The Sikh Guruship ran through ten men between 1469 and 1708, and then passed to the Guru Granth Sahib itself, where it remains. Sikh tradition holds the ten to be one light in succession rather than ten separate teachers. These pages carry no portrait of a Guru: the images in circulation are later inventions with no claim to likeness, and much of Sikh tradition holds their depiction to be improper.
Guruship periods, not lifespans. 10 of 10 published on Sevahey.
| Guru | Guruship | Known for | In the Guru Granth Sahib |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guru Nanak | 1469 to 1539 | Founding Sikhi, the udasi journeys, and establishing the first Sikh community at Kartarpur | 974 hymns, including Japji Sahib which opens the volume. Counts vary slightly between sources, with 976 also cited |
| Guru Angad | 1539 to 1552 | Standardising the Gurmukhi script and making the first collection of Guru Nanak's hymns | 62 saloks. Counts vary slightly between sources, with 61 also cited |
| Guru Amar Das | 1552 to 1574, taken at the age of 73 | Making langar a condition of audience, the 22 manjis, the Goindwal baoli, and composing Anand Sahib | 907 hymns, including Anand Sahib in Raag Ramkali at angs 917 to 922 |
| Guru Ram Das | 1574 to 1581, the second shortest of the ten | Founding the city that became Amritsar, excavating the sarovar, and composing the Lavan | 679 hymns, including the four Lavan in Raag Suhi sung at every Anand Karaj |
| Guru Arjan | 1581 to 1606 | Compiling the Adi Granth in 1604, building the Harmandir Sahib, and the first Sikh martyrdom | 2,218 hymns, the largest contribution of any Guru, including Sukhmani Sahib. Counts vary, with 2,216 also cited |
| Guru Hargobind | 1606 to 1644, the longest tenure of the ten, taken at the age of eleven | The two swords of miri and piri, raising the Akal Takht, and the release from Gwalior kept as Bandi Chhor Divas | None. Guru Hargobind contributed no composition to the volume |
| Guru Har Rai | 1644 to 1661, taken at the age of fourteen | The free herbal dispensary at Kiratpur, keeping an army he never used, and disowning Ram Rai over a single altered word | None. Guru Har Rai contributed no composition to the volume |
| Guru Har Krishan | 1661 to 1664, taken at the age of five; the shortest tenure and the youngest Guru | Tending Delhi's sick during an epidemic at the site now known as Gurudwara Bangla Sahib, and dying of the disease at eight | None. Guru Har Krishan contributed no composition to the volume |
| Guru Tegh Bahadur | 1665 to 1675 | Founding Anandpur Sahib, and martyrdom at Delhi for the religious freedom of Kashmiri Pandits | 115 hymns and saloks, added by Guru Gobind Singh at Damdama Sahib in 1706. Counts vary, with 118 also cited |
| Guru Gobind Singh | 1675 to 1708, taken at the age of nine | Founding the Khalsa in 1699 and conferring the Guruship on the Guru Granth Sahib in 1708 | None. He deliberately kept his own compositions out of the volume; they form the Dasam Granth |