Artifact
Zafarnama of Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji
also Zafarnamah, Letter of Victory
A letter in Persian verse addressed to Emperor Aurangzeb, known today only from copies.[EoS][EoS][Web][Web][Mann][Web]
- Date
- 1705 or 1706
- Held by
- Original not located. Copies in manuscripts and the Dasam Granth
- Location
- Sent to Emperor Aurangzeb in the Deccan, by tradition. The copy in the Anandpur manuscript is in a private collection
- Provenance
- Attributed
- Status: Lost
- At a lecture reported by The Tribune on 29 March 2025, Mohinder Singh said researchers had not found the original in the official records of the period. A 2025 conference paper by a scholar preparing a critical edition examines 38 manuscripts.
The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism describes 111 stanzas that charge the emperor and his officers with breaking oaths given at Anandpur, and it names Bhai Daya Singh and Bhai Dharam Singh as the bearers.
Mann's facsimiles from the Anandpur manuscript show it on unnumbered folios. Wikipedia reports that the text in the Anandpur and Patna manuscripts was added later, and it shows a copy said to be by Bhai Daya Singh, which could not be verified.
What is disputed
- Date and place
One Encyclopaedia entry says it was written in 1706 at Dina, and another December 1705. Wikipedia reports that Louis Fenech places the writing at Kangar. The Tribune report ties it to the aftermath of Chamkaur in 1704.[EoS][EoS][Web][Web]
- State of the text
The 2025 conference paper says nearly a third of the verses in current editions have defects and calls for a new critical edition.[Web]
See it online
The opening of the Zafarnama in an illuminated Dasam Granth manuscript dated 1765, known on Internet Archive as the Patna Missal manuscript. Its origin was not independently checked.
Patna Missal (faction of Sikhs), 1765. Public domain. Source
The opening of a copy of the Zafarnama said to have been prepared by Bhai Daya Singh. That attribution is a claim. The original letter has not been located.
Unknown, Early 18th century, as claimed. Public domain. Source
