Sikh gurus


The Sikh Gurus are the spiritual masters of Sikhism, who established this religion over the course of about two and a half centuries, beginning in 1469. The year 1469 marks the birth of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism. He was succeeded by nine other gurus until, in 1708, the Guruship was finally passed on by the tenth guru to the holy Sikh scripture, Guru Granth Sahib, which is now considered the living Guru by the followers of the Sikh faith. All ten Gurus hailed from the Khatri.

Guru: Etymology and Definition

Guru is a Sanskrit term for a "teacher, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. Bhai Vir Singh, in his dictionary of Guru Granth Sahib describes the term Guru as a combination of two separate units: "Gu;" meaning darkness and "Rū;" which means light. Hence, Guru is who brings light into darkness or in other words, the one who enlightens.
Bhai Vir Singh's definition provides further insight about Sikhism itself and explains why Guru Granth Sahib is considered the living Guru. The word Sikh is derived from the Sanskrit term shishya which means a disciple or a student. Thus, Sikhs have a student-teacher relationship with their Gurus since their teachings, written in Guru Granth Sahib, serve as a guide for them.

The Gurus

Timeline of Sikh Gurus


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Period = from:1469 till:1708
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bar:Nanak text:"Guru Nanak "
bar:Angad text:"Guru Angad "
bar:Amar text:"Guru Amar Das "
bar:Ram text:"Guru Ram Das "
bar:Arjan text:"Guru Arjan "
bar:Hargobind text:"Guru Hargobind "
bar:Har text:"Guru Har Rai "
bar:HarK text:"Guru HarKrishan "
bar:Tegh text:"Guru TeghBahadur"
bar:Gobind text:"Guru Gobind Singh"
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bar:Nanak from:1469 till:1539 color:1
bar:Angad from:1504 till:1552 color:2
bar:Amar from:1479 till:1574 color:3
bar:Ram from:1534 till:1581 color:4
bar:Arjan from:1563 till:1606 color:5
bar:Hargobind from:1595 till:1644 color:6
bar:Har from:1630 till:1661 color:7
bar:HarK from:1656 till:1664 color:8
bar:Tegh from:1621 till:1675 color:9
bar:Gobind from:1666 till:1708 color:10

Pedigree of Sikh GurusListed names and relations might vary from source to source since different aspects of Sikh history have been written by many different individuals over the course of past six centuries.