Sikhs


Sikhs are followers of Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the teachings of Guru Nanak. The term Sikh has its origin in the Sanskrit word , meaning 'seeker', or.
According to Article I of Chapter 1 of the Sikh Rehat Maryada, the definition of Sikh is: Any human being who faithfully believes in

  1. One Immortal Being
  2. Ten Gurus, from Guru Nanak Sahib to Guru Gobind Singh Sahib
  3. The Guru Granth Sahib
  4. The utterances and teachings of the ten Gurus and
  5. The initiation, known as the Amrit Sanchar, bequeathed by the tenth Guru and who does not owe allegiance to any other religion, is a Sikh.
Male Sikhs generally have Singh as their last name, though not all Singhs are necessarily Sikhs; likewise, female Sikhs generally have Kaur as their last name. These unique last names were given by the Gurus to allow Sikhs to stand out and also as an act of defiance to India's caste system, which the Gurus were always against. Sikhs strongly believe in the idea of sarbat da bhala and are often seen on the frontline to provide humanitarian aid across the world.
Sikhs who have undergone the Amrit Sanchar, an initiation ceremony, are known as Khalsa from the day of their initiation and they must at all times have on their bodies the five Ks:
  1. kesh, uncut hair usually kept covered by a dastār, also known as a turban;
  2. kara, an iron or steel bracelet;
  3. kirpan, a dagger-like sword tucked into a gatra strap or a kamar kasa waistband;
  4. kachera, a cotton undergarment; and
  5. kanga, a small wooden comb.
The Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent has been the historic homeland of the Sikhs, having even been ruled by the Sikhs for significant parts of the 18th and 19th centuries. Today, Canada has the largest national Sikh proportion in the world, while the Punjab state in India has the largest Sikh proportion amongst all administrative divisions in the world. With a population of approximately 25 to 30 million, Sikhs represent about 0.3% to 0.4% of the total world population in 2024. Many countries, such as Canada and the United Kingdom, recognise Sikhs as a designated religion on their censuses and, as of 2020, Sikhs are considered as a separate ethnic group in the United States. The UK also considers Sikhs to be an ethno-religious people, as a direct result of the Mandla v Dowell-Lee case in 1982.

History

, the founder of Sikhism, was born in a Hindu Khatri family to Mehta Kalu and Mata Tripta in the village of Talwandi, present-day Nankana Sahib, near Lahore. Throughout his life, Guru Nanak was a religious leader and social reformer. However, Sikh political history may be said to begin in 1606, with the death of the fifth Sikh guru, Guru Arjan Dev. Religious practices were formalised by Guru Gobind Singh on March 30, 1699, when the Guru initiated five people from a variety of social backgrounds known as the Panj Piare, to form a collective body of initiated Sikhs known as the Khalsa.
The early followers of Guru Nanak were Khatris, but later a large number of Jats joined the Sikh faith. Khatris and Brahmins opposed "the demand that the Sikhs set aside the distinctive customs of their castes and families, including the older rituals."
Pashaura Singh analysed references made within the 11th ballad of the Varan of Bhai Gurdas to form a picture of the caste-makeup of the early Sikh community. At the time of the writing the Vaar, the early Sikh community was composed of various castes and backgrounds, such as:
The early Sikhs varied widely in their occupations and position in society's hierarchy: some were rich merchants, others were heads of villages, some were labourers, others were enslaved, whilst others still were artisans, craftsmen, shopkeepers or simple peasants.
During the rule of the Mughal Empire in India, two Sikh gurus were martyred. As the Sikh faith grew, the Sikhs subsequently militarised to oppose Mughal rule.
File:Shrine of ranjit singh.jpg|thumb|The Samadhi of Emperor Ranjit Singh in Lahore, Pakistan
After defeating the Afghans and Mughals, sovereign states called Misls were formed under Jassa Singh Ahluwalia. The Confederacy of these states was unified and transformed into the Sikh Empire under Maharaja Ranjit Singh. This era was characterised by religious tolerance and pluralism, including Christians, Muslims and Hindus in positions of power. Its secular administration implemented military, economic and governmental reforms. The empire is considered the zenith of political Sikhism, encompassing Kashmir, Ladakh and Peshawar. Hari Singh Nalwa, the commander-in-chief of the Sikh Khalsa Army in the North-West Frontier, expanded the confederacy to the Khyber Pass.

British rule in India

After the annexation of the Sikh kingdom by the British, the British Army began recruiting significant numbers of Sikhs and Punjabis. During the 1857 Indian mutiny, the Sikhs stayed loyal to the British, resulting in heavy recruitment from Punjab to the British Indian Army for the next 90 years of the British Raj in colonial India. The distinct turban that differentiates a Sikh from other turban wearers is a relic of the rules of the British Indian Army. The British colonial rule saw the emergence of many reform movements in India, including Punjab, such as the formation of the First and Second Singh Sabha in 1873 and 1879 respectively. The Sikh leaders of the Singh Sabha worked to offer a clear definition of Sikh identity and tried to purify Sikh belief and practice.
The later years of British colonial rule saw the emergence of the Akali movement to bring reform in the gurdwaras during the early 1920s. The movement led to the introduction of Sikh Gurdwara Bill in 1925, which placed all the historical Sikh shrines in India under the control of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee.

Partition and post-Partition

At the time of the Indian independence movement, the Sikh ruler of the Kapurthala State fought to oppose the partition of India and advocated for a united, secular country. Sikh organisations, including the Chief Khalsa Dewan and Shiromani Akali Dal led by Master Tara Singh, condemned the Lahore Resolution and the movement to create Pakistan, viewing it as inviting possible persecution, with Akali Dal instead favouring an undivided Azad Punjab as an independent Sikh State or Khalistan, having passed the Sikh State Resolution in 1946. The Sikhs therefore strongly fought against the partition of Punjab. The months leading up to the 1947 partition of Punjab were marked by conflict in the Punjab between Sikhs and Muslims. This caused the religious migration of Punjabi Sikhs and Hindus from West Punjab to the east, mirroring a simultaneous religious migration of Punjabi Muslims from East Punjab to the west.
Following partition, the Government of India had begun to redraw states corresponding to demographic and linguistic boundaries. However, this was not effective in the northern part of the country, as the government reconsidered redrawing states in the north. While states across the country were extensively redrawn on linguistic lines at the behest of linguistic groups, the only languages not considered for statehood were Punjabi, Sindhi and Urdu. Leading to the launch of the Punjabi Suba movement and the presentation for a Punjabi Suba as a policy in April 1948 by Master Tara Singh. Also, on January 26, 1950, Sikh representatives refused to sign the Indian constitution. As Sikhs were recognised as Hindus and Sikhs were not provided with scheduled castes concessions given to Hindu scheduled castes.
The Punjab Suba experienced heavy government crackdown with the Congress Government arresting as many as 21,000 people. Attempted negotiations with Congress-led the agitation to be adjourned twice, though Jawaharlal Nehru continued to reject the demand. On July 4, 1955, government police forces, led by DIG Ashwini Kumar, forced entry into the Golden Temple premises and heavy-handedly arrested protestors and took them into custody, along with the head granthis of the Akal Takht and Golden Temple, volunteer protestors and even cooks of the temple's langar. The Guru Ram Das Serai and Shiromani Akali Dal offices were also raided and batons used and tear gas and shells were fired to disperse the protestors gathered on the periphery of the temple, damaging the periphery and Sarovar, or pool, of the temple. The government stopped volunteers on the way to the Golden Temple and troops were ordered to flag-march through the bazaars and streets surrounding the site. Over 200 protestors were killed, thousands arrested, and thousands, including women and children, were injured.
The Congress government agreed to the Punjab Suba in 1966 after protests and recommendation of the States Reorganisation Commission. The state of East Punjab was later split into the states of Himachal Pradesh, the new state Haryana and current day Punjab. However, there was a growing alienation between Punjabi Sikh and Hindu populations. The latter of which reported Hindi rather than Punjabi as their primary language. The result was that Punjabi-speaking areas were left out of the new state and given to Haryana and Himachal Pradesh resulting in the state of Punjab to be roughly 35,000 square miles smaller than the Punjabi-speaking areas based on pre-1947 census figures. Moreover, the 1966 reorganisation left Sikhs highly dissatisfied, with the capital Chandigarh being made into a shared union territory and the capital of Punjab and Haryana.
In the late 1960s, the Green Revolution in India was first introduced in Punjab as part of a development program issued by international donor agencies and the Government of India. While, Green Revolution in Punjab had several positive impacts, the introduction of the mechanised agricultural techniques led to uneven distribution of wealth. The industrial development was not done at the same pace as agricultural development, the Indian government had been reluctant to set up heavy industries in Punjab due to its status as a high-risk border state with Pakistan. The rapid increase in the higher education opportunities without an adequate rise in the jobs resulted in the increase in the unemployment of educated youth.
In 1973 as a result, of unaddressed grievances and increasing inequality the Akali Dal put forward the Anandpur Sahib Resolution. The resolution included both religious and political issues. It asked for recognising Sikhism as a religion, it also demanded the devolution of power from the Central to state governments. The Anandpur Resolution was rejected by the government as a secessionist document. Thousands of people joined the movement, feeling that it represented a real solution to demands such as a larger share of water for irrigation and the return of Chandigarh to Punjab.
After unsuccessful negotiations the Dharam Yuddh Morcha was launched on August 4, 1982, by the Akali Dal in partnership with Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, with its stated aim being the fulfillment of a set of devolutionary objectives based on the Anandpur Sahib Resolution. Indian police responded to protestors with high-handed police methods creating state repression affecting a very large segment of Punjab's population. Police brutality resulted in retaliatory violence from a section of the Sikh population, widening the scope of the conflict by the use of violence of the state on its own people. A "state of chaos and repressive police methods" combined to create "a mood of overwhelming anger and resentment in the Sikh masses against the authorities." Leading to Sikh leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale gaining prominence and demands of independence gain currency, even amongst moderates and Sikh intellectuals. In 1982 and early 1983, extrajudicial killings by the police of orthodox Sikh youth in rural areas in Punjab provoked reprisals. Over 190 Sikhs had been killed in the first 19 months of the protest movement.
In May 1984, a Grain Roko morcha was planned and to be initiated on June3 with protestors practising civil disobedience by refusing to pay land revenue, water or electricity bills and blocking the flow of grain out of Punjab. Indian Prime minister Indira Gandhi launched Operation Blue Star on June1 prior to the Grain Roko morcha in order to remove Bhindranwale from the Golden Temple. This subsequently led to Gandhi's assassination by her Sikh bodyguards. Her assassination was followed by government-sponsored pogroms against Sikh communities across India and the killing of thousands of Sikhs throughout India. These events triggered an Insurgency in Punjab which would consume Punjab until the early 1990s.
During the day of Vaisakhi in 1999, Sikhs worldwide celebrated the 300th anniversary of the creation of the Khalsa. Canada Post honoured Sikh Canadians with a commemorative stamp in conjunction with the anniversary. Likewise, on April 9, 1999, Indian president K. R. Narayanan issued a stamp commemorating the 300th anniversary of the Khalsa as well.