Religion

Sikhism

The religion founded by Guru Nānak in the Punjab, devoted to the one God and the Guru’s word.

Also called Sikhī, Gurmat

Introduction

Sikhism, or Sikhī, from sikh, “disciple” or “learner”, is the religion founded in the Punjab by Guru Nānak in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries and shaped by the nine Gurus who followed him. Sikhs call their teaching Gurmat, “the Guru’s way”. Its scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib, is regarded as the living Guru.

Its central teaching is that there is one God, Ik Oṅkār, creator of all and present in all, beyond any religion’s names. Human beings are separated from God by haumai, self-centredness, and are freed by the Guru’s grace and the remembrance of the Name (nām), until they live in sahaj, peace and balance in God. The way is not asceticism or ritual but life in the world: remembering God, earning by honest work, and sharing with others.

Sikhism rejects caste distinctions, affirms the equality of women and men, and serves the free community kitchen (langar) at every gurdwara, where all sit and eat together.

History

Historical

Guru Nānak (1469–1539) taught in the Punjab, where Hindu and Muslim traditions met, and founded a community at Kartarpur. His successors organized and spread it. The fifth Guru, Arjan, compiled the Adi Granth in 1604 and installed it in the Harmandir Sahib at Amritsar; his execution under the emperor Jahangir in 1606 marked a turn toward self-defence under his son, Guru Hargobind.

In 1699 the tenth Guru, Gobind Singh, founded the Khalsa, the community of initiated Sikhs, with its outward signs and its ideal of the saint-soldier. Before his death in 1708 he declared that the line of human Gurus ended with him, and that the scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib, and the community would be the Guru.

In the nineteenth century Ranjit Singh ruled a Sikh kingdom in the Punjab, annexed by the British in 1849. The Singh Sabha movement of the late nineteenth century renewed Sikh identity. The partition of India in 1947 divided the Punjab. Today there are about twenty-five million Sikhs, most in India and many in a worldwide diaspora.

1469Birth of Guru Nānak
1604Guru Arjan compiles the Adi Granth
1606Martyrdom of Guru Arjan
1699Guru Gobind Singh founds the Khalsa
1708The Guru Granth Sahib becomes the Guru
1799–1849The Sikh kingdom of Ranjit Singh and his successors

Major thinkers

Key concepts

Important texts

Convergence and divergence

Resemblance and difference, given equal room. Each note is marked with the kind of statement it makes.

Areas of convergence

Nām, with Sufism
Scholarship
The Sikh remembrance of the Name and the Sufi dhikr both make the repeated remembrance of God the centre of the spiritual life, and the Guru Granth Sahib includes the verses of the Sufi Shaikh Farīd.

Areas of divergence

Nām, with Yoga
Historical
The Gurus rejected the renunciation and austerities of the yogis and ascetics of their day, teaching that God is to be found as a householder, in the midst of family and work.

Cite this entry

Chicago (bibliography): “Sikhism.” Tradition. The Library, Unitive Knowledge Society. Last modified November 7, 2026. https://www.unitiveknowledge.org/library/traditions/sikhism.
Chicago (note): “Sikhism,” tradition, The Library, Unitive Knowledge Society, last modified November 7, 2026, https://www.unitiveknowledge.org/library/traditions/sikhism.
MLA: “Sikhism.” The Library, Unitive Knowledge Society, 7 Nov. 2026, www.unitiveknowledge.org/library/traditions/sikhism.
BibTeX: @misc{traditions-sikhism, title = {{Sikhism}}, howpublished = {The Library, Unitive Knowledge Society}, note = {Tradition. Last modified November 7, 2026}, year = {2026}, url = {https://www.unitiveknowledge.org/library/traditions/sikhism} }