Nanak (1469-1538) was an Indian religious reformer and founder of the Sikh religion. He combined elements of both the Moslem and the Hindu traditions in his teachings.

Nanak was born into an upper-caste Hindu family near Lahore. His environment was richly immersed in Hindu and Moslem religious culture, especially their mystical and devotional forms. The religious life of the times was marked by a syncretic vitality which saw the emergence of a number of ecstatic devotional movements combining aspects of both religious traditions. He married and fathered several children and worked as a storekeeper and clerk for the Moslem governor of the province.

But Nanak's sensibilities moved him more and more to feel a deep, if at first ill-defined, religious calling. He finally underwent a decisive religious experience in which--according to Sikh tradition--he had a vision of God's presence summoning him to a prophetic mission for the "one...