Author: W H McLeod
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Year: 2004/2006
Language: English
Pages: 896
ISBN/UPC (if available): 0-19-566892-8
Description
This collection represents two major areas in Sikh history and religion. The first two books concern the life and teachings of guru Nanak. The second two discusses the nature of the Sikh Panth (the Sikh community)
REVIEWS
This field of modern Sikh Studies has been single-handedly introduced, crafted, nourished and advanceed by Hew McLeod over the last three decades. He has over ten books in Sikh history to his credit and each one of his works has been received with much enthusiasm and global critical acclaim. In his sophistication and erudition in matters of Sikh history, society, and culture he remains unmatched.
-Professor Harjot Oberoi, University of British Columbia, Canada
In his analysis and comparison of his sources Dr McLeod's touch is so sure, his critical faculty so acute, his zest in unravelling the truth so potent, and the sheer scholarly honesty of the enterprise so palpable that, the very process of exact scholarship which can be so tedious becomes fascinating and absorbing.
-Times Literary Supplement
Careful scholarship and thoughtful analytical temper, revealing important historical trajectories along which the Sikh tradition has changed over the centuries, widely read, a scholar who is both sympathetic to his material and writes of it with clarity and authority.
-The Indian Economic and Social History Review
Contents
PART I
Abbreviations
The Setting
The Sources
The Life of Guru Nanak according to the Janam-Sakhis
The Life of Guru Nanak
The Teachings of Guru Nanak
The Person
Bibliography
Glossary
Biographical Index
Doctrinal Index
General Index
PART II
Abbreviations
SECTION I
The Historical Setting: the Panjab 1500-1800
The Janam-sakhis: A Definition and Summary Description
The Principal Janam-sakhis
The Language of the Janam-sakhis
SECTION II
The Origins and Growth of the Janam-sakhi Traditions
Constituents of the Janam-sakhis
Janam-sakhi Forms
The Assembling and Transmission of the Janam-sakhi Traditions
The Evolution of Sakhis
Sources Used by the Janam-sakhi Compilers
Purpose, Functon, Value
The Purpose of the Janam-sakhis
The Function of the Janam-sakhis
The Janam-sakhis as Historical Sources
The Janam-sakhis in Panjabi Literature
Appendices
Select Bibliography
Glossary
Index of Janam-sakhi Anecdotes and Discourses
General Index
PART III
The Evolution of the Sikh Community
The Janam-Sakhis
Cohesive Ideals and Institutions in the History of the Sikhs Panth
The Sikh Scriptures
Caste in the Sikh Panth
Glossary
Bibliography
Index
PART IV
What is Sikhism?
The Nanak-panth
The Khalsa and its Rahit
The Khalsa in the Eighteenth Century
The Singh Sabha Reformation
Definition by Legislation
Who is Sikh?
Select Bibliography
Glossary
Index