Sikhism: A Very Short Introduction

1 Sikhism: A very Short IntroductionVery Short Introductions are for anyone wanting a stimulatingand accessible way in to a new subject. They are written by experts, and havebeen published in more than 25 languages series began in 1995, and now represents a wide variety of topicsin history, philosophy, religion, science, and the humanities. Over the nextfew years it will grow to a library of around 200 volumes a very ShortIntroduction to everything from ancient Egypt and Indian philosophy toconceptual art and Short Introductions available now:ANARCHISMC olin WardANCIENT EGYPTIan ShawANCIENT PHILOSOPHYJ ulia AnnasANCIENT WARFAREH arry SidebottomTHE ANGLO-SAXON AGEJohn BlairANIMAL RIGHTSD avid DeGraziaARCHAEOLOGYPaul BahnARCHITECTUREA ndrew BallantyneARISTOTLEJ onathan BarnesART HISTORYDana ArnoldART THEORY Cynthia FreelandTHE HISTORY OFASTRONOMYM ichael HoskinAtheismJulian Baggini AugustineHenry ChadwickBARTHESJ onathan CullerTHE BIBLEJohn RichesBRITISH POLITICSA nthony WrightBuddhaMichael CarrithersBUDDHISMD amien KeownBUDDHIST ETHICSD amien KeownCAPITALISMJ ames FulcherTHE CELTSB arry Cunliffe CHOICE THEORYM ichael AllinghamCHRISTIAN ARTBeth WilliamsonCHRISTIANITYL inda WoodheadCLASSICS Mary Beard andJohn HendersonCLAUSEWITZM ichael HowardTHE COLD WARR obert McMahonCONSCIOUSNESSS usan BlackmoreContinental PhilosophySimon

2 CritchleyCOSMOLOGYP eter ColesCRYPTOGRAPHYFred Piper and Sean MurphyDADA AND SURREALISMD avid HopkinsDarwinJonathan HowardDemocracyBernard CrickDESCARTESTom SorellDINOSAURSD avid NormanDREAMINGJ. Allan HobsonDRUGSL eslie IversenTHE EARTHM artin RedfernEGYPTIAN MYTHG eraldine PinchEIGHTEENTH-CENTURYBRITAINPaul LangfordTHE ELEMENTSP hilip BallEMOTIOND ylan EvansEMPIRES tephen HoweENGELST errell CarverEthicsSimon BlackburnThe European UnionJohn PinderEVOLUTIONB rian and Deborah CharlesworthFASCISMK evin PassmoreFOUCAULTGary GuttingTHE FRENCH REVOLUTIONW illiam DoyleFREE WILLT homas PinkFreudAnthony StorrGalileoStillman DrakeGandhiBhikhu ParekhGLOBALIZATIONM anfred StegerGLOBAL WARMINGMark MaslinHABERMASJ ames Gordon FinlaysonHEGELP eter SingerHEIDEGGERM ichael InwoodHIEROGLYPHSP enelope WilsonHINDUISMKim KnottHISTORYJohn H.

3 ArnoldHOBBESR ichard TuckHUMEA. J. AyerIDEOLOGYM ichael FreedenIndian PhilosophySue HamiltonIntelligenceIan J. DearyISLAMM alise RuthvenJOURNALISMIan HargreavesJUDAISMN orman SolomonJungAnthony StevensKAFKAR itchie RobertsonKANTR oger ScrutonKIERKEGAARDP atrick GardinerTHE KORANM ichael CookLINGUISTICSP eter MatthewsLITERARY THEORYJ onathan CullerLOCKEJohn DunnLOGICG raham PriestMACHIAVELLIQ uentin SkinnerTHE MARQUIS DE SADEJohn PhillipsMARXP eter SingerMATHEMATICST imothy GowersMEDICAL ETHICSTo ny H o p eMEDIEVAL BRITAINJohn Gillingham and Ralph A. GriffithsMODERN ARTD avid CottingtonMODERN IRELANDS enia Pas e t aMOLECULESP hilip BallMUSICN icholas CookMythRobert A. Segal NATIONALISMS teven GrosbyNIETZSCHEM ichael TannerNINETEENTH-CENTURYBRITAINC hristopher Harvie andH. C. G. MatthewNORTHERN IRELANDMarc MulhollandPARTICLE PHYSICSF rank ClosepaulE.

4 P. SandersPhilosophyEdward CraigPHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCES amir OkashaPLATOJ ulia AnnasPOLITICSK enneth MinoguePOLITICAL PHILOSOPHYD avid MillerPOSTCOLONIALISMR obert YoungPOSTMODERNISMC hristopher ButlerPOSTSTRUCTURALISMC atherine BelseyPREHISTORYC hris GosdenPRESOCRATIC PHILOSOPHYC atherine OsbornePsychologyGillian Butler andFreda McManusQUANTUM THEORYJohn PolkinghorneRENAISSANCE ARTG eraldine A. JohnsonROMAN BRITAINP eter SalwayROUSSEAUR obert WoklerRUSSELLA. C. GraylingRUSSIAN LITERATUREC atriona KellyTHE RUSSIAN REVOLUTIONS. A. SmithSCHIZOPHRENIAC hris Frith and Eve JohnstoneSCHOPENHAUERC hristopher JanawaySHAKESPEAREG ermaine GreerSIKHISME leanor NesbittSOCIAL AND CULTURALANTHROPOLOGYJohn Monaghan and Peter JustSOCIALISMM ichael NewmanSOCIOLOGYS teve BruceSocratesC. C. W. TaylorTHE SPANISH CIVIL WARH elen GrahamSPINOZAR oger ScrutonSTUART BRITAINJohn MorrillTERRORISM Charles TownshendTHEOLOGYD avid F.

5 FordTHE HISTORY OF TIMEL eofranc Holford-StrevensTRAGEDYA drian PooleTHE TUDORSJohn GuyTWENTIETH-CENTURYBRITAINK enneth O. MorganTHE VIKINGSJ ulian D. RichardsWittgensteinA. C. GraylingWORLD MUSICP hilip BohlmanTHE WORLD TRADEORGANIZATIONA mrita NarlikarAvailable soon:AFRICAN HISTORY John Parkerand Richard RathboneTHE BRAINM ichael O SheaCHAOSL eonard SmithCITIZENSHIPR ichard BellamyCLASSICAL ARCHITECTURER obert TavernorCONTEMPORARY ARTJ ulian StallabrassTHE CRUSADESC hristopher TyermanTHE DEAD SEA SCROLLST imothy LimDerridaSimon GlendinningDESIGN John HeskettECONOMICSP artha DasguptaTHE END OF THE WORLDBill McGuireEXISTENTIALISMT homas Flynn FEMINISMM argaret WaltersTHE FIRST WORLD WARM ichael HowardFOSSILSK eith ThomsonFUNDAMENTALISMM alise RuthvenHUMAN EVOLUTIONB ernard WoodINTERNATIONAL RELATIONSPaul WilkinsonJAZZB rian MortonMANDELATom LodgeTHE MINDM artin DaviesPERCEPTIONR ichard GregoryPHILOSOPHY OF RELIGIONJack Copeland and Diane ProudfootPHOTOGRAPHYS teve EdwardsRACISMAli RattansiTHE RAJD enis JuddTHE RENAISSANCE Jerry BrottonROMAN EMPIREC hristopher KellySARTREC

6 Hristina HowellsFor more information visit our web NesbittSIKHISMA very Short Introduction13 Great Clarendon Street, Oxford ox2 6dpOxford University Press is a department of the University of furthers the University s objective of excellence in research, scholarship,and education by publishing worldwide inOxford New YorkAuckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong KarachiKuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City NairobiNew Delhi Shanghai Taipei TorontoWith offices inArgentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France GreeceGuatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal SingaporeSouth Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine VietnamOxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Pressin the UK and in certain other countriesPublished in the United Statesby Oxford University Press Inc.

7 , New York Eleanor Nesbitt 2005 The moral rights of the author have been assertedDatabase right Oxford University Press (maker)First published as a very Short Introduction 2005 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press,or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriatereprographics rights organizations. Enquiries concerning reproductionoutside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department,Oxford University Press, at the address aboveYou must not circulate this book in any other binding or coverand you must impose this same condition on any acquirerBritish Library Cataloguing in Publication DataData availableLibrary of Congress Cataloging in Publication DataData availableISBN 0 19 280601 7978 0 19 280601 713579108642 Typeset by RefineCatch Ltd, Bungay, SuffolkPrinted in Great Britain byTJ International Ltd.

8 , Padstow, CornwallContentsAcknowledgementsixAbbrev iationsxList of illustrations xi1 Introduction 12 Guru Nanak and his first successors133 Guru Granth Sahib324 Turban, Khalsa, and codes of conduct485 The shaping of modern Sikhism666 Sikhism outside India867 Attitudes to caste, gender, and other faiths1058 Sikhism and the third millennium124 Further reading145 Glossary149 Timeline155 Index157 This page intentionally left blank AcknowledgementsOver a period of thirty years involvement with the Sikh tradition mydebts are too numerous to record. Hew McLeod deserves a specialmention for his unstinting generosity in patiently and meticulouslyresponding to enquiries for more than twenty years. I thank him andanother ever helpful adviser, Sewa Singh Kalsi, for their comments onthis book. I am grateful to members of the online discussion group, SikhDiaspora, and in particular to Pashaura Singh for his many wise anderudite contributions.

9 Roger Ballard, Jerry Barrier, Joy Barrow, OwenCole, Jeevan Singh Deol, Lou Fenech, Doris Jakobsh, Gopinder Kaur,Gurinder Singh Mann, Harjot Oberoi, Dharam Singh, Jatinder Singh,Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh, Darshan Singh Tatla, and the late PiaraSingh Sambhi are among those who have stimulated my thinking andprovided illuminating detail over a number of years, and I owe a specialdebt to Pritam Singh, Shinder Singh Thandi, and colleagues in thePunjab Research Group and the Journal of Punjab Studies (formerlythe International Journal of Punjab Studies). Inaccuracies are fewer asa result of Hugh Beattie s expert attention. Thanks to Marsha Filion atOxford University Press for her expert pointers to overhauling the text,and to Alyson Lacewing, James Thompson, and Peter Butcher atRefineCatch Limited for bringing the book to completion.

10 Theresponsibility for any errors is mine. If I have inadvertently failed toacknowledge any specific publications, please send the missinginformation in order that the omission may be put from the Sikh scripture Guru Granth Sahib are indicatedby the letters AG , representing Adi Granth , the standardcompilation of this text; DG refers to the Dasam Granth , a volumeattributed to the tenth from the Adi Granth and the Dasam Granth are from,or influenced by, translations that are listed in Further accordance with convention in modern religious studies,BCE and CE are used in this book in preference to BC and of illustrations1 Map of Punjab92 The Sikh Gurus143My Meditation onGuru Nanak bySobha Singh18 Government Museum and ArtGallery, Chandigarh4 Sikh symbol Ikoankar235 Women sharing food atlangar29 Stringer/India/Reuters6 Mul mantar verse inGurmukhi script377 Woman reading from theGuru Granth Sahib40 World Religions PhotoLibrary/Osborne8 Sikh scriptures arrive inToronto42 Norm Betts/Rex Features9 Sikh wedding, Shepherd sBush43 Rogers10 Nihang turban50 Stringer/India/Reuters11 The Five Ks52 Rogers.