The world was a very different place 550 years ago. India was still not a jewel in the British crown. There wasn’t a Pakistan to counter Hindustan. Our borders were fluid, even though land was still contentious. And people covered great distances, mostly on foot, because back then, only birds flew.

Guru Nanak (1469-1539) travelled the world in these simpler, yet daunting times, where stories about lands beyond were mostly unknown. For over 22 years, the seeker, philosopher, and founder of Sikhism, visited more than 150 Islamic, Sufi, Hindu, Buddhist and Jain sites, covering present-day India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Tibet, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. He was accompanied by his Muslim companion Bhai Mardana, a musician, who played the rabāb (fiddle), while Nanak sang shabad (hymns). Though Nanak left a large repository of experiential wisdom, he never wrote anything about his personal life. His travels, hence, were rendered solely through oral narratives.