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interest in the Islamic heritage moved him to the Muslim religious places in India,
Iran, Iraq, Makkah and Medina. He started preaching his beliefs publicly at Multan
and was arrested during the reign of Ibrahim Lodhi. The Guru was released by Zahir-
ud-Din Muhammad Babur after the victory against Ibrahim Lodhi at Panipat (1526). 14
It is conspicuously mentioned that Guru Nanak Dev along with other faqirs
underwent corporal sufferings at the hands of Muslims when Mir Mughal, Babur’s
commander, occupied Saidpur (Aimanabad) in 1520. Babur sacked Saidpur, “put all
of its inhabitants to the sword, and ravaged the surrounding countryside.” 15 The
worthwhile aspect of this incident is that Guru Nanak never asked his followers to
take revenge from the Muslims of such persecutions. This is the real message of
Nanakism that tormentors ought to be forgiven and love, tolerance, harmony and co-
existence be popularised. 16
Despite having two sons, Guru Nanak did not make the Gurgaddi 17 as
hereditary and appointed Angad Dev (Lehna) (1504-1552) as his successor who
invented Gurmukhi script mainly derived from the Sanskrit script. It preserved the
Sikh religious heritage and Sikh identity. Emperor Humayun (1508-1556), the second
Mughal emperor, saw Guru Angad during his retreat by Sher Shah Suri (1486-1545)
and his own brothers. The Guru predicted that he would gain victory in the near
future. The Muslim-Sikh relations at the very outset of Sikhism remained friendly.
The later Gurus added valuable beliefs to the religious tradition and transformed
Nanakism into Sikhism. All the ten Gurus, from Guru Nanak to Guru Gobind Singh
belonged to the caste Khatri. The Hindu Jats embraced Sikhism during the gurgaddi
of Guru Arjun Dev (1563-1606). 18
As a whole, the Punjab had been a liberal and secular society as we find no
evidence of persecution and fight at the initial conversion from Hinduism to Islam and
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