This Volume Presents Translations Of All Major Persian Sources Of Sikh History Upto 1765, When Sikh Power Was Established Over The Punjab. These Sources Offer Details That Are Not Otherwise Available, And Richly Supplement The Information Preserved In The Punjabi (Gurmukhi) Traditions.

This volume is a part of the research and publication programme of the Indian History Congress to commemorate the tercentenary of the Khalsa. It presents translations of all major Persian sources of Sikh history up to 1765, when Sikh power was established over the Punjab. These sources offer details that are not otherwise available, and richly supplement the information preserved in the Punjabi (Gurmukhi) traditions. Yet, until now, most of the Persian texts translated here have not been available in English; the translations given here thus meet a long-felt need. These are freshly made, with much care exercised to preserve accuracy and provide adequate annotation. Of the two editors, Professor J.S. Grewal has contributed an introduction critically assessing the value of these texts for reconstructing Sikh history. Professor Irfan Habib, on his part, has organized the work of translation, having himself rendered a number of the texts into English for this volume.J.S. Grewal, formerly Professor of History and then Vice-Chancellor, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, and Director, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla, is an eminent historian of the Sikhs, and of medieval and modern Indian history in general. His numerous works include Guru Nanak in History (1969) and Sikhs of the Punjab (1990).Irfan Habib, formerly Professor of History at the Aligarh Muslim University, is a well-known historian and author of The Agrarian System of Mughal India (1963; revised edn 1999), An Atlas of the Mughal Empire (1982), and Essays in Indian History: Towards a Marxist Perception (1995). He is General Editor of the People s History of India series, and has authored/co-authored the following monographs in the series: Prehistory, The Indus Civilization, The Vedic Age (with Vijay Kumar Thakur), Mauryan India (with Vivekanand Jha), Indian Economy, 1858 1914.

The Khalsa & the Punjab: Studies in Sikh History, to the 19th Century is the third in a series of volumes published to mark the tercentenary of the Khalsa, the previous two being History and Ideology: The Khalsa over 300 Years (1999) and Sikh History from Persian Sources (2002).This volume comprises some of the papers presented at the panel on the Khalsa at the 60th session of the Indian History Congress along with others from earlier proceedings of the Congress. Covering different areas of Sikh studies, the fifteen essays contained here are an attempt at introducing the Sikh past to a wide readership.Himadri Banerjee holds the chair of Guru Nanak Professor of Indian History at the Department of History, Jadavpur University, Kolkata. His published work includes Agrarian Society of the Punjab: 1849 1901 (1982). He is currently working on a two-volume history of the Sikhs and Sikhism in eastern India, of which the first volume, titled The Other Sikhs: A View from Eastern India, has already been published.[Banerjee] emphasises on the need of taking Sikh Studies beyond the way it has been defined by some western scholars. Economic and Political Weekly

Illustrations: 3 Maps Description: History of the Sikhs is a five volume series dealing with all aspects-religious, philosophical, political, military, social, economic and cultural, and the contribution of Sikhism to world civilization, in particular to human rights, principles of liberty, equality and fraternity, and to the creed of democracy and secularism. The aim is to present a comprehensive view of the rise, growth and development of Sikh thought and action almost in every direction. The entire series is based on original contemporary sources in English, Gurmukhi, Marathi, Persian and Urdu known to exist in India and abroad. This first volume gives the story of Ten Masters who provided leadership to the downtrodden people of the Punjab both in religious and political fields for about two centuries. Their aim was to remove the bitterness that had persisted between the rulers and their subjects for the past five hundred years. They wished to create a new society based upon mutual brotherhood, and freedom of thought, expression and action. It was under the circumstances almost an impossible task. But there is nothing like a dream to create the future. Utopia today, flesh and blood tomorrow. Man's onward march requires that the heights around him should be ablaze with noble and glorious deeds of valour and self-sacrifice to serve as guiding lights. Such evolutionary and revolutionary models were furnished by Guru Arjan, Guru Tegh Bahadur, Guru Gobind Singh, and his four sons-Ajit Singh (18 years), Jujhar Singh (14 years), Zorawar Singh (8 years), and Fatah Singh (5 years)-as well as by their numerous disciples like Bhais Mati Das, Sati Das and Dayal Das. The main feature of this book are: A critical appraisement of Guru Nanak's Janam Sakhis, justification for celebrating Guru Nanak's birthday in November instead of in April, Guru Nanak's compositions, Mardana's death at Baghdad, how Amritsar developed into a Sikh centre, Guru Arjan's martyrdom, why Guru Hargobind took to militarism, Guru Har Rae's residence at Nahan, Hukam Namas of Guru Tegh Bahadur, Guru Gobind Singh's formula of five into five, his literary works and Hukam Namas, Emperor Bahadur Shah's pious fraud, eminent personalities and instructions, impact of Gurus'; teachings on Indian society, and why Jats became followers of Khatri Gurus.

The International Bibliography of Sikh Studies brings together all books, composite works, journal articles, conference proceedings, theses, dissertations, project reports, and electronic resources produced in the field of Sikh Studies until June 2004, making it the most complete and up-to-date reference work in the field today. One of the youngest religions of the world, Sikhism has progressively attracted attention on a global scale in recent decades. An increasing number of scholars is exploring the culture, history, politics, and religion of the Sikhs. The growing interest in Sikh Studies has resulted in an avalanche of literature, which is now for the first time brought together in the International Bibliography of Sikh Studies. This monumental work lists over 10,000 English-language publications under almost 30 subheadings, each representing a subfield in Sikh Studies. The Bibliography contains sections on a wide variety of subjects, such as Sikh gurus, Sikh philosophy, Sikh politics and Sikh religion. Furthermore, the encyclopedia presents an annotated survey of all major scholarly work on Sikhism, and a selective listing of electronic and web-based resources in the field. Author and subject indices are appended for the reader’s convenience.

Illustrations: 1 Map Description: History of the Sikhs is planned as a five volume survey aiming to present a comprehensive view of the rise, growth and development of Sikh thought and action in every direction. This volume Sikh Domination of the Mughal Empire 1764-1803 is third in the series. The whole series is based on original contemporary sources in Persian, Marathi, Gurumukhi, Urdu, Hindi and English known to exist in India and abroad. The dominating theme of the third volume is how and why the Sikhs missed numerous opportunities of establishing a Sikh State over the whole of Northern India. Najib-ud-daulah Rohilla, the first dictator of Delhi, and the vanquisher of Marathas and the Jats, publicly confessed having failed to subdue the Sikhs. Once he paid them a blackmail of eleven lakhs of rupees. His son and successor saved himself by embracing Sikhism. His widow and son lived in the Panjab on a Jagir granted by Jassa Singh Ramgarhia in his safe custody for seventeen years. The Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II (1759-1806) was prepared to place himself and his empire under Sikh protection. Najaf Khan, his prime minister, granted sovereign rights to the Sikhs. Mahadji Sindhia, the second dictator of the Mughal Empire, always maintained peace with them inspite of their frequent provocations. Lord Cornwallis, the British Governor-General in vain cajoled and coaxed them in order to secure the liberty from Sikh captivity of Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Stuart who was set free after ten months on receiving a ransom. The Jat rajas of Bharatpur, Rajput princes, Nawabs of Oudh, and the hill rajas, all troubled before them. As the Sikhs had risen to power and predominance from extreme poverty and penury, their imagination could not go outside their homeland acquisition of gold from the rich, rakhi from Zamindars and Kambh from artisans.