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Sikhism is now the World's 5th largest religion with 26 million followers
worldwide. The picture below shows the location of India, the
homeland of Sikhs.
Guru's Period
The first Sikh prophet, Guru Nanak Dev Ji was born in 1469 and the
10th and last Sikh prophet, Guru Gobind Singh Ji went to his heavenly
abode in 1708. This time period lasted for more than 239 long years.
The Sikh religion progressed very well during this time, under the
Guru's proper guidance. While Guru Nanak Dev Ji started the Sikh
religion by preaching against the caste system, animal sacrifice, and
fasting, Guru Gobind Singh Ji completed its form by requiring all Sikhs
to get baptized. Many Sikhs, who were very close to Guru Sahib, wrote
Rehatnamas based on his teachings, which are called the Sikh code of
conduct. All the Gurus preached for service to humanity, sharing with
the needy, and praising God. Guru Angad Dev Ji, the 2nd Guru,
developed the Gurmukhi script of the Punjabi language. Guru Amar
Das Ji, the 3rd Guru, wrote the hymns, which are sung at the death
ceremony. Guru Ram Das Ji, the 4th Guru, wrote the hymns which are
sung at the time of marriage. Guru Arjan Dev Ji, the 5th Guru,
compiled all the hymns of first four Gurus and himself into Adi Granth.
Guru Gobind Singh Ji added the 9th Guru's hymns into the Adi Granth
and completed Granth Sahib. In 1708, he asked Sikhs to follow Granth
Sahib and declared that Granth Sahib will be eternal Guru of the Sikhs
in the future. So by the time Guru Gobind Singh Ji went to his
heavenly abode, the Sikhs had their own language, own holy Guru
Granth Sahib Ji, own religious places, own baptism ceremony, own
code of conduct, own marriage, and own death ceremony. The Sikh
religion is complete.
Banda Singh's original name was Madho Dass and he had many
spiritual powers. He renounced the world lived in Nanded, South India.
Guru Gobind Singh Ji reached there in 1708 and preached to him that
renouncing the world may not be the right path, when the poor are
being treated unfairly by the rich in this world. He became the Guru's
follower and got baptized and changed his name to Banda Singh. Guru
Ji sent him to Punjab in northern India, along with 5 Sikhs to fight the
tyrants. He came to Punjab, collected an army and started attacking
the small rulers of villages and towns. Ultimately, he had enough
soldiers to fight with the ruler of Sirhind, who had mercilessly killed
the two innocent young children of Guru Gobind Singh Ji. The Sirhind
army was composed of 25,000 men with cannons and elephants.
Banda Singh had a smaller army with no artillery. But Banda Singh's
army had something which other side lacked. They were ready to fight
with religious fervor and to avenge the deaths of two innocent children
of Guru Gobind Singh Ji. There was a fierce fight outside of Sirhind.
Originally the Sirhind army started moving forward due to their
superiority. Then Banda Singh prayed and used one of the five arrows
given to him by Guru Gobind Singh Ji, who asked him to use them
during these times. It tilted the scales. Now Banda Singh's army
started moving forward. Ultimately, Banda Singh led his army to
victory in that battle. He entered Sirhind and punished the cruel rulers.
The ruler of Sirhind got killed, as with many of his advisors. He
established the first Sikh kingdom. He made his close advisors the
rulers of Sirhind and other towns. He established a new fort near
Nahan and gave it a name of Lohgarh. That became Banda Singh's
capital.
Banda Singh ruled only short time but he made a great contribution for
the poor people of Punjab. He ordered that ordinary peasants, who
were doing agricultural work for the landlords, will actually be the real
land owners. So he helped the poor and downtrodden people. He
started his own currency in the name of Guru Nanak -- Guru Gobind
Singh Ji. Banda Singh's kingdom stretched all the area of Punjab
between Delhi and Lahore.
The Emperor of Delhi didn't like Banda Singh's rise. He ordered the
Lahore ruler to collect all the army and attack Banda Singh. The Hindu
and Muslim rulers of other towns and cities also obeyed to emperor's
orders and joined the Lahore army. Banda Singh was in the Gurdaspur
area when he was attacked from all sides. The Sikhs fought with
bravery, but they were encircled from all sides. Ultimately, they fell
back to Gurdas Nangal fort. There they remained encircled for eight
long months. They ran out of ammunition and all rations. Many died
due to hunger. The remaining were half dead due to hunger.
Ultimately they were made prisoners in December 1715.
Sikhs regrouped and got ready to fight the tyrants. Ultimately they
became strong enough to defeat the tyrants and started ruling the
area around 1760s.
Maharaja Ranjeet Singh filled that whole. He was born in 1780 and he
conquered Lahore in 1799, at the age of 19. He gained more and more
territory every year he ruled Punjab for 40 years. He had a vast
empire by the time he died in 1839 at the age of 59. His kingdom was
so vast that he had to divide his kingdom into 4 different states, and
he appointed Governors for those states. He won territory in far away
places. In fact, the present day boundaries between Pakistan and
Afghanistan and also between Northern India and China were defined
his kingdom. He was so strong that invaders from Afghanistan stopped
attacking India very year. On the east, the Tibet Government, or
present day China, signed a peace treaty with him. In the South, the
British also signed a peace treaty with him, which defined his
kingdom's boundaries.
He was a very kind and fair ruler and he never gave the capital
punishment to anybody during his 40 year rule. He would go to
common people in the evening and at night in disguise to find out their
problems and their feelings about his kingdom. He would change his
policies based on the true feedback from the people. The British were
very impressed with his personality. He also had many European
Generals, especially French, in his army. Even the Russian
Government sent their ministers to his kingdom.
The Sikhs went through religious persecution for more than 50 long
years, as described before. Maharaja Ranjeet Singh's kingdom gave
them the opportunity to settle down into civilian life. The Sikh
community prospered during his time. He built many Gurdwaras
during his period. He put all the Gold on Sikhism's most sacred place
in Amritsar, that's why it is now known as Golden Temple.
Colonial Era
The sons and advisers of Maharaja Ranjit Singh started fighting among
themselves after his death and many of them were killed. The British
bought the Generals of the Army and then attacked the Sikh kingdom.
So the Sikh kingdom era ended in 1849, and the British annexed
Punjab with the rest of India, where they were already ruling.
The British knew that Sikhs are great warriors so they rewarded the
Sikhs with jobs in their army and won over them. The Sikhs proved to
very beneficial to the British in many wars that they fought in. The
British also gave lands to the Sikhs who retired from the Army. This
induced more Sikhs into the army. By the time British left India and
the country became independent, Sikhs constituted about 80 percent
of the Army.
The British sent Sikhs to many battles far and near. The Sikhs fought
for the British in the two world wars at places like Germany, Belgium,
Italy, North Africa, Iraq, Burma, Singapore and China. 83,000 Sikh
soldiers died and 146,000 were wounded while fighting in the 2 world
wars. Some Sikhs were decorated with the "Victoria Cross Medal" --
the highest war time medal. Sikh soldiers were also part of the victory
parade in London after the second world war.
Punjab made a lot of progress during the colonial era. Many cities were
connected by railroads and by paved roads. Schools were opened in all
the towns, where English was also taught, which helped Sikhs when
they started immigrating to western countries. The big cities had
colleges also. The British generally tried not to interfere in the Sikhs'
religious affairs.
Ultimately, the British left India in 1947. But they divided the country
into two parts before leaving. The Muslim majority area became
Pakistan and the Sikh and Hindu majority area became India. Punjab
also got divided. The West portion was included in Pakistan and the
east portion became part of India. Religious riots broke out
immediately and there was a mass migration of the population. About
one million people lost their lives in the next two months. Millions
more were displaced and were left without homes
Sikh Immigrants
Dalip Singh Saund was another Sikh who came to study at Berkeley
University. He completed his PhD in Mathematics but couldn't get a job
due to the strict immigration laws. He started working in the
agricultural fields and ultimately became a successful farmer. When
immigration laws changed in 1940s, he got his citizenship. He became
a judge in 1950s. He then ran for the US Congress in the 1950s from
Riverside county of California and was a US Congressman for 3
consecutive terms.
Immigration of the Sikhs almost stopped after 1915 due to the strict
immigration laws. The population of the Sikhs dwindled. There were
only few hundred Sikhs living in California at the end of second world
war. When the immigration laws changed in 1965, a new wave of
Sikhs started coming. Most of them were educated and they got jobs
in almost every profession. Wherever they settled, they also built
Gurdwaras. There are hundreds of Gurdwaras in the United States
today. Some of them joined the US Army and proudly served. The
Police forces in New York, Los Angeles, and the California National
Guard have turbaned Sikh police officers. Since pioneer Sikhs got jobs
in agriculture, they settled in California's central valley. Due to that,
10% of Yuba City's population is Sikh. Sikhs get together on the first
Sunday of every November to celebrate the anniversary of the first
installation of Guru Granth Sahib Ji. There are an estimated 40 to 50
thousand Sikhs in the parade, which gives a big boost to Yuba City's
economy.
Early Sikhs Immigrants and their Role in Nation Building
(Photo Courtesy of The Tide of Turbans: Asian Indians In America by Ronald Takaki)
Served in the US Army during 1st World War (1914-18). Honorably discharged from
the US army On Dec 16, 1918
Present Era
In the Sikh religion, there are quite a few symbols. However, only
some of these symbols apply to all people. What I mean is that some
of the major symbols of Sikhism only apply to those people that have
been baptized. The major Sikh Symbols are:
1) Ek-Onkar
2) Khanda
3) Kesh
4) Kangha
5) Kara
6) Kachhera
7) Kirpan
8) Nishan Sahib
Ek-Onkar
Sikh Symbols
Khanda
Sikh Symbols
Kesh
Kesh is one the 'Panj Kakar' or 'Five Ks' that people have
after being baptized. However, Kesh, or uncut hair from
everywhere on their body, is one of the two Ski's that
most people have, even if they aren't baptized. Sikh males
tie their hair into a 'Joora', or bun. They cover this with a
'Pag', or turban. At a younger age, people cover their
Joora with a 'Patka', a smaller turban. Most females either
braid their hair or put it in a bun on the back of their head. There are
some women who tie and cover their hair like the men do. A lot of
emphasis is put on Kesh because it is the body in the natural way that
it was created by God.
Sikh Symbols
Kangha
Sikh Symbols
Kara
Sikh Symbols
Kachhera
Sikh Symbols
Kirpan
The Kirpan is the last of the Panj Kakar and it is only worn
by people who have been baptized. However, like the
other Panj Kakar, it isn't worn at all times. This is because
Sikhs take it off when they ride on airplanes so they don't
start a commotion. Sikhs agreed to these terms with the
FAA.
Sikh Symbols
Nishan Sahib
Nishan Sahib is the name for the Khalsa Flag. Saffron in color and of
triangle shape it is a religious flag. It has a black Khanda in the
middle. The flag post is also covered in saffron cloth and has a metallic
Khanda at the top. Sighting of a Nishan Sahib gives the idea that there
is a Gurdwara around.
When the Sikh religion was founded, it had 10 Gurus to lead it. The
word Guru means "A teacher and guide in spiritual and philosophical
matters." However, the Gurus were more than just that. The Gurus
were the leaders of the Sikhs in religious matters, and in later times,
they also became the leaders of the Sikhs in worldly matters. In fact,
the Gurus were God in the form of a human being. All the Gurus made
their contributions and a new religion "Sikhism" was formed. The ten
Gurus are:
The Sikh Gurus practiced what they preached for well over 200 years
and the Sikh beliefs are born out of their examples and sacred
writings. Due to this, Sikhs have a strong base when it comes to
beliefs. Some of the major Sikh beliefs are:
1) One God
2) Equality
After a person dies, his soul is born again in another body, human or
animal
One's next life depends on his deeds in the past life
The human life is supreme and it is through this life that we can
achieve oneness with God
Finding God takes us out of this life cycle
4) Non-Violence
Sikhs are a peace loving people and stand for Truth and Justice
Guru Gobind Singh Ji said, "It is right to use force as a last resort
when all other peaceful means fail."
The four basic principles for living a good life and leaving the life cycle
are:
Sikhs should give to the poor and needy in the form of charity
Sikhs should share with others
Baisakhi (Vaisakhi)
Sikh Festivals
Diwali
Diwali means the Festival of Lights. The Sikhs celebrate Diwali because
Guru Hargobind reached Amritsar on Diwali day after his release from
Gwalior jail. He had also got 52 princes freed from prison. That is why
this festival is very important for the residents of Amritsar. The Golden
Tempe complex is illuminated and wonderful displays of fireworks are
held. Priceless historic treasures and weapons used by the Gurus are
put on display..
The Indian festival of lights held around October 25th. Guru Amar Das
institutionalized this as one of the special days when all Sikhs would
gather to receive the Gurus blessings at Goindwal. In 1577 the
foundation stone of The Golden Temple was laid on Diwali. On Diwali
1619 the Golden Temple was illuminated with many lights to welcome
home and celebrate the release of Guru Hargobind from imprisonment
in Gwalior fort. Sikhs have continued this annual celebration with
lamps being lit outside gurdwaras and sweets distributed to all. The
largest gathering happens at The Golden Temple which is lit up with
thousands of lights.
Sikh Festivals
Hola Mohalla
Language: Punjabi
Punjabi is the language of the Sikhs. As you can tell, its name
originates from Punjab, the land of five rivers. Punjabi is spoken
primarily in Punjab, although many Punjabi descendents also speak it
around the world. Like all other languages, Punjabi has its own
alphabet. This alphabet is called "Gurmukhi."
The Gurmukhi script was made by the second Sikh Guru, Guru Angad
Dev Ji. I want to point out that Punjabi had been around for some time
when Guru Angad Dev Ji made Gurmukhi. At that time, Punjabi was
said but it was an unorganized language because it didn't have a
proper alphabet. In order to invent Gurmukhi, Guru Angad Dev Ji had
to take many steps. Guru Ji retained and slightly modified certain
letters of the Brahmi scripts. These letters depicted sounds of Punjabi.
Guru Ji also created some other letters for each of the Punjabi
phonemes. Once Guru Angad Dev Ji was done in making the letters,
he rearranged them into what we have today.
However, the letters aren't all the Gurmukhi Sikhs have. Guru Angad
Dev Ji also made numbers as part of the Gurmukhi script.
These are only the first 10 numbers in the Gurmukhi script. In order to
right greater numbers, we just repeat the figures until we have the
desired number.
The Gurmukhi script is special in the sense that in some cases an ' a '
is added to a consonant. This ' a ' is added to consonants as long as it
isn't pronounced at the end of the syllable. For example, ' j ' and ' l '
combine to become ' jal ' in Punjabi. In this case, the ' j ' becomes ' ja
' and the 'l' stays as ' l .' Another way that a vowel can be used after a
consonant is by using the first three letters of the Gurmukhi script. The
first and third letters can't be used independently and they need a
vowel sign, which changes their pronunciation. The second letter of the
script can also be used with these vowel signs. In the Gurmukhi script
there are 10 different ways to say a letter. Out of these 10 vowel
signs, only Sihari comes before the consonant but, like the others, it is
pronounced after it.
Like specific vowel signs, Gurmukhi also has nasalization signs. What I
mean by this is that these signs are used to nasalize the sound of the
vowels. There are two basic nasalization signs in Gurmukhi: the Tippee
and the Bindee. Out of these two, the Tippee is used more often and is
portrayed as a half-circle that is concave down and is located above
the end of the letter. The Tippee is used with :
The Bindee is portrayed as a dot above or slightly after the vowel sign.
The Bindee is used with :
Both the Tippee and the Bindee create a half ' n ' sound.
Guru Angad Dev Ji has created a beautiful script for Sikhs. This is
shown with the proportions of the letters. All of the letters have the
same height with the exception of ooraa, the first letter, whose top
curve extends above the line. The width of all the letters is also the
same.
Since its induction, Gurmukhi has played a major role in Sikh faith and
traditions. Although the script was originally used only for Sikh books,
it spread under Maharaja Ranjit Singh. This was because Maharaja
Ranjit Singh used it for administrative purposes by putting Gurmukhi
on the monetary coins of his kingdom. Another reason that Gurmukhi
was spread was due to the fact that it has been the bare minimum for
literacy in Punjab and nearby areas where schools were attached to
Gurdwaras.
Sikhism
Sikhs Turbans
1
Delhi 1,555,602 288,675 266,927
0
1
Goa 970 590 380
1
1
Gujarat 45,587 24,987 20,600
2
1
Haryana 2,170,662 618,558 552,104
3
1
Himachal Pradesh 472,355 38,118 34,237
4
1
Jammu & Kashmir 207,154 114,524 92,630
5
1
Jharkhand 83,358 45,348 38,010
6
1
Karnataka 15,326 8,811 6,515
7
1
Kerala 2,762 1,611 1,151
8
1
Lakshadweep 6 6 0
9
2
Madhya Pradesh 1,150,772 80,122 70,650
0
2
Maharastra 815,337 117,736 97,601
1
2
Manipur 1,653 1,091 562
2
2
Meghalaya 3,110 1,810 1,300
3
2
Mizoram 326 251 75
4
2
Nagaland 1,152 774 378
5
2
Orissa 17,492 9,448 8,044
6
2
Pondicherry 108 70 38
7
2
Punjab 14,592,387 7,692,776 6,899,611
8
2
Rajasthan 818,420 432,534 385,886
9
3
Sikkim 1,176 1,061 115
0
3
Tamil Nadu 479,545 5,515 4,030
1
3
Tripura 1,182 1,074 108
2
3
Uttar Pradesh 1,678,059 361,320 316,739
3
3
Uttaranchal 212,025 111,723 100,302
4
3
West Bengal 66,391 36,738 29,653
5
Mission
Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh
This site is put together for Sikhs and non-Sikhs to learn the truth about
Sikhism. Purpose of this site is to educate people how Sikhism is a different
religion from all other religions and how Sikhism is not a separate movement or
an offshoot of Hinduism and/or Islam. Many people out there know nothing
about Sikhism and Sikh youth is going away from Sikhism because of lack of
knowledge about this beautiful religion which is why we made "Sikhism"
category under which all the basic beliefs of Sikhism are included. This
category tells almost everything a new person to Sikhism should know about.
"Sikhism" is a very good introductory course to Sikhism. "Khalsa" category is
created for people to learn little bit about Sikh history and how Sikhs being the
great warriors freed India from Mughals and became rulers of northern India.
"Gurus" and "Martyrs" categories are created so that people can actually learn
about Sikh Gurus and rich heritage of sacrifices Sikhs made for freedom. No
other religion has produced these many martyrs. Only Sikhism, the youngest
religion, has more martyrs than any other religion. Reading about Sikh martyrs
would surely touch the hearts of the Sikh youth and would make them proud to
be Sikhs.
"Articles" category goes into depth of Sikhism. Without enough knowledge you
might not be able to understand most of the articles. This section includes the
major differences between Sikhism, Hinduism and Islam. Many people
mistakenly think of Sikhism as another movement or a sect of Hinduism or Islam
which is not true. Articles section explains this very well. Also, other articles
on RSS and Khalistan are included which are written especially for Sikhs.
Purpose of these articles is to aware the Sikhs about the dangers to Sikhism and
propaganda of Indian government. These articles will educate Sikhs about the
truth that goes on in India. Many websites out there talk about Khalistan but
very few actually go into details on why Khalistan is really needed and those
websites fail to address the current problems Sikhs are facing today in India
and around the world. These articles will get the message across.
We have included picture gallery for our people. This is also a good source to
learn about Sikh history such as Operation Blue Star. A picture is equal to
thousand words. By looking at the pictures people would understand Sikh
history better because this is s solid proof of what really happened. We decided
to put up stories of people who become Sikhs under Stories section. These
stories will inspire people to join Sikhism. Many people get confused about
taking Amrit, or want to know if there are other people who think about joining
Sikhism and this section will serve the purpose very well. These stories are
collected from different web sites. No other web site has decided to collect
these stories and put them all in one place. So we decided to save those stories
for our readers to inspire them to join Sikhism. We have tried to present the
most accurate information on Sikhism. We really hope after reading this
website people will have better understanding about Sikhism. Our overall
purpose for this website sums up as follows: