Rise of Sikhism: Guru Nanak to Guru Hargobind

Detail

Guru Nanak and the birth of the faith

• Guru Nanak spread his message in 15th-century Punjab — a large region that today is split between India and Pakistan.
• His core teaching: equality, compassion and the oneness of God — Ik Onkar ("there is one God"). No high or low by birth.
• People who followed him came to be called Sikhs (the word means "learners" or "disciples").
• Nanak lived 1469–1539; he was born at Rai Bhoi di Talvandi in Punjab, a place now in Pakistan [2].
• He taught through shabads (devotional hymns) — many survive. They stress mukti (release from rebirth) through simran (remembering and repeating God's name) [2].
• He is credited with composing the Mool Mantar ("root mantra"), the opening statement of Sikh belief [2].
• After Nanak died in 1539, nine more Gurus led the community in turn [2].

A spiritual movement first

• Sikhism began purely as a spiritual movement. It was about God, honest living and service — not about war or land.
• The shift came later. Some Mughal rulers grew intolerant and began persecuting the Sikhs, and the Gurus had to respond.
• So the arming of the Sikhs was a reaction, not the starting point. This is the key sequence for exam answers.

Guru Granth Sahib — the sacred book

• The Guru Granth Sahib is the holy book of the Sikhs. It was first compiled by Guru Arjan, the fifth Guru.
• Guru Arjan put the first version together at Amritsar in 1603–04 [3].
• Hymns of Guru Tegh Bahadur (the ninth Guru) were added later.
• It holds nearly 6,000 hymns — those of Guru Arjan himself, of his predecessors Nanak, Angad, Amar Das and Ram Das, plus devotional songs of Hindu and Muslim saints, notably the poet Kabir [3].
• The modern printed edition runs to 1,430 pages [3].
• This first version is called the Adi Granth ("the first book") [3].

What the book teaches

• One God for all — the same God for every community, who "established the earth as a home for Dharma".
• It commands four things in daily life:
• truthfulness
• compassion
• humility

• self-control

• Its most quoted line: "Truth is high but higher still is truthful living." Meaning: knowing what is right matters less than actually living it.

• Guru Arjan also built the Harimandir at Amritsar — the Golden Temple — open to all Sikhs to worship as they wished; it became the spiritual capital of the Sikhs [3].

The turn to arms — Guru Arjan's death

• Emperor Jahangir learned that Guru Arjan had supported his rebellious son.
• Jahangir had the Guru tortured to death.
• This was the turning point. A peaceful movement now faced direct state violence.

Guru Hargobind and the first Sikh army

• Guru Hargobind was Guru Arjan's son and successor — the sixth Guru.
• His response to his father's killing:
• introduced martial training (teaching Sikhs to fight) for the community

• formed the first Sikh army

• That army fought several battles against Mughal forces.

• From here the Sikhs are both a religious community and a fighting power — the base on which later Sikh resistance to the Mughals was built.

Prelims Hooks

• Guru Nanak: 1469–1539; born at Rai Bhoi di Talvandi, Punjab (now in Pakistan) [2].
• Ik Onkar = oneness of God; central idea of Guru Nanak's message.
• Mool Mantar ("root mantra") is credited to Guru Nanak [2].
• Guru Nanak's hymns are called shabads; they stress mukti through simran [2].
• Guru Granth Sahib first compiled by Guru Arjan (fifth Guru) — at Amritsar, 1603–04 [3].
• First version is known as the Adi Granth; ~6,000 hymns, 1,430 pages in print [3].
• The Adi Granth includes hymns of Kabir and other Hindu and Muslim saints [3].
• Guru Tegh Bahadur's hymns were added to the Guru Granth Sahib after Guru Arjan's compilation.
• Guru Arjan built the Harimandir (Golden Temple) at Amritsar [3].
• Jahangir had Guru Arjan tortured to death for backing his rebellious son.
• Guru Hargobind — son of Guru Arjan — began martial training and raised the first Sikh army.
• Total Gurus: Guru Nanak + nine successors [2].

Mains Points

• Persecution converted a spiritual movement into a military one. Sikhism started as a faith of equality and devotion. State violence — Jahangir's execution of Guru Arjan — pushed Guru Hargobind to arm the community. Useful as a case study of how religious reform movements turn political when the state attacks them.
• Scripture as a unifying tool. By compiling the Adi Granth in 1603–04 and including Hindu and Muslim saints like Kabir [3], Guru Arjan gave a scattered following one fixed text and one sacred centre at Amritsar. A common book plus a common shrine builds group identity — the same identity that later sustained armed resistance.
• Equality as a challenge to the existing order. Ik Onkar and "one God for all" denied birth-based rank. This threatened both caste hierarchy and the ruling order, and helps explain why the movement attracted mass support in Punjab.
• Link to the wider theme of regional resistance. Like the Rajputs and the Ahoms, the Sikhs show that Mughal authority was never unchallenged. But the Sikh case is distinct: resistance grew from a religious community, not a ruling dynasty or a settled kingdom.