The people of Punjab before Sikhism followed many different religions. However, during Guru Nanak's period, many people in Punjab were Hindus. The Hindus were divided into three sects, namely, the Vaishnava Sect, the Shaiva sect and the Shakti sect.
Sikhism was born in the Punjab area of South Asia, which now falls into the present day states of India and Pakistan. The main religions of the area at the time were Hinduism and Islam. The Sikh faith began around 1500 CE, when Guru Nanak began teaching a faith that was quite distinct from Hinduism and Islam.
Mughal rule of Punjab
The Sikh religion began around the time of the conquest of the Northern Indian subcontinent by Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire.
It is the most recently founded major organized faith and stands at fifth-largest worldwide, with about 25-30 million adherents (known as Sikhs) . Sikhism developed from the spiritual teachings of Guru Nanak (1469–1539), the faith's first guru, and the nine Sikh gurus who succeeded him.
The Sikh religion has evolved from the Gurus' teachings, and from their followers' devotion, into a world religion with its own scripture, code of discipline, gurdwaras (places of worship), festivals and life cycle rites and Sikhs share in a strong sense of identity and celebrate their distinctive history.
The word Hindu is an exonym, and while Hinduism has been called the oldest religion in the world, many practitioners refer to their religion as Sanātana Dharma (Sanskrit: सनातन धर्म, lit. ''the Eternal Dharma'') which refers to the idea that its origins lie beyond human history, as revealed in the Hindu texts.
Sikhism emerged more than 500 years ago in Punjab, in what is now India. It was founded by Guru Nanak, a non-practicing Hindu who was against rituals and praying to idols. “He received a revelation,” Johar says. Guru Nanak taught a message of love and that all religions were good.
The Sikh religion is one of the youngest world religions and was founded more than 500 years ago (1469) in Punjab, North India, by Guru Nanak Dev Ji, in response to a spiritual revelation.
Sikh women have shown enterprise in several fields and are among the most progressive in education and in the professions such as teaching and medicine. Within the Sikh system, they are the equals of men.
In 1845-46, the British fought a war against the powerful Sikh Empire in the Punjab. After several bitterly fought battles, the conflict ended with the British taking partial control of the Sikh territories.
It was however led by Raja Lal Singh who, with Tej Singh, betrayed the Sikhs during the course of the war.
The founder of the Sikh tradition, Guru Nanak, was born in the region of Punjab, South Asia, in 1469 CE. He lived a life of spirituality, service, and honesty, and the disciples who began to follow his teachings came to be known as Sikhs.
The religion of Sikhism emerged in the context of medieval India, where many Hindus and Muslims of the Punjab region became Sikhs through conversion. The original Sikhs were thus all converts, with the first one being Bhai Mardana, a former Muslim.
While organically related to Hinduism, with the religious philosophy of the Gurus showing both continuity with and reaction against earlier Hindu thought, the Sikh faith is a religion in its own right, with a strong sense of its own identity throughout its existence.
Sikhism also rejects the Hindu caste system, priesthood, image worship, and pilgrimage, although it retains the Hindu doctrines of transmigration and karma.
The study shows that by the year 2050, the world's total population will reach 9 billion, with Islam and Christianity having the most significant number of adherents. These two religions will account for two-thirds of the global population, while the remaining religions and atheism will make up the remaining third.
Over the next four decades, Christians will remain the largest religious group, but Islam will grow faster than any other major religion. If current trends continue, by 2050 … The number of Muslims will nearly equal the number of Christians around the world.
Marrying people of other faiths is acceptable, they say, but conducting that marriage in a Sikh temple is not. Non-Sikhs can only be involved if they accept the Sikh faith and change their name to include Singh or Kaur, the council insists.
Some Sikhs are vegetarian. The religion allows individual choice about meat consumption. However, it is forbidden to eat meat from animals slaughtered according to religious guidelines, and therefore Sikhs do not eat halal or kosher meat. Sikhs do not consume alcohol.
Since 1699, about two centuries after the founding of the religion, Sikh leaders have prohibited their members from cutting their hair, saying long hair is a symbol of Sikh pride. The turban was conceived to manage the long hair and intended to make Sikhs easily identifiable in a crowd.
Guru Nanak (1469–1539), the founder of Sikhism, was born in a Hindu 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.
Most Sikhs live in the province of Punjab, a part of the larger Punjab region where the religion originated in the Middle Ages, with some also residing in Peshawar in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, is located in Pakistan's Punjab province.