The Akal Takht (Punjabi: ਅਕਾਲ ਤਖ਼ਤ; literally means The Seat (Throne) of the Timeless One or Seat (Throne) of God} is highest seat of temporal authority of the Khalsa and is equivalent to any parliament of world sovereign State. Akal means The Timeless One - another term for God. Takht means 'seat' or 'throne' in Persian. Akal Takht is located in the Harmandir Sahib complex in Amritsar, Punjab, and faces the Darshani Deohri.

The Akal Takht was begun by the sixth Sikh Guru, Guru Hargobind Ji as a symbol for political sovereignty of Sikhs. It stood as a symbol of political and military resistance against the tyranny and cruelity of the rulers the 17th and 18th century. In the 18th century, Ahmed Shah Abdali led a series of attacks on the Akal Takht and Harmandir Sahib.

On June 4, 1984, the Akal Takht building was damaged during Operation Bluestar launched by the Indian Army on orders of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to evict a group of armed Sikh Saint Soldiers that had fortified the buildings and were posing a threat to the Indian Government's political powers. The Akal Takht was founded by Guru Hargobind on June 15, 1606 (now celebrated on 2 July) and was established as the place from which the spiritual and temporal concerns of the Sikh nation could be acted upon.

Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (Hindi: इंदिरा प्रियदर्शिनी गांधी Indirā Priyadarśinī Gāndhī  listen (help·info), née Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician who served as the third Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms (1966–77) and a fourth term (1980–84). Gandhi was the second female head of government in the world after Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka, and she remains as the world's second longest serving female Prime Minister as of 2012. She was the first woman to become prime minister in India.

Gandhi was the only child of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of independent India. She adhered to the quasi-socialist policies of industrial development that had been begun by her father. Gandhi established closer relations with the Soviet Union, depending on that nation for support in India’s long-standing conflict with Pakistan. She was also the only Indian Prime Minister to have declared a state of emergency in order to 'rule by decree' and the only Indian Prime Minister to have been imprisoned after holding that office. She was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards in retaliation for ordering Operation Blue Star.

Baba Gurbachan Singh was the leader of the Sant Nirankari sect, considered to be heterodox by mainstream Sikh. He was declared Satguru by his predecessor Baba Avtar Singh in 1962.

He should not be confused with Gurbachan Singh Manochahal.

In 1978, the Nirankari mission from Delhi and other parts of the Indian sub-continent gathered a congregation at Amritsar. A few orthodox Sikhs of Akhand Kirtani Jatha and Damdami Taksal marched from the Darbar Sahib to protest Nirankari congregation, who they considered heterodox. In the resulting violence, 13 individuals including Jatha leader Bhai Fauja Singh were killed, while Sixty four followers of the Nirankari mission were arrested.

On April 13, 1978 detained members of Nirankari sect were released, after formal charges against them were rejected by the session-Judge of Karnal, who stated in his judgement "The case of the prosecution was intrinsically wrong. It was all frame-up and after thought."

On 25 September 1978, Gurbachan Singh arrived in Kanpur. A group of protesters arrived at the Nirankari Bhawan to protest his presence On 28 September 1978, anticipating fresh trouble, the Punjab Government barred Nirankari Chief Gurbachan Singh from entering Punjab for six months. The Supreme Court later revoked the ban.

Guru Gobind Singh Ji (born: Gobind Rai) (Punjabi: ਗੁਰੂ ਗੋਬਿੰਦ ਸਿੰਘ [ɡʊɾu ɡobɪnd sɪ́ŋɡ], Marathi: गुरु गोबिंद सिंघ; 22 December 1666 - 7 October 1708) is the Tenth of Eleven Sikh Guru Ji'. Born in Patna, Bihar in India, He was also a Warrior, Poet and Philosopher. He succeeded His Father Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib Ji as the Leader of Sikhs at a young age of nine. He contributed much to Sikhism; notable was His contribution to the continual formalisation of the faith which the First Sikh Guru Ji Guru Nanak Dev Ji had founded, as a religion, in the 15th century. Guru Gobind Singh transformed Sikhs into Khalsa (pure) in 1699.

Gobind Singh was born to Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Sikh guru, and Mata Gujri in Patna. He was born while his father was on a tour of a neighbouring state Assam, spreading God's word. He learned Persian and Sanskrit when he was a child and was also trained to become a warrior.

Gobind Singh married three times and had four children. He was married off to Mata Jito in 1677, when he was only 11-years-old. They had three children together Zorawar Singh, Jujhar Singh and Fateh Singh. He married Mata Sundari in 1684, and the couple had one child, Sahibzada Ajit Singh. His third wife was Mata Sahib Dewan.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh (13 November 1780 – 20 June 1839) was the first Maharaja of the Sikh Empire.

Ranjit Singh belonged to a Sikh clan of Northern India. He was born in Gujranwala, now in modern-day Pakistan. According to some historians, into a Jatt Sikh family and some that he was born into a Sansi Sikh family who were Sukerchakia misldars. As a child he suffered from smallpox which resulted in the loss of one eye. At the time, much of Punjab was ruled by the Sikhs under a Confederate Sarbat Khalsa system, who had divided the territory among factions known as misls.

Ranjit Singh's father Maha Singh was the Commander of the Sukerchakia misl and controlled a territory in the west Punjab based around his headquarters at Gujranwala. After his father's death he was raised under the protection of Sada Kaur of the Kanheya Misl. Ranjit Singh succeeded his father at the age of 18. After several campaigns, he conquered the other misls and created the Sikh Empire.

Pashtun King Amir Ahmad Shah Abdali 1747–1772 of Afghanistan Durrani Known as Kings of Kings first crossed the Indus River in 1748, the year after his ascension – his forces sacked and absorbed Lahore during that expedition. The following year (1749), the Mughal ruler was induced to cede Sindh and all of the Punjab including the vital trans Indus River to him, in order to save his capital from being attacked by the Afghan Pashtun forces of the DurraniEmpire.