Sikhism recognizes ten human Gurus in direct succession, beginning with Guru Nanak, born in 1469 in the Punjab region of South Asia, whose teachings of one formless God, equality among people regardless of caste or gender, and a life of honest work and shared community meals founded the tradition. Guru Nanak appointed a disciple rather than a blood relative as his successor, Guru Angad, establishing succession by spiritual merit and designation rather than heredity, a pattern the first several Gurus largely maintained even as some chose sons who had also demonstrated spiritual readiness.
Later Gurus shaped Sikh institutions decisively: Guru Amar Das organized the community's administrative structure; Guru Ram Das founded the city of Amritsar; Guru Arjan compiled the Adi Granth, the core of what would become Sikh scripture, and was executed by Mughal authorities in 1606, the first of two Gurus to be martyred; Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Guru, was executed in 1675 for defending the religious freedom of Kashmiri Hindus against forced conversion. Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth and final personal Guru, founded the Khalsa, an initiated order of Sikhs bound by a shared code and distinctive external markers, in 1699, reshaping the community's identity in response to continuing persecution.