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‘meditation for a new life’. His followers ate together in the common kitchen called langar.

The sacred space created by Guru Nanak was known as dharmsal (Gurdwara of today).
Nanak used to often sing the hymns which later formed part of the Jap Ji. Below is an
excerpt from Jap Ji. Read the excerpt carefully and find how it contains Guru Nanak’s basic
message of ‘Onkara’ or god is one.
Air is the Master, Water the father, and the Earth the mother, Day and night are the two

nurses in whose lap the whole world is at play.
Our actions : good and evil, will be brought before His court.

Sikh Gurus
1. Guru Nanak (1469-1539) : Founder of Sikhism, his hymns were later included in Guru Granth Sahib.
2. Guru Angad (1504-1552) : He gave the Sikh’s Gurmukhi language and its grammar, founded Khadur town.
3. Guru Amardas (1479-1574) : He inculcated among Sikhs the spirit of Service.
4. Guru Ramdas (1534-1581) : He organised the Sikh Gurdwaras and founded the city of Amritsar.
5. Guru Arjan (1563-1606) : He built golden temple, compiled hymns and founded Taran Taran.
6. Guru Hargobind (1596-1644) : He wore two swords called Miri and Piri associated with royalty and saintliness.
7. Guru Harrai (1630-1661) : He opened charity hospitals.
8. Guru Harkrishen (1656-1664) : He built schools and most of the modern Sikh schools are named after him.
9. Guru Tegh Bahadur (1621-1675) : He lived for others and founded Anandpur.
10. Guru Govind Singh (1666-1708) : He established Khalsa, named the holy Sikh scripture as Guru Granth
Sahib which was to succeed him abolishing the order of Gurus. He also initiated ‘Amrit’ (sprinkling of
water on the devotees).

Before his death in 1539, Guru Nanak appointed Lehna as his successor. He came to be
known as Guru Angad. The order of Gurus that followed after his death is given in above
box. This order represents a lineage until the tenth Guru when the lineage was ended
and replaced by Guru Granth Sahib, the holy scripture of Sikhs. The compilation of the
scripture had begun since the time of Guru Angad. Guru Angad had developed new script
of Gurumukhi and all the compositions of the Gurus are in this script. These compositions
were later compiled by Guru Arjan Singh. The brief contributions of different Gurus to
Sikhism are also given in the box. The compilations in Guru Granth Sahib included the
writings of Sufi and Bhakti saints like Shaikh Farid, Sant Kabir, Bhagat Namdev and others.

sikhism
With a passage of time, the number of Guru Nanak’s followers increased. The followers
belonged to a number of castes particularly traders, agriculturists, artisans and craftsmen.
It was because Guru Nanak had insisted that his followers must be householders and should
have some productive occupations. They were also expected to contribute funds for the
community of followers.
Around the seventeenth century, a settlement had developed at Ramdaspur (now Amritsar).
The settlement comprised mostly the followers of Guru Nanak. At this place, dharmsal,
which later came to be known as Gurdwara Harmandar Sahib or Golden Temple was built.
The birth of Sikhism is the subject matter of scholarly discussion. However, the religion
of Sikhism emerged during medieval period and became an indigenous religion. Because

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