The first of the ten gurus of Sikhism becomes a guru. Sri Guru Nanak Dev ji founded Sikhism and, traveling thousands of miles, preached meditation on the name of the Creator. The religion developed and evolved during times of religious persecution, gaining converts from both Hinduism and Islam. The Mughal rulers of India tortured and executed two of the Sikh gurus, Guru Arjan ji (1563–1605) and Guru Tegh Bahadur ji (1621–1675), after they refused to convert to Islam. The persecution of the Sikhs prompted the founding of the “Khalsa”—by Guru Gobind Singh ji in 1699—as an order to protect freedom of conscience and religion, with members embodying the qualities of a Sant-Sipahi, a “saintly soldier.” In April 1699, to eliminate all differences between people (of caste, wealth, etc.), Guru Gobind Singh Ji (tenth Sikh guru) introduced baptism (amrit), by which every man took the surname “Singh” (lion) and every woman “Kaur” (princess) and which required for men, but also for women, the assumption of five symbols (kakaar).
