Sikh Gurus

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Sikhism was established by ten Gurus, teachers or masters, over the period 1469 to 1708. These teachers, believed to be sent from God for the troubled people of the land, were enlightened souls whose main purpose in life was the spiritual and moral well-being of the masses, or the equivalent of Prophets & Messiahs of the other major respective monotheist religions. Each master added to and reinforced the message taught by the previous, resulting to the creation of the religion of Sikhism. Guru Nanak was the first Guru and Guru Gobind Singh the final Guru in human form. When Guru Gobind Singh left this world, he made the Guru Granth Sahib the ultimate and final Sikh Guru.

[edit] The ten Gurus of Sikhism

#	Name	Date of Birth	Guruship on	Date of Death	Age
1	Nanak Dev	15 April 1469	20 August 1507	22 September 1539	69
2	Angad Dev	31 March 1504	7 September 1539	29 March 1552	48
3	Amar Das	5 May 1479	26 March 1552	1 September 1574	95
4	Ram Das	24 September 1534	1 September 1574	1 September 1581	46
5	Arjan Dev	15 April 1563	1 September 1581	30 May 1606	43
6	Har Gobind	19 June 1595	25 May 1606	28 February 1644	48
7	Har Rai	16 January 1630	3 March 1644	6 October 1661	31
8	Har Krishan	7 July 1656	6 October 1661	30 March 1664	7
9	Teg Bahadur	1 April 1621	20 March 1665	11 November 1675	54
10	Gobind Singh	22 December 1666	11 November 1675	7 October 1708	41

In addition to the Ten Gurus of Sikhism, the Guru Granth Sahib was made the eleventh perpetual guru of Sikhs. Together they make up the Eleven Gurus of Sikhism. Some Sikhs would say that the Panth, the continuing community of disciples, also manifests a continuing Guruship.

While, the orthodox Sikh understanding of guruship rests on the definitive character of the line of ten human Gurus, there are smaller Sikh communities who recognize continuing successions of personal Gurus, in particular the Namdhari. For the mainstream Sikhs, the last of the Gurus is the Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji (a.k.a the 11th Sikh Guru). Reason is as followed: Sri Guru Gobind Singh said "Sab Sikhan ko hokam hai Guru Manyo Granth" meaning "All Sikhs are commanded to take the Granth as Guru".

[edit] See also

Khalsa Panth
[1] Sikh Gurus - Sikhd4ce.com]

Topics in Sikhism

Gurus:	Nanak Dev \| Angad Dev \| Amar Das \| Ram Das \| Arjun Dev \| Har Gobind \| Har Rai \| Har Krishan \| Teg Bahadur \| Gobind Singh \| Guru Granth Sahib \| Sikh Bhagats
Philosophy:	Beliefs and principles \| Underlying values \| Prohibitions \| Technique and methods \| Other observations
Practices:	Ardās \| Amrit Sanskar \| Chaṛdī Kalā \| Dasvand \| Five Ks \| Kirat Karō \| Kirtan \| Langar \| Nām Japō \| Simran \| Three Pillars \| Vaṇḍ Chakkō
Scripture:	Guru Granth Sahib \| Adi Granth \| Dasam Granth \| Bani \| Chaupai \| Jaap Sahib \| Japji Sahib \| Mool Mantar \| Rehras \| Sukhmani \| Tav-Prasad Savaiye
More:	History \| Ek Onkar \| Gurdwara \| Harmandir Sahib \| History \| Khalsa \| Khanda \| Literature \| Music \| Names \| Places \| Politics \| Satguru \| Sikhs \| Waheguru \| Bhagat Farid \| Bhagat Kabir \| History of the Punjab \| Sardar \| Takhat