SIKHISM

SIHR. S e eM a g i c ,a r t i c l eo n M a g i c i n I s l a m .

3I5

SIKHISM. The word Siftl is derived from the Pali siliWa and the Sanskrit Jiga, meaning "disciple." The Sikhs are the disciples of ten gurus(Skt., 8aru), beginn i n g r v i t h N i n a k ( b . 1 4 6 9c e ) a n d e n d i n g u ' i t h G o b i n d S i n g h ( d . 1 7 0 8 ) .A S i k h h a s b e e n d e f i n e da s " o n e u ' h o believes in the ren gurus and the Granth Sahib," a scripture compiled by their fifth gu.ru,Arjun Dev, in I 604. Sikhism u'as a ,ler offshoot of.the bhakri(devotiona!) in Tamil c u l t o f V a i s n a v aH i n d u i s m , u ' h i c h d e v e l o p e d Nadu and u'as based upon the teachingsof A]r'ir and Adil'ar saints. Its chief propagatorswere Adi Sankara (eighth century'), who expounded kevaladvaila(pure ) nd Kam o n i s m ) , a n d , I a t e r , R d m i n a n d a ( 1 3 6 0 - 1 4 7 0a , 'ho u'ereinfluenced by Islam and acb i r ( 1 3 9 8 - 1 5 1 8 )q c e p t e d M u s l i m d i s c i p l e s .T h e f r f t e e n t ha n d s i x t e e n r h centuries sau' tle spread of bhakti throughout lnciia: , imder',and Tukarim C a i t a n l ' ai n B e n g a l ;J n a n e 5 u ' a rN rn Maharashtra; Miri Bii in Rajasthan; Sadhana in Sindh. The bhaktitradition taught that God is the one

p r o a c h G o d i s b y m e d i t a t i n g a n d s i n g i n gh v m n s o f l o v e a l s oB h a k t i a r r dP o e t r 5 a ' , n i c l eo n I n d i a n and praise.lSee R e l i g i o u sP o e t r y . l F o u n d a t i o n .N a n a k , r h e f o u n d e ro f S i k h i s m ,u a s t h e Punjab's chief propounder of the bhakti tradition. Born in April 1469,Nanak u'as the son of a revenueofficial in the village of Talu'andi, about fortS'miles from Lahore (in present-da1' Pakistan).A mer,rberof the kalnj'a, or u'arrior class, and of the belj (one versed in the Vedas) subsect,he received elementary education in Sanskrit, were Persian,and Punjabi. Many of his boyhood 1'ears spent taking the family cattle to pasture or in the com-

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r.r'orked as an accountant in the of6ce of the naq'ab of Sultanpur, u'here he met a Muslim minstrel named Mardana. The tu'o began to organizecommunity meetings u'here hymns written by Nanak and set to music by Mardana \{'ere sung. Thesehvmns \^'erelater incorporated into the Sik}s' sacred hy'mnologl and are to (ragas) prescribedat this da1'sung in musical measures the time. A m1'stical experience at age tu'ent1'-nineu'as the turning point in Nanak's life. \\'hile bathing in a nearby rivulet, he disappearedfrom vieu' and u'as given up as drou,ned.According to the Janamsakhis("life stories"),

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SIKHISIU
NAnak accepted most of the traditional beliefs of Hinduism pertaining to l}re origin of creation and its dissolution, For example, his version of the genesisof life, arbad narbad dhundu /<dra, follou's the Rgvedic hlmn of creation: "Nonbeing then existed not, nor being. . . Desire then entered the one in the beginning; it u'as the earliest seed, of thought, the product. Creative force u'as there and fertile pou'er: belou'u'as energ)',above was impulse." NAnak likeu'ise birth, dearh,and reacceptedrbe theory of samsdra---4f binh. He describesthis processu'ith a picturesquesimile: "Just as the pots of a Persian u'heel go dou'n, fill r,.'ithu'ater as they come up, empt)' and go doun again, so is this life-a pastime of our Lord." Accordingto Ninak, God changedhis ou'n nature and function after the creation of the u'orld-and God is In the Asdhimselfthe author of dualitl' and delusion. diVar (The Davr'nHvmns), he urites, "Apinai ap sijio, ipinai raceo nau / Dufi qudrat saj kai kar isan djtho chau" ("He himself created creation and gar'ecurrencv to the Name / And then assumeda secondnature and u'ith pleasureregardedhis creation seatedon his praver mat"). It is this God u'ho,havingset the u'orld as u'ell a s l i f e i n m o t i o n , t h r e u ' i n i t , a s i t u ' e r e ,m o h t h a g a u l i : an opiate used b1' thugs to drug their victims before robbing them. "Amal galola koor ka ditta devan har," u'rites Nanak ("The Great Giver himself gaveus the pill of falsehood \\'e forger dearh and for four short da5's i n d u l g e i n p l e a s u r e .T h e t e m p e r a t ea b s t a i n ,f i n d t r u t h and the court of God"). Thus both good and evil emanate from God; man's role is to choose the one and ayoid the other, to follow the ordinancesof God (hukum Rajai chalna)and earn his grace (nadar). The opening lines of lapji, the Si-khs' morning pral'er, clearll' state Ninak's concept of God: There is oneGod.
He is the supreme trulh. He, the creator, Is q'ithour fear and u'ithout hatred. He, the omnipresent. Penades the universe. He is not born, Nor does he die to be born again. By his grace shalt thou u'orship him. Before time itself There u'as truth. \\'hen time began to run its course He u'as the truth. Even now, he is the truti, . And evermore shall truth prelail.

he r,,,'a ss u m m o n e db 5 ' G o da n d c h a r g e du ' i r h h i s m i s s i o n in the follou'ing u'ords: "NAnak, I am u'ith thee. Through thee u'ill mv name be magnified. . Go in rhe u,orld to pra)' and to teach man-kindhow to pray. Be not sullied by the u'als of the u,orld. Let y'our life be 'u,ord' o n e o f p r a i s eo f t h e [nam),'charity'[dan),'ablu'sen'ice' and'prayer' fsimran)." lt tion' lishnan], lseuri], is reported that Ninak uas missing for three days and nights but reappearedon the fourth da1'.The opening p r o n o u n c e m e no t [ h i s m i s s i o nu ' a s ," T h e r e i s i r o H i n d u ; tlrere is no l\'luslim." Abandoning u'orldly' pursuits, Nanak undertook four Iong vo1'ages. On the first, he u,ent eastu'ard as far as A s s a m ,r ' i s i t i n gH i n d u p l a c e s o f p i l g r i m a g ea n d m e e t i n g a n d d i s c u s s i n gs p i r i t u a l p r o b l e m s q ' i t h a s c e t i c sa n d holl' men. It u'as either on this journel' or on rhe final one that the famous offering of u'ater to the dead took place at Hardu'ar. The pilgrims u'ere thro\\'ing palmfuls of u'ater to lhe rising sun as an offering to their ancesN A n a k ,h o u e v e r ,t h r e u ' i t i n t h e o p p o s i t e tors in heaven. h e a n s u ' e r e ds i m p l y : " I f d i r e c t i o n . \ A ' h e nq u e s t i o n e d , v o u c a n s e n d u ' a t e r t o J ' o u rd e a d a n c e s t o r s in heaven, s u r e l l ' I c a n s e n d i t t o m y 6 e l d si n t h e P u n j a b . " N i n a k uhat he considered t h e r e b yd ' emonstrated to be the futilitl' of meaningless ritual. He returned to his home for a short time before sett i n g o u t o n a n o t h e rl o n g t o u r . T h i s t i m e h e u e n t s o u t h u'ard, through Tamil Nadu and as far as Sri Lanka. Upon his return to India, he spenta ferr'1'earu s 'ith his familf in a neu' tounship he built and named Kartarp u r ( " a b o d e o f t h e c r e a l o r " ) .H i s t h i r d j o u r n e y u ' a s t o the norrhern regions of the Himalay'as;his fourth and l a s t o f t h e l o n g j o u r n e v s b e g a n i n 1 5 1 8 .T h i s t i m e h e \\'ent \\'estu'ard to l\,lecca, lr{edina,and as far as Basra a n d B a g h d a d .I t u a s o n t h i s j o u r n e y t h a t a n o w - f a m o u s i n c i d e n t t o o k p l a c e .N a n a k u n u ' i t t i n g l y f e l l a s l e e pu ' i t h his feet pointing tou'ard the Ka'bah. An enragedmullah rudell' u'oke him and told him of the indignitl' be had c o m m i t r e d b v h a v i n g h i s f e e t t o u ' a r d t h e h o u s eo f G o d . "Then turn m)' feet in some other direction u'here God d o e sn o t e x i s t , " a n s r r ' e r e \ da n a k . By the time Ninak rerurned home, he u'as too old to undertake anv more strenuousjourne5's.He decided to settle dou'n at Kartarpur and instruct people u'ho came to him. Large numbersof peasants-both Hindus and M u s l i m s - f l o c k e d t o h e a r h i m . M a n y b e c a m eh i s d i s c i ples, or Sig'as,from uhich rhe Punjabi u,ord Sitfr is der i v e d . H i s d e a t h c a m e o n 2 2 S e p t e m b e r1 5 3 9 a t a g e s i x h ' - n i n e .T h e l e g e n dg o e sr h a r b o r h H i n d u s a n d M u s lims clamored for his bodr': rhe former u'anted 10 cremate him as a Hindu, the latrer to bun'him as a MusIim.

N i n a k ' s G o d u ' a s o n e , o m n i p o t e n t ,a n d o m n i s c i e n t .

SIKHISM
N A n a k a l s o b e l i e v e dt h a t G o d \ ^ ' a ss c r ( b o r h " r r u r h " and "realin"'), as opposed to asat ("falsehood") and mithl,a ("illusion"). He thus not only' made God a spiritual conceptbut also basedprinciples of social behavior on this concept.ln other u'ords, if God is truth, ro spa-k an untruth is to be ungodll'. Untruthful conduct not only hurts one's neighbors;it is also irreligious. A good Siklr, therefore,must not only believe that God is the onll' realitr', but he must also not harm his fellou' b e i n g s ,f o r h u r t f u l c o n d u c t - l f i n g , c h e a t i n g , f o r n i c a t on a personor his property, and so oning, trespassing doesnot conform ro tle truth that is God. l':inak's God is ineffable because he is niran*ar, or " f o r m l e s s . "T h e b e s t o n e c a n d o i s t o a d m i t t h e i m p o s s i b i l i t l ' o f d e f i n i n gh i m . B u t t h e f a c t t h a t G o d c a n n o l b e definedshould not inhibit us from learning about trurh and realitl'. This u'e can do b1'follouing the path of righteousness. God is the Father (Pita), the Lover (Pritam), rhe Master (Khasam, I'lalik, or Sahib), and rhe Great Giver ( D a t a )o f a l l g i f t s . H e i s g o o d , b u t e v i l a l s o e m a n a t e s h o m h i m , p e r h a p st o p u r i f v u s o r t o t e s t o u r f a i r h . H e i s k n o u ' n a s R a b , R a h i m , R A m , G o v i n d a ,l \ { u r i r i , a n d H a r i N A n a k 6 r s t c a l l e d G o d A u m k a r a ,a n a m e f a m i l i a r t o r e a d e r so f t h e V e d a sa n d t h e U p a n i s a d sb , u r l a r e rr e ferred to him as Sat KartAr ("rhe true creator") or Sat Nam ("the true name"). T h e S i k h u o r d f o r " g , . , d "i s v , a h g u r u . I t s t a r t e c a i s an exclamation o f p r a i s em e a n i n g" H a i l g u r u l " Q u s ra s t h e I { u s l i m ' s " S u b h a n A l l a h , " o r " A l l a h b e p r a i s e d , "c a m e into use).Later it uas used to personiFv God. Eren' chapterof the Adi Granth begins u'ith rhe invocalion " E k O n k a r S a t g u r u p a r S A d ,u " h i c h l r a n s l a t e sa s , " T h e one God-bl the grace ol gunT-u,orship." Guru \Anak took other aspectsof God from rhe Vedas, such as the c o n c e p tt h a t G o d u ' a s n i r g u n a ( u ' i t h o u t q u a l i r l ) a n d i n tinya sanndlzi (a state of profound meditation) before creation. After creation, hou'ever, he became rhe repositon' of all qualities (sagwn). Like,,r'ise, the s1'mbolic rePresentatjon of God as the m)'stic s1'llableor sound om (in the Mandnkl,a and the Prasna Upanisad), uhich " c o n t a i n s a l l t h a t i s p a s t , p r e s e n t ,a n d f u t u r e " - " B h u t a m , b h a v a d , b h a v i S l ' a di t i s a n ' a m a u m k a r e l a h " - i s found in the guni's DaHtni Onkar. He u'rites in this u ' o r k t h a t G o d i s " t h e c r e a l o ro f B r a h m i , o f c o n s c i o u s ness, of time and space, o f r h e V e d a s ,r h e e m a n c i p a t o r , the essenceof the three worlds." The concept of om, u'hich is someu'hat e l u s i v ei n H i n d u i s m , i s c r 1 ' s t a l l i z e d in Sikh theology and given the status of a sy'mbol-the s 1 ' m b oo l f G o d . I t i n v a r i a b l ve m p h a s i z e s his singularitl', expressedin the saf ing "Ik Aumkar" ("There is one God").

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In equating God u'ith the abstract principle of truth, Nanak bypassesrhe difficuh questions encounteredby religious leadersu'ho describeGod only as the creator or the Father; lf God created the world, u'ho created God? If he is the Father, uho u'as his father? But Nanak's sl,stemhad its own problems.It raised such questions as, If God is truth, u'hat is the truth? NAnak'sanswer \r'as that in situations in which believers cannot decide for themselves,the), should let the gan? guide them. Nanak made the institution of "guruship" the pivor of Without the guru as a guide, he his religious s,vstem. insisted, no one can attain moksa ("release").The gani keeps his follor.r'ers on the path of truth; he acts as a g o a d s t i c k , k e e p i n gm a n , u ' h o i s l i k e a r o g u e e l e p h a n r , from running amok. He applies the "salve of knowledge" (g1'6ttanjan) to a follou'er's yes so he can see the truth that is God; he is the divine fenl'man u'ho takes him across the fearful "ocean of life" (bhava sdgar).The guru or the satguru ("true gum') is j u s t a s h a d eb e l o w G o d . Nanak insistedon the separationof God and the gun:. The guru is to be consulted,respected, and cherishedbut not u'orshiped.He is a teacher,not a reincarnation of God, an avatdla, or a messiah.Ninak constantlv referred to himself as the bard (dhadi),slave,and sen'ant of God. Ninak describesthe qualities one should look for in a guri: "Take him as guru u'ho shou's the path of trut}, u'ho tells 1'ouof the one of u'hom nothing is knou'n, lr'ho t e l l s 1 ' o uo f t h e d i r , i n e w o r d . " T h e g u r u \ ' a s n o t o n l v man's bridge to union u'ith God but also his mentor. The guru taught a man ho'*' to conduct himself to'*'ard his fellor.,'' men and u'hat general pattern of living he should follow. Nanak strongly disapproved of asceticism, of penance,and of torturing the fleshas a step tou'ard enlighte n m e n t ." B e i n t h e w o r l d b u t n o t u ' o r l d l y , " h e s a i d . Although NAnak abandonedhis family u'hen he first launched his spiritual quest and often left it u'hen he on his travels, he alu'a1's u'as au'a-v came back to it. He propagated the grhastha dharma-the religion of the householder.He advocated the compan)' of holy men (sddh sangati as an essentialrequisite of righteous livi n g . A n d a l t h o u g h h e e q u a t e dt r u t h u ' i t h G o d , h e p u t righteous behavior above truth. BecauseNanak advocatedassociatingu'ith righteous people, he rejected the social class svstem, which not onll' r'itiated the relationship betu,eenpeople but also ran counler to the ordinancesof God, u'ho u'as the embodiment of truth. He refused to grant audiences to people unless they first broke bread in the community

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SIKHISM
in the o)'srer, onll'.au'aits the opening of the shell to emerge and enrich them. But most human beings are as ignorant of the goodness in them as the deer is of the aromatic kasturi in its navel; and just as the deer u'anders about in the woods and falls into the snares of poachers or becomes a victim of the hunter's darts, so man falls into the snares of mai'a (illusion). The chief task of the guru is to make man aware of the treasure u'ithin him and rhen help him unlock the jewel box. A method advocated by Nanak u'as the gentle one of salrai. Just as a vegetable cooked on a gentle fire tasres best because its ou'n juice gives it the proper flavor, so a gradual training of the bod-v and mintl rvill bring our the goodness that is inherent in all human beings. There is no general rule applicable to ever)'one; each person s h o u l d d i s c i p l i n e h i m s e l f a c c o r d i n g t o p h 1 ' s i c a lc a p a c i r y a n d t e m p e r a r n e n t . A s c e t i c a u s t e r i l r ' , p e n a n c e s ,c e l i b a c l ' , and other such measures have no place in Nanak's relig i o n . I n a d d i t i o n t o s e l f - i m p o s e dd i s c i p l i n e o f t h e m i n d , he advocated listening to and participating in kinan (h1'mn singing). Ninak's \,erses \\'ere put to music in rAgas (modes) that \\'ere best suited to conve)' their meaning. He advised his follou,ers 1o rise u'ell before dau'n and listen to the soft srains of music under the light of the stars. He believed that one uas best able to have communion rvith God in the stillness of the ambrosial hours (antrin,ela). Guru Ninak believed in pral'er and in &irrarr ro focus one's mind on God. He did not believe in pilgrimages, and to this day no place of pilgrimage is sancrified by the Sikh scriptures. He also did not believe in the profession of priesthood (as distinct from that of rhe guri or the teacher), and the class has not been able to establish itself firmlf in the Sikh communitv. Development. Ninak had founded the tou'n of Kartarpur and built a dharanrsala (abode of faith) u'here his disciples u,ent to congregateand chant the manl,beautiful h1'mns he had composed. This congregational u,orship uas formalized by his successor, the second guni, Angad (1504-1552), u'ho used the gunnukhi script ro compile a h1'mnal. Apparently Angad also tried to collect information on the earlier life and travels of Ninak. In addition, Angad put the guru-kn-langai-the guru's kitchen----on a regular footing in order to feed the disciples uho came to the dharantsrilc. Thus began the drift at{a), from the parent communities-the Hindus, from rvhom the majority of disciples u'ere drau'n, and the Ir{uslims. The process u,as carried a step furrher by the third gr.rru, Amar Das (1479-1574), u'ho organized the Sikhs into t\\'ent)'-t\^,o man'jis, or bishoprics, for the purpose of collecting rhe das,andh ("the tenrh"), a tax t o d e f r a y t h e e x p e n s e so f t h e g u r u ' s e s t a b l i s h m e n t a n d

kirchen (gunt ka langar), rvhere the brahman and the untouchable, the lr{uslim and the Hindu sat alongside one another as equals. He u'as just as critical of concepts of puntl' and impuritl' that had sprung out of notions of higher and lorver categories of human beings. Human birth, said NAnak, is a pricelessgift. It is the opportunitv that God gives us to escape the cycle of birrh, death, and rebirth. The aim of life should be v * o g ao ,r union u'ith God. Salvation lies in the blending of our light rvith the Light Eternal. The Bhagavadgtta advocates three alternative paths to :llvation: that of ac'-', .in (kannarnarga), of knou,ledge (ltiAtlanfirga), and of devotion (blrckrintargal. Nanak accepted the path of bhakti, emphasizing the u'orship of the name of God ( n d n t a n t d r g a ) ." I h a l e n o m i r a c l e s e x c e p t t h e n a m e o f God," he said. Ninak believed that bl repetition of the rtant, one can conquer the greatest of all evils: the ego, or haunnin ("1 am"). So great is the porver of the ego, said NAnak, that those u'ho conquer it attain salvation u'hile still alive; thel' become jivannruktas. lSec also Jivanmukti.] According to Nanak, the ego carries u'ithin itsejf the seed of sallation, u'hich can be fulll' nurtured b1' the repetition of the rrrinr. Once the po\\'er of the ego is properll' channeled, the conquest of the other fir,e sins-lust, anger, greed,attachment, and pride-follou's as a matter of course. The $'anderings of the restless mind stop, and it attains a state of divine bliss (r,rsnrridl. It is in this state of superconscious stillness (dirya drsti) that the renth gate, \he dasam dydr (rhe body having o n l l n i n e n a t u r a l o r i f i c e s ) ,i s o p e n e d . O n e t h e n r e c e i v e s a vision of God and merges one's light rvith the Light Eternal. "Nam japo" ("\\'orship the name of the Lord") u'as Nanak's constant exhortarion. Bur this meant more than a parrollike repetition of "Rama, Rima, Rima." T o N a n a k , r z d r ni m p l i e d n o t o n l 5 ' p r a ) : e r b u t a l s o t h e u n derstanding of the words of that p!'ayer and the acceptance of them as the rules of life. The path of nanu (nannmarga) required three things: realization of the trrth u'ithin the heart (hridal' g'an), its expression in pral'er (mukh bhakti), and detachment from rvorldly things (vartan vairag). NAnak believed that a man's real battle in life is fought u,ith himseli. "Mansa mar mano seo lujhai" ("Overcome the base desiresand battle with the niind"), he u'rote, adding, "G1'An li.harag lai man seo lujhai mansa manah samdi" ("Use knou'ledge as a double-edged dagger, then sill base desires subside u,ithin the mind"). He u'ho conquers these desires ends the c1,cle of birth, death, and rebirth and attains salvation. Nanak believed in the triumph of human u'ill over fate and predestination. He believed rhat all human beings have a basic fund of goodness thar, like rhe pearl

SIKHISM
of the communal u'elfare. He also builr another dharamsala at Goindrval. The fourth gun7, Ram Das (1534-1581), carried the process still further. He bought land, set up a ne\\' to\\'n, and had a large tanlc dug that came to be knou'n as Amritsar, the "pool of immortality." Amritsar u'as in the heart of the countn' populated b1' Hindu peasants, u,ho had begun to join the Sikh movement in large numbers. It soon developed into the most importanl trading center of the Punjab. Goods from distant Bukhara, Kabul, and Kashmir \\'ere exchanged there for products from eastern and southern India. In addition, Ram Das u'as held in esteem bv Emperor Akbar. This not onll' helped him to build temples and torvns but also to assume leadership of the Hindus of the Punjab. His most important innovation, rfhich gave a sort of continultY to guruship, u'as makins the office of guru hereditar-r': thereafter it remained in one family, the Sodhis. This gave a sense of expectancv to the communitv as rvell as a sort of sanctity to the famill'. The fifth guru, Arlun (1563-1606), freed the Sikhs of the tutelage of the parent communities-the Hindus and the Muslims-and launched rhem on their ou'n. One of his most important accomplishments \\'as the compilation of rhe i{di Granth, a collection of the .rvritings of the first four gurus, the u,orks of Hindu and Muslim saints Fromall over northern India, and his orvn compositions. He installed it as the sacred scripture of the Sikhs, a srep that had mosr imporrant consequences. The Sikhs, u'ho understood neither Sanskrit nor Arabic, stopped turning to the Hindu or Muslim scriptures for inspiration and, instead, looked to rhe garus' h)'mns, u'hich u,ere couched in a language intelligible to them. lr{oreover, Arjun had been judicious in his choice of h1'mns, taking only' the verl' best compositions bY the sainrsof northern India. The poetic excellence, the spirrrual conrent, and the haunting, lilting melodies of the hvmns of rhe Adi Gratlth are Sikhism's greatest attraction to this day. Arjun also gave Amritsar a permanent place in Sikh religious geography b1' building a ne\\' temple on the site of the temple his father had built. Ir is believed that he had rhe Muslim divine, Mian Meer of Lahore, la1, the foundation stone of the nerv temple. This u'as not jusr another Sikh dluarantsalabut the Hari Mandir (remple of God); it u'as the Sikh counterpan of the Haridu'ar or Banaras of the Hindus and the \lecca of the l\{uslims. Arjun built another temple at Taran Taran, a few miles from the citt', to cater to the peasantn', u'hich by now had turned

3I9

Granth, he mentions the separate identitv the Sikhs had acquired in their hundred vears of existence: do not keep the Hindu fast nor the lr{uslim Ramadin. sen'e Him alone u'ho is ml refuge. sen'e the one Master,uho is also Allih. have broken u'ith the Hindu and the Muslim, will not rvorshipu'ith rhe Hindu, nor like the Muslim go to Mecca; I shall sen'eHim and no other. I u i l l n o t p r a v t o i d o l s n o r h e e dt h e M u s l i m ' sa : d n ; I shall put mv heart at the feet of the one supremebeing, For u,e are neither Hindus nor N'luslims. I I I I I Arjun u'as probabll' most responsible for the grou,th of the Sikh church. He organized a revenue svstem, appointed tax collectors, and tapped other sources of income. He sent his follou'ers across the northu'est frontier to Afghanistan, Persia, and Turkey to trade goods a n d t o s e l l I n d i a n s i l k s a n d s p i c e sa n d b u t ' h o r s e s . T h e s e ventures brought the Sik}s mone!'and, above all, set up a tradition of good horsemanship among them. Although Arjun u'as a devoutlv religious man, his varied activities to promote the uell-being of his follou'ing made him an important merchant-prince and radically changed the status of the grni. The guru \\'as no longer a r e c l u s e u ' h o d e v o t e d h i m s e l f e x c l u s i v e l ) 't o p r a ) ' e r a n d preaching; he had become a sacha padshah, the true emperor of the nebulous kingdom of the Siklrs. He had come to u'ield secular po\\er. He held court and rec e i l e d e m i s s a r i e sf r o m r u l e r s o f s t a t e s . But Arjun's rising importance, as u'ell as the support he gave to Emperor Jehangir's rebellious son Prince Klusro, brought the u'rath of the emperor on his head and led to his do',vnfall. He u'as arrested and tortured i n L a h o r e P r i s o n , u ' h e r e h e d i e d i n J u n e 1 6 0 6 .B e f o r e h i s incarceration, Arjun named his son Hargobind as the sixth grrru and girded him u'ith trvo swords thar symbolized spiritual and temporal pou'er. "Let him sit upon the throne and maintain an arm)'to the best of his abilitl'," he ordered. Temperamentallv, Hargobind (1595-1644) u'as inclined to the role his father had outlined for him. Fond o f h u n t i n g a n d m a r t i a l e x e r c i s e s ,h e a b a n d o n e d t h e v e getarianism of his predecessors and enjoined his follou,e r s t o e a t m e a t a n d b u i l d t h e i r p h 1 ' s i q u e .H e m a i n t a i n e d a cavalrl' and a bodl'guard of three hundred Sikhs. He \\'as in and out of favor u'ith Emperor Jehangir and had to spend some )'ears as a pnsoner in the fort of Gu'alior. This new temporal role of the guru u,as not s,ell received by all disciples; some complained that he u'as "too much MohammaCan and military exercises."The r o l e , h o u ' e v e r , h a d c o m e t o s r a \ ' . O n h i s r e l e a s ef r o m t h e

sikh. GuruArjun u asfull1' conscious of the new role he u'as

p l a n n i n g f o r h i s c o m m u n i t y . I n a p a s s a g ef r o m r h e r i d i

320

SIKKIIUESE RELIGION
u'hich brings the histon- of the Sikhs P r e s s( D e l h i . 1 9 7 9 - 1 9 8 3 ) to the year 1977.

fort, Hargobind raised an arrnv and became an important military leader in the Punjab. He fought and '*'on t h r e e b a t t l e sa g a i n s tt h e M u g h a l s . The next two gunis-Har Rai (1630-1661) and Hari K i s h a n ( 1 6 5 6 - 1 6 6 4 ) - m a i n t a i n e dp e a c e \ . r ' i t h t h e a u thorities. When Emperor Aurangzebsecuredthe throne, he tried to take action against Har Rai, u'ho had espousedthe causeo[ the emperor'sbrother Dara Shikoh, by summoningHar Rai's infant son, Hari Kishan, to Delhi. But Hari Kishan escapedthe emperor's vindicby becoming a v i c t i m o f s m a l l p o x .A u r a n g z e b ' s tiveness wrath had to fall on the successor-the ninth guni, , devoutman with ascetic T e g h B a h a d u r ( 1 6 2 1 - 1 6 7 5 )a habits u'ho emergedfrom the seclusionof a hermit's life to assumethe guruship. When the Hindus askedhim to face Aurangzeb,he did so u'ith complete disregard of the fate that he kre*' ar.r'aited him. He came to Delhi and was promptly put in prison and chargedwith criminal extortion. It is believedthat he was offered his life if he *,ould abjure his faith. On his refusal to do so he r.'as beheaded.L is also said that he u'as asked to perform a miracle and, in response, some rlords he r.,t'rote on a piece of paper and strung it around his neck, sa;-i n g t h a t i t u o u l d b e a c h a r m a g a i n s td e a t h . A f t e r h i s execution, the paperuas opened. It read:"Sis di;-i par s i r r n i d i l ' a " ( " I g a v em ) h e a d b u r n o t m v f a i t h " ) . T h e 6nal transformation of Sikhism from a pacifist sect to a m i l i t a n t f r a t e r n i t ) c a m e * , i t h T e g h B a h a d u r ' ss o n G o b i n d S i n g h ,* h o s u c c e e d e h di m a s t h e t e n t h a n d l a s t o f t h e S i k h ' sg r r n i s . [For further discussionof the main figures of Sikhism, seethe biographiesof h'anakand.Gobind Singh. Thc Sikh scripturesare further discussed in Adi Granth and Dasam Granth. For the da'elopment of Sikhismin the contextof other Norrh Indian religiousm(Nements, seeHindi Relig i o u sT r a d i t i o n s . l
BIBLIOGRAPHI' The classic u'ork on the hisror,v of the Sikhs from the inception of the faith to rhe fall of the Sik]r kingdom remains Joseph Davey Cunnigham's.4 Historv of the Sikhs (1849; reprir.t, Delhi, 1966). Subsequent histories of rhe SikJrshave largely accepted Cunnigham's interpretation of Sikh religion, the transformation of the communiry from pacificisr sect to a militant fraternitv, its rise to po*'er as rulers of the Panjab, and the collapse of their empire. Hou,ever, for a fuller understanding of the teachings of the Sikh guris and rranslations of the Sikh scripture, Max Anhur Macauliffe's The Si*h Religion: Its Gurus, Sacted lilritings and Authors,6 vols. in 3 (Oxford, 1909), and W. H. lvlcleod's Guru Nanak and the Sikh Religion (Oxford, 1968) can be recommended. In addjrion I would recommend my A Htsrory of the S&|u,2 vols. (Pnnceton, 1963) and its subsequent paperback editions published by the Oxford University

Krrusrwr.^;r Sr.rcs