The movement led to the introduction of Sikh Gurdwara Bill in 1925, which placed all the historical Sikh shrines in India under the control of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. The later years of British colonial rule saw the emergence of the Akali movement to bring reform in the gurdwaras during the early 1920s. The Sikh leaders of the Singh Sabha worked to offer a clear definition of Sikh identity and tried to purify Sikh belief and practice. The British colonial rule saw the emergence of many reform movements in India, including Punjab, such as the formation of the First and Second Singh Sabha in 18 respectively. The distinct turban that differentiates a Sikh from other turban wearers is a relic of the rules of the British Indian Army. During the 1857 Indian mutiny, the Sikhs stayed loyal to the British, resulting in heavy recruitment from Punjab to the British Indian Army for the next 90 years of the British Raj in colonial India. Īfter the annexation of the Sikh kingdom by the British, the British Army began recruiting significant numbers of Sikhs and Punjabis. Guru Gobind Singh Ji was assassinated in 1708 by 2 pathans. ( Guru Arjan was martyred for suspection of helping in betrayal of Mughal Emperor Jahangir and Guru Tegh Bahadur was martyred by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb for opposing their persecution of Kashmiri pandits.) As the Sikh faith grew, the Sikhs subsequently militarized to oppose Mughal rule. Khatris and Brahmins opposed "the demand that the Sikhs set aside the distinctive customs of their castes and families, including the older rituals." ĭuring the rule of the Mughal Empire in India, 2 Sikh gurus were martyred. The early followers of Guru Nanak were Khatris, but later a large number of Jats joined the faith. Religious practices were formalised by Guru Gobind Singh on 30 March 1699, when the Guru initiated five people from a variety of social backgrounds, known as the Panj Piare ("beloved five"), to form a collective body of initiated Sikhs, known as the Khalsa ("pure"). However, Sikh political history may be said to begin in 1606, with the death of the fifth Sikh guru, Guru Arjan Dev. Throughout his life, Guru Nanak was a religious leader and social reformer. Guru Nanak (1469–1539), the founder of Sikhism, was born, in a Hindu family to Mehta Kalu and Mata Tripta in the village of Talwandi, present-day Nankana Sahib, near Lahore. Gurdwara Janam Asthan, the birthplace of Guru Nanak Many countries, such as the United Kingdom, recognize Sikhs as a designated religion on their censuses, and, as of 2020, Sikhs are considered as a separate ethnic group in the United States. Today, the Punjab state in northwest India has a majority Sikh population, and sizeable communities of Sikhs exist around the world. The Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent has been the historic homeland of the Sikhs, having even been ruled by the Sikhs for significant parts of the 18th and 19th centuries.