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Composition, Arrangement & Layout
ਜਪੁ | Jup
ਸੋ ਦਰੁ | So Dar
ਸੋਹਿਲਾ | Sohilaa
ਰਾਗੁ ਸਿਰੀਰਾਗੁ | Raag Siree-Raag
Gurbani (14-53)
Ashtpadiyan (53-71)
Gurbani (71-74)
Pahre (74-78)
Chhant (78-81)
Vanjara (81-82)
Vaar Siri Raag (83-91)
Bhagat Bani (91-93)
ਰਾਗੁ ਮਾਝ | Raag Maajh
Gurbani (94-109)
Ashtpadi (109)
Ashtpadiyan (110-129)
Ashtpadi (129-130)
Ashtpadiyan (130-133)
Bara Maha (133-136)
Din Raen (136-137)
Vaar Maajh Ki (137-150)
ਰਾਗੁ ਗਉੜੀ | Raag Gauree
Gurbani (151-185)
Quartets/Couplets (185-220)
Ashtpadiyan (220-234)
Karhalei (234-235)
Ashtpadiyan (235-242)
Chhant (242-249)
Baavan Akhari (250-262)
Sukhmani (262-296)
Thittee (296-300)
Gauree kii Vaar (300-323)
Gurbani (323-330)
Ashtpadiyan (330-340)
Baavan Akhari (340-343)
Thintteen (343-344)
Vaar Kabir (344-345)
Bhagat Bani (345-346)
ਰਾਗੁ ਆਸਾ | Raag Aasaa
Gurbani (347-348)
Chaupaday (348-364)
Panchpadde (364-365)
Kaafee (365-409)
Aasaavaree (409-411)
Ashtpadiyan (411-432)
Patee (432-435)
Chhant (435-462)
Vaar Aasaa (462-475)
Bhagat Bani (475-488)
ਰਾਗੁ ਗੂਜਰੀ | Raag Goojaree
Gurbani (489-503)
Ashtpadiyan (503-508)
Vaar Gujari (508-517)
Vaar Gujari (517-526)
ਰਾਗੁ ਦੇਵਗੰਧਾਰੀ | Raag Dayv-Gandhaaree
Gurbani (527-536)
ਰਾਗੁ ਬਿਹਾਗੜਾ | Raag Bihaagraa
Gurbani (537-556)
Chhant (538-548)
Vaar Bihaagraa (548-556)
ਰਾਗੁ ਵਡਹੰਸ | Raag Wadhans
Gurbani (557-564)
Ashtpadiyan (564-565)
Chhant (565-575)
Ghoriaan (575-578)
Alaahaniiaa (578-582)
Vaar Wadhans (582-594)
ਰਾਗੁ ਸੋਰਠਿ | Raag Sorath
Gurbani (595-634)
Asatpadhiya (634-642)
Vaar Sorath (642-659)
ਰਾਗੁ ਧਨਾਸਰੀ | Raag Dhanasaree
Gurbani (660-685)
Astpadhiya (685-687)
Chhant (687-691)
Bhagat Bani (691-695)
ਰਾਗੁ ਜੈਤਸਰੀ | Raag Jaitsree
Gurbani (696-703)
Chhant (703-705)
Vaar Jaitsaree (705-710)
Bhagat Bani (710)
ਰਾਗੁ ਟੋਡੀ | Raag Todee
ਰਾਗੁ ਬੈਰਾੜੀ | Raag Bairaaree
ਰਾਗੁ ਤਿਲੰਗ | Raag Tilang
Gurbani (721-727)
Bhagat Bani (727)
ਰਾਗੁ ਸੂਹੀ | Raag Suhi
Gurbani (728-750)
Ashtpadiyan (750-761)
Kaafee (761-762)
Suchajee (762)
Gunvantee (763)
Chhant (763-785)
Vaar Soohee (785-792)
Bhagat Bani (792-794)
ਰਾਗੁ ਬਿਲਾਵਲੁ | Raag Bilaaval
Gurbani (795-831)
Ashtpadiyan (831-838)
Thitteen (838-840)
Vaar Sat (841-843)
Chhant (843-848)
Vaar Bilaaval (849-855)
Bhagat Bani (855-858)
ਰਾਗੁ ਗੋਂਡ | Raag Gond
Gurbani (859-869)
Ashtpadiyan (869)
Bhagat Bani (870-875)
ਰਾਗੁ ਰਾਮਕਲੀ | Raag Ramkalee
Ashtpadiyan (902-916)
Gurbani (876-902)
Anand (917-922)
Sadd (923-924)
Chhant (924-929)
Dakhnee (929-938)
Sidh Gosat (938-946)
Vaar Ramkalee (947-968)
ਰਾਗੁ ਨਟ ਨਾਰਾਇਨ | Raag Nat Narayan
Gurbani (975-980)
Ashtpadiyan (980-983)
ਰਾਗੁ ਮਾਲੀ ਗਉੜਾ | Raag Maalee Gauraa
Gurbani (984-988)
Bhagat Bani (988)
ਰਾਗੁ ਮਾਰੂ | Raag Maaroo
Gurbani (889-1008)
Ashtpadiyan (1008-1014)
Kaafee (1014-1016)
Ashtpadiyan (1016-1019)
Anjulian (1019-1020)
Solhe (1020-1033)
Dakhni (1033-1043)
ਰਾਗੁ ਤੁਖਾਰੀ | Raag Tukhaari
Bara Maha (1107-1110)
Chhant (1110-1117)
ਰਾਗੁ ਕੇਦਾਰਾ | Raag Kedara
Gurbani (1118-1123)
Bhagat Bani (1123-1124)
ਰਾਗੁ ਭੈਰਉ | Raag Bhairo
Gurbani (1125-1152)
Partaal (1153)
Ashtpadiyan (1153-1167)
ਰਾਗੁ ਬਸੰਤੁ | Raag Basant
Gurbani (1168-1187)
Ashtpadiyan (1187-1193)
Vaar Basant (1193-1196)
ਰਾਗੁ ਸਾਰਗ | Raag Saarag
Gurbani (1197-1200)
Partaal (1200-1231)
Ashtpadiyan (1232-1236)
Chhant (1236-1237)
Vaar Saarang (1237-1253)
ਰਾਗੁ ਮਲਾਰ | Raag Malaar
Gurbani (1254-1293)
Partaal (1265-1273)
Ashtpadiyan (1273-1278)
Chhant (1278)
Vaar Malaar (1278-91)
Bhagat Bani (1292-93)
ਰਾਗੁ ਕਾਨੜਾ | Raag Kaanraa
Gurbani (1294-96)
Partaal (1296-1318)
Ashtpadiyan (1308-1312)
Chhant (1312)
Vaar Kaanraa
Bhagat Bani (1318)
ਰਾਗੁ ਕਲਿਆਨ | Raag Kalyaan
Gurbani (1319-23)
Ashtpadiyan (1323-26)
ਰਾਗੁ ਪ੍ਰਭਾਤੀ | Raag Prabhaatee
Gurbani (1327-1341)
Ashtpadiyan (1342-51)
ਰਾਗੁ ਜੈਜਾਵੰਤੀ | Raag Jaijaiwanti
Gurbani (1352-53)
Salok | Gatha | Phunahe | Chaubole | Swayiye
Sehskritee Mahala 1
Sehskritee Mahala 5
Gaathaa Mahala 5
Phunhay Mahala 5
Chaubolae Mahala 5
Shaloks Bhagat Kabir
Shaloks Sheikh Farid
Swaiyyae Mahala 5
Swaiyyae in Praise of Gurus
Shaloks in Addition To Vaars
Shalok Ninth Mehl
Mundavanee Mehl 5
ਰਾਗ ਮਾਲਾ, Raag Maalaa
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Sikh History & Heritage
The Making Of Sikh History - Literally. A Translation
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<blockquote data-quote="dalsingh1zero1" data-source="post: 163935" data-attributes="member: 17263"><p><em><span style="color: navy">In this small, final paragraph Ganda Singh is speaking as a witness, product and exegete of the movement that was flourishing around him. He traces the emergence and growth of a modern Sikh Panjabi literary movement to the efforts of the Singh Sabha lehar of Lahore, but is careful to note that some of the literature that had been produced from more traditional Sikh sources, outside of the sabhas played a role in stimulating interest in this area too. Dr. Singh gives us an explicit roll call of significant writers of his era. </span></em></p><p><em><span style="color: navy"></span></em></p><p><em><span style="color: navy"></span></em></p><p><em><span style="color: navy">Here, I’d like to share the observation that a lot of traditional Sikh literature seems to have written with the heavy use of Braj Bhasa or Sant Bhasa vocabulary (presumably to make it accessible to a wider audience than just Panjabis?). When we acknowledge this, we can begin to appreciate how making simplistic connections between ‘Sikh’ and ‘the Panjabi language’ can be misleading. The Dasam Granth itself, with its diverse use of languages and broad subject matter points at a purposeful widening of the Sikh literary and linguistic world; directly facilitated by the instructions and actions of Guru Gobind Singh himself. So whilst we, as Sikhs, may love Panjabi (I certainly do), making linear connections between Sikhs and the Panjabi language is a mistaken premise that we should avoid falling into. </span></em></p><p><em><span style="color: navy"></span></em></p><p><em><span style="color: navy"></span></em></p><p><em><span style="color: navy">Going back to the historical context of Dr. Singh’s comments, it’s interesting to note one particularly far reaching and unforeseeable cultural after-effect of British colonialism on the Panjab - the polarisation of Panjabi communities along religious lines (in a way markedly different to the pre-annexation situation). This eventually manifested itself in different groups aligning themselves with particular languages/scripts as markers of their religious identity. A negative legacy of which is the way it led to many Hindu and Muslim Panjabis identifying with languages other than their mother tongue. This can be seen strikingly in modern day Pakistan, which, despite having a larger number of Panjabis than India - as well as an ethnically Panjabi dominated government - provides no state support for the promotion and development of the language itself. When I think about it, (and resist the urge to start pointing fingers), we’d be hard pressed to find a community as fractured as Panjabis. This is a shame because it DOES have a negative impact on the development of literature by an otherwise generally confident and strong headed people. As things currently stand, it appears as if Panjabis are ‘ghettoised’ into separate worlds along religious faults.</span></em></p><p><em><span style="color: navy"></span></em></p><p><em><span style="color: navy">If we zoom out even further, and survey the scene before us now, at the turn of the 21st century we can see that the introduction of modern historiography amongst Sikhs didn’t lead to a pervasive community wide transformation in how we view our history. The traditional systems of imparting knowledge have proved enduring thus far. Modern historiography seems to have provided us with another lens with which we can view our past, one that exists alongside surviving, indigenous vehicles of Sikh history - sometimes contesting them. The new school has been particularly useful as a platform to respond to outsider attempts to dominate the narrative of our history in the English medium, usually via academic institutes, and the ‘jostling’ between writers of each camp in this arena has taken the study of Sikh history into new directions in its own way. </span></em></p><p><em><span style="color: navy"></span></em></p><p><em><span style="color: navy">So today we exist in a scenario where we have university Phd’s on matters of Sikh history alongside traditional narratives like Bhangu’s Panth Prakash (recently translated to English), as well as the rich dhadhi repository and accounts from traditional sampardayas like the Damdami Taksal. If the new school sometimes accuses the traditional as lacking in critical evaluation (which interestingly was the original accusation from nonSikh sources that caused it to emerge), the traditional schools themselves can view the modern approach with disdain, by contemptuously referring to works generated from that quarter as the outpourings of ‘kitaabi-vidwaans’ or ‘bookish scholars’.</span></em></p><p><em><span style="color: navy"></span></em></p><p><em><span style="color: navy"></span></em></p><p><em><span style="color: navy">Having talked of the past and briefly reviewed the present, I think it’s only natural that we close the circle and cast an eye on the future. Speaking from a purely subjective position, I can’t help but think that yet again, Sikhs find themselves on the cusp of another leap in understanding. One significant step in this direction will come about through a contextualised analysis of our history in truly global terms. This is something that has barely been touched upon so far (in my opinion) and Jagjit Singh’s book ‘The Sikh revolution’ represents a brilliant tentative step in this direction in my eyes. We also have a diverse storehouse of traditional material (the Gurbilas and Nirmala literature for example) whose contents awaits wider dissemination amongst the rank and file of the community (especially in the diasporas, where linguistic barriers exist). So there’s still much to discover about our past, and we are (thankfully) quite far from a point where we have exhausted the source material from which we can extract information regarding our history. This takes us neatly to the matter of those who feel that we already know our past in a conclusive manner.</span></em></p><p><em><span style="color: navy"></span></em></p><p><em><span style="color: navy"></span></em></p><p><em><span style="color: navy">The question of how we deal with facts that challenge the accepted mainstream narrative of our history (itself heavily influenced by the Singh Sabha trends we have been discussing throughout this piece) floats before us. Will we meet challenging information with poise, grace and an open mind? Probably not, our inherent conservatism mixed with our infamous, pugnacious spirit guarantees many heated arguments in this domain for the foreseeable future. But it would be a shame to sacrifice the truth to personalities, agendas and politics. References to behaviour starkly contrary to orthodox practice today in surviving contemporary or near contemporary accounts of our past shouldn’t be cause for us to reject chunks of our own literary heritage or unnecessarily talk disparagingly about the authors of old manuscripts or those they write about. The whole endeavour needs to be about understanding – not judging or using emerging facts as sticks to beat opponents on the head with. Are we ready to have a grown up discussion about these things yet?</span></em></p><p><span style="color: Black"></span></p><p> <span style="color: Black">When Panjabi magazines and newspapers started to be issued under the Singh Sabha movement’s drive for religious propagation and social reform, a desire for preserving and publishing literature in Panjabi arose too. The drift towards an affection and enthusiasm for history begotten through Bhai Santokh Singh’s Sri Gurpartaap Suraj Granth and Giani Gian Singh’s Panth Prakash and Twarikh Guru Khalsa, also caused some further attention to be drawn in this direction.</span></p><p><span style="color: Black"></span></p><p> <span style="color: Black">At the start of the 20th century the Chief Khalsa Diwan established a Historical Research Subcommittee and Sardar Karam Singh made up his mind to dedicate his life to the investigation and scrutiny of history. At this time Bhai Takhat Singh ji began to collect books for people conducting historical research and enquiry, making this [a central] consideration of the Bhai Ditt Singh library in Ferozpur. This was also the period where Bhai Vir Singh, in 1914, had Rattan Singh Bhangu’s Pracheen Panth Prakash published and composed many other historical tracts. During these very days Akali Kaur Singh ji Nihang inititated his own hunt for historical works and other literature. It was during this search that he came to receive two handwritten volumes of the poet Sainapati’s composition Sri Gur Sobha, and after performing a comparison between them, he had them published in Poh 457 Nanakshahi, Bikrami (December 1925 AD) through Bhai Nanak Singh Kirpal Singh Hazooria in Amritsar. It was in this way that this book [Sainapati’s Gursobha] came to light.</span></p><p> <span style="color: Black">....................</span></p><p><span style="color: Black"></span></p><p> <span style="color: Black">Patiala</span></p><p> <span style="color: Black">23 June 1967</span></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="dalsingh1zero1, post: 163935, member: 17263"] [I][COLOR="navy"]In this small, final paragraph Ganda Singh is speaking as a witness, product and exegete of the movement that was flourishing around him. He traces the emergence and growth of a modern Sikh Panjabi literary movement to the efforts of the Singh Sabha lehar of Lahore, but is careful to note that some of the literature that had been produced from more traditional Sikh sources, outside of the sabhas played a role in stimulating interest in this area too. Dr. Singh gives us an explicit roll call of significant writers of his era. Here, I’d like to share the observation that a lot of traditional Sikh literature seems to have written with the heavy use of Braj Bhasa or Sant Bhasa vocabulary (presumably to make it accessible to a wider audience than just Panjabis?). When we acknowledge this, we can begin to appreciate how making simplistic connections between ‘Sikh’ and ‘the Panjabi language’ can be misleading. The Dasam Granth itself, with its diverse use of languages and broad subject matter points at a purposeful widening of the Sikh literary and linguistic world; directly facilitated by the instructions and actions of Guru Gobind Singh himself. So whilst we, as Sikhs, may love Panjabi (I certainly do), making linear connections between Sikhs and the Panjabi language is a mistaken premise that we should avoid falling into. Going back to the historical context of Dr. Singh’s comments, it’s interesting to note one particularly far reaching and unforeseeable cultural after-effect of British colonialism on the Panjab - the polarisation of Panjabi communities along religious lines (in a way markedly different to the pre-annexation situation). This eventually manifested itself in different groups aligning themselves with particular languages/scripts as markers of their religious identity. A negative legacy of which is the way it led to many Hindu and Muslim Panjabis identifying with languages other than their mother tongue. This can be seen strikingly in modern day Pakistan, which, despite having a larger number of Panjabis than India - as well as an ethnically Panjabi dominated government - provides no state support for the promotion and development of the language itself. When I think about it, (and resist the urge to start pointing fingers), we’d be hard pressed to find a community as fractured as Panjabis. This is a shame because it DOES have a negative impact on the development of literature by an otherwise generally confident and strong headed people. As things currently stand, it appears as if Panjabis are ‘ghettoised’ into separate worlds along religious faults. If we zoom out even further, and survey the scene before us now, at the turn of the 21st century we can see that the introduction of modern historiography amongst Sikhs didn’t lead to a pervasive community wide transformation in how we view our history. The traditional systems of imparting knowledge have proved enduring thus far. Modern historiography seems to have provided us with another lens with which we can view our past, one that exists alongside surviving, indigenous vehicles of Sikh history - sometimes contesting them. The new school has been particularly useful as a platform to respond to outsider attempts to dominate the narrative of our history in the English medium, usually via academic institutes, and the ‘jostling’ between writers of each camp in this arena has taken the study of Sikh history into new directions in its own way. So today we exist in a scenario where we have university Phd’s on matters of Sikh history alongside traditional narratives like Bhangu’s Panth Prakash (recently translated to English), as well as the rich dhadhi repository and accounts from traditional sampardayas like the Damdami Taksal. If the new school sometimes accuses the traditional as lacking in critical evaluation (which interestingly was the original accusation from nonSikh sources that caused it to emerge), the traditional schools themselves can view the modern approach with disdain, by contemptuously referring to works generated from that quarter as the outpourings of ‘kitaabi-vidwaans’ or ‘bookish scholars’. Having talked of the past and briefly reviewed the present, I think it’s only natural that we close the circle and cast an eye on the future. Speaking from a purely subjective position, I can’t help but think that yet again, Sikhs find themselves on the cusp of another leap in understanding. One significant step in this direction will come about through a contextualised analysis of our history in truly global terms. This is something that has barely been touched upon so far (in my opinion) and Jagjit Singh’s book ‘The Sikh revolution’ represents a brilliant tentative step in this direction in my eyes. We also have a diverse storehouse of traditional material (the Gurbilas and Nirmala literature for example) whose contents awaits wider dissemination amongst the rank and file of the community (especially in the diasporas, where linguistic barriers exist). So there’s still much to discover about our past, and we are (thankfully) quite far from a point where we have exhausted the source material from which we can extract information regarding our history. This takes us neatly to the matter of those who feel that we already know our past in a conclusive manner. The question of how we deal with facts that challenge the accepted mainstream narrative of our history (itself heavily influenced by the Singh Sabha trends we have been discussing throughout this piece) floats before us. Will we meet challenging information with poise, grace and an open mind? Probably not, our inherent conservatism mixed with our infamous, pugnacious spirit guarantees many heated arguments in this domain for the foreseeable future. But it would be a shame to sacrifice the truth to personalities, agendas and politics. References to behaviour starkly contrary to orthodox practice today in surviving contemporary or near contemporary accounts of our past shouldn’t be cause for us to reject chunks of our own literary heritage or unnecessarily talk disparagingly about the authors of old manuscripts or those they write about. The whole endeavour needs to be about understanding – not judging or using emerging facts as sticks to beat opponents on the head with. Are we ready to have a grown up discussion about these things yet?[/COLOR][/I] [COLOR="Black"] When Panjabi magazines and newspapers started to be issued under the Singh Sabha movement’s drive for religious propagation and social reform, a desire for preserving and publishing literature in Panjabi arose too. The drift towards an affection and enthusiasm for history begotten through Bhai Santokh Singh’s Sri Gurpartaap Suraj Granth and Giani Gian Singh’s Panth Prakash and Twarikh Guru Khalsa, also caused some further attention to be drawn in this direction. At the start of the 20th century the Chief Khalsa Diwan established a Historical Research Subcommittee and Sardar Karam Singh made up his mind to dedicate his life to the investigation and scrutiny of history. At this time Bhai Takhat Singh ji began to collect books for people conducting historical research and enquiry, making this [a central] consideration of the Bhai Ditt Singh library in Ferozpur. This was also the period where Bhai Vir Singh, in 1914, had Rattan Singh Bhangu’s Pracheen Panth Prakash published and composed many other historical tracts. During these very days Akali Kaur Singh ji Nihang inititated his own hunt for historical works and other literature. It was during this search that he came to receive two handwritten volumes of the poet Sainapati’s composition Sri Gur Sobha, and after performing a comparison between them, he had them published in Poh 457 Nanakshahi, Bikrami (December 1925 AD) through Bhai Nanak Singh Kirpal Singh Hazooria in Amritsar. It was in this way that this book [Sainapati’s Gursobha] came to light. .................... Patiala 23 June 1967[/COLOR] [/QUOTE]
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The Making Of Sikh History - Literally. A Translation
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