib in Punjab, near the Ravi.

  • Britannica gives his birth date as 15 April 1469 at Rai Bhoi di Talvandi, which is today Nankana Sahib, Pakistan, near Lahore. It says he died in 1539 at Kartarpur [2].

  • Key people:

  • Mardana: his attendant, who played the rabab.
  • Angad: his successor.

  • Guru Arjan (5th guru), Guru Tegh Bahadur, Guru Gobind Singh (10th guru).

  • How we know:

  • His own shabad, kept in the Adi Granth Sahib and later the Guru Granth Sahib.
  • The Goindval Pothis (earlier written collections) used for the Adi Granth [3].
  • Living practices that still go on today: sangat, langar, and singing hymns to music.

Don't confuse with

  • Kabir: he also taught nirguna bhakti, and his poems are in the Adi Granth. But he set up no community in his lifetime. The Kabirpanth formed after his death. Nanak created the sangat and named a successor himself.
  • Adi Granth Sahib vs Guru Granth Sahib: Guru Arjan (5th guru) compiled the Adi Granth. It became the Guru Granth Sahib only after Guru Gobind Singh (10th guru) added Guru Tegh Bahadur's hymns.
  • Sangat vs Khalsa Panth: Nanak founded the sangat, a community for worship. Guru Gobind Singh founded the Khalsa Panth, with five symbols, much later.
  • Sangat vs Shankaradeva's sat sanga: both are gatherings of devotees. But sat sanga belongs to Assamese Vaishnavism, where devotees sing naam kirtan to Vishnu. Nanak's sangat was devoted to the formless rab.

Prelims Hooks

  • Baba Guru Nanak was born in 1469 at Nankana Sahib, near the Ravi, and died in 1539. Britannica places his death at Kartarpur [2].
  • He called the Absolute "rab". His hymns are shabad, written in Punjabi.
  • Mardana was his attendant who played the rabab. Angad was his successor. Do not mix them up in a matching question.
  • Guru Arjan (5th guru) compiled the Adi Granth Sahib, in 1604 according to Britannica [3]. Guru Gobind Singh (10th guru) added Guru Tegh Bahadur's hymns and founded the Khalsa Panth.
  • Saints in the Adi Granth who were not Sikh gurus: Baba Farid, Ravidas/Raidas, Kabir.
  • Trap: Nanak rejected the scriptures of both Hindus and Muslims. NCERT says he did not wish to start a new religion.

Mains Points

  • Building an institution decided whether a tradition survived.
  • Nanak created the sangat and a line of gurus. Shankaradeva created satras (monasteries) and naam ghars (village prayer halls).
  • Mirabai founded no sect, and Kabir's panths formed only after his death.

  • So the same kind of devotion led to very different long-term results, depending on organisation.

  • A protest that offered something new in place of the old.

  • Nanak rejected ritual, image worship and the scriptures of both faiths. But he did more than criticise.
  • He offered an alternative: singing in Punjabi, remembering the Name, and worshipping and eating together.

  • This moved religion out of priestly hands and opened it to ordinary people.

  • Continuity and change in a religious identity.

  • NCERT says Nanak did not intend a new religion. A separate Sikh identity grew step by step under his successors:
    • the Adi Granth under Guru Arjan
    • the Guru Granth Sahib and the Khalsa under Guru Gobind Singh
  • This is a useful example of how a devotional path slowly turns into an organised religion.

Related concepts

Read more

Sources

  1. 1Class 8, Ch 2 "Reshaping India's Political Map"; Class 12, Ch 2 "Bhakti-Sufi Traditions" (primary)
  2. 2Guru Nanakbritannica.com · tier 3
  3. 3Guru Arjanbritannica.com · tier 3