On the 30th of March, 1699, the Sikh Guru Gobind Singh called together a special assembly at the Keshgarh Fort at Anandpur. Following the morning devotions, the Guru asked for a volunteer, saying, "The entire sangat is very dear to me; but is there a devoted Sikh who will give his head to me here and now? A need has arisen at this moment which calls for a head." One man arose and followed the Guru out of the room. When the Guru returned to the assembly with a bloodied sword, he asked for another volunteer. Another man followed. This was repeated three more times, until at last the Guru emerged with a clean sword and all five men alive and well. Those five volunteers would become the first disciples of the Khalsa, the martial community within the Sikh religion, and would come to be known as the Panj Piare, or the Cherished Five. Despite the centrality of this group to modern Sikhism, scholarship on the Panj Piare has remained sparse. Louis Fenech's new book examines the Khalsa and the role that the the Panj Piare have had in the development of the Sikh faith over the past three centuries.

This companion studies the life and legacy of Guru Hargobind (1590–1644), the Sixth Guru of the Sikh tradition. It highlights the complex nature of Sikh society and culture in the historical and socio-economic context of Mughal India. The book reconstructs the life of Guru Hargobind by exploring the “divine presence” in history and memory. It addresses the questions of why and how militancy became explicit during Guru Hargobind’s spiritual reign and examines the growth of the Sikh community’s self-consciousness, separatism, and militancy as an integral part of the process of empowerment of the Sikh Panth. A unique contribution, this book provides a multidisciplinary paradigm in the reconstruction of Guru Hargobind’s life and legacy. It will be indispensable for students of Sikh studies, religious studies, history, sociology of religion, anthropology, material culture, literary and textual studies, politics, militancy, and South Asian studies.

And finally, a comprehensive bibliography and an extended glossary of Punjabi terms make it the finest enterprise of its kind in Sikh studies.

This valuable collection brings together representative essays on wide-ranging topics by Hew McLeod, spanning his illustrious career in Sikh Studies.

This volume is an omnibus edition of four classic studies on the history and evolution of Sikhs and Sikhism, by one of the world's leading scholars in this field.Guru Nanak and the Sikh Religion examines the life and teachings of Guru Nanak, offering an analytical view of the first Guru of the Sikhs, so essential for an understanding of later Sikh history and contemporary Sikh society. In Early Sikh Tradition, McLeod traces the origins of the janam-sakhistyle, describes the anecdotal and discourse forms used by narrators, and reconstructs a pattern whereby janam-sakhi traditions were assembled and transmitted. The Evolution of the Sikh Community questions the traditional, and rather simplified, view of the Sikh community and its history by probingfurther into the past, to the roots of Nanak's teachings. The last work, Who is a Sikh? offers lucid accounts of key events and phases that led to the development of Sikh identity into its current form. This book seeks to provide an understanding of the Sikh individual, historical community andreligion.

In 1,800 pages across 3 volumes, Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices provides information on current religious practices around the world with an emphasis on how religions impact the daily lives of their followers.

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.

Contributed papers presented at a conference.