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Wikipedia / Sikh gurus

The Sikh gurus (Punjabi: ਸਿੱਖ ਗੁਰੂ; Hindi: सिख गुरु) are the spiritual masters or sources of learning of Sikhism, who established the religion over the course of about two and a half centuries, beginning in 1469. The year 1469 marks the birth of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism. Nine other human gurus succeeded him. Then, in 1708, the tenth guru passed the guruship on to the holy Sikh scripture, Guru Granth Sahib, which is now considered the living guru by the followers of the Sikh faith. The guruship was also passed on to the Guru Panth, consisting of the Khalsa; however, this form of guruship went into decline following the rise of Ranjit Singh.

Etymology and definition

Guru (, ; , Punjabi: ਗੁਰੂ, IAST: guru) is a Sanskrit term for a "teacher, guide, expert, or master" of a certain field or area of knowledge. Bhai Vir Singh, in his dictionary of Guru Granth Sahib describes the term guru as a combination of two separate units: "Gu;(ਗੁ)" meaning darkness and "Rū;(ਰੂ)" which means light. Hence, guru is that which brings light into darkness — or, in other words, the one who enlightens. Bhai Vir Singh's definition provides further insight about Sikhism itself and explains why Guru Granth Sahib is considered the living Guru. The word Sikh is derived from the Sanskrit term shishya (Punjabi: ਸਿੱਖ) which means a disciple or a student. Thus, Sikhs have a student–teacher relationship with their gurus since their teachings, as written in Guru Granth Sahib, serve as a guide for Sikhs.

According to Sikh beliefs, all the Gurus contained the same light or soul and their physical body was a vessel for containing the same essence. When one guru passed, the successor inherited this light and that is why the gurus are also referred to as mahalla (house). They were formally referred to as patiśāh, being viewed by Sikhs as the masters of both spiritual (dīn/pīrī) and temporal (dunīyā/mīrī) affairs.

History

Guru Nanak, the first guru, was succeeded as guru by Guru Angad. By 1600, there were many contesting claimaints for the Sikh guruship, leading to internal strife and divisions. It was during the period of Guru Gobind Singh that reforms were introduced, such as the formal introduction of the Khalsa Panth and a steady ceasing of a personal, human guruship, preparing for a future without one. The last guru declared that after him the guruship would pass both onto the Khālsā Panth and Granth Sahib. The Khalsa was supposed to act in accordance with the scripture, which was the guiding wisdom of revelation, while the Panth was invested with authority (jāmā) that had formerly been conferred upon a personal leader (human gurus) but now was the responsibility of the collective community, with personal leadership being rejected. The goal set forth was sovereignty (patiśāhī).

The gurus

Timeline

Pedigrees

Base of operations

Guru Nanak founded Kartarpur (Narowal) in the 1520s and remained there until his death in 1539. Nanak's successor, Guru Angad, made his native Khadur his headquarters and remained there throughout his guruship from 1539 to 1551. Guru Amar Das founded Goindwal and resided there from 1551 to 1574. Guru Ram Das established Ramdaspur (now called Amritsar) and remained there from 1574 to 1581. Guru Arjan also resided at Amritsar but also founded the settlements of Kartarpur (Jalandhar), Hargobindpur, and Tarn Taran. Guru Hargobind had Amritsar as his base from 1606–1628 but shifted to Kartarpur between 1628–1634. Guru Hargobind founded Kiratpur in 1634, where he remained until his death in 1644. Guru Har Rai resided at Kiratpur during his guruship, as did Guru Har Krishan. The next Sikh guru, Guru Tegh Bahadur, founded Anandpur in 1664 and remained there until 1675, yet also travelled to distant areas, such as Dhaka and Patna in eastern India. The tenth Sikh guru, Guru Gobind Singh, remained at Anandpur from 1675–1704. He founded the settlements of Paonta (1685) and Damdama (Bathinda) in 1705, where he remained for two years until he journeyed down south to Nanded, dying in 1708.