Millions upon millions of Sikhs, playing a conspicuous role in social and political life in countries all over the globe, are a living practical example of the impact of the life and teachings of Guru Nanak on history.   Like the Guru himself, they are  a practical people, always up and doing, bubbling with energy, ready to bear heavy burdens to solve the problems of life.  They are never afraid to put their hand to any type of work that comes their way and they strive completely to achieve success.  It is by sheer dint of hard work that they have won for themselves a place at the table in their occupations and professions - nothing was handed to them.  The world knows them as the greatest saints during peacetime and the most loyal citizens under threats to freedom, the greatest farmers working the soil with the sweat of their brows and the most successful businessmen in multi-billion dollar companies.  And yet - a Sikh shines brightest when called upon to protect the weak and helpless, at home or abroad.  Guru Nanak's belief in the Unity of God and selfless service of mankind has given to the Sikhs their character of unswerving faith in God and Guru and in patriotism and sacrifice, with which they not only freed the Punjab from under the yoke of imperial usurpers in the eighteenth century but also carved for it, under Maharaja Ranjit Singh in the first half of the 19th century, a place of strength and honor on the international map.

According to Guru Nanak there is but One God who is All-Truth, Immortal, Fearless, and without hate.  He/She is neither the Allah of the Muhammadans nor Rama or Krishna of the Hindus, but God of the universe, of all mankind and of all religions.  For the promotion and advancement of human goodwill and happy relations, Guru Nanak refused to recognize the manmade distinctions of castes and classes, of high and low, rich and poor.  And he condemned with all the force at his command the aggression of one over the other, of the rulers over their subjects, both in the field of politics and religion.  He stood for the freedom of conscience and expression.  He was the strongest advocate of the cause of women.  He refused to attach any assumed impurity to them because of their sex, nor would he hold them in subjection to men.  He gave them the fullest responsibility in all matters, spiritual and social, and regarded them in every way equal to men in the sight of God.

But Guru Nanak was not a speculative theorist.  He preached no complicated philosophy couched in unintelligible language.  He was a practical man - a man of the world.  He spoke to the people in their languages and explained his ideas to them with examples drawn from their everyday lives.  Guru Nanak did not look down on humanity - he joined with it.

The Sikhs ignored the claims of high caste Hindu Brahmins to a religious and social monopoly on God.  Maubid Zulfiquir Ardistani (Azur-Sasani), the non-Sikh Parsi author of the Dabistan-i-Mozahib, who had seen Sikhism in practice at Kiratpur under the direct guidance of Guru Hargobind and Guru Har Rai in the 1740s, tells us:

There is no restriction among them, that a high caste member cannot become a student of a low caste member.  Similarly, they do not shirk in placing high caste people under the authority of lower castes.  The high castes and the low castes became equal disciples of the Guru.

Not only this - even members of differing religions had to accept each other as equals, with no person being inherently superior to another simply because of the religious sect in which he/she by chance had been born.  Thus, with the Fatherhood of God preached by Guru Nanak was the real brotherhood of man recognized and established in practice by the religion of the Sikhs.

Guru Nanak and all succeeding Gurus abolished for the Sikhs the distinctions of high and low for all time to come and placed them on a plane of absolute equality.  And we have practical examples of this leveling in the subsequent history of the Sikhs.  Within two years of the passing of Guru Gobind Singh, when the Khalsa under the leadership of Banda Singh freed eastern Punjab from the imperial rule of the Mughal kingdom, no distinction was made in the appointment of ruling officials and distribution of other offices.  William Irvine, a non-Sikh observer, describes the situation thusly:

In all the parganas occupied by the Sikhs, the reversal of previous customs was striking and complete.  A low-caste person such as a leather-dresser, the lowest of the low in Indian estimation, had only to leave home and join the Sikhs when in a short space of time he would return to his birthplace, so respected that he could become its ruler, with his order of appointment in his hand.  As soon as he set foot within the boundaries, the well-born and wealthy went out to greet him and escort him home.

The above is a thing unimaginable in Hinduism, where even the shadow of a low-caste person is considered so polluting that special baths of milk are needed to restore a high caste's sanctity (in some cases, this practice continues even to the present day).  Therefore, the teachings of Guru Nanak had an utterly revolutionary effect upon the history of northern India.  It created among the Sikhs a much stronger bond of unity and made a new people of them with a separate nationality which, within half a century, was destined to develop into a group of republican states, growing ultimately into the full-fledged sovereign state of the Punjab.

Going against the grain of the times, the Punjab kingdom was not a theocracy.  It was a state of the people of the Punjab, whatever their religion.  Its capital was at Lahore, and not at Amritsar, which was the religious headquarters of the Sikhs.  Punjab's administration, both civil and military, was shared by Hindus, Muslims, Christians, and a number of other Americans and Europeans alike, all of whom had representation in high offices.  The Prime Minister was a Hindu.  The minister for foreign affairs, who conducted political transactions with neighboring states, was a Muslim.  The army was commanded by officers drawn from all classes, including French generals.

This cosmopolitan, open, kind spirit extends well into the Sikh religion itself as well.  There is no priestly class among the Sikhs - Sikhs believe no intermediary is required to realize God.  Anyone, man or woman, competent to recite and explain the hymns of Guru Granth Sahib, may conduct the religious services in Gurdwaras (Sikh places of worship) and lead the congregation in prayer (even today, most other religions prohibit women from becoming congregational leaders).  Men and women of all castes and creeds, including non-Sikh religions, have free access to the Gurdwaras and they can, without any hindrance, join the congregations and partake of the sacred parsad and of the meals served in the free community kitchen, known as Guru ka Langar.

As a result of this revolutionary philosophy, droves of followers from all faiths began joining the Sikh movement.  This became a cause of concern for the established religious elite of other religions, including Hinduism and Muhammedanism (and later Christianism under the British Raj), all of whom had been allies with the Sikhs but at one point or another launched surprise attacks in an attempt to wipe out the new religion through force.  Further, the Sikhs were gaining enough strength to become a threat to the royal political leadership, whose authority to oppress the people was rejected by Sikhs.  Hence, Sikh faith, the most open and tolerant of all faiths, was repeatedly battered on all sides by religious and political establishments who feared its growing power and resented the loss of their own.  How the Sikhs responded to this is an amazing story of courage and discipline, grace under pressure.

The teachings of Guru Nanak focus on the spiritual uplift of humankind and social goodwill, and understanding among people of different creeds and classes, based on the common fatherhood of God and brotherhood of man.  But Guru Nanak, despite threats, never silenced his voice against tyranny.  Guru Nanak fearlessly criticized and condemned the unjust and non-democratic rulers in the strongest terms, saying with metaphor:

The kings are butchers, and cruelty their knife.  Their sense of duty and responsibility has taken wings and fled.

And again, despite the extreme danger of challenging an absolute ruler:

Kings are like bloodthirsty leopards and their tax collectors behave like dogs - they go and awaken people at all odd times to steal money; they wound the people with their claws and lick their blood like curs.

Guru Nanak was greatly moved to see the pitiable suffering of Hindu women at the hands of Muslim soldiers.  The helpless peasant women were raped, ropes tied around their necks, and then they were carried off as sex slaves to be sold in Muslim countries for mere pennies.  Guru Nanak responded:

If the powerful attack the powerful, then one is not obliged to respond.  But if a frenzied lion were to fall upon a herd of cattle, the shepherd has to answer for it.

And later, in response to further tyranny:

These dogs have thrown away the invaluable.  When they are dead and gone no one will care.

Imagine publicly proclaiming the above and recording it in writing, in a country like this era's Nazi Germany or Communist China or Saudi Arabia.  Even in the modern day, few men and women would dare to speak the truth - but Guru Nanak did.

Guru Nanak Dev Ji personally graced Iraq with his presence in the 1500s during his extensive travels accompanied by Bhai Mardana.  Despite the relative brevity of his visit to the area, a strong local tradition of following Sikh practices quickly developed.

Muslims built memorials to commemorate Guru Nanak's visit to the city.  A non-Sikh mystic from Baghdad wrote the following poem:

Upon this simple slab of granite did Thou sit, discoursing of fraternal love and holy light, O Guru Nanak, Prince among India's holy sons.
What song Thou didst sing to charm the soul of Iran?!
What Thou didst carry to the vinegroves and rose gardens of Baghdad?!
What light Thou didst bear to illumine the heart of Bahlol, the saintly Persian disciple?!
Bahlol hearkened to Thy words of Life and the Path and Spring Eternal.
And after Thou left, the fakir would speak to none nor listen to the voice of man or angel; His fame spread far and wide and the Shah himself came to pay homage, yet Bahlol would take no earthly treasures nor hear the praise of kings and courtiers.
Thus lived he - alone, devoted, thoughtful - sixty winters, sitting before the stone whereon Nanak's sacred feet had rested.
And ere Bahlol left this world he inscribed these words in stone: "Here spake Guru Nanak to fakir Bahlol, and for these sixty winters since the Guru left, the soul of Bahlol has rested on the Master's word, like a bee poised on a dawnlit honey-rose."

Rukan Din, a Muslim, wrote the following while describing Guru Nanak's visit:

"He made remarkable headway in these.  He carried on a struggle to end oppression and repression that prevailed in different countries.  He raised the banner of justice and destroyed untruth and hypocrisy; so long as the weak did not obtain their right he stood by them and regarded the powerful who lost their head in their arrogance as dastardly.  He was the best specimen of piety and hunger for travel."

Rukan Din left Baghdad in order to accompany Guru Nanak back to India.

Guru Nanak instructed the Sikhs, and demonstrated through his life very clearly, that each and every Sikh has the responsibility to defend the rights of the weak and oppressed using every single resource and opportunity available, no matter the personal cost or danger.  At the same time, just like everybody else, Sikhs have no right whatsoever to engage in the same sorts of practices as those they oppose - Sikhs are to be perpetual defenders of all, never violators of human rights.  The name of religion cannot be used as an excuse to commit crimes and grab power.

As human history demonstrates, tyrants are generally power-mad autocrats.  No philosophies and religious teachings, however sublime and heart-touching, appeal to their consciences hardened by repeated acts of injustice.  Bowing down to them is cowardice and is an encouragement to and prolongation of zulm - injustice and cruelty over the weak and helpless.  This is what Guru Nanak protested and condemned.  Says Nanak:

He who understands the authority of the Lord becomes fearless of any mere king or emperor.