The Sikh gurus (Punjabi: ਸਿੱਖ ਗੁਰੂ; Hindi: सिख गुरु) are the spiritual masters or sources of learning of Sikhism, who established the religion over the course of about two and a half centuries, beginning in 1469. The year 1469 marks the birth of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism. Nine other human gurus succeeded him. Then, in 1708, the tenth guru passed the guruship on to the holy Sikh scripture, Guru Granth Sahib, which is now considered the living guru by the followers of the Sikh faith. The guruship was also passed on to the Guru Panth, consisting of the Khalsa; however, this form of guruship went into decline following the rise of Ranjit Singh.
Etymology and definition
Guru (, ; , Punjabi: ਗੁਰੂ, IAST: guru) is a Sanskrit term for a "teacher, guide, expert, or master" of a certain field or area of knowledge. 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. Hence, guru is that which brings light into darkness — or, in other words, the one who enlightens. Bhai Vir Singh's definition provides further insight about Sikhism itself and explains why Guru Granth Sahib is considered the living Guru. The word Sikh is derived from the Sanskrit term shishya (Punjabi: ਸਿੱਖ) which means a disciple or a student. Thus, Sikhs have a student–teacher relationship with their gurus since their teachings, as written in Guru Granth Sahib, serve as a guide for Sikhs.
According to Sikh beliefs, all the Gurus contained the same light or soul and their physical body was a vessel for containing the same essence. When one guru passed, the successor inherited this light and that is why the gurus are also referred to as mahalla (house).
The gurus
{| class="sortable wikitable"
|-
! No.
! Name
! Portrait
! Birth date
! Guruship
! Birthplace
!Clan
! Father
! Mother
! Date of death
! Reason
! Place of death
|-
| 1
| Guru Nanak
| 107x107px
| 14 April 1469
| Since birth
| Nankana Sahib, Punjab, Delhi Sultanate
|Bedi Khatri
| Kalyan Das Bedi
| Mata Tripta
|
| Natural causes
| Kartarpur, Punjab, Mughal Empire
|-
| 2
| Guru Angad
| 100x100px
| 31 March 1504
| 7 September 1539
| Muktsar, Punjab, Mughal Empire
|Trehan Khatri
| Baba Pheru Mal
| Mata Ramo
|
| Natural causes
| Khadur Sahib, Punjab, Mughal Empire
|-
| 3
| Guru Amar Das
| 138x138px
| 5 May 1479
| 26 April 1552
| Amritsar, Punjab, Mughal Empire
|Bhalla Khatri
| Tej Bhan Bhalla
| Mata Lachmi
|
| Natural causes
| Goindval, Lahore Subah, Mughal Empire
|-
| 4
| Guru Ram Das
| 126x126px
| 24 September 1534
| 1 September 1574
| Lahore, Punjab, Mughal Empire
|Sodhi Khatri
| Baba Har Das
| Mata Daya
|
| Natural causes
| Goindval, Lahore Subah, Mughal Empire
|-
| 5
| Guru Arjan
| 151x151px
| 15 April 1563
| 1 September 1581
| Goindval, Punjab, Mughal Empire
|Sodhi Khatri
| Guru Ram Das
| Mata Bhani
|
| Execution by Mughal Emperor Jahangir
| Lahore, Lahore Subah, Mughal Empire
|-
| 6
| Guru Hargobind
| 151x151px
| 19 June 1595
| 25 May 1606
| Amritsar, Lahore Subah, Mughal Empire
|Sodhi Khatri
| Guru Arjan
| Mata Ganga
|
| Natural causes
| Kiratpur Sahib, Lahore Subah, Mughal Empire
|-
| 7
| Guru Har Rai
| 127x127px
| 16 January 1630
| 3 March 1644
| Kiratpur Sahib, Lahore Subah, Mughal Empire
|Sodhi Khatri
| Baba Gurditta
| Mata Nihal Kaur
|
| Natural causes
| Delhi, Delhi Subah, Mughal Empire
|-
| 8
| Guru Har Krishan
| 158x158px
| 7 July 1656
| 7 October 1661
| Kiratpur Sahib, Lahore Subah, Mughal Empire
|Sodhi Khatri
| Guru Har Rai
| Mata Krishan Kaur
|
| Smallpox
| Delhi, Delhi Subah, Mughal Empire
|-
| 9
| Guru Tegh Bahadur
| 182x182px
| 1 April 1621
| 20 March 1664
| Amritsar, Lahore Subah, Mughal Empire
|Sodhi Khatri
| Guru Hargobind
| Mata Nanaki
|
| Execution by Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb
| Delhi, Delhi Subah, Mughal Empire
|-
| 10
| Guru Gobind Singh
| 140x140px
| 14 February 1666
| 11 November 1675
| Patna Sahib, Bihar Subah, Mughal Empire
|Sodhi Khatri
| Guru Tegh Bahadur
| Mata Gujri
|
| Assassinated by Jamshed Khan and Wasil Beg on order of Wazir Khan
| Hazur Sahib, Bidar Subah, Mughal Empire
|-
|rowspan="2" |11
|Guru Panth
|Kesgarh Qila, Anandpur Sahib, Punjab
|Casteless
|Guru Gobind Singh (spirtually)
| colspan="3" |Whilst prevalent in the 18th century, this manner of guruship went into decline following the rise of Ranjit Singh and is seldom evoked today, being overshadowed by the Guru Granth.
Base of operations
Guru Nanak founded Kartarpur (Narowal) in the 1520s and remained there until his death in 1539. Nanak's successor, Guru Angad, made his native Khadur his headquarters and remained there throughout his guruship from 1539 to 1551.