The movement was founded in the Punjab by Guru Nanak (1469-1539), who sought to combine Hindu and Muslim elements in a single religious creed. He taught "the unity of God, brotherhood of man, rejection of caste and the futility of idol worship." He was followed by nine masters, the last of whom was Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708; guru 1675-1708), who involved his followers in an unsuccessful martial struggle against Mogul rule.

After Guru Gobind's assassination, the Sikhs were persecuted by the Muslim Mogul rulers until 1799 when, under Ranjit Singh (1780-1839), they laid claim to a large part of northwest India. After Ranjit's death his Sikh kingdom disintegrated into anarchy. The British moved into the Punjab, and the Sikh Wars followed (1845-46, 1848-49).

The Sikhs were defeated, and the British annexed the Punjab. Sikhism did not recover until the 20th century, when the Sikhs were given control of their holy places (gurdwaras). When the Indian subcontinent was partitioned in 1947, the western Punjab became Pakistani territory and the eastern Punjab part of India. The Sikhs were victimized by the ensuing communal rioting, especially in Pakistan's Punjab, and about 2,500,000 moved from Pakistan into India.

The holiest place for Sikhs is the Golden Temple at AMRITSAR (now in the Indian state of Punjab) founded by the fourth guru, Ram Das (guru 1574-81). The fifth guru, Arjun (guru 1581-1606), gave Sikhism its holy book, the Granth Sahib, which contains hymns of Sikh gurus as well as those of Hindu and Muslim saints such as Kabir.

Sikhs are readily identifiable by their turbans. They take a vow not to cut their hair as well as not to smoke or drink alcoholic beverages. When Guru Gobind Singh founded (1699) the martial fraternity Khalsa ("pure"), his followers vowed to keep the five K's: to wear long hair (kesh), a comb in the hair (kangha), a steel bracelet on the right wrist (kara), soldier's shorts (kachha), and a sword (kirpan). The tradition persists to the present day.

Some of India's Sikhs favor the establishment of a separate Sikh nation. In the early 1980s Akali Dal, a Sikh nationalist party, provoked a confrontation with the Indian government by demanding greater autonomy for Punjab. Unassuaged by the election of a Sikh, Zail Singh, to the largely ceremonial office of president of India in 1982, the militants continued to stage violent demonstrations. As fighting between Sikhs and Hindus became widespread in Punjab, the central government took direct control of the state in 1983. By April 1984 50,000 troops occupied Punjab and the neighboring state of Haryana. Sant Jarnail Bhindranwale, leader of Akali Dal's most intransigent faction, sought refuge from arrest in the Golden Temple.

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