POLITICAL RESPONSE OF GURU NANAK DEV JI

Abstract

Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the founder of Sikhism, was born in the Rachna Doab which later was known as Talwandi (now in Pakistan) in April 1469. At that time, Bahlol Lodhi was the ruler of Delhi and Tatar Khan Lodhi was governing the province of Lahore on his behalf. Guru Nanak’s father, Mehta Kalu, was a Khatri — a high caste among the Punjabi Hindus — and worked as a tax collector (patwari). His mother was Mata Tripta and his elder sister was Bibi Nanki.

Guru Nanak mastered the Vedas and Sanskrit and was enrolled into a Madrassa to study Persian and Arabic languages. As a young man, Nanak was married to Sulakhni, daughter of Mula, a Khatri. Mula belonged to the subcaste Chona, which was considered less important than the subcaste Bedi. As a married young man, Nanak was expected sooner rather than later to earn a living for himself.