Nanakpanthi

A Nanakpanthi[1] (Gurmukhi: ਨਾਨਕਪੰਥੀ )is a follower of the teachings of Guru Nanak (1469-1539), the foundational guru of a spiritual community natively known to as Nanakpanth while known world-wide as Sikhism. Nanakpanth is an open frontier that references strongly an early Sikh community, and which it cannot be cordoned by the modern signifiers Sikhism and Hinduism.

Today a large fraction of the Sindhi Hindus consider themselves not simply as Sikhs, but more precisely as Nanakpanthi, both in Pakistan[2] and in India. They generally do not sport beards or wear a turban (i.e. are sahajdhari) unlike Amritdhari Sikhs.[3] Even in the 1881 and 1891 Indian censuses, the Sindhi Hindu community could not decide to collectively identify as Hindu or Sikh.[4] In the later 1911 Census Report, Shahpur District (Punjab) 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).[5]

From its early times the Nanakpanthi community extended far beyond Punjab and Sindh. Maghar, a town in Uttar Pradesh has a high proportion of Nanakpanthis.[6]

See also

References
  1. Rose, H. A. (Horace Arthur); Ibbetson, Denzil; Maclagan, Edward (1911). A glossary of the tribes and castes of the Punjab and North-West Frontier Province : based on the census report for the Punjab, 1883 vol 3. Wellcome Library. Lahore : Printed by the superintendent, Government printing, Punjab. pp. 152.
  2. Struggling to revive Gurmukhi, Amar Guriro, Express Tribune, OCTOBER 18, 2016
  3. ETPB could disbar non-Sikh pilgrims from visiting gurdwaras in Pakistan, Times of India, Apr 27, 2018
  4. Empires of the Indus: The Story of a River - Alice Albinia ISBN 978-1-84854-786-5
  5. A Glossary of the Tribes and Castes of the Punjab and North-West Frontier Province, Vol. 1
  6. Nanak Kuan gets a gurdwara - Sunday, May 8, 2011, The Tribune, Chandigarh


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