Nanakpanthi (

Gurmukhi Gurmukhī ( pa, ਗੁਰਮੁਖੀ, , Shahmukhi: ) is an abugida developed from the Laṇḍā scripts, standardized and used by the second Sikh guru, Guru Angad (1504–1552). It is used by Punjabi Sikhs to write the language, commonly r ...

: ਨਾਨਕਪੰਥੀ; ''nānakapathī'') is a follower of the teachings of

Guru Nanak Gurū Nānak (15 April 1469 – 22 September 1539; Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰੂ ਨਾਨਕ; pronunciation: , ), also referred to as ('father Nānak'), was the founder of Sikhism and is the first of the ten Sikh Gurus. His birth is celebrated wor ...

(1469-1539), the foundational guru of a spiritual community natively known as Nanakpanth while known world-wide as

Sikhism Sikhism (), also known as Sikhi ( pa, ਸਿੱਖੀ ', , from pa, ਸਿੱਖ, lit=disciple', 'seeker', or 'learner, translit=Sikh, label=none),''Sikhism'' (commonly known as ''Sikhī'') originated from the word ''Sikh'', which comes fro ...

. Nanakpanth is an open frontier that references strongly an early Sikh community. Nanakpanthi signifies any person, regardless of any religious affiliation, who follows Guru Nanak and believes in his teachings. Today a large fraction of the

Sindhi Hindu Sindhi Hindus are Sindhis who follow the Hindu religion, whose origins lie in the Sindh region and spread across modern-day India and Pakistani Sindh province. After the Partition of India in 1947, many Sindhi Hindus were among those who fled f ...

s and

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abraha ...

, consider themselves not simply as Sikhs, but more precisely as Nanakpanthi, both in Pakistan and in India. Strands of Nanakpanthi culture exists in Pakistan and Afghanistan including Balochistan, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and remote areas of Punjab province. They generally do not sport beards or wear a turban unlike Amritdhari Sikhs. Even in the 1881 and 1891 Indian censuses, the Sindhi Hindu community could not decide to collectively identify as Hindu or Sikh. In the later 1911 Census Report,

Shahpur District Shahpur District was a district in current day Pakistan from 1893, during the British Raj, till 1960. From 1893 to 1914 Shahpur was the district headquarters. In 1914 the district headquarters were moved from Shahpur to Sargodha, although the dis ...

(

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

) reported that 12,539 Hindus (being 20 percent of the total Hindu population) identified as Nanakpanthi along with 9,016 Sikhs (being 22 percent of the total Sikh population). There is no data for the specific number of Nanakpanthis. Karnail Singh Panjoli, member of the

Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee ( SGPC; "Supreme Gurdwara Management Committee") is an organization in India responsible for the management of Gurdwaras, Sikh places of worship in states of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh and the unio ...

, says that there are several communities within the term ‘Nanakpanthis’ too. There are groups like Sikhligarh, Vanjaarey, Nirmaley, Lubaney, Johri, Satnamiye, Udaasiyas,

Punjabi Hindus Punjabi Hindus are adherents of Hinduism who identify linguistically, culturally, and genealogically as Punjabis. While Punjabi Hindus are mostly found in the Indian state of Punjab today, many have ancestry from the greater Punjab region ...

Punjabi Muslims Punjabi Muslims ( pa, ) are adherents of Islam who identify linguistically, culturally, and genealogically as Punjabis. Primarily geographically native to the Punjab province of Pakistan today, many have ancestry in the entire Punjab region, ...

, etc who call themselves Nanakpanthis. They along with their religious affiliated books, follow and incorporate the teachings of Guru Nanak. Within India, some Nanakpanthis are also spread across states like Assam, Tripura, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and Haryana.” Worldwide there are estimated 30 million

Khalsa Khalsa ( pa, ਖ਼ਾਲਸਾ, , ) refers to both a community that considers Sikhism as its faith,Kha ...

Sikhs who solely identify their religious affiliation as "Sikh". However, there are in addition many millions of people around the world who also venerate the 10 Sikh Gurus and the Guru Granth Sahib. Various number of tribes/sects in India follow the teachings of Guru Nanak and visit gurudwaras along with worshipping Hindu deities at

mandirs A Hindu temple, or ''mandir'' or ''koil'' in Indian languages, is a house, seat and body of divinity for Hindus. It is a structure designed to bring human beings and gods together through worship, sacrifice, and devotion.; Quote: "The Hind ...

. The Indian government considers them as Hindus in the official census.

References

Sikh groups and sects Hindu denominations Sikhism in Pakistan Hinduism in Pakistan Sant Mat {{Hinduism-stub

See also

References