Artifact
Kartarpur manuscript of the Adi Granth
also Kartarpur Bir, Kartarpuri Bir, Kartarpur Pothi, Adi Bir
The volume held at Kartarpur and long identified as the Adi Granth prepared by Sri Guru Arjun Dev Ji with Bhai Gurdas as scribe.[EoS][EoS][Web][Web][Web][Singh][Arch]
- Date
- c. 1604
- Held by
- Sodhi family of Kartarpur, descendants of Baba Dhir Mall
- Location
- Kartarpur, Jalandhar district, Punjab
- Provenance
- Attributed
- Status: Private collection
- Sources over several decades agree on the family. Daljeet Singh (1987) names Sodhi Amarjit Singh as custodian. An Outlook interview names his son Karamjit Singh and says the family will not give it up. Outlook's page is dated 2022 but the interview looks forward to the 400th anniversary of the installation, so it is probably older. A 2024 essay by K.B.S. Sidhu still places it with the family. No direct statement from the family after that was found.
Sikh tradition and most writers treat this as the volume compiled by Sri Guru Arjun Dev Ji and written out by Bhai Gurdas. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism says it moved to Kartarpur when Sri Guru Hargobind Ji left Amritsar, and stayed with his grandson Baba Dhir Mall when Guru Ji withdrew to Kiratpur in 1635.
The Sikh Museum site gives a longer chain. Followers of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji seized it about thirty years later and Guru Ji told them to return it. It later came to Maharaja Ranjit Singh, then to the British in 1849, who gave it in 1850 to Sodhi Sadhu Singh of Kartarpur on his petition.
The Encyclopaedia lists it among relics in the Shish Mahal at Kartarpur, a fortified house owned by the family. Display has been rare. The Outlook interview describes an annual showing at Vaisakhi, reduced from monthly because of the condition of the volume.
Writing in 2013 or earlier, the Sikh Museum site said no photographic record had been allowed and that scholars had very limited access. It shows one rare photograph, credited to Pashaura Singh. Wikimedia Commons also has pages reproduced by G.B. Singh in a book of 1950.
What is disputed
- Is it the original?
Daljeet Singh (1987) argues at length that it is, and answers scholars who favour the Banno recension. Wikipedia's article on Bhai Banno reports that the question of which is closer to the first compilation is still debated. Gurinder Singh Mann's book-length treatment could not be read for this entry.[Singh][Web]
- How it left Guru Ji's household
The Sikh Museum site says Baba Dhir Mall stole it. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism says he stayed behind at Kartarpur and would not part with it.[Web][EoS]
- Where it is displayed
The Outlook interview says the courtyard of the Kartarpur fort. Sidhu's 2024 essay says Gurdwara Thum Sahib. The Encyclopaedia says the Shish Mahal.[Web][Web][EoS]
- Digitised copies
A modern reference guide says scanned portions exist through Panjab Digital Library and the SGPC. This could not be confirmed, and the Sikh Museum note points the other way.[Web]
See it online
A mid-1800s fresco at Gurdwara Baba Bir Singh imagining Sri Guru Arjun Dev Ji compiling the Adi Granth with Bhai Gurdas, with the Bhagats present. The Bhagats lived in earlier centuries, so the gathering is symbolic.
Unknown, c. mid 19th century. Gurdwara Baba Bir Singh (as stated on Commons). Public domain. Source
The Mul Mantar and end of the Ragamala from the Kartarpur manuscript, as reproduced by G.B. Singh in a book of 1950.
Reproduced by G.B. Singh (Gurbaksh Singh, 1877–1950) from the Khalsa Samadar of Amritsar, c. 1604. Reproduced 1950. Sodhi family, Kartarpur. Public domain. Source
A small photograph of the Kartarpur manuscript. Commons gives no photographer. Access to this volume has been restricted, so few images exist.
Bhai Gurdas, scribe, under Sri Guru Arjun Dev Ji, c. 1604. Sodhi family, Kartarpur. Public domain. Source
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