History of Sikh Gurus Retold (2 Vols-Set)

Contents: Vol. I. 1469-1606 C.E.: Preface. 1. Perspective. A creative response--emergence of Sikhism: 2. Guru Nanak Dev. Consolidation and expansion: 3. Guru Angad Dev. 4. Guru Amar Das. 5. Guru Ram Das. 6. Guru Arjan Dev. Appendices: i. Date of birth of Guru Nanak. ii. Guru Amar Das's mother's name. iii. Date of birth of Guru Amar Das. iv. Twenty-two Manjis. v. Baba Mohan's birth and death dates.

Vol. II. 1606-1708 C.E.: PIRI-MIRI--Structural bonding of spiritual and temporal concerns: 7. Guru Hargobind. Masterly inactivity--a strategic response to Islamic imperialism: 8. Guru Har Rai. 9. Guru Harkrishan. 10. Guru Tegh Bahadur. Culmination: 11. Guru Gobind Singh. 12. Manifestation of the Khalsa. 13. Khalsa battles against Islamic imperialism and Hindu conservatism. 14. Damdama period. 15. Through Rajasthan, Agra to Nander. 16. Guru Granth Sahib--the eternal Guru. 17. Sikh religious orders. 18. Important Sikh structures. 19. Sikh polity. 20. Sikh social ethics. 21. Some eminent Sikhs of the Guru. 22. Muslim devotees of the Gurus. Appendices: i. Important places visited by Guru Har Gobind Sahib. ii. Martyrs of Chamkaur Sahib. iii. Poets, writers and men of parts of the Darbar of Guru Gobind Singh. iv. Sermon given by Guru Gobind Singh on the Baisakhi of 1699. v. Places visited by Guru Tegh Bahadur. vi. Sikhs of the Gurus as recorded by Bhai Gurdas. Bibliography. Index.

"The impulse behind the study in hand was the longing to find adequate answers to certain vital questions--What exactly does Sikhism stand for? Why was it originated and developed by Guru Nanak and his nine successors? How did it strike roots among people? What institutions and structures the Gurus evolved to highlight and escalate it? What type of praxis of man and society Gurus visualized? How was it different from contemporary religious systems--Islam, Hinduism, Sahajyana, Buddhism, Nathism, Bhakti system etc.? Was it a synthesis of different traits of different religions? Was it a syncretism of Hindu and Muslim cultures or was it an independent system? Did Sikhism purport to design to raise itself on premises different from the ones which formed the foundations of Hindu or other societies? Was it merely reformist movement aiming at certain targets within time and space or a distinct spirito-social process to urge the people to march towards integrated development both at micro and macro levels? What was the true nature of supreme reality as conceived by the Gurus? How is this related with the universe including man and how does it permeate, pervade and operate the whole universe? What type of society conforms to God's will and how was its consummation possible? Which models of polity and social edifice were recommended by the Gurus? Is Sikhism a life-affirming dispensation or life-negating philosophy? Why was structural bonding of religion and politics effected and institutionalised? What is the place of Sikhism in the comity of religious and how it is relevant to challenges of the present-day world. Such questions and a lot more being vital and crucial for the understanding of the role of Gurus and their dispensation, have been fully taken cognizance of in the present study." (jacket)