Sikh Gurus

• The era of the ten gurus of Sikhism spans from the birth of Nanak Dev in 1469, through the life of Guru Gobind Singh.                                                                                              
• At the time of Guru Gobind Singh’s death in 1708, he passed the title of Guru to the Sikh scripture, Guru Granth.

1. Guru Nanak Dev – Guru from 1469 to 1539

• Guru Nanak Dev, first of the 10 Gurus, founded the Sikh faith, introducing the concept of one God.                                                                                                                                      
• He started the institution of Guru Ka Langar. Langar is the term in the Sikh religion refers to the common kitchen where food is served to everyone without any discrimination.                                                                                                                                              
• He emphasized the equality of women and rejected the path of renunciation and he rejected the authority of the Vedas.                                                                                                           
• He was the contemporary of Mughal emperor – Babur.

2.  Guru Angad Dev – Guru from 1539 to 1552

• Guru Angad Dev, second of the 10 gurus, invented and introduced the Gurmukhi (written form of Punjabi) script.                                                                                                          
• He compiled the writings of Nanak Dev in Guru Granth Sahib in Gurmukhi Script.                                                                                                                                                                         
•  Popularized and expanded the institution of Guru Ka Langar which was started by Guru Nanak Dev.

3. Guru Amardas Sahib – Guru from 1552 to 1574

• Guru Amardas introduced the Anand Karaj marriage ceremony for the Sikhs, replacing the Hindu form.                                                                                                                          
• He created Manji & Piri system of religious missions for men and women respectively.                                                                                                                                                             
• He made the tradition of Guru Ka Langar more strong.                                                                     
• He also completely abolished amongst the: Sikhs, the custom of Sati and Purdah system.                                                                                                                                                                
• He was the contemporary of Mughal emperor – Akbar.

4.  Guru Ram Das – Guru from 1574 to 1581

• Guru Ram Das, fourth of the 10 gurus, founded the city of Amritsar.                                          
• He started the construction of the famous Golden Temple at Amritsar, the holy city of the Sikhs.                                                                                                                                              
• He requested the Muslim Sufi, Mian Mir to lay the cornerstone of the Harmandir Sahib.

5. Guru Arjan Dev – Guru from 1581 to 1606

• He compiled the Adi Granth, the scriptures of the Sikhs.                                                               
• He completed construction of Sri Darbar Sahib also known as Golden Temple in Amritsar.                                                                                                                                                                  
• He founded the town of Tarn Taran Sahib near Goindwal Sahib.                                             
• He became the first great martyr(someone who has a strong beleif in their religion) in Sikh history when Emperor Jahangir ordered his execution, thus, he was hailed as Shaheedan-de-Sartaj (The crown of martyrs).

6. Guru Har Gobind Sahib – Guru from 1606 to 1644

• He was the son of Guru Arjan Dev and was known as a “soldier saint”.                                   
• He organised a small army and became the first Guru to take up arms to protect the faith.                                                                                                                                                                   
• He waged wars against Mughal rulers Jahangir and Shah Jahan.

7. Guru Har Rai Sahib – Guru from 1644 to 1661

• Though he was a man of peace, he never seperated the armed Sikh warriors who were earlier maintained by Guru Har Gobind.                                                                              
• He gave shelter to Dara Shikoh, the eldest son of Mughal Ruler Shah Jahan, who was later persecuted by Aurangazeb.                                                                                                          
• He cautiously avoided conflict with Emperor Aurangzeb and devoted his efforts to missionary work.

8. Guru Har Krishan Sahib – Guru from 1661 to 1664

• Guru Har Krishan was the youngest of the Gurus. He was installed as Guru at the age of five.                                                                                                                                                             
• He was contemporary of Aurangazeb and summoned to Delhi by him under framed charges of anti-Islamic blasphemy.

9. Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib – Guru from 1665 to 1675

• He established the town of Anandpur.                                                                                             
• He opposed the forced conversion of the Hindu Kashmiri Pandits by Mughal ruler Aurangazeb and he was consequently persecuted for this.

10. Guru Gobind Singh Sahib – Guru from 1675 to 1708

• He became Guru after the martyrdom of his father Guru Tegh Bahadur.                                  
• He created the Khalsa in 1699, changing the Sikhs into a saint-soldier order for protecting themselves.                                                                                                                                          
• Last Sikh Guru in human form and he passed the Guruship of the Sikhs to the Guru Granth Sahib.

11. Guru Granth Sahib

• Guru Granth Sahib (also known as the Adi Granth) is the scripture of the Sikhs.              

       ▪The Granth was written in Gurmukhi script and it contains the actual words and      verses as uttered by the Sikh Gurus. 

  ▪It is considered the Supreme Spiritual Authority and Head of the Sikh religion, rather than any living person.                                                                                                                            

♦♥-Precious Olukanni (it says there are 11 Gurus not 10, I don’t know why)♥♦

I CAME SECOND!!                                                                                                                                           THIS IS A WORLD RECORD FOR ME 😀