Guru Granth Sahib Over to the West

This small book of articles deals with the British discovery of Sikhs, their literature and history. Enquiry was diplomatic and military during the 18th century. However, the Anglo-Sikh relations after the fall of Delhi and Hansi into the hands of Company in 1803 and more so the Sikh Treaties of January 1806 and April 1809 with the British widened the scope of the enquiry. With Malcoml’s work published in 1810, the Punjabi and Sikh writings especially the bani of the Gurus or its elaborations by the Bhai’s such as Gurdass and Mani Singh entered the field under investigation. Sikh history and Religion emerged as a common genre by the middle of the 19th century. J.D. Cunningham gave a firm basis to this genre, though H.H. Wilson had acted differently in 1848. The use of Bani, Sakhi and Rahit by the British, the Christian, Missions, the early Nirankeris and the Namdharis necessitated the further opening of Sikh Scriptures. By 1857 the idea of having translation of them was conceived. First attempt in this regard took twenty years i.e. 1857-1877. the attempt was official and made through Trumpp. These twenty years also saw the printing of the Adi Granth in the Damdama Bir twice i.e. in 1864 and 1868 in Lahore. A Janam-Sakhi (Bhai Bala version) was also printed.