The Search for Peace in Times of Chaos—Volume upon the Khalsa Guru Gobind Singh decreed that where Sikhs could not find answers in the Gurū Granth Sāhib, they should decide issues as a community, based on the principles of their scripture With the foundation of the Khalsa, the network of semi-integrated Sangats was fully integrated The investing of Khalsa with supreme power marked the completion of this long process of about two and a half centuries.6 The first Sikh Holy Scripture was compiled and edited by the Fifth Guru, Guru Arjan in 1604; although, some of the earlier gurus are also known to have documented their revelations This is one of the few scriptures in the world that has been compiled by the founders of a faith during their own life time The Gurū Granth Sāhib is particularly unique among sacred texts in that it is written in Gurmukhi script but contains many languages including Punjabi, Hindi-Urdu, Sanskrit, Bhojpuri, and Persian Sikhs consider the Gurū Granth Sāhib the last, perpetual living guru.* In the very beginning, Sikh Sangat was merely a religious gathering of devotees, functioning more or less in isolation Gradually, there was an increase in its functions Preparation of copies of holy scripture, the building up of certain religious centers, institutions of and as the agencies of the central leadership, and the assertion of the principle of the supremacy of the guru—all these factors were common links in uniting one to another With the decline of the Mughal Empire, a Sikh empire arose in the Punjab under Maharaja Ranjit Singh The order, traditions, and discipline developed over centuries culminated at the time of Ranjit Singh to give rise to the common religious and social identity of Sikhism.7 Sikhism played a revolutionary role on the sociological level in restructuring society by rejecting the concept of the caste system, which in turn had the law of karma as its basis Here was a message for ushering in a new value-pattern, a new dispensation based on the fundamental principles of equality, justice and compassion, liberty and fraternity This was a divine manifesto for a new civilization on the pillars of humanism, liberalism, universalism, and pluralism There are * Special thanks to Satnam Singh Greater Kailash for his personal input