This comprehensive study of the life and legacy of Guru Gobind Singh is based on contemporary and near contemporary sources in Gurmukhi, Persian and English. It studies the ideological background and the political context for the institution of the Khalsa, the most momentous event of Guru Gobind Singh's life. It linked his literary and political activity before the institution of the Khalsa and the subsequent confrontation with the Mughal state, resulting in the establishment of Khalsa Raj.

J.S. GREWAL: former Professor and Vice-Chancellor, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, and Director and later Chairman, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla, was until recently Professor of Eminence at the Punjabi University, Patiala. The recipient of Ph.D. and D.Lit. from the University of London and several academic and cultural awards, he has written extensively on historiography, medieval India, and the Punjab and Sikh history. His major publications include Guru Nanak in History (1969); Muslim Rule in India: The Assessments of British Historians (1970);The Sikhs of the Punjab (1990); Sikh Ideology: Polity and Social Order (2007); The Sikhs: Ideology, Institutions and Identity (2009); History, Literature, and Identity: Four Centuries of Sikh Tradition (2011); Recent Debates in Sikh Studies: An Assessment (2011); Historical Writings on the Sikhs (1784-2011): Western Enterprise and Indian Response (2012), and Master Tara Singh in Indian History: Colonialism, Nationalism, and Politics of
Sikh Identity (2017). He is a Life Fellow of Punjabi University, Patiala.

• List of Tables and Figures


• List of Appendices


• Preface


• PART I INTRODUCTORY


• 1. New Perspectives and Sources


• 2. The Mughal State and the Sikh Panth


• PART II THE PRE-KHALSA DECADES


• 3. From Birth to Manhood (1666-85)


• 4. In Battles and Politics (1685-98)


• PART III INSTITUTION OF THE KHALSA


• 5. Literary Articulation (1685-98)


• 6. Socio-Political Import of Courtly Literature


• 7. The Baisakhi of 1699


• PART IV DIRECT CONFRONTATION WITH THE STATE


• 8. Ouster from Anandpur (1699-1704)


• 9. Negotiations with Aurangzeb (1705-7)


• 10. Failure of Negotiations with Bahadur Shah (1707-8)


• 11. The Last Commandment


• 12. Political, Social, and Cultural Legacies


• Chronology


• Glossary


• Bibliography


• Index


• About the Author