Sikhs
Sikhs number somewhere between 25 and 30 million people, about 0.3 to 0.4 percent of humanity as of 2024. They follow Sikhism, a religion that began in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent. Its founding teacher was Guru Nanak.
The country where Sikhs make up the largest share of the population is not India. It is Canada, where they are 2.1 percent of everyone living there.
Their story raises puzzles. Who exactly counts as a Sikh, and who decides? Why do so many Sikh men share one surname and so many Sikh women another? How did a people drawn from merchants, craftsmen and peasants come to rule a kingdom, and later fight in armies far from home? And why do Sikhs in the West so often have to explain who they are?
The Sikh Rehat Maryada, in Article I of its first chapter, gives a precise definition of who counts as a Sikh. The word itself comes from Sanskrit and means seeker. The code asks for faith in One Immortal Being and in the Guru Granth Sahib. It also names the ten Gurus, from Guru Nanak Sahib to Guru Gobind Singh Sahib. It asks for belief in their teachings and in the Amrit Sanchar, the initiation left by the tenth Guru. A Sikh must also owe allegiance to no other religion.
The surnames Singh and Kaur announce the same commitment. Male Sikhs generally carry the last name Singh, and female Sikhs generally carry Kaur. The Gurus handed out these names so that Sikhs would stand out, and as a deliberate act of defiance against India's caste system. Not every Singh is a Sikh, however. Sikhs also hold strongly to the idea of sarbat da bhala, and they are often seen on the frontline of humanitarian aid across the world.
On the 30th of March 1699, Guru Gobind Singh initiated five people drawn from a variety of social backgrounds. Known as the Panj Piare, they formed the Khalsa, a collective body of initiated Sikhs. Anyone who goes through the Amrit Sanchar is called Khalsa from the day of initiation. From then on, five articles of faith, the five Ks, must be on the body at all times.
Kesh is uncut hair, usually tied up and wrapped in a dastar, the turban. The kanga is a small wooden comb, worn to keep the hair clean and well groomed. The kachera is a cotton undergarment worn by both sexes. It stands for chastity and cleanliness, and in battle it allowed more freedom of movement than a dhoti. The kara is an iron or steel bracelet. It symbolises eternity and strength, and reminds the wearer to keep the hands from unethical acts.
The kirpan is a blade tucked into a gatra strap or a kamar kasa waistband. In the United Kingdom it may be a small dagger. In Punjab it can be a traditional curved sword between one and three feet long. It is meant only for defense and religious protection, and for use against oppression. Together the five symbols stand for honesty, equality, fidelity, meditation on Waheguru and a refusal to bow to tyranny.
The turban, however, carries a second history that begins with an army rather than a Guru.
Guru Nanak, who lived from 1469 to 1539, was born into a Hindu Khatri family in the village of Talwandi, now Nankana Sahib, near Lahore. His parents were Mehta Kalu and Mata Tripta. Throughout his life he worked as both a religious leader and a social reformer. His first followers were Khatris, and later a large number of Jats joined the faith. Khatris and Brahmins pushed back against the demand that Sikhs set aside the distinctive customs of their castes and families, including older rituals.
The 11th ballad in the Varan of Bhai Gurdas offers a snapshot of the early community. The scholar Pashaura Singh studied its references to picture who the first Sikhs were. They included Khatris, Brahmins and Jats, along with carpenters, blacksmiths, barbers, cotton-printers, water-carriers, washermen, potters and oil pressers. Masons and goldsmiths appear too, as do outcastes such as Chandals, and even Muslims.
Their place in society varied just as widely. Some were rich merchants known as Seths and Sarrafs, and others were village heads known as Chowdhury. Some were labourers, some were enslaved, and others were artisans, craftsmen, shopkeepers or simple peasants.
Most Sikhs today belong to the Jat caste, traditionally an agricultural class. The Khatri and Arora castes are very small in number, yet they carry considerable influence in the community. Every one of the Gurus came from the Khatri caste, even though they all denounced caste hierarchy. Guru Nanak called for treating everyone equally in the Guru Granth Sahib, but some Sikhs still practise caste.
Some Sikhs from the landowning dominant castes have not shed their prejudice against Dalit castes such as the Mazhabi and the Ravidasia. In certain village gurdwaras, Dalits were allowed to enter but were not permitted to cook or serve langar, the communal meal. Wherever they could gather resources, Punjab's Sikh Dalits built their own gurdwaras and local institutions to win some cultural autonomy.
In 1953, the leader and activist Master Tara Singh persuaded the Indian government to add the Sikh castes of converted untouchables to the list of scheduled castes. Of the 140 seats in the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, 20 are reserved for low-caste Sikhs.
Even the edges of the word Sikh are blurred. Karnail Singh Panjoli, a member of that committee, notes that groups such as the Sikhligarh, Vanjaarey, Nirmaley, Lubaney, Johri, Satnamiye and Udaasiyas call themselves Nanakpanthis while remaining Hindus.
Sikh scripture sets out a morning routine in some detail. The passage from the Guru Granth Sahib says a Sikh of the Guru should rise in the early hours, bathe, and meditate on the Lord's Name, chanting "Har, Har." At sunrise the Sikh should sing Gurbani, whether sitting or standing. The passage promises that sins, misdeeds and negativity will be erased.
The Sikh Rehat Maryada adds specifics. Initiated Amritdhari Khalsa Sikhs must recite, or listen to the recitation of, Japji Sahib, Jaap Sahib, the 10 Sawayyas, Sodar Rehraas and Sohila. Every Sikh is also meant to take the Hukam, the divine order, from the Guru Granth Sahib. This happens after waking in the ambrosial hours, three hours before dawn, and before eating. In his 52 Hukams, Guru Gobind Singh tells his followers to rise at Amritvela, the early morning, and to recite the late evening prayer Sohila before sleeping.
Bhai Mardana played the rebab as he accompanied Guru Nanak on his journeys. Guru Hargobind encouraged the playing of the sarangi, and Guru Arjan introduced the jori and the sarinda to devotional music. The taus, whose name means peacock in Persian, was designed by Guru Hargobind. He supposedly heard a peacock singing and wanted an instrument that mimicked its sound. Followers later asked Guru Gobind Singh for something smaller, and he designed the dilruba. After Japji Sahib, every shabad in the Guru Granth Sahib was composed as a raag. This style of singing is called Gurmat Sangeet.
During the Mughal and Afghan persecution of the 17th and 18th centuries, Sikhs focused on preserving their religion and gave little thought to art and culture. That changed with the rise of Ranjit Singh. Hindus and Sikhs could then build decorated shrines without fear of destruction or looting. Ranjit Singh commissioned forts, palaces, bungas (residential places) and colleges in a distinctly Sikh style. It is marked by gilded fluted domes, cupolas, kiosks, stone lanterns, ornate balusters and square roofs. Its pinnacle is Harmandir Sahib, also known as the Golden Temple, in Amritsar.
In 1810, Ranjit Singh occupied Kangra Fort and appointed Sardar Desa Singh Majithia as governor of the Punjab hills. In 1813 the Sikh army occupied Guler State, and Raja Bhup Singh became a vassal. Some Pahari painters from Guler then moved to Lahore to seek the Maharaja's patronage. They adapted Kangra painting into a Sikh school. Its main subjects are the ten Gurus and stories from Guru Nanak's Janamsakhis. Guru Gobind Singh left a deep impression on followers through his courage and sacrifices, and hunting scenes and portraits are also common.
Nearly every Sikh artifact, apart from the relics of the Gurus, has a military theme, and the khanda is the most obvious example. The festivals of Hola Mohalla and Vaisakhi feature marching and displays of valor. Sikhs have also adapted and pioneered the Punjabi folk dances Bhangra and Giddha and carried them around the world. Yet, as one comment puts it, "Bhangra is not a Sikh institution but a Punjabi one."
Nagara drums, usually two to three feet across and sometimes up to five, were played with two sticks as Sikh forces marched into battle. Their beat, together with the raising of the Nishan Sahib, told everyone that the Singhs were on their way.
The road to those battles ran through loss. Sikh political history may be said to begin in 1606, with the death of the fifth Guru, Guru Arjan Dev. Under the Mughal Empire two Gurus were martyred. Guru Arjan was killed on suspicion of helping a betrayal of the Emperor Jahangir, and Guru Tegh Bahadur was killed by the Emperor Aurangzeb. As the faith grew, Sikhs militarised to oppose Mughal rule.
After defeating the Afghans and the Mughals, Sikhs formed sovereign states called Misls under Jassa Singh Ahluwalia. The confederacy of these states was unified into the Sikh Empire under Maharaja Ranjit Singh. The era was marked by religious tolerance, with Christians, Muslims and Hindus holding positions of power. Its secular administration carried out military, economic and governmental reforms. The empire stretched across Kashmir, Ladakh and Peshawar, and is considered the zenith of political Sikhism. Hari Singh Nalwa, commander-in-chief of the Sikh Khalsa Army on the North-West Frontier, pushed the confederacy as far as the Khyber Pass.
When the British annexed the Sikh kingdom, they began recruiting Sikhs and Punjabis in large numbers. During the 1857 Indian mutiny the Sikhs stayed loyal to the British. Heavy recruitment from Punjab into the British Indian Army then continued for the next 90 years of the Raj. The distinct turban that sets a Sikh apart from other turban wearers is a relic of the rules of that army.
By the beginning of World War I, Sikhs in the British Indian Army totaled over 100,000, which was 20 percent of the force. Sikh battalions fought in Egypt, Palestine, Mesopotamia, Gallipoli and France. Until 1945, fourteen Victoria Crosses were awarded to Sikhs, a per-capita regimental record. In World War II, six battalions of the Sikh Regiment were raised. They served in the Second Battle of El Alamein, the Burma and Italian campaigns and in Iraq, and earned 27 battle honours. Sikhs are commemorated in Commonwealth cemeteries around the world.
In 2002, the names of all Sikh recipients of the Victoria Cross and the George Cross were inscribed on the Memorial Gates on Constitution Hill, next to Buckingham Palace. Chanan Singh Dhillon was instrumental in campaigning for the memorial.
The Sikh Regiment of the Indian Army stands among its most decorated units. Its record includes 73 Battle Honours, 15 Theatre Honours, two Param Vir Chakras, 14 Maha Vir Chakras and 67 Vir Chakras. It also holds 1,596 other awards. Along with the Gurkhas, the Maratha Light Infantry and the Jat Regiment, the Sikhs are one of the few communities with exclusive regiments. The highest-ranking general in the history of the Indian Air Force is a Punjabi Sikh, Marshal of the Air Force Arjan Singh. A 1991 report by Tim McGirk estimated that 20 percent of Indian Army officers were Sikhs.
British rule also stirred reform at home. The First and Second Singh Sabha were formed in 1873 and 1879. Their leaders worked to define Sikh identity clearly and to purify belief and practice. In the early 1920s the Akali movement pressed for reform of the gurdwaras. It led to the Sikh Gurdwara Bill of 1925, which placed all the historical Sikh shrines in India under the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. In June 2007, plans by the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence for a Sikh infantry regiment were scrapped.
In 1946, the Shiromani Akali Dal passed the Sikh State Resolution, which favoured an undivided Azad Punjab as an independent Sikh State, or Khalistan. Sikh organisations, including the Chief Khalsa Dewan and the Akali Dal led by Master Tara Singh, condemned the Lahore Resolution and the movement to create Pakistan. They feared it invited persecution. The Sikh ruler of Kapurthala State also fought partition and advocated a united, secular country.
The months before the 1947 partition of Punjab were marked by conflict between Sikhs and Muslims. Punjabi Sikhs and Hindus migrated from West Punjab to the east, into modern India. At the same time, Punjabi Muslims migrated from East Punjab to the west, into modern Pakistan.
After partition, India began redrawing its states along demographic and linguistic lines. Punjabi, Sindhi and Urdu were the only languages not considered for statehood. In April 1948, Master Tara Singh presented a Punjabi Suba, a Punjabi-speaking state, as a policy. On the 26th of January 1950, Sikh representatives refused to sign the Indian constitution. Sikhs were classed as Hindus, and they did not receive the scheduled caste concessions given to Hindu scheduled castes.
The campaign for a Punjabi Suba met a heavy government crackdown, and the Congress government arrested as many as 21,000 people. Negotiations twice ended with the agitation being adjourned, but Jawaharlal Nehru kept rejecting the demand. On the 4th of July 1955, police forces led by DIG Ashwini Kumar forced their way into the Golden Temple premises. They arrested protestors, along with the head granthis of the Akal Takht and the Golden Temple, volunteers and even the cooks of the temple's langar. Batons, tear gas and shells were used to disperse the crowd, and the pool of the temple was damaged. Over 200 protestors were killed, thousands were arrested, and thousands more, including women and children, were injured.
The Congress government agreed to the Punjab Suba in 1966, after protests and a recommendation from the States Reorganisation Commission. East Punjab was split into Himachal Pradesh, the new state of Haryana and present-day Punjab. Punjabi-speaking areas were left out of the new state and given to Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. As a result Punjab ended up roughly 35,000 square miles smaller than the Punjabi-speaking areas on pre-1947 census figures. Chandigarh was made a shared union territory, serving as capital of both Punjab and Haryana. Sikhs remained highly dissatisfied.
The Green Revolution was first introduced in India in Punjab in the late 1960s, as part of a development program backed by international donor agencies and the Government of India. The Swedish political scientist Ishtiaq Ahmad credited the Sikh cultivator, often a Jat or Kamboj, with courage and perseverance that proved crucial to its success. India's 2001 census found that 39 percent of Punjab's working population was employed in agriculture.
The physicist Vandana Shiva took a darker view. She argued that the revolution hid its destructive effects on nature and society, and that it was a catalyst for tension between Punjabi Sikhs and Hindus despite a growth in material wealth. Mechanised farming spread wealth unevenly, and the Indian government was reluctant to build heavy industry in a high-risk border state. More higher education without more jobs left educated youth unemployed.
In 1973, the Akali Dal put forward the Anandpur Sahib Resolution, a response to unaddressed grievances and growing inequality. It asked for Sikhism to be recognised as a religion and demanded the devolution of power from the central to the state governments. The government rejected it as a secessionist document. Thousands joined the movement, which promised answers on a larger share of water for irrigation and the return of Chandigarh to Punjab.
After unsuccessful negotiations, the Akali Dal launched the Dharam Yuddh Morcha on the 4th of August 1982, in partnership with Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. Police met protestors with harsh methods, and the repression touched a very large part of Punjab's population. Retaliatory violence from a section of the Sikh population followed. Bhindranwale gained prominence, and demands for independence found an audience even among moderates and Sikh intellectuals. Over 190 Sikhs were killed in the first 19 months of the protest movement.
A Grain Roko morcha was planned for the 3rd of June 1984. Protestors would refuse to pay land revenue, water or electricity bills, and would block grain from leaving Punjab. On the 1st of June, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi launched Operation Blue Star to remove Bhindranwale from the Golden Temple. Her assassination by her Sikh bodyguards followed. It was followed in turn by government-sponsored pogroms against Sikh communities across India, in which thousands of Sikhs were killed. These events triggered an insurgency in Punjab that lasted until the early 1990s.
The call for Khalistan, a separate Sikh homeland, had begun far from Punjab. In 1971, an expatriate named Jagjit Singh Chohan published the first explicit call for it in an advertisement in the New York Times. By proclaiming the new country he collected millions of dollars from the Sikh diaspora. On the 12th of April 1980, he declared a National Council of Khalistan at Anandpur Sahib, named himself its President and made Balbir Singh Sandhu its Secretary General. In May 1980 Chohan announced Khalistan in London, and Sandhu made a similar announcement in Amritsar, where he began releasing stamps and currency. Harchand Singh Longowal's Akali Dal decried the authorities' inaction as a political stunt by Indira Gandhi's Congress(I) party.
The movement flourished in Punjab after Operation Blue Star and the pogroms, as it drew funding from a grieving diaspora. In June 1985, the militant organisation Babbar Khalsa bombed Air India Flight 182. In January 1986, militants from the All India Sikh Students Federation and the Damdami Taksal occupied the Golden Temple. On the 26th of January 1986, a gathering known as the Sarbat Khalsa, a de facto parliament, passed a resolution favouring Khalistan. Rebel groups then waged a major insurgency against the Indian government.
Indian security forces suppressed it in the early 1990s. The movement failed to reach its goal because of a heavy police crackdown, divisions among Sikhs and a loss of support from the Sikh population. Political groups such as the Khalsa Raj Party and SAD (A) kept pursuing independence by non-violent means. Dal Khalsa (International) remains active outside India. There are claims that funding from Sikhs abroad draws young people into militant groups, and claims that Pakistan's intelligence agency, the ISI, supports the movement.
Sikh migration from British India began in earnest in the second half of the 19th century, after the British completed their annexation of Punjab. During the Raj, semiskilled Sikh artisans were transported to British East Africa to help build railroads. After World War II most emigrants went to the United Kingdom, and many also went to North America. In 1972, Ugandan dictator Idi Amin expelled Sikhs who had settled in eastern Africa. Economics is a major driver, and significant communities exist in the United Kingdom, the United States, Malaysia, East Africa, Australia, Singapore and Thailand.
Afghanistan was home to hundreds of thousands of Sikhs and Hindus in the 1970s. After the wars of the 2010s, the vast majority had moved to India, Pakistan or the West. Stricter immigration laws changed older patterns. The scholar Moliner wrote in 2006 that migration to the UK had been virtually impossible since the late 1970s, and so migration turned to continental Europe. Italy is a fast-growing destination, with Sikh clusters in Reggio Emilia and Vicenza. Italian Sikhs work in agriculture, agricultural processing, machine-tool manufacturing and horticulture.
Today, 24 to 28 million of the world's 26 to 30 million Sikhs live in India, around 90 percent of the total. About 76 percent of Indian Sikhs live in Punjab, where they form a majority of around 58 percent, roughly 16 million people. Chandigarh is 13.1 percent Sikh. In Canada, British Columbia holds nearly 300,000 Sikhs, about 5.9 percent of the province. That is the third-largest Sikh proportion of any administrative division, behind only Punjab and Chandigarh. Yet recent school data shows Sikh children at just 49 percent of the youngest age group in Punjab. Low fertility, emigration and migration into Punjab from other states are cited as causes.
The Sikh population has the lowest gender balance in India, with only 903 women per 1,000 men in the 2011 census. Sikhs worldwide have the lowest fertility rate of any group, at 1.6 children per woman. Even so, Sikhism is the fastest-growing religion in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, driven mainly by immigration. It is the fourth-largest religion in Canada and the fifth-largest in Australia and New Zealand.
On the day of the 11th of September attacks and the Iraq War that followed, Sikh men in Western countries began to be mistaken for Muslims, Arabs or Afghans because of their turbans and beards. Several days after the 9/11 attacks, a gas station owner named Balbir Singh Sodhi was murdered in Arizona by a man who took him to be a member of al-Qaeda. It is regarded as the first recorded hate crime in America motivated by 9/11.
Recognition has been won in courts and legislatures. The UK treats Sikhs as an ethno-religious people as a result of the Mandla v Dowell-Lee case in 1982, and as of 2020 the United States considers Sikhs a separate ethnic group. In 2010, the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund overturned a 1925 Oregon law that banned teachers and government officials from wearing turbans. In May 2019 the UK government exempted the kirpan from its list of banned knives.
British Sikhs have the highest home ownership of any religious community in the UK, at 82 percent. They are the second-wealthiest religious group there, after the Jewish community. Sikhs have reached the top of public life, too. Manmohan Singh served as the 13th Prime Minister of India from 2004 to 2014, the first and only Sikh and non-Hindu in office. Ajaypal Singh Banga became chief executive of Mastercard, and Bob Singh Dhillon became the first Indo-Canadian billionaire.
In December 2022, a court order compelled the U.S. Marine Corps to allow two Sikhs to wear the turban and grow beards.
Updated
Common questions
Who are the Sikhs and what do they believe?
Sikhs are followers of Sikhism, a religion that began in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the teachings of Guru Nanak. The Sikh Rehat Maryada defines a Sikh as someone who believes in One Immortal Being, the ten Gurus, the Guru Granth Sahib, the teachings of the Gurus and the Amrit Sanchar initiation, and who owes allegiance to no other religion.
How many Sikhs are there in the world?
Sikhs number about 25 to 30 million people, roughly 0.3 to 0.4 percent of the world population in 2024. Around 90 percent of them live in India, and about 76 percent of Indian Sikhs live in Punjab.
What are the five Ks that Sikhs wear?
The five Ks are kesh (uncut hair), kanga (a wooden comb), kachera (a cotton undergarment), kara (an iron or steel bracelet) and kirpan (a blade). Initiated Khalsa Sikhs must wear them at all times, and they stand for honesty, equality, fidelity, meditation on Waheguru and refusal to bow to tyranny.
Why do Sikhs use the surnames Singh and Kaur?
Male Sikhs generally use Singh and female Sikhs generally use Kaur because the Gurus gave these names so Sikhs would stand out. The names were also an act of defiance against India's caste system. Not every Singh is a Sikh.
When was the Khalsa created by Guru Gobind Singh?
Guru Gobind Singh formed the Khalsa on the 30th of March 1699. He initiated five people from a variety of social backgrounds, known as the Panj Piare, to create a collective body of initiated Sikhs.
Which country has the largest share of Sikhs?
Canada has the largest national Sikh proportion in the world, at 2.1 percent of its population. Within India, the state of Punjab holds a Sikh majority of about 58 percent.
Why do Sikhs wear turbans, and where does the distinct Sikh turban come from?
The turban, or dastar, covers the uncut hair that is one of the five Ks worn by initiated Sikhs. The distinct turban that sets a Sikh apart from other turban wearers is also a relic of the rules of the British Indian Army.
What happened to Sikhs in the 1984 Operation Blue Star period?
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi launched Operation Blue Star on the 1st of June 1984 to remove Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale from the Golden Temple. Her assassination by her Sikh bodyguards was followed by government-sponsored pogroms against Sikhs across India, which killed thousands, and an insurgency in Punjab lasted into the early 1990s.
All sources
207 references cited across the entry
- 1April 2022: Sikh Awareness and Appreciation MonthState of Michigan Office of the Governor
- 2US Sikhs tirelessly travel their communities to feed hungry AmericansCNN — 9 July 2020
- 3A Brief Introduction to SikhismWTTW — 5 May 2021
- 7NewsSidhu wrongly quotes Sikh population as 14 crores11 November 2019
- 8India People and SocietyThe World Factbook
- 9Sikh Population in World | Sikh Population in India 202322 December 2021
- 11Religion by visible minority and generation status: Canada, provinces and territories, census metropolitan areas and census agglomerations with partsStatistics Canada Government of Canada — 26 October 2022
- 12The Daily – The Canadian census: A rich portrait of the country's religious and ethnocultural diversityStatistics Canada Government of Canada — 26 October 2022
- 14Religion (detailed): All peopleNational Records of Scotland
- 15Religion – Full Detail: QS218NINorthern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency
- 16Does the Census Bureau have data for religion?U.S. Census Bureau
- 17Asian Indian Was The Largest Asian Alone Population Group in 2020U.S. Census Bureau
- 18Census Profile, 2021 Census of PopulationStatistics Canada — 9 February 2022
- 20How Many U.S. Sikhs?Pew Research Center — 6 August 2012
- 21About SikhsSikh Coalition
- 22H. RES. 275–118th Congress (2023–2024)United States Congress — 10 April 2023
- 23Sikhism Reporter's GuideSikh Coalition
- 24The Sikh Community TodayHarvard University
- 25American Sikhs are targets of bigotry, often due to cultural ignoranceReligion News Service — 10 August 2022
- 26Sikhs in America:A History of HateProPublica — 4 August 2017
- 27Want to know about Sikhism?WUWM — 23 May 2022
- 28Asian Americans: A Mosaic of FaithsPew Research Center — 19 July 2012
- 292020 National Sikh American Survey: Key FindingsSikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund — 23 October 2020
- 30DP05ACS Demographic and Housing EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau
- 37BookGlobalizing Belief, Localizing GodsBarbara Bertolani — Brill Publishers — 2013
- 45On the Gurdwara Trail in Malaysia: A Spiritual Experience20 January 2023
- 46Thailand
- 52BookThe Oxford Handbook of Sikh StudiesPashaura Singh et al. — OUP Oxford — 2014
- 53BookThe Making of Sikh scriptureGurinder Singh Mann — Oxford University Press — 2001
- 56BookSikhism: An IntroductionNikky-Guninder Kaur Singh — I.B. Tauris — 2011
- 57JournalThe Sikhs – religion and nation. Chosen political and social determinants of functioningMarek Barwiński et al. — 30 December 2019
- 58Rethinking religion and nationalism: The case of the Sikhs – Religion and Global SocietyFlora Rustamova — 16 January 2023
- 59JournalSikhs: A Stateless Nation, a Powerful Cohesive Diaspora and a Mistaken IdentityAndrew Milne — 1 December 2022
- 60JournalGuru Nanak and Origins of the Sikh FaithS. Cromwell Crawford et al. — July 1971
- 61BookThe Illustrated History of the SikhsKhushwant Singh — Oxford University Press — 2006
- 62Bookਗੁਰ ਸ਼ਬਦ ਰਤਨਾਕਰ ਮਹਾਨ ਕੋਸ਼Kahan Singh Nabha — 1930
- 66Key Findings From the Global Religious Futures ProjectReem Nadeem — 21 December 2022
- 67Religion in England and Wales 2011ONS — UK Statistics Authority — 11 December 2012
- 68Sikhs to be counted as separate ethnic group in 2020 US Census; community hails recognition of distinct language, culturePress Trust of India — 15 January 2020
- 69Anti-Discrimination (Amendment) Bill – 11/05/1994 – 2R COMM – NSW ParliamentParliament.nsw.gov.au — 11 May 1994
- 71The Khalsa History of Sikhism SikhismBBC — 29 August 2003
- 72BookThe SikhsPatwant Singh — Knopf — 2000
- 73BookIndia in the Persianate Age: 1000–1765Richard M. Eaton — Penguin — 2019
- 74BookWhen Sparrows Became Hawks: The Making of the Sikh Warrior Tradition, 1699–1799Purnima Dhavan — Oxford University Press — 2011
- 75BookLife and Work of Guru Arjan: History, Memory, and Biography in the Sikh TraditionPashaura Singh — Oxford University Press — 2006
- 76JournalSikhs and Muslims in the PunjabHew McLeod — 1987
- 78BookMaharaja Ranjit Singh: Lord of the Five Rivers (French Sources of Indian History Sources)Jean-Marie Lafont — Oxford University Press — 16 May 2002
- 79BookBetween Colonialism and Diaspora: Sikh Cultural Formations in an Imperial WorldTony Ballantyne — Duke University Press — 2006
- 80BookColonialism and Its Forms of Knowledge: The British in IndiaBernard S Cohn — Princeton University Press — 1996
- 81BookThe Construction of Religious Boundaries: Culture, Identity, and Diversity in the Sikh TraditionHarjot Oberoi — University of Chicago Press — 1994
- 82BookSikhism: A Very Short IntroductionEleanor Nesbitt — Oxford University Press — 2005
- 83An undivided India?NDTV — 29 August 2009
- 84BookThe Aftermath of Partition in South AsiaGyanesh Kudaisya et al. — Routledge — 2004
- 85The forgotten massacreAbdul Majeed Abid — 29 December 2014
- 86JournalDiffusion of Sikhism and recent migration patterns of Sikhs in IndiaAmitava Dutt et al. — 23 September 1977
- 87BookIdentity and Survival: Sikh Militancy in India, 1978–1993Kirpal S. Dhillon — Penguin Books — 2006
- 88Aspects of India's International Relations, 1700 to 2000: South Asia and the WorldJayanta Kumar Ray — Pearson Education India — 2007
- 89JournalThe Language Divide in PunjabAtamjit Singh — Apna
- 90JournalGreen Revolution Revisited: The Contemporary Agrarian Situation in Punjab, IndiaSwarup Dutta — June 2012
- 91BookThe State of India's DemocracySumit Ganguly et al. — JHU Press — 2007
- 92BookExpanding Governmental Lawlessness and Organized StrugglesAkshayakumar Ramanlal Desai — Popular Prakashan — 1991
- 93JournalIn Search of a New Kingdom of LahoreJoyce Pettigrew — 1987
- 94BookTruth about Punjab: SGPC White PaperGurdarshan Singh Dhillon — Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee — 1996
- 95NewsAssassination in India: Sikhs at the centre of the drama; Sikh separation dates back to '47Eric Pace — 1 November 1984
- 99BookUnsettling Sikh and Muslim Conflict: Mistaken Identities, Forced Conversions, and Postcolonial FormationsKaty Sian — Rowman & Littlefield — 2013
- 100BookPunjab Painting: Study in Art and CultureR. P. Srivastava — Abhinav Publications — 1983
- 105MagazineGuru Nanak Math On Verge Of Vanishing
- 106Gurudwara Guru Nanak Math, KathmanduWorld Gurudwaras
- 111BookSikhism: A Very Short IntroductionEleanor Nesbitt — Oxford University Press — 2005
- 112BookGlobalization and Religious Nationalism in IndiaCatarina Kinnvall — Routledge — 2007
- 113BookTerrorism in ContextMartha Crenshaw — Pennsylvania State University — 1995
- 114The foreign policy of Pakistan: ethnic impacts on diplomacy, 1971–1994 – Mehtab Ali Shah "Such is the political, psychological and religious attachment of the Sikhs to that city that a Khalistan witho
- 115Amritsar to Lahore: A Journey Across the India-Pakistan Border – Stephen Alter "Ever since the separatist movement gathered force in the 1980s, Pakistan has sided with the Sikhs, the territorial ambit
- 116BookSikhism and Indian CivilizationRaj Pruthi — Discovery Publishing House — 2004
- 117NewsJagjit Singh Chauhan, Sikh Militant Leader in India, Dies at 80Haresh Pandya — 11 April 2007
- 118BookTragedy of PunjabKuldip Nayar — Vision Books — 1985
- 119BookKhalistan: An Academic AnalysisSatinder Singh — Amar Prakashan — 1982
- 120NewsJagmeet Singh Now Rejects Glorification of Air India Bombing mastermindCBC News — 15 March 2018
- 121Sikh Temple Sit-In Is a Challenge for Punjab, The New York Times 2 February 1986
- 122Amnesty International report on PunjabAmnesty International — 20 January 2003
- 123The Tribune, Chandigarh, India – PunjabTribuneindia.com
- 124SAD (A) to Contest the Coming SGPC Elections on Khalistan Issue: MannPunjabNewsline.com — 14 January 2010
- 125NewsThe Ghost of KhalistanBalbair Punj — 16 June 2005
- 126NewsIndia gives Trudeau list of suspected Sikh separatists in Canada22 February 2018
- 128NewsSikh separatists 'funded from UK'BBC — 4 March 2008
- 129ISI trying to revive Khalistan movement, says government27 December 2017
- 130Pakistan ISI tapping into J&K terror network to fuel pro-Khalistan sentiments: SourcesDalip Singh — 15 May 2022
- 134Why Sikhism As Registered Religion in Austria Matters10 November 2019
- 135List of religious populations: Populations of world religions in 2020Charles Preston — 2 July 2024
- 139Population by religion community – 2011The Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India
- 141NewsImpact of emigration in Punjab: School data shows shift in demographyI. P. Singh — 5 March 2025
- 147"Population by religion, region and area, 2010" (PDF). NSO. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
- 150Irish census
- 152"MS-B21: Religion – full detail". Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency.
- 153Sikhism2007
- 154Afghan Sikhs are targeted by the Taliban and unable to even bury their deadThe Week — 12 November 2019
- 155Nearly 99% Of Hindus, Sikhs Left Afghanistan in Last Three decadesTOLOnews — 20 June 2016
- 156Little reason to migrate to India, say Afghan SikhsAA — 17 December 2019
- 157BookMigration Patterns – Workshop on Indian MigrationChristine Moliner — Laboratoire d'Anthropologie Urbaine/CNRS — 2006
- 158JournalSikh Storia e immigrazione – The Sikhs: History and ImmigrationRalph Ciprani — 14 May 2006
- 159NewsNow, Sikhs Do a Canada in ItalyIANS — NRIinternet — 15 September 2004
- 160NewsItaly may open VISA office in Chandigarh very soonKulwinder Singh — NRIinternet — 11 August 2007
- 161We need to worry about the decline in Sikh numbersDailyo.in — 27 August 2015
- 162Proportion and growth rate of population by religious communities, India, 1961–2001CensusIndia — 6 September 2004
- 163India witnesses decline in population growth rate and fertility across religious groupsThe News Minute — 4 October 2021
- 164NewsIndia's fertility rate dips below replacement level: What does it mean? | Business Standard NewsKrishna Veera Vanamali — Wap.business-standard.com — 18 May 2022
- 165Census shocker: Sikhs report lowest sex ratioAditi Tandon — 27 August 2015
- 166There could be more Sikhs in the future – maybe.Rupinder Mohan Singh — 28 January 2016
- 167Behind the decline16 September 2015
- 1692011 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 SurveyStatistics Canada Government of Canada — 23 January 2019
- 170NewsWhat is the Fastest Growing Religion in Australia?10 June 2020
- 173Sri Guru Granth Sahib Translation, p. 2Sant Singh Khalsa — Srigranth.org
- 174Sri Guru Granth Sahib Translation, p. 15Sant Singh Khalsa — Srigranth.org
- 175Sri Guru Granth Sahib Translation, p. 278Sant Singh Khalsa — Srigranth.org
- 176BookThe Construction of Religious Boundaries: Culture, Identity, and Diversity in the Sikh TraditionHarjot Oberoi — Oxford — 1994
- 177BookEncyclopedia of Medical Anthropology: Health and Illness in the World's CulturesSunil K. Khanna — Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers — 2004
- 178BookSouth Asian Politics and ReligionDon — Princeton University Press — 2015
- 180JournalCaste and Untouchability in Rural PunjabSurinder S. Jodhka — 11–17 May 2002
- 183NewsHate crime reports up in wake of terrorist attacksCNN — 17 September 2001
- 184NewsSikhs Urging Action on Faith HateBBC News — 5 November 2006
- 185SYANA Sikh Youth Symposium 2024Sameep Singh Gumtala
- 186SymposiumSikh Youth Alliance
- 187Housing: Sikhs most likely to own their own homes ReligionONS — UK Statistics Authority — 11 October 2004
- 188An Anatomy of Economic Inequality in the UKThe London School of Economics – The Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion — 29 January 2010
- 190NewsUK gets new weapons act, secures Sikh right to carry kirpans18 May 2019
- 192NewsWorld Bank Loan for India Farmers27 June 2007
- 193Agriculture and Allied Sector Economy and InfrastructureGovernment of Punjab
- 194West and East Punjab Agriculture: A Comparison CommentAhmad Ishtiaq — 8 February 2005
- 195The cause and effects of the Green Revolution in Punjab (India) – critical analysis of "The Violence of the Green Revolution" by Vandana Shiva (1991)Guus Geurts Studentnummer — Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen — 5 March 2001
- 196About JASPAL GroupJASPAL Group — 2011
- 197NewsIndia's Richest: #24 Malvinder & Shivinder Singh16 November 2006
- 198NewsSingapore's 40 Richest: #25 Kartar Singh Thakral24 August 2006
- 200JournalThe Indian Armed Forces' Sikh and Non-Sikh Officers' Opinions of Operation Blue StarApurba Kundu — Spring 1994
- 202NewsHistory of Sikh Gallantry24 June 2007
- 203Marshal of the Air Force Arjan SinghJagan Pillarisetti
- 204NewsSikh Regiment Dumped over 'Racism' FearsSean Rayment — 24 June 2007
- 205BookThe Land of Five Rivers: An Economic History of the Punjab from Earliest Times to the Year of Grace 1890Hugh Kennedy Trevaskis — Oxford University Press — 1928
- 209JournalDiaspora Involvement in Insurgencies: Insights from the Khalistan and Tamil Eelam MovementsC. Christine Fair — 2005
- 210JournalThe Khalistan Movement in Punjab, India, and the Post-Militancy Era: Structural Change and New Political CompulsionsVirginia Van Dyke — 2009