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.

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.

Louis E. Fenech offers a compelling new examination of one of the only Persian compositions attributed to the tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708): the Zafar-namah or 'Epistle of Victory.' Written as a masnavi, a Persian poem, this letter was originally sent to the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb (d. 1707) rebuking his most unbecoming conduct. Incredibly, Guru Gobind Singh's letter is included today within the Sikh canon, one of only a very small handful of Persian-language texts granted the status of Sikh scripture. As such, its contents are sung on special Sikh occasions. Perhaps equally surprising is the fact that the letter appears in the tenth Guru's book or the Dasam Granth in the standard Gurmukhi script (in which Punjabi is written) but retains its original Persian language, a vernacular few Sikhs know. Drawing out the letter's direct and subtle references to the Iranian national epic, the Shah-namah, and to Shaikh Sa'di's thirteenth-century Bustan, Fenech demonstrates how this letter served as a form of Indo-Islamic verbal warfare, ensuring the tenth Guru's moral and symbolic victory over the legendary and powerful Mughal empire. Through analysis of the Zafar-namah, Fenech resurrects an essential and intiguing component of the Sikh tradition: its Islamicate aspect.

Purnima Dhavan examines the creation of the Khalsa Sikh warrior tradition during the 18th century. By focusing on the experiences of long-overlooked peasant communities, she reveals how a dynamic process of debates, collaboration, and conflict transformed Sikh practices and shaped a new martial culture.

The Impulse Behind The Study In Hand Was The Longing To Find Adequate Answers To Certain Vital Questions What Exactly Does Sikhism Stand For? Why Was It Originated And Developed By Guru Nanak And His Nine Successors? How Did It Strike Roots Among People? What Institutions And Structures The Gurus Evolved To Highlight And Escalate It? What Type Of Praxis Of Man And Society Gurus Visualized? How Was It Different From Contemporary Religious Systems Islam, Hinduism, Sahajyana, Buddhism, Nathism, Bhakti System Etc.? Was It A Synthesis Of Different Traits Of Different Religions? Was It A Syncretism Of Hindu And Muslim Cultures Or Was It An Independent System? Did Sikhism Purport To Design To Raise Itself On Premises Different From The Ones Which Formed The Foundations Of Hindu Or Other Societies? Was It Merely Reformist Movement Aiming At Certain Targets Within Time And Space Or A Distinct Spirito-Social Process To Urge The People To March Towards Integrated Development Both At Micro And Macro Levels? What Was The True Nature Of Supreme Reality As Conceived By The Gurus? How Is This Related With The Universe Including Man And How Does It Permeate, Pervade And Operate The Whole Universe? What Type Of Society Conforms To God S Will And How Was Its Consummation Possible? Which Models Of Polity And Social Edifice Were Recommended By The Gurus? Is Sikhism A Life-Affirming Dispensation Or Life-Negating Philosophy? Why Was Structural Bonding Of Religion And Politics Effected And Institutionalised? What Is The Place Of Sikhism In The Comity Of Religions And How It Is Relevant To Challenges Of The Present-Day World? Such Questions And A Lot More Being Vital And Crucial For The Understanding Of The Role Of Gurus And Their Dispensation, Have Been Fully Taken Cognizance Of In The Present Study.