Sikhism was founded in the 15^th century by an Indian man named Guru Nanak. He believed and tried to practice all his ideals. During his life he travelled widely, from his birthplace in Punjab to Mecca, Baghdad, Tibet and Sri Lanka.

  At the time when it was founded, Sikhism was seen as radical, and attracted many followers. Though Guru Nanak ideas were similar to other religious leaders, they were still new and appealed widely. Guru Nanak was succeeded by nine other Gurus, Angad, Amar Das, Ram Das, Arjan Dev, Hargobind, Har Rai, Har Krishan and Tegh Bahadur. Each of these was notable for how they altered the course of the religion.

Guru Angad was Guru between 1539 and 1552. During that time he established the Gurmukhi (from the mouth of the Guru) script, which is written in Punjabi.

Guru Amar Das was Guru from 1552 to 1574. He founded Goindwal, and encouraged, as did his successors, Sikhs to go there twice a year.

Guru Ram Das was Guru from 1574 to 1581. He is remembered for founding the Darbar Sahib, or Golden Temple, at its current site in Amritsar.

Guru Arjan Dev was the Guru from 1581 to 1606. During his time as Guru, Sikhism had developed a considerable following in the central area of the Punjab. During his Guruship the Golden Temple was completed and the Guru Granth Sahib text compiled. The increasing influence of Sikhism, however, led the Mughal emperor Jahangir to stop the new religion from growing. This led to Guru Arjan Dev being killed and becoming a martyr in 1606.

Guru Hargobind was Guru from 1606 to 1644. He reacted to Jahangir's attacks on his faith and the death of Arjan Dev by establishing a fortress at Amritsar (near the Golden Temple) and a seat of authority inside the Golden Temple complex. He also decided to wear two swords at all times, each representing either the spiritual or the physical Sikh world.

Gurus Har Rai(1644-1661) and Har Krishan(1661-1664) led during a fairly uneventful time in Sikh history, as they both tried to avoid conflict with Mughal emperors.

Guru Tegh Bahadur was Guru from 1664 to 1675. He was killed after protesting to the emperor Aurangzeb about the religious persecution of Kashmiri teachers.

Guru Gobind Singh led the Sikhs from 1675 to 1708. During his time as Guru the Sikh religion was coming into conflict with the Hindu and Mughal rulers in the Punjab. In 1699 he decided to aid the development of the community by founding the Khalsa. Upon his death Guru Gobind Singh placed the guruship in the Guru Granth Sahib, the text compiled during Guru Arjan Dev's guruship. Thus, the spiritual and physical were embodied in the Guru Panth (the physical Sikh community) and the Guru Granth Sahib, which would spiritually guide it. Gobind Singh was the last Sikh Guru.

The Darbar Sahib, or Golden Temple, at Amritsar. It was founded by Guru Ram Das and completed by Guru Arjan Dev.