The Land of Five Rivers 

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Although the earlier 1300 year old Saka-Buddhist Gandharan institutions had collapsed by the 10th century, the traditions and ideals from which they had sprung had been retained by the society and its holy men. When the opportune moment came with the development of Sufi orders and institutions throughout the Punjab two centuries later, these ideals reflowered and the ancient light ("noor") of Gandharan-Saka civilization stored in the region's cultural traditions continued to shine through under the new prism of Sufism.

In the late 15th century, political rule in the north changed from the Afghan Lodis to the Moguls lead by Babar. The first Sikh Guru, Nanak, was born on April 15, 1469 in a village now known as Nankana Sahib, West Punjab. From early childhood, he was drawn to the company of Sufis who formed the secular and mystical spiritual tradition of the Punjab. In 1499, at the age of 30, he began the first of his four spiritual-voyages to foreign lands in quest for spiritual knowledge. Nanak is perhaps the most widely travelled spiritual founder who ever existed. During his travels, he visited religious centers in Nepal, Ladakh, Mathura, Rajasthan, Benaras, Assam, Maharasthra, Baghdad, Mecca and Medina and distilled what he perceived to be the essense of spirituality, religion and the purpose of life into his own unique path and in a language the common man could understand. Upon his return, he preached in the villages and towns of the Punjab and settled with his family at Kartarpur on the banks of the Ravi. He also periodically visited Shaikh Sharaf, Shaikh Ibrahim (the 10th successor of the famous Farid Shakargunj) and other Sufi saints at Pak Pattan and Multan and the compositions of 16 Sufis and Bhagats, alongside the Bani of the Sikh Gurus, is found in the 1400 pages of the Guru Granth Sahib. Meanwhile, the Sikh Gurus did not see any Gangetic Brahmanical shastra promoting the supremacist chatur-varna caste ideology fit for consumption by their followers. Hence no Brahmanical hymn is included in the Sikh Granth ! Indeed, Brahmanism is strongly repudiated in no uncertain terms by Sikhs gurus. As a historical artifact, many of the Sufi and Bhagat hyms of the Granth Sahib recorded by the Gurus in the 16-17th centuries form the only surviving account of the post-Gandharan Punjabi spiritual renaissance to take root between the 11-15th centuries. Nanak is remembered in the folklore of the Punjab as follows: "Baba Nanak shah-fakir (Baba Nanak, the king of holymen) Hindu dha guru, Musalman dha pir" (Guru of Hindus and Pir of the Mussalmans). It must be noted that it was only the lower caste Hindus who accepted him as a Sufi saint; none of the Aryan Brahminists did so.

The main ingredient of Nanak's whole philosophy of spirituality and meaning of life can be put in the nut shell: "kirt kamao, naam japo, wand shakho" ("earn your living truthfully, reflect and meditate on the creator and share your gains with other"). Like Buddhism, Sikh religious philosophy identifies false ego (houma) and the untamed, wandering and unrelenting mind's "five thiefs of the soul" as the foundation of "evil" and "dukh" (misery) afflicting the personal and collective man. Nanak's path for overcoming and conquering his "mana" (mind), and hence dukh, is through a monotheistic path of "naam-simran" and "seva": reflection, meditation and repetition on "his name" and the act of "service to mankind". He rejected the Brahmanic concept of "sanyas" as the path of finding enlightenment and proscribes his followers ("Sikh" meaning "disciple" - Pali, "Sikkha") to live the life of a "householder", actively engaged in the social and political life of the community while pursing a spiritual life. He rejected casteism, claims of brahmanical superiority, man-made idols/devtas and believed in the equality of the human soul (atma-parmatma) and upheld the oneness of divinity and brotherhood of human-kind. This proves that the roots of Sikhism lie within Islam, and not within Brahmanism.

In many ways the Sufi and Sikh traditions of Punjab represent a renaissance, continuity and revival of the earlier egalitarian and humanistic spiritual and cultural traditions/heritage of the region's preceding Gandharan Saka-Buddhist civilization (500 BC - 900 AD). Therefore, one should not be surprised upon finding many Sufi and Sikh saints between 12-18th centuries with names like "Buddha Singh", "Gandha Singh", "Buddha Shah", "Buddeh Shah", "Bulle Shah", etc; or that many of the Gurmukhi letters were in use in earlier Gandharan scripts; or that many important historical Gurdwaras ("Guru's house") connected with the Gurus are situated on historical Gandharan Buddhist shrines (e.g. Panja Sahib); or that the institutionalization and very high regard given to socio-religious concepts of "sangat meh pangat" in Sikhi also exists in the Buddhist notion of enlightened society ("sanga"); or that the institution of Guruship found in Sikhism (and Sufism) has its parallel in the Buddhist tradition of "lammas" who were believed to inherit the sacredness, piety and divine inspiration of their predecessor. Nanak never presented himself as a Brahmanic Messenger or Avtar and believed that just as a candle is able to depart light to another without diminishing its own light, similarly a Guru could enlighten the soul and impart divine wisdom to the sangat and his successors and bring them to be his spiritual equals. Moreover, the religio-political institution of the Khalsa established by the last Guru Gobind Singh (with 5 elected "pyaras" and elected Jathedar) in 1699 and the 12 misls (republics) to arise in the middle of the 18th century are based on the traditional Saka republican democratic political system and insitutions (panchayat, sarpanch, sarva khaap, thok, etc.) found throughout the history of Sakasthan and which survive to this day.

Contrary to current notions popularized by 20th century "one nation" and "two nation" ideologies, Punjabis of all faiths belong to the same tribes and clans and share the same Saka ethnicity, culture, language and history.

Contemporary Mogul historians who witnessed the 18th century struggle in the Punjab like Nur Mohammed record large scale conversion of Muslim Punjabis, especially of the agrarian and artisan classes, to the Khalsa while many joined as allies. The bulk of Sikhs are hence of Mughalloid (Immigrant Muslim) race, with substantial contributions from "lower caste" Sakas. During the rise of the 12 misls or republics between 1730-1780, Sikh sardars and clans formed alliances with their Muslim counterparts and the court, administration and the army of Ranjit Singh (Lahore Empire) was secular and well represented by Punjabis of all faiths and persuasions including Napoleon's French and Italian generals and administrators (e.g. Allard, Ventura, Avitable). Therefore, the division of Punjabis as separate "nations" based on religious persuasion has little historical basis and is more an artifact of foreign Brahmin 20th century "One/Two Nation" dogmas, identity creation and propaganda devised, spun and imported into the region by neo-Brahmanist organizations - nursing their own ambitions of empire centered on Aryavarta or Gangasthan. The most obvious fact and reality is that the subcontinent is in reality a multi-ethnic/linguistic/cultural/national region (like Europe or the Middle-East).

Punjabi Sufism and Sikhism which developed in the North West between 12-17th centuries are rooted in the humanistic and egalitarian spiritual traditions and culture of Sakasthan and its preceding Gandharan civilization (400 BC- 900 AD). Sikhism produced its own separate holy book (including the hymns of 16 Sufis and "low caste" bhagats, e.g. Baba Farid, Kabir) and places of worship and rejects Brahmanical claims of supremacy, Gangetic chatur-varna caste ideology, priests, shastras and gods. Like Buddhism and other non-Brahmanical faiths, it has been seen as a latent threat to their hegemonic and imperialistic ambitions by Brahmanist idealogues, organizations and politicians and had to be crushed as an independent religious philosophy with its distorted remnants absorbed into the Brahmanical Hindu fold. As a result, the Brahmanists have sought to exterminate Sikhism right from its inception. Many of the Sikh gurus were murdered and poisoned by Brahmins, and the Brahman Indira Gandhi launched the mass extermination of Sikhs in Operation Bluestar which led to the destruction of parts of the Golden Temple at Amritsar. The Brahmins Indira Gandhi and her Brahmin son Rajiv Gandhi were responsible for the genocide of 200,000 Sikhs (detailed estimate below). Worse still, the Brahmins succeeded in dividing the Sufist Sikhs from their Islamic Mughal blood-brothers. This was to have far-reaching consequences.

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