228 Part III: South Asia
Guru Nanak was followed by a sequence of 10 gurus, all members of his
family and Khatri caste (much as the Shias believed Muslims should be led by
persons of Muhammad’s own bloodline), who led the growing community of
Sikh believers. The Fifth Guru, Arjun, founded the Golden Temple at Amrit-
sar, known as the Harimandir, in 1604 and compiled the hymns and teachings
of previous gurus, including his own, in the authoritative Adi Granth, Sikh-
ism’s sacred book. The growing influence of the Sikhs came to be seen as a
threat to the Mughals, and Guru Arjun was executed by Shah Jahan, becoming
the first martyr.
But Sikhism kept growing. In the seventeenth century, there were large-
scale conversions from a powerful landowning and agricultural caste, the Jats.
Both Khatris and Jats were large and powerful Hindu castes, which may partly
account for the continued political success of the Sikhs, and a worry to the
Mughals, who were now at their height.
The Ninth Guru, Tegh Bahadur, was executed in Delhi. His son, Guru
Gobind Singh, would be the Tenth and last Guru. He reorganized the commu-
nity around himself, much like a court, and established an elite community
among the Sikhs known as the Khalsa (pure). It was founded in 1699 when
Sikhs of five different castes ceremonially drank from the same bowl and were
given a new name, Singh, while their women took the name Kaur. The Khalsa
also adopted a set of identifying markers for Sikhs, which have made maleCelebrating the birth of Guru Nanak, these five men are dressed as the panj pyare, or
“five beloved,” the elite community founded in 1699 by Guru Gobind Singh. They
wear the militant dress for which Sikhs became famous, leading the defense of Sikhs
against the Mughals.