Sikhs in the context of Aarti

Sikhism is an Indian religion and philosophy that originated in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent around the end of the 15th century CE. It is one of the most recently founded major religions and is followed by 25–30 million adherents, known as Sikhs.

Sikhism developed from the spiritual teachings of Guru Nanak (1469–1539), the faith's first guru, and the nine Sikh gurus who succeeded him. The tenth guru, Guru Gobind Singh (1666–1708), named the Guru Granth Sahib, which is the central religious scripture in Sikhism, as his successor. This brought the line of human gurus to a close. Sikhs regard the Guru Granth Sahib as the 11th and eternally living guru.

Gurmukhī (Punjabi: ਗੁਰਮੁਖੀ [ˈɡʊɾᵊmʊkʰiː], Shahmukhi: گُرمُکھی) is an abugida developed from the Laṇḍā scripts, standardized and used by the second Sikh guru, Guru Angad (1504–1552). Commonly regarded as a Sikh script, Gurmukhi is used in Punjab, India as the official script of the Punjabi language.

The primary scripture of Sikhism, the Guru Granth Sahib, is written in Gurmukhī, in various dialects and languages often subsumed under the generic title Sant Bhasha or "saint language", in addition to other languages like Persian and various phases of Indo-Aryan languages.

Punjab (/pʌnˈdʒɑːb/ pun-JAHB; Punjabi: pañjāba, pronounced [pəɲˈd͡ʒaːb] ) is a state in northwestern India. Forming part of the larger Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, the state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the north and northeast, Haryana to the south and southeast, and Rajasthan to the southwest; by Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir to the north and Chandigarh to the east. To the west, it shares an international border with the identically named Pakistani province of Punjab, and as such is sometimes referred to as East Punjab or Indian Punjab for disambiguation purposes. The state covers an area of 50,362 square kilometres (19,445 square miles), which is 1.53% of India's total geographical area, making it the 19th-largest Indian state by area out of 28 Indian states (20th largest, if Union Territories are considered). With over 27 million inhabitants, Punjab is the 16th-largest Indian state by population, comprising 23 districts. Punjabi, written in the Gurmukhi script, is the most widely spoken and the official language of the state. The main ethnic group are the Punjabis, with Sikhs (57.7%) and Hindus (38.5%) forming the dominant religious groups. The state capital, Chandigarh, is a union territory and also the capital of the neighboring state of Haryana. Three of the five traditional Punjab rivers — the Sutlej, Beas, and Ravi — flow through the state.

The history of Punjab has witnessed the migration and settlement of different tribes of people with different cultures and ideas, forming a civilisational melting pot. The ancient Indus Valley Civilisation flourished in the region until its decline around 1900 BCE. Punjab was enriched during the height of the Vedic period, but declined in predominance with the rise of the Mahajanapadas. The region formed the frontier of initial empires during antiquity including Alexander's and the Maurya empires. It was subsequently conquered by the Kushan Empire, Gupta Empire, and then Harsha's Empire. Punjab continued to be settled by nomadic people; including the Huna, Turkic and the Mongols. Punjab came under Muslim rule c. 1000 CE, and was part of the Delhi Sultanate and the Mughal Empire. Sikhism, based on the teachings of Sikh Gurus, emerged between the 15th and 17th centuries. Conflicts between the Mughals and the later Sikh Gurus precipitated a militarisation of the Sikhs, resulting in the formation of a confederacy after the weakening of the Mughal Empire, which competed for control with the larger Durrani Empire. This confederacy was united in 1801 by Maharaja Ranjit Singh, forming the Sikh Empire.

Hijab (Arabic: حجاب, romanized: ḥijāb, pronounced [ħɪˈdʒaːb]) refers to head coverings worn by Muslim women. Similar to the mitpaḥat/tichel or snood worn by religiously observing married Jewish women, certain headcoverings worn by some Christian women, such as the hanging veil, apostolnik and kapp, and the dupatta favored by many North Indian Hindu and Sikh women, the hijab comes in various forms. The term describes a scarf that is wrapped around the head, covering the hair, neck, and ears while leaving the face visible. The use of the hijab, voluntarily and involuntarily, has grown globally since the 1970s, with religious Muslims viewing it as a symbol of modesty and faith; it is also worn as a form of adornment. There is consensus among mainstream Islamic religious scholars that covering the head is required.

The term ḥijāb was originally used to denote a partition and was sometimes used for Islamic rules of modesty. The Qur'an never uses the word hijab (lit. 'barrier') to refer to women's clothing, but rather discusses the attire of women using other terms Jilbāb and khimār (generic headscarf).

Religion in Cyprus is dominated by the Eastern Orthodox branch of Christianity, whose adherents make up 73% of the total population of the entire island. Most Greek Cypriots are members of the autocephalous Greek Orthodox 'Church of Cyprus'. Most Turkish Cypriots are officially Sunni Muslims. There are also Baháʼí, Catholic, Jewish, Protestant (including Anglican), Armenian Apostolic, Sikh and non-religious communities in Cyprus.

The Indian Independence Act 1947 (10 & 11 Geo. 6. c. 30) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that partitioned British India into the two new independent dominions of India and Pakistan. The act received Royal Assent on 18 July 1947 and thus modern-day India and Pakistan, comprising west (modern day Pakistan) and east (modern day Bangladesh) regions, came into being on 15 August.

The legislature representatives of the Indian National Congress, the Muslim League, and the Sikh community came to an agreement with Lord Mountbatten, then Viceroy and Governor-General of India, on what has come to be known as the 3 June Plan or Mountbatten Plan.

Guru Gobind Singh (Punjabi pronunciation: [gʊɾuː goːbɪn̪d̪ᵊ sɪ́ŋgᵊ]; born Gobind Das; 22 December 1666 – 7 October 1708) was the tenth and last human Sikh Guru. He was a warrior, poet, and philosopher. In 1675, at the age of nine, he was formally made the leader of the Sikhs after his father Guru Tegh Bahadur—the ninth Sikh Guru—was executed by the emperor Aurangzeb. His four biological sons died during his lifetime—two in battle and two executed by the Mughal administrator Wazir Khan.

Among his notable contributions to Sikhism are founding the Sikh warrior community called Khalsa in 1699 and introducing the Five Ks, the five articles of faith that Khalsa Sikhs wear at all times. Guru Gobind Singh is credited with the Dasam Granth whose hymns are a sacred part of Sikh prayers and Khalsa rituals. He is also credited as the one who finalized and enshrined the Guru Granth Sahib as Sikhism's primary holy religious scripture and the eternal Guru. He also established the concept of Guru Panth as his spiritual successor, however this manner of guruship is seldom evoked today.

The Guru Granth Sahib (Punjabi: ਗੁਰੂ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ ਸਾਹਿਬ, pronounced [ɡʊɾuː ɡɾənt̪ʰᵊ säː(ɦ)(ɪ)bᵊ(˦)]) is the central holy religious scripture of Sikhism, regarded by Sikhs as the final, sovereign and eternal Guru following the lineage of the ten human gurus of the religion.

The Adi Granth (Punjabi: ਆਦਿ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ), its first rendition, was compiled by the fifth guru, Guru Arjan (1564–1606). Its compilation was completed on 29 August 1604 and first installed inside the Golden Temple in Amritsar on 1 September 1604. Baba Buddha was appointed the first Granthi of the Golden Temple. Shortly afterwards Guru Hargobind added Ramkali Ki Vaar. Later, Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh guru, added hymns of Guru Tegh Bahadur to the Adi Granth and affirmed the text as his successor. This second rendition became known as the Guru Granth Sahib and is also sometimes referred to as the Adi Granth.

The kirpan (Punjabi: ਕਿਰਪਾਨ; pronunciation: [kɪɾpaːn]) is a blade that Khalsa Sikhs are required to wear as part of their religious uniform, as prescribed by the Sikh Code of Conduct. Traditionally, the kirpan was a full-sized talwar at around 76 cm (30 inches) long; however, British colonial policies and laws introduced in the 19th century reduced the length of the blade, and in the modern day, the kirpan is typically a dagger between 5 to 12 inches. According to the Sikh Code of Conduct, "The length of the sword to be worn is not prescribed", but must be curved and single edged (as its original sword form was). It is part of a religious commandment given by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699, founding the Khalsa order and introducing the five articles of faith (the five Ks) which must be worn at all times. A kirpan is held in a holster known as a gatra, which is worn over the right shoulder and across the body.

The legal system of India consists of civil law, common law, customary law, religious law and corporate law within the legal framework inherited from the colonial era and various legislation first introduced by the British are still in effect in modified forms today. Since the drafting of the Indian Constitution, Indian laws also adhere to the United Nations guidelines on human rights law and the environmental law.Personal law is fairly complex, with each religion adhering to its own specific laws. In most states, registering of marriages and divorces is not compulsory. Separate laws govern Hindus including Sikhs, Jains and Buddhist, Muslims, Christians, Parsis, and followers of other religions. The exception to this rule is in the state of Goa, where a uniform civil code is in place, in which all religions have a common law regarding marriages, divorces, and adoption. On February 7, 2024, the Indian state of Uttarakhand also incorporated a uniform civil code. In the first major reformist judgment for the 2010s, the Supreme Court of India banned the Islamic practice of "Triple Talaq" (a husband divorcing his wife by pronouncing the word "Talaq" thrice). The landmark Supreme Court of India judgment was welcomed by women's rights activists across India.

As of August 2024, there are about 891 Central laws as per the online repository hosted by the Legislative Department, Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India. Further, there are many State laws for each state, which can also be accessed from the same repository.

Bahadur Shah I (Muhammad Mu'azzam; 14 October 1643 – 27 February 1712) or Shah Alam I, was the eighth Mughal emperor from 1707 to 1712. He was the second son of the sixth Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, who he conspired to overthrow in his youth. He was also the governor of the imperial provinces of Agra, Kabul and Lahore and had to face revolts of Rajputs and Sikhs.

After Aurangzeb's death, Muhammad Azam Shah, his third son by his chief consort Nawab Bai declared himself successor, but was shortly defeated in one of the largest battles of India, the Battle of Jajau and overthrown by Bahadur Shah. During the reign of Bahadur Shah, the Rajput kingdoms of Jodhpur and Amber were annexed again after they had declared independence a few years prior.

The Ministry of Minority Affairs is the ministry in the Government of India which was carved out of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and created on 29 January 2006. It is the apex body for the central government's regulatory and developmental programmes for the minority religious communities and minority linguistic communities in India, which include Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Zoroastrians (Parsis) and Jains notified as minority religious communities in The Gazette of India under Section 2(c) of the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992.

The current minister is Kiren Rijiju who has been in office since 10 June 2024, and the Minister of State is George Kurian (since June 2024).

The Mirpuri diaspora consists of Pahari people originating from the Mirpur District of Azad Kashmir, Pakistan, now living outside that district. Migration from Mirpur started occurring in the 1920s, when many Mirpuris left for Bombay to work on merchant ships.

During the partition of British India in 1947, many Mirpuri Hindus and Mirpuri Sikhs were forced to flee to cities in the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir to escape Muslim violence. The construction of the Mangla Dam by the Pakistani Government in the 1960s flooded fertile agricultural lands, forcing many Mirpuri Muslims to migrate to the United Kingdom to survive on work as labourers.

The Sikh period in Lahore initiated from the conquest and rule of the Sikh Misls and extended till the Sikh Empire of Ranjit Singh (also known as Punjab, the Sikh Raj, Sarkar Khālsā Rāj, and Sarkar Khalsaji) which ended in 1849. The Sikhs began gaining power following the decline of the Mughal Empire in Punjab and consisted of a collection of autonomous Punjabi Misls, which were governed by Misldars, mainly in the Punjab region.

Kavi Santokh Singh (8 October 1787 – 19 October 1843/1844) was a Sikh historian, poet and writer. He was such a prolific writer that the Sikh Reference Library at Darbar Sahib Amritsar was named after him, located within the Mahakavi Santokh Singh Hall. In addition to "Great Poet" (Mahākavī) Santokh Singh was also referred to as the Ferdowsi of Punjabi literature, Ferdowsi wrote ~50,000 verses while Santokh Singh's Suraj Prakash totals ~52,000. Other scholars have thought of Santokh Singh as akin to Vyasa. Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner in 1883 wrote that, "Santokh Singh of Kantal in the Karnal District, has rendered his name immortal" through the production of his works.