Textures of the Sikh Past

Textures of the Sikh Past PDF Author: Tony Ballantyne
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
"Focusing on new directions in Sikh and Punjab studies, this volume offers fresh perspectives on Sikh culture and history. Discussing contemporary developments affecting Sikhs around the world, it provides a contextualized study of how modern Sikhism has evolved with particular attention to historical documents, changes in the colonial period, and the varied yet intertwined experiences of Sikhs in the diaspora." "This valuable collection addresses a wide variety of themes including Sikh textual tradition and popular culture, operation of social hierarchies, local histories, transformation of Punjab under British rule, and other social issues that concern the Panth as a whole. The essays are united by a deep concern with the 'texture' of Sikh history - the ways in which space, time, social structures, and political systems have shaped the development of the Panth. They also investigate the forces, processes, and structures that have conditioned Sikh history." "In bringing together this range of carefully researched perspectives, this book not only offers a compelling manifestation of the complex fabric of Sikh history, but also identifies new approaches that will provide vantage points for further research." "With contributions from prominent scholars, this book will interest students and scholars of Sikh studies, religious and cultural studies, diaspora studies, South Asia studies, sociology and politics, as well as the informed lay reader."--BOOK JACKET.

Textures of the Sikh Past

Textures of the Sikh Past PDF Author: Tony Ballantyne
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 352

Get Book Here

Book Description
"Focusing on new directions in Sikh and Punjab studies, this volume offers fresh perspectives on Sikh culture and history. Discussing contemporary developments affecting Sikhs around the world, it provides a contextualized study of how modern Sikhism has evolved with particular attention to historical documents, changes in the colonial period, and the varied yet intertwined experiences of Sikhs in the diaspora." "This valuable collection addresses a wide variety of themes including Sikh textual tradition and popular culture, operation of social hierarchies, local histories, transformation of Punjab under British rule, and other social issues that concern the Panth as a whole. The essays are united by a deep concern with the 'texture' of Sikh history - the ways in which space, time, social structures, and political systems have shaped the development of the Panth. They also investigate the forces, processes, and structures that have conditioned Sikh history." "In bringing together this range of carefully researched perspectives, this book not only offers a compelling manifestation of the complex fabric of Sikh history, but also identifies new approaches that will provide vantage points for further research." "With contributions from prominent scholars, this book will interest students and scholars of Sikh studies, religious and cultural studies, diaspora studies, South Asia studies, sociology and politics, as well as the informed lay reader."--BOOK JACKET.

Sikh History and Religion in the Twentieth Century

Sikh History and Religion in the Twentieth Century PDF Author: University of Toronto. Centre for South Asian Studies
Publisher: South Asia Books
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 514

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Book Description
Some fourteen million Sikhs worldwide are heirs today to a tradition of faith recalling the devotional spirituality of Guru Nanak, who lived in the Punjab five hundred years ago. The twentieth century has witnessed a heightening of Sikhs' self-awareness as a community with an identity and aspirations distinct from their Hindu as well as their Muslim neighbours. Overseas migration to countries such as Canada has also produced new challenges to Sikhs to think through the question of what the core of their tradition is and what aspects of their heritage are central in times far removed from Guru Nanak's and places distant from the Punjab. Twenty-four authoritative studies by scholars on four continents range across the contemporary Sikh experience in India and overseas. The contributors include experts on history, religion, literature, linguistics, politics, sociology and anthropology.

A Dictionary of Sikh Studies

A Dictionary of Sikh Studies PDF Author: Pashaura Singh
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0192508431
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 64

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Book Description
This new dictionary provides over 350 accessible definitions of the terms that the growing number of students of Sikhism will encounter. It covers beliefs, practices, festivals, sacred sites, and principal languages, as well as the social and religious processes through which Sikhism has evolved. A major focus is the teachings of the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak, and doctrinal developments under subsequent Gurus. Incorporating the 500-year history of Sikhism, from its birth in northern India to its more recent spread around the world, it covers the interplay between the Sikh tradition and other religious traditions including Hindu and Sufi. It is an invaluable first reference for students and teachers of Sikhism, religious studies, South Asian studies, and philosophy, as well as the related disciplines of history, sociology, and anthropology as well as for all practicing Sikhs and anyone with an interest in Sikh religion and culture.

Understanding Sikhism

Understanding Sikhism PDF Author: James D. Holt
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1350263192
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 235

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Book Description
Sikhism is often the religion that teachers have the least confidence in teaching, despite being the fifth largest religion in the world, and being commonly regarded as one of the six main religions to be taught in schools. This book fills that gap in knowledge and expertise by exploring the beliefs and practices of Sikhism as a lived religion in the modern world. It engages with Sikh beliefs and practices, and provides students and teachers with the confidence to address misconceptions and recognise the importance of beliefs in the lives of believers, in a way that will enable readers to go forward with confidence. Aspects of Sikhism explored include the concepts that form the central beliefs of Sikhism, and the expression of these beliefs in worship and daily life, and the ethics of Sikhs in the modern day. Each chapter includes authentic voices of believers today and provides opportunities for the reader to consider the concepts and how they can be respected and taught in the classroom.

The Cherished Five in Sikh History

The Cherished Five in Sikh History PDF Author: Louis E. Fenech
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0197532853
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
On the 30th of March, 1699, the Sikh Guru Gobind Singh called together a special assembly at the Keshgarh Fort at Anandpur. Following the morning devotions, the Guru asked for a volunteer, saying, "The entire sangat is very dear to me; but is there a devoted Sikh who will give his head to me here and now? A need has arisen at this moment which calls for a head." One man arose and followed the Guru out of the room. When the Guru returned to the assembly with a bloodied sword, he asked for another volunteer. Another man followed. This was repeated three more times, until at last the Guru emerged with a clean sword and all five men alive and well. Those five volunteers would become the first disciples of the Khalsa, the martial community within the Sikh religion, and would come to be known as the Panj Piare, or the Cherished Five. Despite the centrality of this group to modern Sikhism, scholarship on the Panj Piare has remained sparse. Louis Fenech's new book examines the Khalsa and the role that the the Panj Piare have had in the development of the Sikh faith over the past three centuries.

The Materiality of the Past

The Materiality of the Past PDF Author: Anne Murphy
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199916276
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 326

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Book Description
Anne Murphy offers a groundbreaking exploration of material representations of the Sikh past, showing how objects, as well as historical sites, and texts, have played a vital role in the production of the Sikh community as an evolving historical and social formation from the eighteenth century to the present. Drawing together work in religious studies, postcolonial studies, and history, Murphy explores how 'relic' objects such as garments and weaponry have, like sites, played dramatically different roles across political and social contexts-signifiers of authority and even sovereignty in one; collected, revered, and displayed with religious significance in another-and are connected to a broader engagement with the representation of the past that is central to the formation of the Sikh community. By highlighting the connections between relic objects and historical sites, and how the status of sites changed in the colonial period, she also provides crucial insight into the circumstances that brought about the birth of a new territorial imagination of the Sikh past in the early twentieth century, rooted in existing precolonial historical imaginaries centered in place and object. The life of the object today and in the past, she suggests, provides unique insight into the formation of the Sikh community and the crucial role representations play in it.

The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies

The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies PDF Author: Pashaura Singh
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 019100412X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 1120

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Book Description
The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies innovatively combines the ways in which scholars from fields as diverse as philosophy, psychology, religious studies, literary studies, history, sociology, anthropology, political science, and economics have integrated the study of Sikhism within a wide range of critical and postcolonial perspectives on the nature of religion, violence, gender, ethno-nationalism, and revisionist historiography. A number of essays within this collection also provide a more practical dimension, written by artists and practitioners of the tradition. The handbook is divided into eight thematic sections that explore different 'expressions' of Sikhism. Historical, literary, ideological, institutional, and artistic expressions are considered in turn, followed by discussion of Sikhs in the Diaspora, and of caste and gender in the Panth. Each section begins with an essay by a prominent scholar in the field, providing an overview of the topic. Further essays provide detail and further treat the fluid, multivocal nature of both the Sikh past and the present. The handbook concludes with a section considering future directions in Sikh Studies.

The Panjab Past and Present

The Panjab Past and Present PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Punjab (India)
Languages : en
Pages : 442

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Book Description


Sikh Diaspora

Sikh Diaspora PDF Author:
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004257233
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 437

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Book Description
Sikh Diaspora: Theory, Agency, and Experience is a collection of essays offering new insights into the diverse experiences of Sikhs beyond the Punjab. Moving beyond migration history and global in their scope, the essays in this volume draw from a range of methodological approaches to engage with diaspora theory, agency, space, social relations, and aesthetics. Rich in substantive content, these essays offer critical reflections on the concept of diaspora, and insight into key features of Sikh experience including memory, citizenship, political engagement, architecture, multiculturalism, gender, literature, oral history, kirtan, economics, and marriage.

The Road to Empire

The Road to Empire PDF Author: Satnam Singh
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520399382
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 346

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Book Description
From the late seventeenth century to the late eighteenth century, the Sikh community transformed from a relatively insignificant religious minority to an elevated position of kingship and empire. Under the leadership of Guru Gobind Singh (1661–1708), Sikh elites and peasants began to align themselves with discourses of power and authority, and within a few decades Khalsa Sikh warriors conquered some of the wealthiest provinces of the Mughal and Afghan empires. In this book, Satnam Singh argues that the Sikhs’ increasing self-assertion was not simply a reaction to Mughal persecution but also a result of an active program initiated by the Guru to pursue larger visions of scholarship, conquest, and political sovereignty. Using a vast trove of understudied court literature, Singh shows how Sikhs grappled with Indo-Islamic traditions to forge their own unique ideas of governance and kingship with the aim to establish an independent Sikh polity. The Road to Empire offers an impressive intellectual history of the early modern Sikh world.