Almost from the moment, some five centuries ago, that their religion was founded in the Punjab by Guru Nanak, Sikhs have enjoyed a distinctive identity. This sense of difference, forged during Sikhism's fierce struggles with the Mughal Empire, is still symbolised by the "Five Ks" ("panj kakar," in Punjabi), those articles of faith to which all baptised Sikhs subscribe: uncut hair bound in a turban; comb; special undergarment; iron bracelet and dagger (or kirpan) -- the unique marks of the Sikh military fraternity (the word Sikh means "disciple" in Punjabi). Yet for all its ongoing attachment to the religious symbols that have helped set it apart from neighboring faiths in South Asia, Sikhism amounts to far more than just signs or externals. Now the world's fifth largest religion, with a significant diaspora especially in Britain and North America, this remarkable monotheistic tradition commands the allegiance of 25 million people, and is a global phenomenon. In her balanced appraisal, Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh reviews the history, theology and worship of a community poised between reconciling its hereditary creeds and certainties with the fast-paced pressures of modernity. She outlines and explains the core Sikh beliefs, and explores the writings and teachings of the Ten Sikh Gurus in Sikhism's Holy Scriptures, the Sri Guru Granth Sahib (more usually called just the "Granth"). Further chapters explore Sikh ethics, art and architecture, and matters of gender and the place of women in the tradition. The book attractively combines the warm empathy of a Sikh with the objective insights and acute perspectives of a prominent scholar of religion.

The Truth of Nanak and the Sikhs presents a detailed interpretation of the Sikh Scriptures known as the Guru Granth Sahib. This book contrasts the literal interpretation of the Granth with a new interpretation that explains the symbolism of certain words to produce a clearer meaning applicable to oneself in daily living. Symbolic meanings of certain words describe the eternal flowing action of spirit available to the reader for enlightenment, spiritual growth and inner peace. The simple message: Let the spirit of the True Guru (Almighty God) coming to you in the Granth come through you individually in each moment.

Bringing South Asian and British imperial history together with recent scholarship on transnationalism and postcolonialism, Tony Ballantyne offers a bold reevaluation of constructions of Sikh identity from the late eighteenth century through the early twenty-first. Ballantyne considers Sikh communities and experiences in Punjab, the rest of South Asia, the United Kingdom, and other parts of the world. He charts the shifting, complex, and frequently competing visions of Sikh identity that have been produced in response to the momentous social changes wrought by colonialism and diaspora. In the process, he argues that Sikh studies must expand its scope to take into account not only how Sikhism is figured in religious and political texts but also on the battlefields of Asia and Europe, in the streets of Singapore and Southall, and in the nightclubs of New Delhi and Newcastle.Constructing an expansive historical archive, Ballantyne draws on film, sculpture, fiction, and Web sites, as well as private papers, government records, journalism, and travel narratives. He proceeds from a critique of recent historiography on the development of Sikhism to an analysis of how Sikh identity changed over the course of the long nineteenth century. Ballantyne goes on to offer a reading of the contested interpretations of the life of Dalip Singh, the last Maharaja of Punjab. He concludes with an exploration of bhangra, a traditional form of Punjabi dance that diasporic artists have transformed into a globally popular music style. Much of bhangra's recent evolution stems from encounters of the Sikh and Afro-Caribbean communities, particularly in the United Kingdom. Ballantyne contends that such cross-cultural encounters are central in defining Sikh identity both in Punjab and the diaspora.

"Spirit Warriors" is about people who have learned from a 400 year old tradition to combine meditative focus and spirituality to become fearless in the defense of religious freedom, in performance at work, and in the pursuit of joy.

Learn from a lawyer, business men and women, therapists, and teachers who relate their life experiences and describe those practices that led them to success. Simultaneously learn about an Indian religion that does not seek converts but provides some essential lessons for life.

"Mr. Power's book provides the reader with ways to be successful in business and in life." - Alan Lavine, noted business author, author of "From Rags to Riches,"

The Truth of Nanak and the Sikhs presents a detailed interpretation of the Sikh Scriptures known as the Guru Granth Sahib. This book contrasts the literal interpretation of the Granth with a new interpretation that explains the symbolism of certain words to produce a clearer meaning applicable to oneself in daily living. Symbolic meanings of certain words describe the eternal flowing action of spirit available to the reader for enlightenment, spiritual growth and inner peace. The simple message: Let the spirit of the True Guru (Almighty God) coming to you in the Granth come through you individually in each moment.

The Truth of Nanak and the Sikhs presents a detailed interpretation of the Sikh Scriptures known as the Guru Granth Sahib. This book contrasts the literal interpretation of the Granth with a new interpretation that explains the symbolism of certain words to produce a clearer meaning applicable to oneself in daily living. Symbolic meanings of certain words describe the eternal flowing action of spirit available to the reader for enlightenment, spiritual growth and inner peace. The simple message: Let the spirit of the True Guru (Almighty God) coming to you in the Granth come through you individually in each moment.

First published in 1963, this remains the most comprehensive and authoritative book on the Sikhs. The new edition updated to the present recounts the return of the community to the mainstream of national life. Written in Khushwant Singh's trademark style to be accessible to a general, non-scholarly audience, the book is based on scholarly archival research.

Canadian Sikhs have seen great changes in the lives of their communities, which are primarily concentrated in larger urban centres, especially Vancouver and the British Columbia lower mainland. In The Sikh Diaspora in Vancouver, Kamala Elizabeth Nayar illustrates the complex and multifaceted transition of Sikh social culture as it moves from small Punjab villages to a Canadian metropolis. The result of an exhaustive analysis of the beliefs and attitudes among three generations of the Sikh community - and having conducted over 100 interviews - Nayar highlights differences and tensions with regards to the role of familial relations, child rearing, and religion. In exploring these tensions, she focuses particularly on the younger generation, and underlines the role of Sikh youth as a catalyst for change within the community. Nayar also examines the Sikh community as it functions and interacts with mainstream Canadian society in the light of modernity and multiculturalism, exploring the change, or lack thereof, in attitudes about the functioning of the community, the role of multicultural organizations and the media, continuity in traditional customs, modifications in behaviour patterns, and changes in values within the larger Canadian social environment of diversity.

Five hundred years ago, Guru Nanak founded the Sikh faith in India. The Sikhs defied the caste system; rejected the authority of Hindu priests; forbade magic and idolatry; and promoted the equality of men and women -- beliefs that incurred the wrath of both Hindus and Muslims. In the centuries that followed, three of Nanak's nine successors met violent ends, and his people continued to battle hostile regimes. The conflict has raged into our own time: in 1984 the Golden Temple of Amritsar -- the holy shrine of the Sikhs--was destroyed by the Indian Army. In retaliation, Sikh bodyguards assassinated Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Now, Patwant Singh gives us the compelling story of the Sikhs -- their origins, traditions and beliefs, and more recent history. He shows how a movement based on tenets of compassion and humaneness transformed itself, of necessity, into a community that values bravery and military prowess as well as spirituality. We learn how Gobind Singh, the tenth and last Guru, welded the Sikhs into a brotherhood, with each man bearing the surname Singh, or "Lion," and abiding by a distinctive code of dress and conduct. He tells of Banda the Brave's daring conquests, which sowed the seeds of a Sikh state, and how the enlightened ruler Ranjit Singh fulfilled this promise by founding a Sikh empire.

The author examines how, through the centuries, the Sikh soldier became an exemplar of discipline and courage and explains how Sikhs -- now numbering nearly 20 million worldwide -- have come to be known for their commitment to education, their business acumen, and their enterprising spirit.

Finally, Singh concludes that it would be a grave error to alienate an energetic and vital community like the Sikhs if modern India is to realize its full potential. He urges India's leaders to learn from the past and to "honour the social contract with Indians of every background and persuasion."


From the Hardcover edition.

In "The Nation's Tortured Body" Brian Keith Axel explores the formation of the Sikh diaspora and, in so doing, offers a powerful inquiry into conditions of peoplehood, colonialism, and postcoloniality. Demonstrating a new direction for historical anthropology, he focuses on the position of violence between 1849 and 1998 in the emergence of a transnational fight for Khalistan (an independent Sikh state). Axel argues that, rather than the homeland creating the diaspora, it has been the diaspora, or histories of displacement, that have created particular kinds of places--homelands.
Based on ethnographic and archival research conducted by Axel at several sites in India, England, and the United States, the text delineates a theoretical trajectory for thinking about the proliferation of diaspora studies and area studies in America and England. After discussing this trajectory in relation to the colonial and postcolonial movement of Sikhs, Axel analyzes the production and circulation of images of Sikhs around the world, beginning with visual representations of Maharaja Duleep Singh, the last Sikh ruler of Punjab, who died in 1893. He argues that imagery of particular male Sikh bodies has situated--at different times and in different ways--points of mediation between various populations of Sikhs around the world. Most crucially, he describes the torture of Sikhs by Indian police between 1983 and the present and discusses the images of tortured Sikh bodies that have been circulating on the Internet since 1996. Finally, he returns to questions of the homeland, reflecting on what the issues discussed in "The Nation's Tortured Body" might mean for the ongoing fight for Khalistan.
Specialists in anthropology, history, cultural studies, diaspora studies, and Sikh studies will find much of interest in this important work.

How are we to read and understand stories of Jesus healing the lame, deaf, blind, and those with a variety of other maladies? Pilch takes us beyond the historical and literary questions to examine the social questions of how the earliest followers of Jesus and ancient Judeans understood healing, what roles healers played, and the different emphases on healing among the gospels. In his comparative analysis, the author draws on the anthropology of the Mediterranean as well as the models employed by medical anthropologists to understand peasant societies and their health-care systems.Utilizes social-science modelsFeatures a complementary web- site with additional resources

Identifying the theme of 1 Peter as how the church is to witness responsibly in a non-Christian world, Boring emphasizes the necessity of a sympathetic historical understanding of those parts of the letter that collide with modern cultural values and understandings of what Christian commitment and theology require. He gives special attention, as well, to the narrative world within which this ancient writer operated, and to the strong affirmation of ecumenism implicit in the letter's amalgamation of traditions stemming from Peter and Paul, respectively.

"Through the years, Professor Boring has shown himself to be a master of technical exegesis and theology wedded to great pastoral concern. These twin talents are fittingly brought to bear on a New Testament document that shows the same union of rich theology and pastoral care. Indeed, the sober, centrist, yet moving commentary squares perfectly with the sober, centrist, yet moving document that is 1 Peter. If this commentary is a popularization, then it is a popularization of very high caliber; a tremendous amount of research and insight is made available and intelligible to a wide public. This commentary is not just a rehash of what everyone else has said on 1 Peter. The innovative appendix detailing the narrative world of 1 Peter is alone worth the price of admission. All in all, an excellent contribution to present-day literature on an often neglected book of the New Testament." --John P. Meier, The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C.

The Sikh Confederacy consisting of military units or Misls rose from the ashes of the crumbling Mughal Empire in the Eighteenth century. As a result, under the leadership of General Baghel Singh they conquered the Red Fort of Delhi in 1783 leading to the Sikh Empire being formed in the Punjab under Maharajah Ranjit Singh in 1801. During this time the East India Company also expanded its frontiers and territories, witnessing the rise and the progression of the Sikhs. This was coupled with the influx of Christian Missionaries who came to convert the Sikhs into the British way of thinking. The two Empires were destined to clash and the Anglo Sikh Wars of 1845-1849 witnessed some of the bloodiest battles Victoria's Britain fought, with major losses on both sides. The annexation of the Punjab led to the employment of the Sikhs into the British Indian Army. This led to the Sikhs becoming part of many British campaigns, including their major contributions in the First and Second World Wars. This book weaves the reader through anecdotes and important events highlighting the relationship between the British and the Sikhs which exists to this day. In this deeply-researched book, Mann uses rare anecdotes to provide recognition to early descriptions from British administrators, writers and illustrators who depicted the history of the Sikhs and the land of the Punjab. The book is also supplemented with a number of Anglo Sikh treaties which determined relations in the Nineteenth century.

'the indispensable reference point for...an historical and sociological understanding of the Sikh tradition...these volumes are a tribute to [the] capacity for both a sympathetic and a balanced rendition of Sikh history.' -Times of India 'Singh has done a good job of turning dry history into informed reading.' - Sunday Mail A History of the Sikhs First published in 1963, this remains the most comprehensive and authoritative book on the Sikhs. The new edition updated to the present recounts the return of the community to the mainstream of national life. Written in Khushwant Singh's trademark style to be accessible to a general, non-scholarly audience, the book is based on scholarly archival research. Volume 1: 1469-1839: This volume covers the social, religious and political background which led to the formation of the Sikh faith in the fifteenth century. Basing his account on original documents in Persian, Gurmukhi and English, the author trac es the growth of Sikhism and tells of the compilation of its sacred scriptures in the Granth Sahib. The transformation of the Sikhs from a pacifist sect to a militant group called the Khasla led by Guru Gobind Singh is portrayed in detail, as is the relationship of the Sikhs with the Mughals and the Afghans, until the consolidation of Sikh power under Maharaja Ranjit Singh.

This brief introduction to Jainism and Sikhism is designed to help readers understand these important religious traditions. With both nuance and balance, this text provides broad coverage of various forms of Jainism and Sikhism with an arresting layout with rich colors. It offers both historical overviews and modern perspectives on Jain and Sikh beliefs and practices. The user-friendly content is enhanced by charts of religious festivals, historic timelines, updated maps, and a useful glossary. It is ideal for courses on Jainism, Sikhism, and South Asian religions and will be a useful, concise reference for all readers eager to know more about these important religious tradition and their place in our contemporary world.

In the seventeenth century, the Sikh community entered into a process of militarisation which would culminate in rebellion against the Mughal Empire. Images of a despotic Mughal state, religious intolerance, vulnerable Sikhs and the idea of an inevitable Sikh 'militancy' would come to characterise the period's historiography. This book examines the development of Sikh militancy in this era, highlighting how the Sikh literati, and eventually the public, engaged with the subject of Sikh religious violence. In doing so, it fundamentally challenges the coherent grand narratives of early Sikh history. Sikh Militancy in the Seventeenth Century addresses the issue of 'doxa' in early Sikh writing and illustrates how retrospective readings have distorted the experiences of the historical Sikh community. Drawing on a range of medieval Sikh sources, it focuses on the intellectual dialogues within the community. Additionally, it attempts to embed the community within the Mughal world; assessing how far it was influenced by wider cultural, intellectual and social processes. The development of Sikh militancy in the seventeenth century was neither natural nor inevitable.Instead, a careful analysis reveals a heterogeneous community who discussed the ideas of their leaders and communally interpreted the Mughal state. Identifying significant distinctions in the community, this work thereby questions irredentist visions of Sikh and Mughal history. Furthermore, it seeks to depict the significance of religious discourse in pre-colonial India and the capacity of historical agents to fathom 'religion'. More broadly, the study also examines the history of violence in medieval South Asia, contextualising the concepts of 'peace' and 'militancy' in medieval South Asian theology and political philosophy.

This is the first comprehensive study of the life and work of Master Tara Singh (1885-1967), Akali leader, freedom fighter, and arguably the foremost leader of the Sikhs. Master Tara Singh's vision of the 'Indian National State' was fundamentally different from that of Jawaharlal Nehru and the Indian National Congress. The partition of British Punjab and the formation of Punjabi Suba are the lasting legacies of his determined efforts to protect Sikh interests. Employing new and a broad variety of sources in English and Punjabi, J.S. Grewal weaves a comprehensive biography of Master Tara Singh. Divided into two parts, the first deals with Master Tara Singh's anti-British activity in colonial India, while the second traces the political and religious trajectories of the movements led by him in pursuit of a unilingual Punjab state. Lending unity to the two parts is Master Tara Singh's politics based on Sikh identity as a source of confrontation with the colonial state and the Congress government. Revealing new facts, ideas, and perspectives on Master Tara Singh, this book throws fresh light on the freedom struggle, the Akali movement, the politics of partition, and the working of the Congress governments in the states and at the Centre during a tumultuous and transformative period of Indian history.