Historically, a number of groups emerged from time to time in opposition to the mainstream Sikhs. The first was headed by Sri Chand, the elder son of Guru Nanak. He did not acknowledge Guru Angad as the only successor of Guru Nanak, and his followers, known as Udasis, were renunciants. They remained on the periphery of the Sikh community which consisted of householders.

The sons of Guru Angad, who did not recognise Guru Amar Das, and the sons of Guru Amar Das, who did not recognise Guru Ram Das, did not succeed in forming any important group. The eldest son of Guru Ram Das, Prithi Chand, offered a protracted opposition to his younger brother Guru Arjan; he refused to acknowledge Guru Hargobind, claimed to be the sixth Guru, starting a new line. His successors remained in occupation of Ramdaspur (Amritsar) in the 17th century. They were denounced by Bhai Gurdas as minas, or dissemblers, who stood in opposition to the true Guru.

Similarly Dhir Mal refused to acknowledge his younger brother Guru Har Rai and started a new line at Kartarpur in the Jalandhar Doab. Ram Rai refused to acknowledge his younger brother Guru Har Krishan and established his own gaddi at Dehra Dun. These dissenting groups acquired added importance because of the politicisation of the Sikh community after the martyrdom of Guru Arjan in 1606.

Birth of the Khalsa

Guru Gobind Singh instituted the Khalsa in 1699 as a political community and excommunicated all the dissenting groups. The Khalsa were not to have any association with the followers of Prithi Chand, Dhir Mal and Ram Rai. The Khalsa alone were the true Sikhs for Guru Gobind Singh. They believed in the ten Gurus. A day before his demise in 1708, Guru Gobind Singh declared that Guruship henceforth was vested in the Khalsa and Gurbani. The Guruship of the Panth and the Granth became the established doctrines of the Khalsa.

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