Books On Sikh History

Sikhism is the religion and reasoning established in the Punjab area of the Indian subcontinent. Its devotees are known as Sikhs. The Sikhs call their religious faith Gurmat (Punjabi: "the Way of the Guru"). As indicated by Sikh custom, Sikhism was laid out by Guru Nanak and in this way driven by a progression of nine different Gurus. Every one of the 10 human Gurus, Sikhs accept, was occupied by a solitary soul. Sikh in Punjabi signifies "student," and the people who joined the Sikh people group, or Panth ("Path"), were individuals who looked for otherworldly direction. Sikhs guarantee that their custom has forever been isolated from Hinduism. By and by, numerous Western researchers contend that in its earliest stage Sikhism was a development inside the Hindu custom; Nanak, they bring up, was raised a Hindu and ultimately had a place with the Sant custom of northern India, a development related to the extraordinary writer and spiritualist Kabir. The Sants, the majority of whom were poor, displaced, and unskilled, made songs out of extraordinary excellence communicating their experience of the heavenly, which they found in everything around them.

Their practice drew vigorously on the Vaishnava bhakti (the reflection development inside the Hindu custom that reveres the god Vishnu), however, there were significant contrasts between the two. Like the devotees of bhakti, the Sants accepted that dedication to God is fundamental for freedom from the pattern of resurrection in which all people are caught; not normal for the adherents of bhakti, nonetheless, the Sants kept up with that God is nirgun ("without structure") and not sagun ("with structure"). A Sikh gurdwara incorporates both the place of religious worship and its related langar or shared refectory. The Adi Granth should be available at the gurdwara, and all going to the gurdwara should enter with heads covered and feet uncovered. Sikhs show their respect by bowing their foreheads to the floor before the holy sacred writing. Worship consists to a great extent of singing psalms from the sacred writing, and each religious service closes with Ardas, a set petition that is partitioned into three sections. 

FAQs

Q1. What are the rituals of Sikhism?

Sikh Rahit Maryada, the manual that indicates the obligations of Sikhs, names four customs that qualify as soul-changing experiences. The first is a birth and naming service, held in a gurdwara when the mother can rise and wash in the wake of conceiving an offspring. A song is chosen indiscriminately from the Guru Granth Sahib, and a name starting with the primary letter of the psalm is picked. Singh is added to the names of guys and Kaur to females. A subsequent custom is the Anand Karaj ("merry association"), or wedding function, which differentiates Sikhs from Hindus. The woman and man of the hour are expected to walk multiple times around the Guru Granth Sahib to the singing of Guru Ram Das' Suhi Chhant 2, which varies from the Hindu custom of circumnavigating a consecrated fire. The third custom — viewed as the most significant — is the Amrit Sanskar, the function for commencement into the Khalsa. The fourth ritual is the memorial service function. 

Q2. What are some of the major Sikh festivals?

Sikhism notices eight significant celebrations, as well as a few others insignificant. Four of the principal celebrations are gurpurabs, or occasions honouring significant occurrences in the existence of the Gurus, like the birthday events of Nanak and Gobind Singh and the sufferings of Arjan and Tegh Bahadur. The remaining four are the establishment of the Guru Granth Sahib, the New Year celebration of Baisakhi, Diwali, and Hola Mahalla. Celebrations are celebrated by parades on the roads and visits to gurdwaras, especially to those related to one of the Gurus or with some authentic occasion. Speeches are normally made to hordes of admirers.

Q3. What are some good books to read about Sikh History?

·         A History Of The Sikhs VOL 1, and 2 Khushwant Singh

·         Belion Nikalde Sher -  Jagdeep Singh

·         Sikh Raj Kiven Bania and Sikh Raj Kiven Gaya by Sohan Singh Sheetal

·         Shri Guru Granth Sahib – The Awakener by B S Mander

·         My Guru's Blessings Volume 1 to Volume 14 – by Daljeet Singh Sidhu

·         The Book of Nanak by Navtej Sarna

·         Punjab, Punjabis, and Punjabiyat: Reflections on a Land and its People

by Khushwant Singh

·         Sikh Warrior, Hari Singh Nalwa by Surinder Singh Johar

·         Guru Arjan Dev, Guru Har Gobind, Guru Har Rai - Set of 3 Two-Volume Books (Sikh Comics for Children & Adults) by Terveen Gill

Q4. What are some must-read books for Sikhs?

·         Sri Guru Granth Sahib by Guru Nanak

·         The Sikh Religion V1: Its Gurus, Sacred Writings, and Authors by Max Arthur Macauliffe

·         Dasam Granth: The Second Scripture of the Sikhs by Sri Guru Gobind Singh

·         1984: The Anti-Sikh Riots and After by Sanjay Suri

·         Empire of the Sikhs: The Life and Times of Maharaja Ranjit Singh  by Patwant Singh

·         A History of the Sikhs: From the Origin of the Nation to the Battles of the Sutlej by Joseph Davey Cunningham

·         Amritsar to Lahore: A Journey Across the India-Pakistan Border by Stephen Alter

·         Punjab Till Partition: The Land of Five Rivers, Partition, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Subcontinent by John Williams

Q5. Is there a single special book on Sikhism to read?

The Guru Granth Sahib : The tenth and last Sikh guru, Guru Gobind Singh, proclaimed that he would be the last living guru and after him, Sikhs should take their lead from the Sikh holy book for guidance and inspiration. This is why it is called the Guru Granth Sahib - and is treated as another living guru, sometimes referred to as the eleventh Sikh guru.

Holy Granth Sahib is kept in Gurdwara and contains 5867 sacred hymns or Shabads. It includes ’Gurbani’, the words spoken by the living gurus. ‘Ik Onkar’ means ‘there is only one god’, is the first line of the holy book.

Q6. Which is the best book to be read on the history of Sikhs?

The Sikhs - Khushwant Singh, We will get a glimpse of the life and times of the Sikh Gurus. And the Khalsa empire was established by the Lion of Punjab, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, and afterward.

Guru Nanak, The First Sikh Guru - Harish Dhillon, This chaotic world of ours needs the guidance of the enlightened First Sikh Guru, Baba Nanak now more than ever before.

The Sikh Gurus - Harish Dhillon, stories of the life and times of the ten Sikh Gurus and Shri Guru Granth Sahib.

The Sacred Sword, The Legend Of Guru Gobind Singh - Hindol Sengupta about the life and times of the 10th Sikh guru, Guru Gobind Singh ji.