Sikhism

===Historical influences===
The roots of the Sikh tradition are, states Louis Fenech, perhaps in the [[Sant (religion)|Sant]]-tradition of India whose ideology grew to become the Bhakti tradition.<ref name="Louis Fenech 2014 page 35" group="lower-roman" /> Furthermore, adds Fenech:<ref>{{cite book |first=Louis |last=Fenech |date=2014 |title=The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies |editor1-first=Pashaura |editor1-last=Singh |editor2-first=Louis E. |editor2-last=Fenech |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-969930-8 |page=36}}</ref>
{{blockquote|Few Sikhs would mention these Indic texts and ideologies in the same breadth as the Sikh tradition, let alone trace elements of their tradition to this chronological and ideological point, {{em|despite the fact}} that the Indic mythology permeates the Sikh sacred canon, the ''Guru Granth Sahib'', and the secondary canon, the ''Dasam Granth''&nbsp;... and adds delicate nuance and substance to the sacred symbolic universe of the Sikhs of today and of their past ancestors.}}

The development of Sikhism was influenced by the [[Bhakti movement]];<ref name="David Lorenzen 1995 pages 1-2" group="lower-roman">"Historically, Sikh religion derives from this nirguni current of bhakti religion." (Lorenzen 1995, pp. 1–2).</ref><ref name="Louis Fenech 2014 page 35" group="lower-roman">"Technically this would place the Sikh community's origins at a much further remove than 1469, perhaps to the dawning of the Sant movement, which possesses clear affinities to Guru Nanak's thought sometime in the tenth century. The predominant ideology of the Sant ''parampara'' in turn corresponds in many respects to the much wider devotional Bhakti tradition in northern India. (Pashaura and Fenech 2014, p. 35).</ref><ref name="encyclobritannicasikh" group="lower-roman">"In its earliest stage Sikhism was clearly a movement within the Hindu tradition; Nanak was raised a Hindu and eventually belonged to the Sant tradition of northern India." (McLeod 2019/1998).</ref><ref name="Kitagawa2013">{{cite book |first=Joseph |last=Kitagawa |title=The Religious Traditions of Asia: Religion, History, and Culture|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=kfyzAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA111|date=5 September 2013|publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |location=Abingdon-on-Thames, England |isbn=978-1-136-87597-7|pages=111–}}</ref> however, Sikhism was not simply an extension of the Bhakti movement.<ref name="Singha" /><ref name="Pruthi">{{cite book |isbn=978-81-7141-879-4 |title=Sikhism and Indian Civilization |publisher=Discovery Publishing House |last=Pruthi |first=R. K. |date=2004 |location=New Delhi |pages=202–203}}</ref> Sikhism, for instance, disagreed with some of the views of Bhakti saints Kabir and Ravidas.<ref group="lower-roman">These views include Sikhs believing in achieving blissful mukhti while alive, Sikhs placing emphasis on the path of the householder, Sikhs disbelief in [[Ahinsa]], and the Sikhs afterlife aspect of merging with God rather than a physical heaven.</ref><ref name="Pruthi" /> Sikhism developed while the region was being ruled by the [[Mughal Empire]]. Two of the Sikh Gurus, [[Guru Arjan]] and [[Guru Tegh Bahadur]], refused to convert to Islam and were tortured and executed by the Mughal rulers.<ref name=pashauraarjan>Pashaura Singh (2005), Understanding the Martyrdom of Guru Arjan, Journal of Punjab Studies, 12(1), pp. 29–62</ref><ref>Gandhi, Surjit (2008), ''History of Sikh Gurus Retold: 1606–1708''; New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers<!--NOT Atlantic Books, of London.-->; {{ISBN|978-81-269-0858-5}}, pp. 689–690</ref> The Islamic era persecution of Sikhs triggered the founding of the [[Khalsa]], as an order for freedom of conscience and religion.<ref name=pashauraarjan/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Johar|first1=Surinder|title=Guru Gobind Singh: A Multi-faceted Personality|date=1999|publisher=M.D. Publications Pvt. Ltd. |isbn=978-81-7533-093-1|page=89}}</ref><ref name="Gandhi">{{cite book |title=History of Sikh Gurus Retold: 1606–1708 |publisher=Atlantic Publishers<!--NOT Atlantic Books, of London--> |location=New Delhi |last=Gandhi |first=Surjit Singh |date=1 February 2008 |pages=676–677 |isbn=978-81-269-0857-8}}</ref> A Sikh is expected to embody the qualities of a "Sant-Sipāhī"{{spaced ndash}} a [[Sant Sipahi|saint-soldier]].<ref name="Chanchreek 2007 142">{{cite book |last=Chanchreek |first=Jain |title=Encyclopaedia of Great Festivals |date=2007 |publisher=Shree Publishers |isbn=978-81-8329-191-0 |page=142}}</ref><ref name="Dugga 2001 33">{{cite book |last=Dugga|first=Kartar|title=Maharaja Ranjit Singh: The Last to Lay Arms|date=2001|publisher=Abhinav Publications |isbn=978-81-7017-410-3|page=33}}</ref>