By Gurdit S. Dandass
Do you know about “Guru Gobind Singh’s Order to the Congregation at Banur, Punjab in 1698?” Have you heard of “The b40 Janamsakhi?” Probably not and a big reason, quite simply, is that a compilation of these entries into a form of a book had not taken place until now. But thanks to Priya Rai for compiling these and numerous other entries into a book.
This annotated bibliography is the most recent and up to date work on Sikhism that has ever been published. Only two book length bibliographies have been published on this subject prior to Rai’s book. Ganda Singh’s “A Select Bibliography of the Sikhs and Sikhism” (1965) centers on history of the Sikhs and Sikhism and is an alphabetical listing of works, with annotations furnished for some of the citations. Hakam Singh’s “Sikh Studies: A Classified Bibliography of Printed Books in English” (1982) is a listing of books without any explanatory notes.
The author has attributed her intentions for writing this book, to many reasons. Events leading to the Sikh Diaspora and recent events in Punjab have increased the interest in Sikh Studies to a great extent; this bibliography contains the literature of the past few years.
Rich in data, “Sikhism and the Sikhs: An Annotated Bibliography,” includes journal articles and books published in English since 1965. These books and articles are either devoted exclusively to or have an emphasis on Sikhism. The author also made two trips to India, specifically, to prevent overlooking any publications.
The bibliography is divided into seven categories. Within each category, entries are listed alphabetically by author and contain bibliographic information. The entries are numbered consecutively throughout the book. The seven chapters in the bibliography are General Works,” “Sikh History”, “Sikh Gurus,” “Sikh Scriptures and Philosophy,” “Sikh Politics and Social Economic Conditions,” “Sikhs Abroad,” and “Source Materials.”
Works included under “Sikh Politics” cover topics such as demand for an independent country, Khalistan; Indian Government’s military invasions on the Golden Temple, Amritsar in 1984; anti Sikh riots following the assassination of the Indian Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. These studies are fairly recent and were not included in any previous bibliographies.
Themes covered under “Sikhs Abroad” include studies concerning Sikhs in North America, United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia. A large number of works on this subject have been published in the past few years, attributing to changes in the Sikh Diaspora. A major topic of analysis in some of the works is the adaptation of Sikhs to foreign environments and their efforts to preserve Sikh traditions and values.
The chapter on Source Materials contains information on classified documents, letters, memorandums, newsletters, and bibliographies. Some of the documents describe issues such as observations of Sikhs by British officials, translations of Moslem newsletters, and the Sikh Archives.
Needless to say, the compiler of this book has achieved her aim in writing this book. She has indeed, conducted a search thorough enough to include most of the prominent works on Sikhism. A book of this type had been long awaited for, not only by the Sikhs but by many institutions of higher learning. The bibliography should serve as a useful tool for all gurdwaras, libraries, universities, and centers of Sikh studies throughout the world.
Article extracted from this publication >> May 18, 1990
