God, written by Nanak and other gurus.
According to Sikh tradition, in the late
1400s Nanak saw a vision of God, who
ordered him to begin preaching. Nanak
attracted many followers and became the
first of the 10 gurus. The last human
guru was Gobind Singh, who died in
1708. Gobind Singh created the Khalsa
as an armed brotherhood. He felt that
Sikhs were being mistreated by India’s
rulers. He was succeeded as guru by the
Adi Granth, or Guru Granth Sahib
(Guru Granth Personified).
In the 1840s the Sikhs fought two wars
with British forces in the Punjab region.
The British controlled India at the time.
The Sikhs were defeated, and the Punjab
became part of British India.
In 1947 British India gained
independence as two separate countries,
India and Pakistan. The traditional
lands of the Sikhs were divided between
the two. Most Sikhs settled in India,
but the Sikhs and India’s Hindu
majority quarreled. In 1984 Indian
soldiers killed hundreds of Sikhs in an
assault on the Golden Temple. Later
that year the Indian prime minister was
killed by two of her Sikh bodyguards.
The murder led to more violence
against Sikhs. Because of this, many
Sikhs began demanding the
establishment of a separate Sikh state.
In 2004 Manmohan Singh, a Sikh, was
appointed prime minister of India.
#More to explore
India
Silk
Silk is a valuable fiber made mostly by
insects called silkworms. It is used to
make high-quality clothing, sheets, and
other things.
Natural Silk
Silkworms are actually caterpillars, not
worms. A silkworm builds a case called a
cocoon around itself for protection
while it changes into a moth. It makes
A Sikh leader reads from the Adi Granth.
88 Silk BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
the cocoon with silk that comes out of a
tube in its head. The silkworm wraps a
single long strand of silk around itself
over and over again.
Some spiders also make silk. They weave
silk webs to catch insects to eat. However,
the silk made by spiders is too thin
for making cloth.
The Silk Industry
In the silk industry, silkworms are raised
from the time they are eggs until they
have made a cocoon. In nature, a silkworm
breaks open its cocoon to come
out as a moth. Silkworms used for
industry are killed with hot air or steam
inside the cocoon. This way the cocoon
is not damaged.
To process silk, the cocoons are first put
in hot water. This softens the cocoons so
the silk can be unwound. Several
cocoons are unwound at the same time
to form a single strand. Then several
strands are twisted together to make
thicker, stronger yarn. The yarn can be
dyed and woven into cloth.
History
The silk industry began in China more
than 4,500 years ago. The Chinese
traded silk but would not tell other
countries how it was made. Silk was
such an important product that the
trade route between China and Europe
was called the Silk Road. In the AD 500s
silkworms were stolen from China.
Silk cloth is strong and warm but light in weight. It resists wrinkling and can be dyed with
bright colors.
A silkworm spins its cocoon.
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Silk 89
Then Europeans started making silk
themselves.
Today artificial fibers are often used
instead of silk. But people still value silk
items because of their quality. China
remains a major silk producer.
#More to explore
Clothing • Fibers • Spider
Silverstein, Shel
Shel Silverstein’s books, including The
Giving Tree and Where the Sidewalk
Ends, are some of the most famous children’s
books of all time. Silverstein also
wrote books for adults as well as songs
and plays, but he is remembered mostly
for his work for children.
Early Life
Sheldon Alan Silverstein was born in
Chicago, Illinois, on September 25,
1930. When he was about 12 years old,
he became interested in writing and
drawing. In the 1950s he served in the
U.S. military. During that time, Silverstein
worked as a cartoonist for the military
magazine Stars and Stripes.
Career
Silverstein began writing books for children
in the early 1960s. These included
Lafcadio, the Lion Who Shot Back (1963)
and WhoWants a Cheap Rhinoceros
(1964). The Giving Tree (1964) made
him famous with children and parents
across the country. The book tells the
story of a tree that gradually gives a boy
everything it has. Other popular Silverstein
stories include The Missing Piece
(1976) and The Missing Piece Meets the
Big O (1981).
Silverstein also wrote poems. In his serious
poems he showed that he understood
how children think and what they
think about. His humorous verse features
comical scenes and fun-to-say
words and rhymes. His most famous
books of poetry are Where the Sidewalk
Ends (1974), A Light in the Attic (1981),
and Falling Up (1996).
Silverstein died on May 10, 1999, in
KeyWest, Florida. Some poems he had
not yet published appeared in a new
book, Runny Babbit: A Billy Sook, in
2005.
#More to explore
Cartoon • Literature for Children
• Poetry • Storytelling
The Giving Tree is a much-loved book by
Shel Silverstein. The story is about the relationship
between a boy and a tree. Silverstein
also drew the pictures.
Shel Silverstein
was also a
musician. He
wrote
“The Unicorn”
and many
other songs.
