Founding of the Khalsa

Timeline

1. 1699Anandpur · PunjabGobind Singh held a Baisakhi gathering at Anandpur, announcing to tens of thousands of followers that he would reorganize the Sikh community. Holding a double-edged sword, he asked who would offer their head; the scene was tense, and eventually five men entered the tent one after another, becoming the first initiates of the Khalsa.
2. 1699Anandpur · PunjabThe five came from different castes and regions, symbolizing the Khalsa's breaking of caste barriers. The Guru stirred sweetened water with a double-edged sword in an iron bowl to make amrit and baptized the five; he then accepted their reciprocal baptism, establishing the mutuality that 'the Guru is within the Khalsa.' Men were called Singh, women Kaur.
3. 1699Anandpur · PunjabThe Guru decreed that Khalsa members must keep the Five Ks: kesh (unshorn hair), kangha (comb), kirpan (dagger), kachera (breeches), and kara (steel bracelet), and observe public discipline. The Khalsa became a mobilizable armed religious community; Sikh politics and the later state history of the Mughals, Afghans, and Punjab all take this as their organizational starting point.