Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh religion, was born on the 15th of April, 1469, in the village of Talwandi, near Lahore.

His village was a tough one, as it was constantly under attack from invading armies. This, added to the fact that the Hindu castes (a kind of class, from the Untouchables, who were outcasts, to the priestly Brahmins) were always fighting, both among themselves and with the Muslims who were heading into the area, gave Nanak an idea of the intolerance of some religions for others. Nanak's family were all Hindus. In the area where he lived, the two religions were unaffected by the greater clashes and lived side by side, shown by the fact that a Muslim was his mother's midwife, and that his father worked for a Muslim. One of his earliest thoughts about religion was this quote, now in the Guru Granth Sahib. "There is no Hindu, there is no Mussalman" (Mussalman means Muslim)

His father wanted him to go into business, but Nanak was always very religious. When his friends were playing games, he would talk with wandering mystics. When he went into school at seven, his teacher soon realized that he was an extraordinary pupil. He could write within days of first seeing a slate. His father could not understand his lack of interest in business, and thought that a change of teachers might help. It didn't, although Nanak learnt several languages from his three tutors.

He was always questioning tradition, and, at the age of eleven, did something that his friends and family were very confused by. At that age, a ceremony was performed, and from that day on you were expected to wear a sacred thread from your shoulder to your hip. Nanak refused, saying that the thread meant nothing, and that you should be a good person to prove your holiness.