Sikh gurus

The Sikh gurus (Punjabi: ਸਿੱਖ ਗੁਰੂ; Hindi: सिख गुरु) are the spiritual masters of Sikhism, who established the religion over the course of about two and a half centuries, beginning in 1469.

[2] The year 1469 marks the birth of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism.

[6] Bhai Vir Singh, in his dictionary of Guru Granth Sahib describes the term Guru as a combination of two separate units: "Gu;(ਗੁ)" meaning darkness and "Rū;(ਰੂ)" which means light.

The word Sikh is derived from the Sanskrit term shishya[8] (Punjabi: ਸਿੱਖ) which means a disciple or a student.

When one Guru passed, the successor inherited this light and that is why the Gurus are also referred to as mahalla (house).