Sikhs#Castes

{{Main|History of Sikhism}}

File:Outside view of Gurdwara Janam Asthan.jpg, the birthplace of Guru Nanak]]

Guru Nanak (1469–1539), the founder of Sikhism, was born in a Hindu Khatri family to Mehta Kalu and Mata Tripta in the village of Talwandi, present-day Nankana Sahib, near Lahore.{{cite book | last=Singh | first=Khushwant | author-link=Khushwant Singh | year=2006 | title=The Illustrated History of the Sikhs | publisher=Oxford University Press | location=India | isbn = 0-19-567747-1 | pages=12–13}} Throughout his life, Guru Nanak was a religious leader and social reformer. However, Sikh political history may be said to begin in 1606, with the death of the fifth Sikh guru, Guru Arjan Dev.{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/sikhism/history/history_1.shtml|title=The Khalsa {{!}} History of Sikhism {{!}} Sikhism|date=29 August 2003|work=BBC Religion & Ethics|publisher=BBC|access-date=4 April 2008}} Religious practices were formalised by Guru Gobind Singh on March 30, 1699, when the Guru initiated five people from a variety of social backgrounds known as the Panj Piare ({{gloss|beloved five}}), to form a collective body of initiated Sikhs known as the Khalsa ({{gloss|pure}}).{{cite book|last=Singh|first=Patwant|url=https://archive.org/details/sikhs00sing/|title=The Sikhs|publisher=Knopf|year=2000|isbn=978-0-375-40728-4|location=New York|page=[https://archive.org/details/sikhs00sing/page/14 14]|url-access=registration|via=Internet Archive}}

The early followers of Guru Nanak were Khatris, but later a large number of Jats joined the Sikh faith.{{cite book|publisher=Penguin|title=India in the Persianate Age: 1000–1765|author=Richard M. Eaton|year=2019|pages=168–169|isbn=9780141966557|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aIF6DwAAQBAJ&pg=PP168|quote=The Sikh community grew rapidly in the sixteenth century. Nanak's earliest followers had been fellow Khatris engaged in petty trade, shopkeeping, or lower level civil service in the Lodi or Mughal bureaucracies. But as the movement grew, it experienced a significant influx of Jat cultivators.}} Khatris and Brahmins opposed "the demand that the Sikhs set aside the distinctive customs of their castes and families, including the older rituals."{{cite book|last=Dhavan|first=Purnima|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q0ZpAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA42|title=When Sparrows Became Hawks: The Making of the Sikh Warrior Tradition, 1699–1799|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2011|isbn=978-0-19987-717-1|pages=42, 47, 184}}

Pashaura Singh analyzed references made within the 11th ballad of the Varan of Bhai Gurdas to form a picture of the caste-makeup of the early Sikh community.{{Cite book |last=Singh |first=Pashaura |title=Life and Work of Guru Arjan: History, Memory, and Biography in the Sikh Tradition |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2006 |isbn=9780199087808 |quote=The 11th var of Bhai Gurdas is extremely useful for assessing the social constituency of the early Panth. Apart from this, there is no other contemporary source which can be used to determine the actual numbers and proportions of various groups within the constitution of the Panth in the period of the early Gurus. Identifying the castes, a general profile of the Panth's leadership may be reconstructed with the help of the 11th var of Bhai Gurdas. In fact, 11 stanzas of this ballad (Var 11:18–28) exclusively provide lists of the actual names and places of prominent followers of Guru Arjan. The Khatri caste (e.g. Sehgal, Ohri, Uppal, Julka, Bhalla, Passi, Khullar, Vohra, Vij, Kapur, Chaddha, Behl, Kohli, Marwah, Mehra, Soni, Jhanjhi, Sodhi, Beri, Nanda, Wadhawan, Tulli, and Puri sub-castes) was particularly prominent among the trading communities, and this was the caste to which all the Gurus belonged. There were certainly some Brahmins (Tiwari Pandit, Wissa, Gopi, and Tulsia of Bhardwaj sub-caste, and Jagna Brahmin from Agra) among the Sikhs, and some outcastes – for instance, the name of Paira Chandal appears in the list of prominent Sikhs. There was a preponderance of Jats (e.g. Randhawa, Khehra, Dhillon, and Pannu sub-castes) among the cultivators, who were followed by members of the artisan castes, notably Tarkhans ({{gloss|carpenters}}) and Lohars ({{gloss|blacksmiths}}). In addition, there were Nais ({{gloss|barbers}}), Chhimbas ({{gloss|cotton-printers}}), Machhis ({{gloss|water-carriers}}), Dhobis ({{gloss|washermen}}), Kumhars ({{gloss|potters}}), Telis ({{gloss|oil pressers}}), masons and goldsmiths. The name of a Muslim, Mian Jamal, figures prominently in the list of close associates (hazuri sikhs) of Guru Arjan. It should, however, be emphasized that Bhai Gurdas deals only with the more notable members of the Panth. These leaders will have had their own families, friends, and followers in large numbers from their particular areas, who collectively made up the general constituency of the Panth. On the one hand, there were rich merchants (like Seths and Sarrafs) in cities and towns and Chaudaris ({{gloss|headmen}}) in villages; on the other, there were labourers and slaves, with artisans and craftsmen, petty shopkeepers and peasants in between. Not surprisingly, in terms of the social background and the economic means of its members, the Panth was far from homogenous. Nevertheless, the cultural patterns of different sections of Puniabi society played a significant role in the evolution of the Sikh Panth.}} At the time of the writing the Vaar, the early Sikh community was composed of various castes and backgrounds, such as:

• Khatris (particularly the Sehgal, Ohri, Uppal, Julka, Bhalla, Passi, Khullar, Vohra, Vij, Kapur, Chaddha, Behl, Kohli, Marwah, Mehra, Soni, Jhanjhi, Sodhi, Beri, Nanda, Wadhawan, Tulli and Puri gotras)
• Brahmins (such as the Bhardwaj gotra)
• Jats (particularly the Randhawa, Khehra, Dhillon and Pannu gotras)
• Tarkhans ('carpenters')
• Lohars ('blacksmiths')
• Nais ('barbers')
• Chhimbas ('cotton-printers')
• Machhis ('water-carriers')
• Dhobis ('washermen')
• Kumhars ('potters')
• Telis ('oil pressers")
• masons
• goldsmiths
• Outcastes (such as Chandals)
• Muslims

The early Sikhs varied widely in their occupations and position in society's hierarchy: some were rich merchants (Seths and Sarrafs), others were heads of villages (Chowdhury), some were labourers, others were enslaved, whilst others still were artisans, craftsmen, shopkeepers or simple peasants.

File:Sikh Empire tri-lingual.jpg at its greatest extent]]

During the rule of the Mughal Empire in India, two Sikh gurus were martyred. (Guru Arjan was martyred on suspicion of helping in betrayal of Mughal Emperor Jahangir and Guru Tegh Bahadur was martyred by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb){{cite journal

| last =McLeod

| first =Hew

| title =Sikhs and Muslims in the Punjab

| journal =South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies

| volume =22

| issue =s1

| pages =155–165

| year =1987

| doi = 10.1080/00856408708723379 }} As the Sikh faith grew, the Sikhs subsequently militarized to oppose Mughal rule.{{Cite web |title=The Sikh-Mughal Wars |url=https://dvnetwork.org/page/the-sikh-mughal-wars |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250324160637/https://dvnetwork.org/page/the-sikh-mughal-wars |archive-date=2025-03-24 |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=dvnetwork.org |language=en}}

File:Shrine of ranjit singh.jpg in Lahore, Pakistan]]

File:Darbar Sahib 27 September 2018.jpg]]

File:Sikh helmet.jpg sowar's battle helmet]]

File:Photograph of Max Arthur Macauliffe wearing a turban.jpg (1841–1913), a senior British administrator who was posted to India during the British rule of Punjab, converted to Sikhism in the 1860s.]]

After defeating the Afghans and Mughals, sovereign states called Misls were formed under Jassa Singh Ahluwalia. The Confederacy of these states was unified and transformed into the Sikh Empire under Maharaja Ranjit Singh. This era was characterised by religious tolerance and pluralism, including Christians, Muslims and Hindus in positions of power. Its secular administration implemented military, economic and governmental reforms. The empire is considered the zenith of political Sikhism,{{cite book|last=Lafont|first=Jean-Marie|title=Maharaja Ranjit Singh: Lord of the Five Rivers (French Sources of Indian History Sources)|date=16 May 2002|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0-19-566111-7|location=New York|pages=23–29}} encompassing Kashmir, Ladakh and Peshawar. Hari Singh Nalwa, the commander-in-chief of the Sikh Khalsa Army in the North-West Frontier, expanded the confederacy to the Khyber Pass.

File:Sikh Armour and weapons.jpg

File:“Sikh Sardar”, photograph by John McCosh taken in circa 1848-9.jpg taken circa 1848–49]]

After the annexation of the Sikh kingdom by the British, the British Army began recruiting significant numbers of Sikhs and Punjabis.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}} 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.{{cite book|last1=Ballantyne|first1=Tony|title=Between Colonialism and Diaspora: Sikh Cultural Formations in an Imperial World|date=2006|publisher=Duke University Press|location=United states|page=66|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cArhKfrY_IoC&pg=PR5 |access-date=21 January 2015|isbn=0822388111}} The distinct turban that differentiates a Sikh from other turban wearers is a relic of the rules of the British Indian Army.{{cite book|last1=Cohn|first1=Bernard S|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uIalYaenrTkC&pg=PR9|title=Colonialism and Its Forms of Knowledge: The British in India|date=1996|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=0691000433|location=Princeton, NJ|pages=107–109|access-date=26 January 2015}} 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 1873 and 1879 respectively. The Sikh leaders of the Singh Sabha worked to offer a clear definition of Sikh identity and tried to purify Sikh belief and practice.{{cite book|last=Oberoi|first=Harjot|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1NKC9g2ayJEC|title=The Construction of Religious Boundaries: Culture, Identity, and Diversity in the Sikh Tradition|publisher=University of Chicago Press|year=1994|isbn=9780226615929|location=Chicago|page=494|access-date=2013-09-18}}

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 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.{{cite book|last1=Nesbitt|first1=Eleanor|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ai-rpcY-rrgC&q=sgpc&pg=PT10|title=Sikhism: A Very Short Introduction|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2005|isbn=0-19-280601-7|series=Very Short Introductions|location=Oxford|access-date=14 January 2016|via=Google Books}}

At the time of the Indian independence movement, the Sikh ruler of the Kapurthala State fought to oppose the partition of India and advocated for a united, secular country.{{cite web |title=An undivided India? |url=https://www.ndtv.com/video/news/the-big-fight/an-undivided-india-100356 |publisher=NDTV |access-date=19 October 2020 |language=en |date=29 August 2009}} Sikh organizations, including the Chief Khalsa Dewan and Shiromani Akali Dal led by Master Tara Singh, condemned the Lahore Resolution and the movement to create Pakistan, viewing it as inviting possible persecution, with Akali Dal instead favouring an undivided Azad Punjab as an independent Sikh State or Khalistan, having passed the Sikh State Resolution in 1946. The Sikhs therefore strongly fought against the partition of Punjab.{{cite book |last1=Kudaisya |first1=Gyanesh |last2=Yong |first2=Tan Tai |title=The Aftermath of Partition in South Asia |date=2004 |publisher=Routledge |location=Abingdon-on-Thames, England |isbn=978-1-134-44048-1 |page=100 |quote=No sooner was it made public than the Sikhs launched a virulent campaign against the Lahore Resolution. Pakistan was portrayed as a possible return to an unhappy past when Sikhs were persecuted and Muslims the persecutor. Public speeches by various Sikh political leaders on the subject of Pakistan invariably raised images of atrocities committed by Muslims on Sikhs and of the martyrdom of their gurus and heroes. Reactions to the Lahore Resolution were uniformly negative and Sikh leaders of all political persuasions made it clear that Pakistan would be "wholeheartedly resisted". The Shiromani Akali Dal, the party with a substantial following amongst the rural Sikhs, organized several well-attended conferences in Lahore to condemn the Muslim League. Master Tara Singh, leader of the Akali Dal, declared that his party would fight Pakistan "tooth and nail". Not be outdone, other Sikh political organizations, rivals to the Akali Dal, namely the Central Khalsa Young Men Union and the moderate and loyalist Chief Khalsa Dewan, declared in equally strong language their unequivocal opposition to the Pakistan scheme.}} The months leading up to the 1947 partition of Punjab were marked by conflict in the Punjab between Sikhs and Muslims.{{cite web |last1=Abid |first1=Abdul Majeed |title=The forgotten massacre |url=https://nation.com.pk/29-Dec-2014/the-forgotten-massacre |website=The Nation |date=29 December 2014 |quote=On the same dates, Muslim League-led mobs fell with determination and full preparations on the helpless Hindus and Sikhs scattered in the villages of Multan, Rawalpindi, Campbellpur, Jhelum and Sargodha. The murderous mobs were well supplied with arms, such as daggers, swords, spears, and firearms. (A former civil servant mentioned in his autobiography that weapon supplies had been sent from NWFP and money was supplied by Delhi-based politicians.) They had bands of stabbers and their auxiliaries, who covered the assailant, ambushed the victim and if necessary disposed of his body. These bands were subsidized monetarily by the Muslim League, and cash payments were made to individual assassins based on the numbers of Hindus and Sikhs killed. There were also regular patrolling parties in jeeps that went about sniping and picking off any stray Hindu or Sikh. ... Thousands of non-combatants including women and children were killed or injured by mobs, supported by the All India Muslim League.}} This caused the religious migration of Punjabi Sikhs and Hindus from West Punjab to the east (modern India), mirroring a simultaneous religious migration of Punjabi Muslims from East Punjab to the west (modern Pakistan).{{cite journal|last1=Dutt|first1=Amitava|last2=Devgun|first2=Surinder|date=23 September 1977|title=Diffusion of Sikhism and recent migration patterns of Sikhs in India|journal=GeoJournal|volume=1|issue=5|pages=81–89|doi=10.1007/BF00704966|s2cid=189881872|issn=1572-9893}} {{dead link|date=May 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}

Following partition, the Government of India had begun to redraw states corresponding to demographic and linguistic boundaries. However, this was not effective in the northern part of the country,{{sfn|Doad|1997|p=392}} as the government reconsidered redrawing states in the north.{{sfn|Grewal|1998|p=186}} While states across the country were extensively redrawn on linguistic lines at the behest of linguistic groups, the only languages not considered for statehood were Punjabi, Sindhi and Urdu. {{sfn|Deol|2000|p=93}} Leading to the launch of the Punjabi Suba movement and the presentation for a Punjabi Suba as a policy in April 1948 by Master Tara Singh. Also, on January 26, 1950, Sikh representatives refused to sign the Indian constitution. As Sikhs were recognized as Hindus and Sikhs were not provided with scheduled castes concessions given to Hindu scheduled castes.

The Punjab Suba experienced heavy government crackdown with the Congress Government arresting as many as 21,000 people. Attempted negotiations with Congress-led the agitation to be adjourned twice, though Jawaharlal Nehru continued to reject the demand.{{sfn|Deol|2000|p=96}}{{sfn|Grewal|1998|p=188}} On July 4, 1955, government police forces, led by DIG Ashwini Kumar,{{cite book |last1=Dhillon |first1=Kirpal S. |title=Identity and Survival: Sikh Militancy in India, 1978–1993 |date=2006 |publisher=Penguin Books |location=London, United Kingdom |isbn=9780143100362 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_PU6CwAAQBAJ&pg=PT60| page=60}} forced entry into the Golden Temple premises and heavy-handedly arrested protestors and took them into custody, along with the head granthis of the Akal Takht and Golden Temple, volunteer protestors and even cooks of the temple's langar.{{sfn|Bal|1985|p=426}} The Guru Ram Das Serai and Shiromani Akali Dal offices were also raided and batons used and tear gas and shells were fired to disperse the protestors gathered on the periphery of the temple, damaging the periphery and Sarovar, or pool, of the temple.{{sfn|Bal|1985|p=426}}{{sfn|Grewal|1998|p=189}} The government stopped volunteers on the way to the Golden Temple and troops were ordered to flag-march through the bazaars and streets surrounding the site.{{sfn|Grewal|1998|p=189}} Over 200 protestors were killed, thousands arrested,{{sfn|Grewal|1998|p=189}} and thousands, including women and children, were injured.

The Congress government agreed to the Punjab Suba in 1966 after protests and recommendation of the States Reorganisation Commission.{{citation|last1=Ray|first1=Jayanta Kumar|title=Aspects of India's International Relations, 1700 to 2000: South Asia and the World|date=2007|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nyk6oA2nOlgC&q=khalistan|page=484|publisher=Pearson Education India|isbn=978-81-317-0834-7}} The state of East Punjab was later split into the states of Himachal Pradesh, the new state Haryana and current day Punjab.{{cite journal|last=Singh|first=Atamjit|title=The Language Divide in Punjab|url=http://www.apnaorg.com/book-chapters/language/|journal=South Asian Graduate Research Journal|volume=4|issue=1, Spring 1997|publisher=Apna|access-date=4 April 2013}} However, there was a growing alienation between Punjabi Sikh and Hindu populations. The latter of which reported Hindi rather than Punjabi as their primary language. The result was that Punjabi-speaking areas were left out of the new state and given to Haryana and Himachal Pradesh{{sfn|Grewal|1998|p=205}} resulting in the state of Punjab to be roughly 35,000 square miles smaller than the Punjabi-speaking areas based on pre-1947 census figures. Moreover, the 1966 reorganization left Sikhs highly dissatisfied, with the capital Chandigarh being made into a shared union territory and the capital of Punjab and Haryana.

In the late 1960s, the Green Revolution in India was first introduced in Punjab as part of a development program issued by international donor agencies and the Government of India.{{Cite journal|last=Dutta|first=Swarup|date=June 2012|title=Green Revolution Revisited: The Contemporary Agrarian Situation in Punjab, India|journal=Social Change|volume=42|issue=2|pages=229–247|doi=10.1177/004908571204200205|s2cid=55847236|issn=0049-0857}} While, Green Revolution in Punjab had several positive impacts, the introduction of the mechanised agricultural techniques led to uneven distribution of wealth. The industrial development was not done at the same pace as agricultural development, the Indian government had been reluctant to set up heavy industries in Punjab due to its status as a high-risk border state with Pakistan.{{cite book | author1=Sumit Ganguly | author2=Larry Diamond | author3=Marc F. Plattner | title=The State of India's Democracy | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lgs1tFTh-JMC&pg=PA56 | access-date=18 August 2013 | date= 2007 | publisher=JHU Press | isbn=978-0-8018-8791-8 | page=56 }} The rapid increase in the higher education opportunities without an adequate rise in the jobs resulted in the increase in the unemployment of educated youth.

In 1973 as a result, of unaddressed grievances and increasing inequality the Akali Dal put forward the Anandpur Sahib Resolution.{{sfn|Karim|1991|p=30}} The resolution included both religious and political issues. It asked for recognising Sikhism as a religion, it also demanded the devolution of power from the Central to state governments. The Anandpur Resolution was rejected by the government as a secessionist document. Thousands of people joined the movement, feeling that it represented a real solution to demands such as a larger share of water for irrigation and the return of Chandigarh to Punjab.{{cite book|author=Akshayakumar Ramanlal Desai|title=Expanding Governmental Lawlessness and Organized Struggles | year=1991|publisher=Popular Prakashan|isbn=978-81-7154-529-2|pages=64–66 }}

After unsuccessful negotiations the Dharam Yuddh Morcha ({{gloss|righteous campaign}}){{sfn|Bakke|2015|p=143}} was launched on August 4, 1982,{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}} by the Akali Dal in partnership with Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, with its stated aim being the fulfillment of a set of devolutionary objectives based on the Anandpur Sahib Resolution.{{sfn|Bakke|2015|p=143}} Indian police responded to protestors with high-handed police methods creating state repression affecting a very large segment of Punjab's population. Police brutality resulted in retaliatory violence from a section of the Sikh population, widening the scope of the conflict by the use of violence of the state on its own people.{{sfn|Karim|1991|pp=32–33}} A "state of chaos and repressive police methods" combined to create "a mood of overwhelming anger and resentment in the Sikh masses against the authorities." Leading to Sikh leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale gaining prominence and demands of independence gain currency, even amongst moderates and Sikh intellectuals.{{sfn|Karim|1991|pp=32–33}} In 1982 and early 1983, extrajudicial killings by the police of orthodox Sikh youth in rural areas in Punjab provoked reprisals.{{cite journal |last1=Pettigrew |first1=Joyce |title=In Search of a New Kingdom of Lahore |journal=Pacific Affairs |date=1987 |volume=60 |issue=1 |page=24 |doi=10.2307/2758827 |jstor=2758827}} Over 190 Sikhs had been killed in the first 19 months of the protest movement.{{cite book |last1=Dhillon |first1=Gurdarshan Singh |title=Truth about Punjab: SGPC White Paper |date=1996 |publisher=Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee |location=Amritsar, Punjab |isbn=978-0836456547 |edition=1st |page=198 |url=https://archive.org/details/TruthAboutPunjab/mode/2up}}

In May 1984, a Grain Roko morcha was planned and to be initiated on June{{nbsp}}3{{sfn|Grewal|1998|p=226}} with protestors practising civil disobedience by refusing to pay land revenue, water or electricity bills and blocking the flow of grain out of Punjab. Indian Prime minister Indira Gandhi launched Operation Blue Star on June{{nbsp}}1 prior to the Grain Roko morcha in order to remove Bhindranwale from the Golden Temple. This subsequently led to Gandhi's assassination by her Sikh bodyguards.{{Cite news|last=Pace|first=Eric|date=1 November 1984|title=Assassination in India: Sikhs at the centre of the drama; Sikh separation dates back to '47|page=24|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/11/01/world/assassination-india-sikhs-center-drama-sikh-separation-dates-back-47.html}} Her assassination was followed by government-sponsored pogroms against Sikh communities across India and the killing of thousands of Sikhs throughout India. These events triggered an Insurgency in Punjab which would consume Punjab until the early 1990s.

During the day of Vaisakhi in 1999, Sikhs worldwide celebrated the 300th anniversary of the creation of the Khalsa. Canada Post honoured Sikh Canadians with a commemorative stamp in conjunction with the anniversary. Likewise, on April 9, 1999, Indian president K. R. Narayanan issued a stamp commemorating the 300th anniversary of the Khalsa as well.{{cite web|title=Canada Post to honour Sikh Canadians with a commemorative stamp|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/khalsa/page16.htm|work=Tribune India|publisher=The Tribune|access-date=26 March 2013|archive-date=29 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210129050454/https://www.tribuneindia.com/error/Error404?aspxerrorpath=%2Fkhalsa%2Fpage16.htm|url-status=dead}}

{{Main|Sikh art and culture|Punjabi culture}}

File:SikhNakashi.jpg, about 1880, by an unknown artist from Lahore or Amritsar and used to decorate the walls of Harmandir Sahib]]

File:HarmindarSahib.jpg

Sikh art and culture are nearly synonymous with that of Punjab and Sikhs are easily recognised by their distinctive turban (Dastar). Punjab has been called India's melting pot, due to the confluence of invading cultures from the rivers from which the region gets its name. Sikh culture is therefore a synthesis of cultures. Sikhism has forged a unique architecture, which S. S. Bhatti described as "inspired by Guru Nanak's creative mysticism" and "is a mute harbinger of holistic humanism based on pragmatic spirituality."{{cite web |title=The Magnificence of Sikh Architecture |url=http://www.punjabheritage.org/catagories/architectural-heritage/the-magnificence-of-sikh-architecture.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071214193843/http://www.punjabheritage.org/catagories/architectural-heritage/the-magnificence-of-sikh-architecture.html |archive-date=14 December 2007 |access-date=4 April 2008}} The American non-profit organization United Sikhs has fought to have Sikh included on the U.S. census as well, arguing that Sikhs "self-identify as an ethnic minority" and believe "that they are more than just a religion."{{cite web |title=Memorandum Regarding the Tabulation of Sikh Ethnicity in the United States Census |url=http://www.unitedsikhs.org/petitions/Memo%20re%20Sikh%20Ethnicity.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140224220633/http://www.unitedsikhs.org/petitions/Memo%20re%20Sikh%20Ethnicity.pdf |archive-date=24 February 2014 |access-date=20 November 2014}}

During the Mughal and Afghan persecution of the Sikhs during the 17th and 18th centuries,{{cite book |last=Sian |first=Katy |title=Unsettling Sikh and Muslim Conflict: Mistaken Identities, Forced Conversions, and Postcolonial Formations |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2013 |isbn=9780739178744 |page=32}} the latter were concerned with preserving their religion and gave little thought to art and culture. With the rise of Ranjit Singh and the Sikh Raj in Lahore and Delhi, there was a change in the landscape of art and culture in Punjab; Hindus and Sikhs could build decorated shrines without the fear of destruction or looting.{{cite book |last=Srivastava |first=R. P. |title=Punjab Painting: Study in Art and Culture |publisher=Abhinav Publications |year=1983 |isbn=9788170171744 |page=13}}

The Sikh Confederacy was the catalyst for a uniquely Sikh form of expression, with Ranjit Singh commissioning forts, palaces, bungas (residential places) and colleges in a Sikh style. Sikh architecture is characterised by gilded fluted domes, cupolas, kiosks, stone lanterns, ornate balusters and square roofs. A pinnacle of Sikh style is Harmandir Sahib (also known as the Golden Temple) in Amritsar.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}

Sikh culture is influenced by militaristic motifs (with the Khanda the most obvious) and most Sikh artifacts—except for the relics of the Gurus—have a military theme. This theme is evident in the Sikh festivals of Hola Mohalla and Vaisakhi, which feature marching and displays of valor.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}

Although the art and culture of the Sikh diaspora have merged with that of other Indo-immigrant groups into categories like "British Asian," "Indo-Canadian" and "Desi-Culture," a minor cultural phenomenon that can be described as "political Sikh" has arisen.{{cite web |title=Art and Culture of the Diaspora |url=http://www.sikhchic.com/ |access-date=4 April 2008}} The art of diaspora Sikhs like Amarjeet Kaur Nandhra and Amrit and Rabindra Kaur Singh (The Singh Twins){{cite web |title=Singh Twins Art Launches Liverpool Fest |url=http://sikhchic.com/article-detail.php?id=168&cat=1 |access-date=4 April 2008}} is influenced by their Sikhism and current affairs in Punjab.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}

Bhangra and Giddha are two forms of Punjabi folk dancing which have been adapted and pioneered by Sikhs. Punjabi Sikhs have championed these forms of expression worldwide, resulting in Sikh culture becoming linked to Bhangra (although "Bhangra is not a Sikh institution but a Punjabi one").{{cite web |title=Bhangra & Sikhi by Harjinder Singh |url=http://www.sikhwomen.com/sikhism/culture_arts/bhangra.htm |access-date=4 April 2008}}

{{Anchor|Sikh paintings}}

{{Further|Sikh art}}File:Guru_Nanak_with_companions,_Bhai_Mardana_and_Bhai_Bala,_in_debate_with_the_Siddhs.jpg with companions Bhai Mardana and Bhai Bala, in debate with the Siddhs]]

Sikh painting is a direct offshoot of the Kangra school of painting. In 1810, Ranjeet Singh (1780–1839) occupied Kangra Fort and appointed Sardar Desa Singh Majithia his governor of the Punjab hills. In 1813, the Sikh army occupied Guler State and Raja Bhup Singh became a vassal of the Sikhs. With the Sikh kingdom of Lahore becoming the paramount power, some of the Pahari painters from Guler migrated to Lahore for the patronage of Maharaja Ranjeet Singh and his Sardars.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}

The Sikh school adapted Kangra painting to Sikh needs and ideals. Its main subjects are the ten Sikh gurus and stories from Guru Nanak's Janamsakhis. The tenth Guru, Gobind Singh, left a deep impression on the followers of the new faith because of his courage and sacrifices. Hunting scenes and portraits are also common in Sikh painting.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}

There is an old Sikh shrine called 'Prachin Guru Nanak Math', which lies at a small hill, just next to Bishnumati bridge at Balaju. Guru Nanak is said to have visited Nepal during his third Udasi while returning from Mount Kailash in Tibet. Nanak is said to have stayed at Balaju and Thapathali in Kathmandu. The Nanak Math shrine at Balaju is managed by the Guru-Ji and the Udasin Akardha, a sect developed by Guru Nanak's son, Sri Chandra.{{cite magazine |title=Guru Nanak Math On Verge Of Vanishing |url=https://www.spotlightnepal.com/2019/08/02/guru-nanak-math-verge-vanishing/ |magazine=New Spotlight Magazine |access-date=2022-03-19 |place=Nepal}}{{cite web |title=Gurudwara Guru Nanak Math, Kathmandu |url=https://www.worldgurudwaras.com/gurudwaras/gurudwara-guru-nanak-math-kathmandu/ |access-date=2022-03-19 |publisher=World Gurudwaras}}

From the Guru Granth Sahib:{{cite web |url=http://www.sikhs.org/english/eg28.htm |title=Sri Guru Granth Sahib Translation |page=305 |website=Sikhs.org |access-date=29 January 2016}}

{{Blockquote

| One who calls themself a Sikh of the Guru, the True Guru, shall rise in the early morning hours and meditate on the Lord's Name. Upon arising early in the morning, he is to bathe and cleanse himself in the pool of nectar. Following the Instructions of the Guru, he is to chant the Name of the Lord, "Har, Har." All sins, misdeeds, and negativity shall be then erased. Then, at the rising of the sun, he is to sing Gurbani; whether sitting down or standing up, he is to meditate on the Lord's Name. One who meditates on my Lord, Har, Har, with every breath and every morsel of food and – that GurSikh becomes pleasing to the Guru's Mind. That person, unto whom my Lord and Master is kind and compassionate – upon that GurSikh, the Guru's Teachings are bestowed. Servant Nanak begs for the dust of the feet of that GurSikh, who himself chants the Naam, and inspires others to chant it.|Fourth Mehl (Guru Ram Das)|title=Guru Granth Sahib|source=p. 305}}

The Sikh Rahit Maryada (Code of Conduct) clearly states that initiated Amritdhari Khalsa Sikhs must recite or listen to the recitation of Japji Sahib, Jaap Sahib, the 10 Sawayyas, Sodar Rehraas and Sohila.{{cite web | url=https://old.sgpc.net/rehat_maryada/section_six.html | title=Sikh Reht Maryada, the Definition of Sikh, Sikh Conduct & Conventions, Sikh Religion Living, India }}{{Cite web|url=https://old.sgpc.net/rehat_maryada/section_one.html|title=Sikh Reht Maryada, The Definition of Sikh, Sikh Conduct & Conventions, Sikh Religion Living, India|website=old.sgpc.net|access-date=5 April 2022|archive-date=6 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240106033711/https://old.sgpc.net/rehat_maryada/section_one.html|url-status=dead}} Every Sikh is also supposed take the Hukam (divine order) from the Guru Granth Sahib after awakening in the ambrosial hours of the morning (three hours before the dawn) before eating.{{Cite web|url=https://old.sgpc.net/rehat_maryada/section_three_chap_five.html|title=Sikh Reht Maryada, The Definition of Sikh, Sikh Conduct & Conventions, Sikh Religion Living, India|website=old.sgpc.net}}

In his 52 Hukams, Guru Gobind Singh orders his followers to arise during Amritvela (early morning) and to recite the late evening prayer "Sohila" and the verse "Pavan guru pani pita..." before sleeping.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}

{{Main|The Five Ks|Khalsa|Sahajdhari}}

File:Sikh Articles of Faith.JPG, Kara and Kirpan: three of the five Sikh articles of faith]]

The five Ks (panj kakaar) are five articles of faith which all initiated (Amritdhari) Sikhs are obliged to wear. The symbols represent the ideals of Sikhism: honesty, equality, fidelity, meditating on Waheguru and never bowing to tyranny.{{cite book

| last = Nesbitt

| first = Eleanor

| title = Sikhism: A Very Short Introduction

| publisher = Oxford University Press

| pages = 40–43

| isbn = 978-0-19-280601-7

| year = 2005}}

The five symbols are:

1. Kesh: Uncut hair, usually tied and wrapped in a turban.
2. Kanga: A wooden comb, usually worn under a turban to always also keep one's hair clean and well-groomed.
3. Kachera: Cotton undergarments, worn by both sexes; the kachera is a symbol of chastity and also a symbol of cleanliness. It is also historically appropriate in battle due to increased mobility and comfort when compared to a dhoti.
4. Kara: An iron bracelet, a symbol of eternity, strength and a constant reminder of the strength of will to keep hands away from any kind of unethical practices.
5. Kirpan: An iron blade in different sizes. In the UK, Sikhs can wear a small dagger, but in Punjab, they might wear a traditional curved sword from one to three feet in length. Kirpan is only a weapon of defense and religious protection, used to serve humanity and to be used against oppression.

{{Anchor|Sikh music and instruments}}

File:Dilruba woman.jpg

{{Main|Sikh music}}

The Sikhs have a number of musical instruments, including the rebab, dilruba, taus, jori and sarinda. Playing the sarangi was encouraged by Guru Hargobind. The rebab was played by Bhai Mardana as he accompanied Guru Nanak on his journeys. The jori and sarinda were introduced to Sikh devotional music by Guru Arjan. The taus (Persian for "peacock") was designed by Guru Hargobind, who supposedly heard a peacock singing and wanted to create an instrument mimicking its sounds. The dilruba was designed by Guru Gobind Singh at the request of his followers, who wanted a smaller instrument than the taus. After Japji Sahib, all of the shabad in the Guru Granth Sahib were composed as raags. This type of singing is known as Gurmat Sangeet.

When they marched into battle, the Sikhs would play a Ranjit nagara ({{gloss|victory drum}}) to boost morale. Nagaras (usually two to three feet in diameter, although some were up to five feet in diameter) are played with two sticks. The beat of the large drums and the raising of the Nishan Sahib, meant that the Singhs were on their way.

File:Sikh march against Indian policy, London 10-Jun-12.JPG protesting against Indian government actions]]

The Khalistan movement is a Sikh separatist movement, which seeks to create a separate country called Khalistān ({{gloss|The Land of the Khalsa}}) in the Punjab state of India to serve as a homeland for Sikhs.{{cite book |last1=Kinnvall |first1=Catarina |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XJzUzWDwZ4kC&pg=PA218 |title=Globalization and Religious Nationalism in India |date=2007 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781134135707}} The territorial definition of the proposed country Khalistan consists of the Punjab, India and includes Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Rajasthan.{{cite book |last=Crenshaw |first=Martha |title=Terrorism in Context |publisher=Pennsylvania State University |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-271-01015-1 |page=364}}The foreign policy of Pakistan: ethnic impacts on diplomacy, 1971–1994 {{ISBN|1-86064-169-5}} – Mehtab Ali Shah "Such is the political, psychological and religious attachment of the Sikhs to that city that a Khalistan without Lahore would be like a Germany without Berlin."Amritsar to Lahore: A Journey Across the India-Pakistan Border – Stephen Alter {{ISBN|0-8122-1743-8}} "Ever since the separatist movement gathered force in the 1980s, Pakistan has sided with the Sikhs, the territorial ambitions of Khalistan have at times included Chandigarh, sections of the Indian Punjab, including whole North India and some parts of western states of India."

Khalistan movement began as an expatriate venture.{{cite book |last1=Pruthi |first1=Raj |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KxndvJs3wUkC&q=expatriate+venture&pg=PA169 |title=Sikhism and Indian Civilization |date=2004 |publisher=Discovery Publishing House |isbn=9788171418794 |page=169 |access-date=25 October 2018}} In 1971, the first explicit call for Khalistan was made in an advertisement published in the New York Times by an expat (Jagjit Singh Chohan).{{sfn|Van Dyke

|2009|p=976}} By proclaiming the formation of Khalistan, he was able to collect millions of dollars from the Sikh diaspora.{{cite news |author=Haresh Pandya |date=11 April 2007 |title=Jagjit Singh Chauhan, Sikh Militant Leader in India, Dies at 80 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/11/world/asia/11chauhan.html?_r=1&fta=y&oref=slogin |access-date=28 August 2008}} On April 12, 1980, he declared the formation of the "National Council of Khalistan," at Anandpur Sahib.{{cite book |last=Nayar |first=Kuldip |title=Tragedy of Punjab |author2=Kushwant Singh |publisher=Vision Books |year=1985 |isbn=1-85127-069-8 |page=51}} He declared himself as the President of the council and named Balbir Singh Sandhu as its Secretary General. In May 1980, Chohan traveled to London and announced the formation of Khalistan. A similar announcement was made by Balbir Singh Sandhu in Amritsar, where he began releasing stamps and currency of Khalistan. The inaction of the authorities in Amritsar and elsewhere was decried as a political stunt by the Congress(I) party of Indira Gandhi by the Akali Dal, headed by the Sikh leader Harchand Singh Longowal.{{cite book |last=Singh |first=Satinder |title=Khalistan: An Academic Analysis |publisher=Amar Prakashan |year=1982 |location=Delhi & Punjab |page=114}}

The movement flourished in the Indian state of Punjab following Operation Blue Star and the Anti-Sikh Pogroms. As proponents were able to generate funding from a grieving diaspora. In June 1985, Air India Flight 182 was bombed by Babbar Khalsa, a pro-Khalistani terrorist organization.{{cite news |date=15 March 2018 |title=Jagmeet Singh Now Rejects Glorification of Air India Bombing mastermind |publisher=CBC News |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/jagmeet-singh-air-india-bombing-accepts-1.4578030 |access-date=30 April 2018 |quote=The 18-month long Air India inquiry, led by former Supreme Court justice John Major, pointed to Parmar as the chief terrorist behind the bombing. A separate inquiry, carried out by former Ontario NDP premier and Liberal MP Bob Rae, also fingered Parmar as the architect of the 1985 bombing that left 329 people dead 268 of them Canadians.}} In January 1986, the Golden Temple was occupied by militants belonging to All India Sikh Students Federation and Damdami Taksal.Sikh Temple Sit-In Is a Challenge for Punjab, The New York Times 2 February 1986 On January 26, 1986, a gathering known as the Sarbat Khalsa (a de facto parliament) passed a resolution (gurmattā) favouring the creation of Khalistan. Subsequently, a number of rebel militant groups in favour of Khalistan waged a major insurgency against the government of India. Indian security forces suppressed the insurgency in the early 1990s, but Sikh political groups such as the Khalsa Raj Party and SAD (A) continued to pursue an independent Khalistan through non-violent means.{{cite web |date=20 January 2003 |title=Amnesty International report on Punjab |url=http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGASA200022003?open&of=ENG-IND |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061203184445/http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGASA200022003?open&of=ENG-IND |archive-date=3 December 2006 |access-date=11 January 2010 |publisher=Amnesty International}}{{cite web |title=The Tribune, Chandigarh, India – Punjab |url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060310/punjab1.htm#2 |access-date=2015-09-27 |publisher=Tribuneindia.com |archive-date=5 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605221542/http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20060310/punjab1.htm#2 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |date=14 January 2010 |title=SAD (A) to Contest the Coming SGPC Elections on Khalistan Issue: Mann |url=http://www.punjabnewsline.com/content/view/22588/38/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715132020/http://www.punjabnewsline.com/content/view/22588/38/ |archive-date=15 July 2011 |access-date=22 January 2010 |publisher=PunjabNewsline.com |df=dmy-all}} Pro-Khalistan organisations such as Dal Khalsa (International) are also active outside India, supported by a section of the Sikh diaspora.{{cite news |last=Punj |first=Balbair |date=16 June 2005 |title=The Ghost of Khalistan |newspaper=Sikh Times |url=http://www.sikhtimes.com/news_061605a.html |access-date=11 January 2010}}

In the 1990s, the insurgency abated,{{cite news |date=22 February 2018 |title=India gives Trudeau list of suspected Sikh separatists in Canada |website=Reuters, The Sikh insurgency petered out in the 1990s. He told state leaders his country would not support anyone trying to reignite the movement for an independent Sikh homeland called Khalistan. |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-canada-trudeau/india-gives-trudeau-list-of-suspected-sikh-separatists-in-canada-idUSKCN1G61K7 |access-date=22 May 2018}} and the movement failed to reach its objective due to multiple reasons including a heavy police crackdown on separatists, divisions among the Sikhs and loss of support from the Sikh population.{{cite news |title=New brand of Sikh militancy: Suave, tech-savvy pro-Khalistan youth radicalised on social media |newspaper=Hindustan Times |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/opinion/a-new-brand-of-sikh-militancy-rears-its-head/story-JH3XbAGk6sSxlYrVEDyISK.html |access-date=27 April 2018}} However, various pro-Khalistan groups, both political and militant, remain committed to the separatist movement. There are claims of funding from Sikhs outside India to attract young people into militant groups.{{cite news |date=4 March 2008 |title=Sikh separatists 'funded from UK' |publisher=BBC |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/file_on_4/7263211.stm |access-date=28 August 2008}} There have also been multiple claims that the movement is motivated and supported by the Pakistan's external intelligence agency, the ISI.{{Cite web |date=2017-12-27 |title=ISI trying to revive Khalistan movement, says government |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/india/isi-trying-to-revive-khalistan-movement-says-government-5001401/ |access-date=2023-03-23 |website=The Indian Express |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Singh |first=Dalip |date=2022-05-15 |title=Pakistan ISI tapping into J&K terror network to fuel pro-Khalistan sentiments: Sources |url=https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/national/pakistan-isi-tapping-into-jk-terror-network-to-fuel-pro-khalistan-sentiments-sources/article65416775.ece |access-date=2023-03-23 |website=www.thehindubusinessline.com |language=en}}

{{Main|Sikhism by country|Punjabi Sikhs}}

File:Global Map of Sikh Population (Estimated 2023).png

Sikhs number about 26–30 million worldwide, of whom 24–28 million live in India, which thus represents around 90 percent of the total Sikh population.{{Cite web|url=https://www.findeasy.in/sikh-population-in-india/|title=Sikh Population in World | Sikh Population in India 2023|date=22 December 2021}}{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sikhism|title = Sikhism | History, Doctrines, Practice, & Literature| date=30 November 2023 }}{{cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/europe/why-sikhism-as-registered-religion-in-austria-matters/articleshow/80021881.cms|title = Why Sikhism as registered religion in Austria matters |website = The Times of India}}{{cite web|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/mind-the-gap/sikhs-and-hindus-at-the-crossroads/|title= The source state: Out of approximately 30 million Sikhs in the world, the majority of them, 22 million, live in India.|website=Times of India|date= 23 November 2019}}{{cite web|title=Why Sikhism As Registered Religion in Austria Matters |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-who-are-nanak-naam-lewa-and-why-kartarpur-corridor-cant-be-limited-to-sikhs-6100351/|website=Indian Express|date= 10 November 2019}}{{cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/europe/why-sikhism-as-registered-religion-in-austria-matters/articleshow/80021881.cms|title=Why Sikhism as registered religion in Austria matters |website=The Times of India}} About 76 percent of all Indian Sikhs live in the northern Indian state of Punjab, forming a majority of about 58 per cent of the state's population, roughly around 16 million.{{cite web | url=https://scroll.in/article/807847/nearly-10-million-sikhs-have-lost-their-religion-because-of-this-organisation | title=Nearly 10 million Sikhs have lost their religion because of this organisation | date=12 May 2016 }}{{Cite news|url = https://wap.business-standard.com/article/news-ani/pak-invites-sikh-community-to-invest-in-commercial-projects-along-nankana-kartarpur-corridor-119011300615_1.html|title = Pak invites Sikh community to invest in commercial projects along Nankana-Kartarpur Corridor|newspaper = Business Standard India|date = 13 January 2019}}{{Dead link|date=November 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Substantial communities of Sikhs live in the Indian states or union territories of Haryana, where they number around 1.2 million and form 4.9 percent of the population, Rajasthan (872,000 or 1.3 percent of the population), Uttar Pradesh (643,000, 0.3 percent), Delhi (570,000, 3.4 percent), Uttarakhand (236,000, 2.3 percent), Jammu and Kashmir (234,000, 1.9 percent), Chandigarh (138,000, 13.1 percent) and Himachal Pradesh (86,000, 1.2 percent).

Canada is home to the largest national Sikh proportion (2.1 percent of the total population) in the world. A substantial community of Sikhs exist in the western province of British Columbia, numbering nearly 300,000 persons and forming approximately 5.9 percent of the total population. This represents the third-largest Sikh proportion amongst all global administrative divisions, behind only Punjab and Chandigarh in India. Furthermore, British Columbia,{{Cite web|url=https://vancouversun.com/news/staff-blogs/b-c-breaks-records-when-it-comes-to-religion-and-the-lack-thereof|title=B.C. breaks records when it comes to religion and the lack thereof|website=vancouversun}} Manitoba and Yukon hold the distinction of being three of the only four administrative divisions in the world with Sikhism as the second most followed religion among the population.{{refn|Per the 2021 Canadian census, Sikhism is the second-largest religion in British Columbia, Manitoba, and Yukon. Per the 2011 Indian census, Sikhism is the largest religion in Punjab and second in Chandigarh. These are the only two Indian states/UTs where Sikhism is one of the two most common religions.{{cite web |title=Population by religion community – 2011 |url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/C-01/DDW03C-01%20MDDS.XLS |publisher=The Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923230423/http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/C-01/DDW03C-01%20MDDS.XLS |archive-date=23 September 2015}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/dchb/0401_PART_A_DCHB_CHANDIGARH.pdf |title=Census of India 2011 – Chandigarh |access-date=28 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170821191248/http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/dchb/0401_PART_A_DCHB_CHANDIGARH.pdf |archive-date=21 August 2017 |url-status=live}}|name="ProvincePopulation"}}

As a religious minority, Sikhs have fought long and hard to get official status and to be counted in many countries across the world. Through the efforts of Sikh organisations and communities in their respective countries, there is now readily available population data on Sikhs as part of the census or official statistics in the following territories:

File:2011-2021 Change in Sikh %.png

Note: Official statistics do not count unregistered arrivals or those who have not completed the census or surveys. However, they do provide for a much more accurate depiction of Sikh communities as opposed to estimates from various Sikh organisations whose estimates can vary vastly with no statistically valuable source. Thus, official statistics and census data is highly important and Sikh communities continue to push for census inclusion in many countries where they are still not counted.

Sikh migration from British India began in earnest during the second half of the 19th century, when the British completed their annexation of the Punjab, which led to Sikh migration throughout India and the British Empire. During the Raj, semiskilled Sikh artisans were transported from the Punjab to British East Africa to help build railroads. Sikhs emigrated from India after World War II, most going to the United Kingdom but many also to North America. Some Sikhs who had settled in eastern Africa were expelled by Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in 1972.{{cite encyclopedia

| title = Sikhism

| encyclopedia = Encyclopædia Britannica

| year = 2007

| id = http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-253167/Sikhism }} Economics is a major factor in Sikh migration and significant communities exist in the United Kingdom, the United States, Malaysia, East Africa, Australia, Singapore and Thailand.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}

After the Partition of India in 1947, many Sikhs from what would become the Punjab of Pakistan migrated to India as well as to Afghanistan due to fear of persecution. Afghanistan was home to hundreds of thousands of Sikhs and Hindus as of the 1970s, but due to the wars in Afghanistan in the 2010s, the vast majority of Afghan Sikhs had migrated to India, Pakistan or the west.{{cite web|title=Afghan Sikhs are targeted by the Taliban and unable to even bury their dead |publisher=The Week|date=12 November 2019|url=https://www.theweek.in/theweek/cover/2019/11/02/afghan-sikhs-are-targeted-by-the-taliban-and-unable-to-even-bury-their-dead.html}}{{cite web|title=Nearly 99% Of Hindus, Sikhs Left Afghanistan in Last Three decades |publisher=TOLOnews|date=20 June 2016|url=https://tolonews.com/afghanistan/nearly-99-hindus-sikhs-left-afghanistan-last-three-decades}}{{cite web|title=Little reason to migrate to India, say Afghan Sikhs|publisher=AA|date=17 December 2019|url=https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/little-reason-to-migrate-to-india-say-afghan-sikhs/1675903}}

Although the rate of Sikh migration from the Punjab has remained high, traditional patterns of Sikh migration favouring English-speaking countries (particularly the United Kingdom) have changed during the past decade due to stricter immigration laws. Moliner (2006) wrote that as a consequence of Sikh migration to the UK becoming "virtually impossible since the late 1970s," migration patterns evolved to continental Europe.{{Cite book|last=Moliner|first=Christine|url=http://www.ivry.cnrs.fr/lau/IMG/rtf/Abstracts.rtf|title=Migration Patterns – Workshop on Indian Migration|publisher=Laboratoire d'Anthropologie Urbaine/CNRS|year=2006|place=Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS)|pages=abstract|no-pp=true|contribution=Sikhs in France|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061117150414/http://www.ivry.cnrs.fr/lau/IMG/rtf/Abstracts.rtf|archive-date=17 November 2006|url-status=dead}} Italy is a rapidly growing destination for Sikh migration,{{cite journal

|last = Ciprani

|first = Ralph

|title = Sikh Storia e immigrazione – The Sikhs: History and Immigration

|journal = International Sociology

|volume = 21

|pages = 474–476

|date = 14 May 2006

|doi = 10.1177/026858090602100331

|issue = 3

|s2cid = 144768462

|df = dmy-all

}} with Reggio Emilia and Vicenza having significant Sikh population clusters.{{cite news

| last = IANS

| title = Now, Sikhs Do a Canada in Italy

| publisher = NRIinternet

| date = 15 September 2004

| url = http://www.nriinternet.com/EUROPE/ITALY/2004/111604Gurdwara.htm

| access-date = 4 April 2008}} Italian Sikhs are generally involved in agriculture, agricultural processing, the manufacture of machine tools and horticulture.{{cite news

| last = Singh

| first = Kulwinder

| title = Italy may open VISA office in Chandigarh very soon

| publisher = NRIinternet

| date = 11 August 2007

| url = http://www.nriinternet.com/EUROPE/ITALY/2007/0701_Visa_office_in_Chandigarh.htm

| access-date = 4 April 2008

}}

File:Sikh people.jpg

Johnson and Barrett (2004) estimate that the global Sikh population increases annually by 392,633 (1.7% per year, based on 2004 figures); this percentage includes births, deaths and conversions. Primarily for socio-economic reasons, Indian Sikhs have the lowest adjusted growth rate of any major religious group in India, at 16.9 percent per decade (estimated from 1991 to 2001) and it has further declined to just 8.4 per cent in 2011 census report.{{cite web|url=https://www.dailyo.in/politics/census-2011-sikhs-giani-gurbachan-singh-akal-takht-family-planning-migration-nris-dera-sacha-sauda/story/1/5911.html |title=We need to worry about the decline in Sikh numbers |publisher=Dailyo.in |date=2015-08-27 |access-date=2022-05-25}}{{cite web|title=Proportion and growth rate of population by religious communities, India, 1961–2001 |work=Office of the Registrar General, India |publisher=CensusIndia |date=6 September 2004 |url=http://www.censusindia.net/religiondata/statement.pdf |access-date=4 April 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927201349/http://www.censusindia.net/religiondata/statement.pdf |archive-date=27 September 2007 }}{{cbignore}} Sikhs in the world have the lowest fertility rate of 1.6 children per women as per (2019–20) estimation research.{{cite web|url=https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/india-witnesses-decline-population-growth-rate-and-fertility-across-religious-groups-156058 |title=India witnesses decline in population growth rate and fertility across religious groups |publisher=The News Minute |date=2021-10-04 |access-date=2022-05-25}}{{cite news |author=Krishna Veera Vanamali |url=https://wap.business-standard.com/podcast/current-affairs/india-s-fertility-rate-dips-below-replacement-level-what-does-it-mean-122051800062_1.html |title=India's fertility rate dips below replacement level: What does it mean? | Business Standard News |newspaper=Business Standard India |publisher=Wap.business-standard.com |date=18 May 2022 |access-date=2022-05-25 }}{{Dead link|date=November 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} The Sikh population has the lowest gender balance in India, with only 903 women per 1,000 men according to the 2011 Indian census.{{cite web|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/nation/census-shocker-sikhs-report-lowest-sex-ratio/125040.html|title=Census shocker: Sikhs report lowest sex ratio|last=Tandon|first=Aditi|date=27 August 2015|website=Tribune India|access-date=5 May 2017|archive-date=21 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170221225348/http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/nation/census-shocker-sikhs-report-lowest-sex-ratio/125040.html|url-status=dead}} The estimated world's Sikh population was over 30 million in 2020 and it will reach 42 million by 2050. It is expected to increase up to 62 million by 2100, given that the anticipated growth rate of 1.7% per year and adding at least 400,000 followers annually.{{cite web|url=https://americanturban.com/2016/01/28/there-might-be-more-sikhs-in-the-future-maybe/|title=There could be more Sikhs in the future – maybe.|first=Rupinder Mohan|last=Singh|date=28 January 2016|website=American Turban}}

Since the Sikh growth rate dropped from 1.7% (16.9% in 1991 to 2001 estimate) to 0.8% (8.4% in 2001–2011) in 2011 report, hence based on their growth rate, their population in India will increase 196,316 (0.8% based on 2011 figures) per year and will reach 36 million in 2050, it expected to reach 52 million in 2100 given that the anticipated growth rate of 0.8% and adding at least 200,000 followers annually.{{cite web |title=Behind the decline |url=https://frontline.thehindu.com/cover-story/behind-the-decline/article7654960.ece |website=frontline.thehindu.com |language=en |date=16 September 2015}}{{cite web |title=We need to worry about the decline in Sikh numbers |url=https://www.dailyo.in/politics/census-2011-sikhs-giani-gurbachan-singh-akal-takht-family-planning-migration-nris-dera-sacha-sauda-5911 |website=www.dailyo.in |language=en}}

File:A caucasian Sikh learning Santhiya, or the elocution of Sikh Scripture.png or elocution of Sikh Scripture]]

Sikhism is the fastest growing religion in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The growth is mainly contributed by the immigration of Indian Sikhs there over the decades. Sikhism is fourth-largest religion in Canada, fifth-largest religion in Australia and New Zealand. The decadal growth of Sikhs is more in those countries as compared to the decadal growth of Sikh population in India, thus making them the fastest-growing religion there.{{Cite web |last=Government of Canada |first=Statistics Canada |date=2019-01-23 |title=2011 National Household Survey: Data tables Religion (108), Immigrant Status and Period of Immigration (11), Age Groups (10) and Sex (3) for the Population in Private Households of Canada, Provinces, Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas and Census Agglomerations, 2011 National Household Survey |url=https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/nhs-enm/2011/dp-pd/dt-td/Rp-eng.cfm?LANG=E&APATH=3&DETAIL=0&DIM=0&FL=A&FREE=0&GC=0&GID=0&GK=0&GRP=1&PID=105399&PRID=0&PTYPE=105277&S=0&SHOWALL=0&SUB=0&Temporal=2013&THEME=95&VID=0&VNAMEE=&VNAMEF= |access-date=2022-09-08 |website=www12.statcan.gc.ca}}{{cite news | url=https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-is-the-fastest-growing-religion-in-australia.html | title=What is the Fastest Growing Religion in Australia? | newspaper=Worldatlas | date=10 June 2020 }}{{cite web | url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/archive/punjab/sikhs-fastest-growing-minority-in-nz-census-837571 | title=Sikhs fastest-growing minority in NZ: Census }} Canada has the highest proportion of Sikhs in the globe, which stands at 2.1% as of 2021, as compared to India which stands at 1.7% as of 2011 respectively.{{Cite web|url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/archive/features/why-sikhs-ought-to-be-happy-not-worried-126229|title=Why Sikhs ought to be happy, not worried : The Tribune India}}

Sikhs have remained a relatively homogeneous ethnic group with exceptions. Caste may still be practiced by some Sikhs, despite Guru Nanak's calls for treating everyone equally in Guru Granth Sahib.{{efn|Guru Nanak has mentioned in his first composition of Jap Ji Sahib, which is recited daily by all practicing Sikhs that all souls are to be treated with care and respect as Waheguru is the Giver of all souls.

"The Guru has given me this one understanding: there is only the One, the Giver of all souls. May I never forget Him!", Guru Granth Sahib, 2{{cite web |url = http://www.srigranth.org/servlet/gurbani.gurbani?Action=Page&Param=2 |title=Sri Guru Granth Sahib Translation, p. 2 |last=Singh Khalsa|first=Sant |publisher=Srigranth.org|access-date=10 January 2017 }}

Guru Nanak said that blessings are rained down when the lowly person, regardless of any background are cared for.

"In that place where the lowly are cared for-there, the Blessings of Your Glance of Grace rain down.", Guru Granth Sahib, 15{{cite web|url=http://www.srigranth.org/servlet/gurbani.gurbani?Action=Page&Param=15|title=Sri Guru Granth Sahib Translation, p. 15|last=Singh Khalsa|first=Sant |publisher=Srigranth.org|access-date=10 January 2017}}

Guru Nanak had spoken we need to prize humility above all and thus caste is not an issue.

"One who takes pride in wealth and lands is a fool, blind and ignorant.

One whose heart is mercifully blessed with abiding humility,

''O Nanak, is liberated here, and obtains peace hereafter." Granth Sahib, 278.{{cite web|url=http://www.srigranth.org/servlet/gurbani.gurbani?Action=Page&Param=278|title=Sri Guru Granth Sahib Translation, p. 278|last=Singh Khalsa|first=Sant|publisher=Srigranth.org|access-date=10 January 2017}}}}

Along with Guru Nanak, other Sikh gurus had also denounced the hierarchy of the caste system, however, they all belonged to the same caste, the Khatris.{{cite book|last1=Oberoi|first1=Harjot|title=The Construction of Religious Boundaries: Culture, Identity, and Diversity in the Sikh Tradition|date=1994|publisher=Oxford|location=Chicago|isbn=978-0226615936|page=109|url=https://books.google.com/?=1NKC9g2ayJEC&pg=PR10&dq=%22sikh+guru%22+caste+khatri+nanak+gobind+singh#v=snippet&q=%22khatri%20guru&f=false|access-date=15 January 2017}}id Most Sikhs belong to the Jat (Jatt), traditionally Agriculturist class{{cite book |last=Khanna |first=Sunil K. |editor1-last=Ember |editor1-first=Carol R. |editor2-last=Ember |editor2-first=Melvin |editor1-link=Carol R. Ember |editor2-link=Melvin Ember |title=Encyclopedia of Medical Anthropology: Health and Illness in the World's Cultures |volume=2 |year=2004 |publisher=Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers |page=777 |isbn=978-0-306-47754-6 |entry-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nrMRezmNrPcC&pg=PA777 |entry=Jat |quote=Notwithstanding social, linguistic, and religious diversity, the Jats are one of the major landowning agriculturalist communities in South Asia.}} in occupation.{{cite book |author1=Don |title=South Asian Politics and Religion |date=2015 |publisher=Princeton University Press |page=155}} Despite being very small in numbers, the Khatri and Arora castes wield considerable influence within the Sikh community. Other common Sikh castes include Ahluwalias (Brewers), Kambojs or Kambos (Rural caste), Ramgarhias (Carpenters), Brahmins (Priestly class), Rajputs (Kshatriyas – Warriors), Sainis, Rai Sikh (Ironsmiths), Labanas (Merchants), Kumhars (Potters), Mazhabi (Cleaners) and the Ramdasia/Ravidasias(Chamar – Tanners).{{Cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/543916/Sikhism/253170/The-rejection-of-caste|title=Sikhism {{!}} History, Doctrines, Practice, & Literature|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=2017-12-26|language=en}}

Some Sikhs, especially those belonging to the landowning dominant castes, have not shed all their prejudices against the Dalit castes such as the Mazhabi and Ravidasia. While Dalits were allowed entry into the village gurdwaras, in some gurdwaras, they were not permitted to cook or serve langar (communal meal). Therefore, wherever they could mobilize resources, the Sikh Dalits of Punjab have tried to construct their own gurdwara and other local level institutions in order to attain a certain degree of cultural autonomy.{{cite journal|last1=Jodhka|first1=Surinder S|title=Caste and Untouchability in Rural Punjab|journal=Economic and Political Weekly|date=11–17 May 2002|volume= 37|issue=19|page=1822|jstor=4412102}} In 1953, Sikh leader and activist Master Tara Singh succeeded in persuading the Indian government to include Sikh castes of the converted untouchables in the list of scheduled castes.Puri, Harish K. (2003). "[http://apnaorg.com/research-papers/harish-puri/ The Scheduled Castes in the Sikh Community: A Historical Perspective]". Economic & Political Weekly 38(26):2693–2701. {{JSTOR|4413731}}.

Republished in Dalits in Regional Context (2004). {{ISBN|978-81-7033-871-0}}. In the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, 20 of the 140 seats are reserved for low-caste Sikhs.

Other castes (over 1,000 members) include the Arain, Bhatra, Bairagi, Bania, Basith, Bawaria, Bazigar, Bhabra, Chamar, Chhimba (cotton farmers), Darzi, Dhobi, Gujar, Jhinwar, Kahar, Kalal, Kumhar, Lohar, Mahtam, Megh, Mirasi, Mochi, Nai, Ramgharia, Sansi, Sudh, Tarkhan and Kashyap{{Citation needed|date=August 2022}}

Karnail Singh Panjoli, member of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, says that there are several communities within the term Nanakpanthis too. Apart from Sindhi Hindus, "There are groups like Sikhligarh, Vanjaarey, Nirmaley, Lubaney, Johri, Satnamiye, Udaasiyas, Punjabi Hindus, etc. who call themselves Nanakpanthis despite being Hindus.{{cite web | url=https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-who-are-nanak-naam-lewa-and-why-kartarpur-corridor-cant-be-limited-to-sikhs-6100351/ | title=Explained: Who are Nanak Naam Lewa, and why Kartarpur Corridor can't be limited to Sikhs | date=10 November 2019 }}

File:Simon_King_Sikh_Sikhi_Nagar_Kirtan_Convoy.jpg convoy passing over the bridge along Northern Relief Road (A124) in East London]]

As Sikhs wear turbans and keep beards, Sikh men in Western countries have been mistaken for Muslim, Arab and/or Afghan since the September 11 attacks and the Iraq War.{{cite news|url=http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/09/16/gen.hate.crimes/|title=Hate crime reports up in wake of terrorist attacks|date=17 September 2001|work=US News|access-date=4 April 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080415215239/http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/09/16/gen.hate.crimes/|archive-date=15 April 2008|publisher=CNN}}{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6117820.stm|title=Sikhs Urging Action on Faith Hate|date=5 November 2006|work=UK News|access-date=4 April 2008|publisher=BBC News}} Several days after the 9/11 attacks, Sikh-American gas station owner Balbir Singh Sodhi was murdered in Arizona by a man who took Sodhi to be a member of al-Qaeda, marking the first recorded hate-crime in America motivated by 9/11. CNN would go on to suggest an increase in hate crimes against Sikh men in the US and the UK after the 9/11 attacks.

In an attempt to foster Sikh leaders in the Western world, youth initiatives by a number of organisations exist. The Sikh Youth Alliance of North America sponsors an annual Sikh Youth Symposium.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}

The Sikh diaspora has been most successful in the UK, and UK Sikhs have the highest percentage of home ownership (82%) of any religious community.{{cite web|url=http://www.statistics.gov.uk/CCI/nugget.asp?ID=962&Pos=2&ColRank=2&Rank=800|title=Housing: Sikhs most likely to own their own homes {{!}} Religion|last=ONS|date=11 October 2004|work=Office for National Statistics|publisher=UK Statistics Authority|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080226140123/http://www.statistics.gov.uk/CCI/nugget.asp?ID=962&Pos=2&ColRank=2&Rank=800|archive-date=26 February 2008|access-date=4 April 2008}} UK Sikhs are the second-wealthiest religious group in the UK (after the Jewish community), with a median total household wealth of {{GBP|229,000|link=no}}.{{cite web|url=http://sticerd.lse.ac.uk/dps/case/cr/CASEreport60.pdf|title=An Anatomy of Economic Inequality in the UK|date=29 January 2010|work=Report of the National Equality Panel|publisher=The London School of Economics – The Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion|access-date=1 February 2010}}

In May 2019, the UK government exempted "Kirpan" from the list of banned knives. The U.K. government passed an amendment by which Sikhs in the country would be allowed to carry kirpans and use them during religious and cultural functions. The bill was amended to ensure that it would not impact the right of the British Sikh community to possess and supply kirpans or religious swords.{{cite web|url=https://english.newstracklive.com/news/uk-gets-a-new-law-secures-rights-of-sikhs-to-carry-kirpans-sc57-nu-1010762-1.html|title=U.K. gets a new law, secures rights of Sikhs to carry kirpans|website=newstracklive.com|date=19 May 2019|access-date=2019-05-21}}{{cite news|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/world-news/uk-gets-new-weapons-act-secures-sikh-right-to-carry-kirpans/articleshow/69387189.cms|title=UK gets new weapons act, secures Sikh right to carry kirpans|date=2019-05-18|newspaper=The Economic Times|access-date=2019-05-21}} Similarly, the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund overturned a 1925 Oregon law banning the wearing of turbans by teachers and government officials in 2010.[http://www.saldef.org/news/sikh-teachers-are-now-able-to-teach-in-oregon-public-schools/ Sikh Teachers Are Now Able to Teach in Oregon Public Schools « SALDEF]. Saldef.org (2 April 2010). Retrieved on 6 October 2011.

Historically, most Indians have been farmers and 66 per cent of the Indian population are engaged in agriculture.{{cite news

| title = World Bank Loan for India Farmers

| work = BBC News

| url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/6245366.stm

| access-date = 4 April 2008 | date=27 June 2007}} Indian Sikhs are employed in agriculture to a lesser extent; India's 2001 census found 39 per cent of the working population of the Punjab employed in this sector.{{cite web|url=http://punjabgovt.nic.in/ECONOMY/AGRICULTURE_ALLIED.HTM|title=Agriculture and Allied Sector {{!}} Economy and Infrastructure|last=Government of Punjab|work=Government of Punjab|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080310012330/http://punjabgovt.nic.in/ECONOMY/AGRICULTURE_ALLIED.HTM |archive-date=10 March 2008|access-date=4 April 2008}} According to the Swedish political scientist Ishtiaq Ahmad, a factor in the success of the Indian green revolution was the "Sikh cultivator, often the Jat and Kamboj or Kamboh, whose courage, perseverance, spirit of enterprise and muscle prowess proved crucial."{{cite web|url=http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_8-2-2005_pg3_2|title=West and East Punjab Agriculture: A Comparison {{!}} Comment|last=Ishtiaq|first=Ahmad|author-link=Ishtiaq Ahmad (political scientist)|date=8 February 2005|work=Daily Times|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080203090650/http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_8-2-2005_pg3_2|archive-date=3 February 2008|access-date=4 April 2008}} However, Indian physicist Vandana Shiva{{cite web

| author = Guus Geurts Studentnummer

| title = The cause and effects of the Green Revolution in Punjab (India) – critical analysis of "The Violence of the Green Revolution" by Vandana Shiva (1991)

| publisher = Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen

| date = 5 March 2001

| url = http://www.guusgeurts.nl/inhoud/artikelen/EssayVandanaShiva.doc

| format = MS Word

| access-date = 12 September 2007

| archive-date = 26 March 2009

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090326031348/http://www.guusgeurts.nl/inhoud/artikelen/EssayVandanaShiva.doc

| url-status = dead

}} wrote that the green revolution made the "negative and destructive impacts of science (i.e., the green revolution) on nature and society" invisible and was a catalyst for Punjabi Sikh and Hindu tensions despite a growth in material wealth.{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}}

{{Main|List of Sikhs}}

File:Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in WEF ,2009 (cropped).jpg, Indian politician and economist and the only Sikh Prime Minister of India, served from 2004 to 2014]]

File:Preet Chandi training in Finse, Norway.jpg, a British Sikh and the first woman to reach the South Pole solo and unsupported]]

File:Jagmeet Singh at the OFL Convention - 2017 (38554422812).jpg, Canadian Sikh politician]]

File:City Sikhs Team hosting the Sikhnet Team from America in the UK Parliament.jpg

Manmohan Singh was an Indian economist, academic and politician who served as the 13th Prime Minister of India from 2004 to 2014. The first and only Sikh and non-Hindu in office, Singh was also the first prime minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to be re-elected after completing a full five-year term.

Notable Sikhs in science include nuclear scientist Piara Singh Gill, fibre-optics pioneer Narinder Singh Kapany; and physicist, science writer and broadcaster Simon Singh.

In business, the UK-based clothing retailers New Look and the Thai-based JASPAL{{cite web|url=http://jaspalgroup.com/about/|title=About JASPAL Group|last=JASPAL Group|date=2011|work=JASPAL Group|access-date=15 April 2020|archive-date=17 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417083414/http://jaspalgroup.com/about/|url-status=dead}} were founded by Sikhs. India's largest pharmaceutical company, Ranbaxy Laboratories, is headed by Sikhs.{{cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/77/biz_06india_Malvinder-Shivinder-Singh_DN7N.html|title=India's Richest: #24 Malvinder & Shivinder Singh|date=16 November 2006|work=Forbes|access-date=4 April 2008|archive-date=5 May 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080505134317/http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/77/biz_06india_Malvinder-Shivinder-Singh_DN7N.html|url-status=dead}} Apollo Tyres is headed by Onkar Singh Kanwar. In Singapore, Kartar Singh Thakral expanded his family's trading business, Thakral Holdings,{{cite news|url=https://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/79/06singapore_Kartar-Singh-Thakral_UEZJ.html|title=Singapore's 40 Richest: #25 Kartar Singh Thakral|date=24 August 2006|work=Forbes|access-date=4 April 2008}} into assets totalling almost {{US$|1.4 billion|link=yes|round=1}} and is Singapore's 25th-richest person. Sikh Bob Singh Dhillon is the first Indo-Canadian billionaire. Mastercard's CEO was a Sikh named Ajaypal Singh Banga.

In sports, Sikhs include England cricketer Monty Panesar; former 400-metre runner Milkha Singh; his son, professional golfer Jeev Milkha Singh; Indian wrestler and actor Dara Singh; former Indian hockey team captains Sandeep Singh, Ajitpal Singh and Balbir Singh Sr.; former Indian cricket captain Bishen Singh Bedi; Harbhajan Singh, India's most successful off spin cricket bowler; Yuvraj Singh, World Cup winning allrounder; Maninder Singh, World Cup winning off spinner; and Navjot Singh Sidhu, former Indian cricketer-turned-politician.

Sikhs in Bollywood, in the arts in general, include poet and lyricist Rajkavi Inderjeet Singh Tulsi; Gulzar; Jagjit Singh; Dharmendra; Sunny Deol; Diljit Dosanjh writer Khushwant Singh; actresses Neetu Singh, Simran Judge, Poonam Dhillon, Mahi Gill, Esha Deol, Parminder Nagra, Gul Panag, Mona Singh, Namrata Singh Gujral; and directors Gurinder Chadha and Parminder Gill.

Sikhs in Punjabi Music industry include Sidhu Moosewala, Diljit Dosanjh, Babu Singh Maan, Surjit Bindrakhia, Ammy Virk, Karan Aujla, Jazzy B, Miss Pooja.

In December 2022, the U.S. Marine Corps was compelled by a court order to allow two Sikhs to wear the turban and grow beards. This was a milestone for religious freedom and in the prevention of employment discrimination against Sikhs.[https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/u-s-marine-corps-compelled-to-allow-sikh-americans-to-begin-basic-training-with-turbans-beards U.S. Marine Corps compelled to allow Sikh Americans to begin basic training with turbans, beards] in PBS' Nation, Jan. 6, 2023

{{Anchor|Sikhs in the Indian and British armies}}

{{Main|Sikhs in the British Indian Army}}

According to a 1994 estimate, Punjabi Sikhs and Hindus comprised 10 to 15% of all ranks in the Indian Army. The Indian government does not release religious or ethnic origins of a military personnel, but a 1991 report by Tim McGirk estimated that 20% of Indian Army officers were Sikhs.{{cite journal|last=Kundu|first=Apurba|date=Spring 1994|title=The Indian Armed Forces' Sikh and Non-Sikh Officers' Opinions of Operation Blue Star|journal=Pacific Affairs|volume=67|issue=1|pages=48–49|doi=10.2307/2760119|jstor=2760119}} Together with the Gurkhas recruited from Nepal, the Maratha Light Infantry from Maharashtra and the Jat Regiment, the Sikhs are one of the few communities to have exclusive regiments in the Indian Army. The Sikh Regiment is one of the most-decorated regiments in the army, with 73 Battle Honours, 14 Victoria Crosses,{{cite web|url=http://www.nriinternet.com/Section4HistoryNRI/UK%20History/5_1016_SuccessStory.htm|title=The success story that UK's 4 lakh Sikhs are|last=TNN|website=NRI Internet|type=excerpts from talk by British High Commissioner Michael Arthur|access-date=4 April 2008}} 21 first-class Indian Orders of Merit (equivalent to the Victoria Cross),{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/06/24/nsikh224.xml|title=History of Sikh Gallantry|date=24 June 2007|work=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=4 April 2008|url-status=dead|location=London|archive-date=27 February 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080227020801/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2007%2F06%2F24%2Fnsikh224.xml}} 15 Theatre Honours, 5 COAS Unit Citations, two Param Vir Chakras, 14 Maha Vir Chakras, 5 Kirti Chakras, 67 Vir Chakras and 1,596 other awards. The highest-ranking general in the history of the Indian Air Force is a Punjabi Sikh, Marshal of the Air Force Arjan Singh.{{cite web|url=http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Legends/Arjan.html|title=Marshal of the Air Force Arjan Singh|last=Pillarisetti|first=Jagan|website=Bharat Rakshak|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080327195335/http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Legends/Arjan.html |archive-date=27 March 2008|access-date=4 April 2008}} Plans by the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence for a Sikh infantry regiment were scrapped in June 2007.{{Cite news|last=Rayment|first=Sean|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/06/24/nsikh124.xml|title=Sikh Regiment Dumped over 'Racism' Fears|date=24 June 2007|newspaper=The Telegraph|url-status=dead|location=London|archive-date=18 November 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071118172517/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2007%2F06%2F24%2Fnsikh124.xml}}

Sikhs supported the British during the Indian Rebellion of 1857.{{cite book|last=Kennedy Trevaskis|first=Hugh|title=The Land of Five Rivers: An Economic History of the Punjab from Earliest Times to the Year of Grace 1890|year=1928|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=London|pages=216–217}} By the beginning of World War I, Sikhs in the British Indian Army totaled over 100,000 (20 per cent of the force). Until 1945, fourteen Victoria Crosses (VC) were awarded to Sikhs, a per-capita regimental record. In 2002, the names of all Sikh VC and George Cross recipients were inscribed on the monument of the Memorial Gates{{cite web

| title = Memorial Gates Official Website

| url = http://www.mgtrust.org/links.htm

| access-date =4 April 2008}} on Constitution Hill, next to Buckingham Palace.{{cite web |title=UK Government Report on the memorial |url=http://www.millennium.gov.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=1220&d=11&h=24&f=46&dateformat=%25o-%25B-%25Y |access-date=4 April 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081206051955/http://www.millennium.gov.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=1220&d=11&h=24&f=46&dateformat=%25o-%25B-%25Y |archive-date=6 December 2008 }} Chanan Singh Dhillon was instrumental in campaigning for the memorial.

During World War I, Sikh battalions fought in Egypt, Palestine, Mesopotamia, Gallipoli and France. Six battalions of the Sikh Regiment were raised during World War II, serving in the Second Battle of El Alamein, the Burma and Italian campaigns and in Iraq, receiving 27 battle honours. Around the world, Sikhs are commemorated in Commonwealth cemeteries.{{cite web

| title = India's High Commission in London 'Sikhs Pioneered Britain's Multi-Cultural Society

| url = http://www.hcilondon.net/Issues-in-focus/Sikhs-pioneered-Britain's-multi-cultural-society.html

| access-date = 4 April 2008

| archive-date = 13 December 2007

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071213072258/http://www.hcilondon.net/Issues-in-focus/Sikhs-pioneered-Britain%27s-multi-cultural-society.html

| url-status = dead

}}

File:Sikhs in the First World War Q24777.jpg|Sikhs in the First World War, marching with their scripture, Guru Granth Sahib

File:SikhsInFrancePostcard.jpg|alt=Postcard of marching Sikhs with rifles|French postcard depicting the arrival of the 15th Sikh Regiment in France during World War I. The bilingual postcard reads, "Gentlemen of India marching to chasten the German hooligans."

File:Indian sikh soldiers in Italian campaign.jpg|Indian Sikh soldiers in the Italian campaign

File:Sikh soldier with captured Swastika flag.jpg|Sikh soldier with captured Swastika flag of Nazi Germany

File:Japanese shooting blindfolded Sikh prisoners.jpg|alt=See caption|Japanese soldiers shooting blindfolded Sikh prisoners in World War II

• History of Punjab
• Sikhism in Jammu and Kashmir
• Ganga Sagar (urn)
• Jat Sikh
• Sikh diaspora
• Sikh Empire
• List of British Sikhs
• Mazhabi Sikh
• Sects of Sikhism
• Sikhism by country
• Sikhism in India
• Turban training centre

{{NoteFoot}}

{{notelist}}

{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

{{reflist|group=nb}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{cite journal |last = Fair |first = C. Christine |title=Diaspora Involvement in Insurgencies: Insights from the Khalistan and Tamil Eelam Movements |journal=Nationalism and Ethnic Politics |volume=11 |year=2005 |pages=125–156 |doi = 10.1080/13537110590927845 |s2cid = 145552863 }}
• {{cite journal |last = Van Dyke |first = Virginia |title=The Khalistan Movement in Punjab, India, and the Post-Militancy Era: Structural Change and New Political Compulsions |journal=Asian Survey |volume=49 |issue=6 |year=2009 |pages=975–997 |doi = 10.1525/as.2009.49.6.975}}

{{refend}}

{{refbegin|40em}}

• The Sikhs in History: A Millennium Study by Sangat Singh, Noel Quinton King. New York, 1995. {{ISBN|81-900650-2-5}}.
• A History of the Sikhs: Volume 1: 1469–1838 by Khushwant Singh. Oxford India Paperbacks (2005). {{ISBN|0-19-567308-5}}.
• The Sikhs by Patwant Singh. Image (2001). {{ISBN|0-385-50206-0}}
• The Sikhs of the Punjab by J. S. Grewal. Published by Cambridge University Press (1998). {{ISBN|0-521-63764-3}}.
• The Sikhs: History, Religion, and Society by W. H. McLeod. Published by Columbia University Press (1989). {{ISBN|0-231-06815-8}}
• The Sikh Diaspora: Tradition and Change in an Immigrant Community (Asian Americans – Reconceptualising Culture, History, Politics) by Michael Angelo. Published by Routledge (1997). {{ISBN|0-8153-2985-7}}.
• Glory of Sikhism by R. M. Chopra, Sanbun Publishers, 2001, {{oclc|499896556}}, {{google books|VGnRPgAACAAJ|Glory of Sikhism}}.
• The Philosophical and Religious Thought of Sikhism by R. M. Chopra, 2014, Sparrow Publication, Kolkata, {{ISBN|978-81-89140-99-1}}.
• [https://books.google.com/books?id=1NKC9g2ayJEC&dq=udasi+sikh&pg=PR10 The Construction of Religious Boundaries: Culture, Identity, and Diversity in the Sikh Tradition] – H Oberoi – 1994 University of Chicago Press, {{ISBN|0-226-61592-8}}.
• Architectural Heritage of a Sikh State: Faridkot by Subhash Parihar, Delhi: Aryan Books International, 2009, {{ISBN|978-81-7305-386-3}}.
• A Study of Religions by R. M. Chopra, Anuradha Prakashan, New Delhi, 2015. {{ISBN|978-93-82339-94-6}}.

{{refend}}

{{Wiktionary|Sikh}}

{{Commons category|Sikhs}}

• [http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/sikhism/ Sikhism] at the BBC
• {{Merriam-Webster|Sikhs}}

{{Sikhism}}

Category:Punjabi words and phrases

Category:Religious identity