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Abstract Mughal Empire, attributed to be a Muslim rule, and Sikhism grew side by side in the South Asia; while Zahir-ud-Din Muhammad Babar was founding the Mughal Empire, Guru Nanak was expounding a new religious philosophy, Sikhism. Broadly speaking, both religions, Islam and Sikhism, believed in unity, equality, tolerance and love for mankind. These similarities provided a very strong basis of alliance between the two religions. This note of 'religious tolerance' of Sikhism was welcomed by the common people, saints and many sage souls among Sikhs and Muslims alike. The Mughal Emperors had by and large showed great generosity to Sikh Gurus except few ones. However, despite these similarities and benevolence of Mughal Emperors, political expediencies and economic imperatives largely kept both the communities estranged and alienated. The relations between Muslims and Sikhs after the death of Akbar underwent many phases and shades.
An in-depth study of the background of Mughal-Sikh relations reveals that some political and interest groups including orthodox Muslims and Hindu elites considered friendship between Sikhs and Muslims, a great threat to their positions. These interest groups deliberately created circumstances that eventually developed into unfortunate conflicts between the two communities. Hence the religion was not the main factor that governed the Sikh Muslim relations rather the political, economic and practical exigencies of the time shaped the events that occurred between the two communities. Many historians have written about the Sikh-Muslim relations and analyzed the factors, nature and development of their estrangement but they built their arguments mostly on the religious differences. The stud argues that the period under study shows that the basis of Sikh Muslim divide was socio-economic and political factors.
Evolution of Sikhism: Without tracing the historical perspective and framework under which Sikhism developed in the subcontinent as an "egalitarian religio-philosophical faith'4, an objective and meaningful discourse cannot be held on relations between the Mughal and the Sikhs. New religious movements are often born out of the existing faiths. Similarly Sikhism was born out of the Hinduism and Islam. Once it was born, it took its own shape and form. When Baba Nanak was born, many religious reformist movements were influencing the people in India.5 Both Islam and Hinduism were passing through very crucial times in the history of subcontinent....