The holy text spans 1430 pages and contains the actual words spoken by the Sikh Gurus and various other Saints from other religions including Hinduism and Islam.

Sikh Dharma is a distinct religion revealed through the teachings of ten Gurus who are accepted by the followers as if they were spiritually the same.

The 10 Sikh Gurus adopted the Proto-Gurmukhi script to write the Guru Granth Sahib, the religious scriptures of the Sikhs.

Compared to the, Sikh Gurus favoured the use of Proto-Gurmukhi, because of the difficulties involved in pronouncing words without vowel signs.

The opinion given by traditional scholars for this is that as the Sikh holy writings, before they were written down, were uttered by the Gurus, they came to be known as Gurmukhi or the " Utterance of the Guru ".

A rare Tanjore painting | Tanjore-style painting from the late 19th century depicting the ten Sikh Gurus with Bhai Bala and Bhai Mardana.

Sikhism was founded in the 15th century on the teachings of Guru Nanak and the nine successive Sikh Gurus in Northern India.

* 1656 – Guru Har Krishan, Indian eighth of the eleven Sikh Gurus ( d. 1664 )

* Sikh Gurus

The Sikh Gurus ( religious leaders ) have propagated the message of " many paths " leading to the one God and ultimate salvation for all souls who treading on the path of righteousness.

These Gurus strengthened and expanded the Sikh religion and the revelations of God.

The final and last Guruship was given to the total combined teaching of the Gurus known as the Sikh holy book / guide The Guru Granth Sahib Ji ..

According to Article I of the " Rehat Maryada " ( the Sikh code of conduct and conventions ), a Sikh is defined as " any human being who faithfully believes in One Immortal Being ; ten Gurus, from Guru Nanak Dev to Sri Guru Gobind Singh ; Sri Guru Granth Sahib ; the teachings of the ten Gurus and the baptism bequeathed by the tenth Guru ; and who does not owe allegiance to any other religion ".

Prominent Sikh Gurus were killed by Mughals for opposing Mughal persecution of minority religious communities.

Although the Sikh Gurus did not agree with the practices of fasting, idolatry and pilgrimage during their times, they stressed that all religions should be tolerated and considered on equal footing.

In response to the varying views on diet throughout the Sikh population, Sikh Gurus have sought to clarify the Sikh view on diet, stressing their preference only for simplicity of diet.

He was the original scribe of the Guru Granth Sahib and a companion of four of the Sikh Gurus.

In Sikhism, worship takes place after the Guru Granth Sahib, which is the work of the 10 Sikh Gurus all in one.

The teachings of the Sikh Gurus push the idea of sewa ( selfless service ) and simran ( prayer, meditation, or remembering one's true death ).

A true Sikh of the Gurus has the Guru himself manifest and take that person into sach khand.

Some of the enemy began to fight again and some Sikh warriors were annoyed by Bhai Kanhaiya as he was helping their enemy.

The Sikh sowars of the Frontier Force cavalry, led by Captain Arthur Sandeman of The Central India Horse ( 21st King George V's Own Horse ), charged in the old style with sabres and most were killed.

Another view is that as the Gurmukhs, in accordance with the Sikh belief, used to meditate on the letters ਵ, ਹ, ਗ, ਰ which jointly form ਵ ਾ ਹ ਿ ਗ ੁ ਰ ੂ or God in Sikhism, these letters were called Gurmukhī, or " of the Gurmukhs ".

Most of the 15 Sikh Bhagats who are mentioned in their holy book were non-Sikhs and belonged to Hindu and Muslim faiths, which were the most prevalent religions of this region.

See the sacrifice of the ninth Sikh Guru, Guru Tegh Bahadar who on the final desperate and heart-rending pleas of the Kashmiri Pandit, agreed to put up a fight for their right to practise their religion in which he was executed so another religion besides his own could have the freedom to practice there religion against the tyrant moghul empire who were forcing people to accept Islam.

In 1628, immediately after becoming Mughal Emperor, Shah Jahan's forces were ambushed by Sikh rebels, the Emperor organized an assault, which caused almost all the Sikhs, including Guru Hargobind and his mercenaries to flee.

During the era of the British Raj, semiskilled Sikh artisans were also transported from the Punjab to British East Africa to help in the building of railways.

' Further condemnation of racial vilification and violence is also spelled out in Title X, where there was condemnation of such activities against Sikh Americans, who were mistaken for Muslims after the September 11th terrorist attack.

Former East Punjab was integrated with Indian administration, and millions of Punjabi Muslims were expelled to be replaced by the Sikh and Hindu population.

There have been several Sikh missionaries, some of which were:

When reports reached Patel that large groups of Sikhs were preparing to attack Muslim convoys heading for Pakistan, Patel hurried to Amritsar and met Sikh and Hindu leaders.

Small part of the Pashtunistan region around Peshawar was invaded by Ranjit Singh and his Sikh army in the early part of the 19th century, but they were defeated by the British Raj, the new powerful empire which reached the Pashtunistan region from the east.

For example, the younger sons of the ruling Sikh maharaja of Punjab were styled " Shahzada name Singh Bahadur ".

In 1970s India, they were blamed for bringing unwanted Christian and Islamic influences into traditionally Sikh and Hindu areas.

In 18th and early 19th centuries, the imperial Mughal power was crumbling and other powers, including the Sikh Misls and Maratha chiefs, were emerging.

In the 1990s, Livingston schools were at the center of a controversy involving Sikh students ' right to wear ceremonial daggers known as kirpans under clothing while at school.

Pogroms against non-Jews include the 1966 anti-Igbo pogrom against Igbos in southern Nigeria, the 1920 Shusha pogrom, the 1988 Sumgait pogrom and the Kirovabad pogrom, in which ethnic Armenians were targeted, and the 1984 Sikh massacre in Delhi.

Following her death, thousands of Sikhs including those opposed to the Khalistan movement, were massacred in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, termed as a genocide by the Sikh groups.

However, the issues raised during the Punjabi Suba movement were later used as a premise for creation of a separate Sikh state by the proponents of Khalistan.

The Akali Dal officially stated that the Sikhs were Indians, and Anandpur Sahib resolution did not envisage an autonomous Sikh State of Khalistan.

Its place in Sikh devotional life is based on two fundamental principles: that the text is divine revelation, and that all answers regarding religion and morality can be discovered within it.

The Council on American Islamic Relations joined 50 other organizations, including Amnesty International, the Sikh Coalition, the Japanese American Citizens League and Unitarian Universalist Service Committee in signing a letter to Speaker of the House John Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi comparing the hearings to those held by Senator Joe McCarthy in the 1950s and calling them " divisive and wrong ", and " an affront to fundamental freedoms "

Daya or Compassion is a fundamental teaching of the Sikh religion and teachings can be found on DAYA.