Sikh history

• Founder of Sikhi.
• Travelled across South Asia, Tibet, and the Middle East (the four udasis) preaching one God and the equality of all people.
• Established the institution of langar — the free community kitchen.
• Composed 974 hymns now in Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji.

• Standardised the Gurmukhi script for writing Punjabi.
• Founded schools to teach Gurmukhi to children regardless of caste.
• Strengthened the langar tradition.

• Required all visitors — including emperors — to eat langar before meeting him, codifying equality.
• Established the manji system (regional preaching centres).
• Spoke against sati (widow burning) and purdah; promoted women's rights.
• Composed Anand Sahib, recited daily by Sikhs.

• Founded the city of Amritsar.
• Composed Lavan — the four hymns recited at every Sikh wedding (Anand Karaj).

• Compiled the Adi Granth — the first edition of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji.
• Built the Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple) at Amritsar with four doors signifying openness to all four castes / directions.
• First Sikh martyr — tortured and killed by emperor Jahangir for refusing to alter the Granth.

• Introduced the doctrine of miri-piri (temporal + spiritual sovereignty), wearing two swords.
• Built the Akal Takht — the throne of the timeless one — facing the Harmandir Sahib.
• Trained Sikhs in martial arts and self-defence.

• Maintained a corps of 2,200 mounted Sikh soldiers but never engaged in offensive war.
• Renowned as a healer and protector of nature; established a herbal hospital.

• Became Guru at age five.
• During a Delhi smallpox epidemic, served the sick and gave water to plague victims; contracted the disease himself and joined the divine.

• Defended the religious freedom of Kashmiri Hindus against forced conversion under Aurangzeb.
• Publicly executed in Chandni Chowk, Delhi for refusing to convert to Islam — a martyrdom that established religious freedom as a Sikh principle.

• Established the Khalsa Panth at Vaisakhi 1699 with the first five initiated Sikhs (the Panj Pyaare).
• Gave Sikhs the five articles of faith (Five K's): Kesh, Kangha, Kara, Kachhera, Kirpan.
• Lost his four sons (the Sahibzaday) defending Sikhi.
• Compiled the final edition of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji and declared it the eternal Guru of the Sikhs.

1708–1716

Banda Singh Bahadur

Led the first sovereign Sikh state in Punjab, abolishing the zamindari (landlord) system. Captured and executed in Delhi.

1748–1799

The Misls

Twelve confederate Sikh military bands consolidated control over Punjab through guerilla warfare against Mughal and Afghan invaders.

1799–1849

The Sikh Empire

Maharaja Ranjit Singh unified the Misls and established the Sikh Empire, stretching from Khyber Pass to Tibet. Famous for religious tolerance and the gold-plating of Harmandir Sahib.

1849–1947

British annexation

Following the Anglo-Sikh wars, Punjab was annexed by the British. Sikhs served disproportionately in the Indian Army and led many independence movements (Ghadar Party, Komagata Maru, Babbar Akali).

1919

Jallianwala Bagh massacre

British troops killed hundreds of unarmed Sikhs, Hindus, and Muslims gathered for Vaisakhi at Amritsar. A turning point in the Indian independence struggle.

1947

Partition

The partition of British India split historic Punjab in two. Hundreds of thousands of Sikhs were killed or displaced; sacred sites including Nankana Sahib (Guru Nanak's birthplace) ended up in Pakistan.

1984

Operation Blue Star

The Indian Army attacked Harmandir Sahib, damaging the Akal Takht. Followed by the assassination of Indira Gandhi and anti-Sikh pogroms in Delhi and across India.

Today

The global Sangat

There are roughly 30 million Sikhs worldwide — the majority in Punjab, with large diaspora communities across the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, Australia, and East Africa.