Where sources disagree

History rarely speaks with one voice. Every recorded disagreement between sources on this site is gathered here, so nothing is hidden.

• Akbar
  Did Akbar visit Sri Guru Amar Das Ji?

  Sikh chronicles say he did, and the Encyclopaedia of Sikhism repeats them, in one entry with the words 'is said to'. The Akbarnama passage on the 1598 crossing names Sri Guru Arjun Dev Ji and is silent on any earlier visit. One short passage is not a search of all Mughal records, so the story has not been confirmed or ruled out.[EoS][EoS][(eds)]

• Akbar
  The date of the 1598 visit

  The Akbarnama translation by Shireen Moosvi gives 13 Azar, or 4 November 1598. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism's entry on Akbar gives 24 November 1598.[(eds)][EoS]

• Akbar
  Did Akbar cut the revenue at Guru Ji's request?

  The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism says that the emperor remitted revenue at Guru Ji's instance, and credits this to Abu'l Fazl. Sujan Rai Bhandari, writing in the 1690s, also links the two. The Akbarnama itself reports the reduction separately, as cancelling an increase of one-fifth imposed earlier, and does not mention Guru Ji. Grewal concludes that two separate events had merged within about a century.[EoS][EoS][(eds)]

• Akbar
  Passing: 17 October 1605

  The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism's entry on Prince Khusrau gives this date. Its entry on Akbar gives 16 October.[EoS]

• Aurangzeb
  Why was Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji martyred?

  Sikh sources dwell on the religious issue: freedom of belief and the Kashmiri Pandits. Grewal notes that most non-Sikh sources give another reason, Guru Ji's supposed militancy. Bhimsen, writing around 1708, lists Guru Ji among those who took to rebellion and claimed the title of king. Muhammad Qasim's Ibratnama speaks of Guru Ji's splendour and of followers claiming sovereignty, and sets Guru Ji beside the mystic Sarmad as a religious man who tasted martyrdom. Grewal cautions that these writers relied on vague hearsay.[(eds)][EoS]

• Aurangzeb
  When was Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji arrested?

  The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism gives July 1675. Grewal's summary of Sujan Rai Bhandari, writing in the 1690s, gives imprisonment in 1670-71 or 1673-74.[EoS][(eds)]

• Aurangzeb
  Who began the final contact with Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji?

  The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism says that Aurangzeb responded to the Zafarnamah by inviting Guru Ji. The orders in the Ahkam-i-Alamgiri instead say that Guru Ji had sent a petition through an agent, asking to come to court, and they do not name the Zafarnamah. Their translator thinks that these negotiations were the setting for the poem. A court report from Bahadur Shah's reign simply says that the late emperor summoned Guru Ji.[EoS][(eds)]

• Baba Deep Singh
  The headless warrior

  A legend says his headless body fought on, holding the severed head in the left hand and a sword in the right, until he reached Sri Harmandir Sahib. The Encyclopaedia records this as a legend that grew up after him.[EoS]

• Baba Gurdit Singh
  Year of birth

  The entry on him gives 1861, while the Komagata Maru entry gives 1860.[EoS][EoS]

• Baba Gurdit Singh
  Deaths at Budge Budge

  The entry on him says eighteen Sikhs, and the entry on the ship nineteen.[EoS][EoS]

• Baba Ram Singh Namdhari
  Baba Balak Singh's birth

  The entry on Baba Ram Singh gives 1799 and the entry on the Kukas gives 1797.[EoS][EoS]

• Baba Sri Chand
  His age at death

  The dates in the Encyclopaedia, which follows the Bhatt Vahis for his death, mean he lived to 134. That is an exceptional age for any period, so read it as the recorded tradition rather than a securely established figure.[EoS]

• Baba Sri Chand
  Where the Udasi order began

  Some scholars, and many Udasis themselves, trace the order back to the Puranic age. The Encyclopaedia treats Sri Chand as its historical founder, and this page follows that view.[EoS]

• Babur
  Did Babur meet Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji?

  The Puratan Janamsakhi says so, and the Encyclopaedia of Sikhism says Sikh tradition holds firmly to it. Babur's memoirs do not mention Guru Ji, though the Encyclopaedia will not rule a meeting out. McLeod treats the interview as a legendary wonder story, while accepting that Guru Ji saw some of the devastation. The memoirs' silence is also weaker evidence than it looks: Babur's translator, Annette Beveridge, notes a gap in his narrative in the years before 932 AH (1525-26).[EoS][McLeod][Src]

• Babur
  Which invasion do the hymns describe?

  The Janamsakhis attach all four hymns to Saidpur in 1520. McLeod argues that the two longer hymns point instead to the invasions of 1524 and 1525-26. The Encyclopaedia suggests that the mention of guns and elephants may refer to Panipat. McLeod adds that the hymns alone do not place Guru Ji at Saidpur.[McLeod][EoS]

• Babur
  The number and dates of the expeditions

  The Encyclopaedia's entries differ. Its entry on Babur gives 1517, 1519 and an entry into the Punjab in 1523, and its entry on the Babarvani gives 1505, 1519, 1520 and 1524 before the final march. Babur himself counts five expeditions. Beveridge lists those of 925, 926, 930 and 932 AH, and remarks that writers disagree on the dates.[EoS][EoS][Src]

• Bebe Nanaki
  Whether she had children

  The Encyclopaedia says she was childless. McLeod reports a passage in the Gyan Ratnavali in which she bears a son and a daughter through her brother's blessing.[EoS][McLeod]

• Bebe Nanaki
  Her age at marriage

  The Encyclopaedia's dates make her about eleven at marriage. Harbans Singh gives her age as thirteen.[EoS][Singh]

• Bhagat Bhikhan
  Identity

  The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism identifies the author as Bhakta Bhikhan, distinct from a Sufi of the same name. Macauliffe identifies him as the Muslim scholar Shaikh Bhikhan of Kakori. The hymns themselves do not settle the question.[EoS][Macauliffe][DB]

• Bhagat Dhanna
  The hymn at angs 487 and 488

  The Encyclopaedia's entry on Bhagat Dhanna reads the hymn beginning with Bhagat Namdev's devotion as his own account of how he was drawn to God. In BaniDB's text the hymn is headed Mahala 5, which marks it as a composition of Sri Guru Arjun Dev Ji, and the Encyclopaedia's entry on Bhagat Sain also gives it to Guru Ji. It is not counted among his three hymns here.[EoS][EoS][DB]

• Bhagat Dhanna
  Date and teacher

  Macauliffe's birth year of 1415 cannot be confirmed. The Encyclopaedia's entry on Ramanand gives dates ending in 1410 and calls the discipleship of Bhagat Dhanna chronologically impossible.[Macauliffe][EoS][EoS]

• Bhagat Jaidev
  Birthplace

  The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism records two identifications of his village: Kenduli in the Birbhum district of Bengal, or Kenduli-Sasan near Puri in Odisha. Macauliffe gives the Birbhum site.[EoS][Macauliffe]

• Bhagat Jaidev
  Period

  The Encyclopaedia links him with Raja Karnarnav and Raja Purushottam Dev of Odisha, and with Raja Lakshman Sen of Bengal, whom it dates to 1175 to 1200. Macauliffe calls him a poet at Lakshman Sen's court, and dates that king from 1170.[EoS][Macauliffe]

• Bhagat Kabir
  Dates

  Traditional 1398-1448; modern estimates about 1440-1518. Shown as circa.[EoS]

• Bhagat Kabir
  Birth: 1440

  Scholarly estimates of his life run from 1398-1448 (traditional) to about 1440-1518. The Encyclopaedia records the uncertainty.[EoS]

• Bhagat Kabir
  Passing: 1518

  Later dating used by many modern scholars.[EoS]

• Bhagat Namdev
  Number of hymns

  BaniDB lists sixty separate hymns under his name. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism gives sixty-one.[DB][EoS]

• Bhagat Namdev
  Place of passing

  The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism reports two traditions, Pandharpur and Ghuman. Macauliffe follows Marathi chronicles, which name Pandharpur.[EoS][Macauliffe]

• Bhagat Namdev
  Trade

  Macauliffe and the Encyclopaedia's life of him describe his father as a tailor. The Encyclopaedia's entries on Bhagat Trilochan and Bhagat Dhanna describe Bhagat Namdev himself as a printer of cotton cloth, as the hymn at ang 487 does.[Macauliffe][EoS][EoS][EoS][DB]

• Bhagat Parmanand
  Date

  The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism says he was probably born in 1483. Macauliffe says his period is not known.[EoS][Macauliffe]

• Bhagat Pipa
  Link with Ramanand

  The story of his initiation does not fit the Encyclopaedia's own dates. It gives about 1425 for his birth and 1300 to 1410 for Ramanand, so the two accounts cannot both stand as given.[EoS][EoS]

• Bhagat Puran Singh
  When the Society was registered

  Pingalwara's biography says the All India Pingalwara Society was registered on 6 March 1957. The Encyclopaedia says 6 March 1967. The biography's date comes from the institution itself.[Web][EoS]

• Bhagat Puran Singh
  When Pingalwara was founded

  Pingalwara's own website gives 1947 as the founding year, for the Amritsar institution. Its biography treats the care of Piara Singh at Lahore in 1934 as the true beginning.[Web][Web]

• Bhagat Puran Singh
  Year of the Padma Shri

  The award and its return are stated by Pingalwara's biography, which gives no year for the award. Wikipedia gives 1981. No official list was reached, so the year has not been confirmed.[Web][Web]

• Bhagat Ramanand
  Dates

  The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism's entries give 1300 to 1410, 1300 to 1411 and 1299 to 1410. Macauliffe, reasoning from his place in the teaching line and from Bhagat Kabir's traditional birth year of 1398, puts him later, from the late fourteenth century into the first half of the fifteenth.[EoS][EoS][EoS][Macauliffe]

• Bhagat Ramanand
  His disciples

  Macauliffe accepts Bhagat Kabir as his disciple, and Bhai Gurdas names Bhagat Sain. The Encyclopaedia's entry on Ramanand calls the tradition chronologically impossible for Bhagat Kabir, Bhagat Ravidas, Bhagat Sain and Bhagat Dhanna, and suggests that his open views on caste gave rise to it.[Macauliffe][EoS][EoS]

• Bhagat Ramanand
  Birth: 1299

  The Encyclopaedia's entry on Bhagat Dhanna gives 1299 to 1410.[EoS]

• Bhagat Ramanand
  Passing: 1411

  The Encyclopaedia's entry on Bhagat Sain gives 1300 to 1411.[EoS]

• Bhagat Ravidas
  Dates

  The Encyclopaedia records no dates for his life, and says little biographical information about him is available.[EoS]

• Bhagat Sadhna
  The memorial at Sirhind

  The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism says he was cremated at Sirhind, yet both it and Macauliffe speak of a grave monument there. The two statements sit uneasily together. Macauliffe adds that the sadhu in charge could tell him nothing about Bhagat Sadhna.[EoS][Macauliffe]

• Bhagat Sain
  Where he served

  Some accounts place him at the court of Rewa, and others at the court of Bidar in South India.[EoS][Macauliffe]

• Bhagat Sain
  His teacher

  Bhai Gurdas names Ramanand. Those who follow the South Indian tradition name Jnanadeva. The Encyclopaedia's entry on Ramanand treats the wider list of his low-status disciples, including Bhagat Sain, as chronologically impossible.[EoS][EoS]

• Bhagat Surdas
  What belongs to him

  The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism credits him with the single line only and gives the following hymn to Sri Guru Arjun Dev Ji. Macauliffe speaks of one hymn by him. BaniDB files the hymn under Bhagat Surdas, even though its heading reads Mahala 5.[EoS][Macauliffe][DB]

• Bhagat Surdas
  Birth: 1528

  Macauliffe gives AD 1528.[Macauliffe]

• Bhagat Trilochan
  Birthplace

  The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism records two views: Barsi in the Sholapur district of Maharashtra, or a birth and upbringing in Uttar Pradesh followed by a long life in Maharashtra.[EoS]

• Bhai Bala
  Did Bala exist?

  Not attested in the earliest sources; probably a creation of the Bala Janamsakhi. Dates shown are those the tradition gives.[EoS][McLeod]

• Bhai Dayala
  Whether he was martyred at Delhi

  The Encyclopaedia and Gupta say so. Macauliffe's narrative gives a different picture. It lists a Dayala among the five Sikhs who went with Guru Ji, saying that the names are only reported, and says that after Bhai Mati Das was martyred three of the Sikhs left the prison and only Bhai Gurditta stayed.[EoS][Gupta][Macauliffe]

• Bhai Dayala
  The manner of his martyrdom

  The Encyclopaedia says water, and Gupta says oil.[EoS][Gupta]

• Bhai Dayala
  His father's name

  The Encyclopaedia and one Bhatt Vahi entry quoted by Gupta give Mai Das. Another entry quoted by Gupta gives Moti Das.[EoS][Gupta]

• Bhai Jaita
  Where and when he was martyred

  The Encyclopaedia says Chamkaur on 7 December 1705, and Gupta says Chamkaur in 1704. Macauliffe has a Jiwan Singh fall at the Sarsa while seeking Sahibzada Ajit Singh.[EoS][Gupta][Macauliffe]

• Bhai Jaita
  His father and origins

  The Encyclopaedia names his father as Sada Chand. The Bhatt Vahi entry quoted by Gupta says Agya Ram, and Gupta describes him as living in Delhi.[EoS][Gupta]

• Bhai Jaita
  Where he brought the sacred head

  The Encyclopaedia says Anandpur. The Bhatt Vahi entry quoted by Gupta says Kiratpur, with the cremation at Makhowal the next day, so Gupta gives 17 November for the rites.[EoS][Gupta]

• Bhai Jaita
  Who carried it

  Macauliffe's narrative does not name Bhai Jaita. It has a Sikh present at the martyrdom take the head to Anandpur in the storm that followed.[Macauliffe]

• Bhai Jaita
  Passing: 1704

  Gupta dates the battle of Chamkaur to 1704.[Gupta]

• Bhai Jaita
  Passing: December 1705, at the Sarsa

  Macauliffe has a Jiwan Singh fall near the Sarsa.[Macauliffe]

• Bhai Lalo
  Was he a real person?

  The Encyclopaedia counts him among the earliest emissaries of the faith, and calls the idea that the hymn addresses him a conjecture. Harbans Singh gives him a chapter as a real disciple, and Gupta also treats him as one. McLeod thinks the words may have meant O beloved, a common poetic address, and that a person grew from them, which makes a carpenter called Lalo very improbable, though he does not rule it out. He also reports a Miharban tradition that reads the word as a Pathan particle of affirmation.[EoS][Singh][Gupta][McLeod][McLeod]

• Bhai Lalo
  When Guru Ji stayed with him

  The Bala tradition puts the first meeting before the long travels. Gupta and Macauliffe add a further visit at the time of Babur's attack, and the Encyclopaedia links Rori Sahib with the sack of 1521. These accounts have no agreed date.[EoS][Gupta][Macauliffe]

• Bhai Mani Singh
  Origins

  Kesar Singh Chhibber, his contemporary, says he came from a Kamboj family. Later writers following Giani Gian Singh say he was a Dullat Jatt of Kamboval near Sunam.[EoS]

• Bhai Mani Singh
  The sum demanded in 1737

  The Encyclopaedia gives 5,000 rupees, and 10,000 according to Ratan Singh Bhangu.[EoS]

• Bhai Mardana
  Place of death

  Traditions place his death either at Kartarpur or at Khurram in Afghanistan on the return from the western journey; the Encyclopaedia records both.[EoS]

• Bhai Mardana
  Passing: 1534

  One tradition has him die on the bank of the Kurram river in Afghanistan during the last journey and be cremated there by Guru Ji; another has him die at Kartarpur. Both give 1534.[EoS]

• Bhai Mati Das
  Why he was singled out

  The Encyclopaedia and Gupta describe a refusal to convert. Macauliffe gives a different cause: a priest overheard him urging Guru Ji to act against Mughal rule and reported it to the emperor.[EoS][Gupta][Macauliffe]

• Bhai Mati Das
  His office

  The Encyclopaedia calls him diwan, Macauliffe treasurer, and Gupta says that at one stage he was responsible for Guru Ji's bodyguard. The Bhatt Vahi entries quoted by Gupta call him Diwan.[EoS][Macauliffe][Gupta]

• Bhai Mati Das
  Place of arrest

  Sources for Guru Ji's arrest in 1675 differ, and the site's life of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji sets them out. Macauliffe does not give the same sequence as the Bhatt Vahi entries Gupta quotes.[Gupta][Macauliffe]

• Bhai Nand Lal
  Year of passing

  The Encyclopaedia gives 1713, and Gupta gives 1715.[EoS][Gupta]

• Bhai Nand Lal
  Year he reached Anandpur

  The Encyclopaedia, citing Guru Kian Sakhian, gives 29 March 1682. Gupta says about the beginning of 1689.[EoS][Gupta]

• Bhai Nand Lal
  Why he left imperial service

  Gupta says he left because Aurangzeb wanted to convert him and he feared for his life. The Encyclopaedia doubts this, because non-Muslims kept serving at court, and thinks he sought peace in later life.[EoS][Gupta]

• Bhai Nand Lal
  Birthplace and last years

  Gupta says he was born at Ghazni, and the Encyclopaedia has the family join his father there in or after 1639. Gupta also has him with Bahadur Shah's camp between 1707 and 1712, and then at Delhi until 1713, before he reached Multan. The Encyclopaedia has him go to Multan after 1705.[EoS][Gupta]

• Bhai Nand Lal
  Passing: 1715

  Gupta's date.[Gupta]

• Bhai Sati Das
  How he was martyred

  The Encyclopaedia says he was wrapped in cotton and burned. Gupta says he was cut limb from limb.[EoS][Gupta]

• Bhai Sati Das
  Whether all accounts name him

  Macauliffe's narrative of the events at Delhi describes Bhai Mati Das, but its text as read does not mention Bhai Sati Das at all.[Macauliffe]

• The Bhatts
  Number of Bhatts

  Modern scholars including Sahib Singh, Teja Singh and Taran Singh count eleven. Bhai Santokh Singh and Bhai Vir Singh, among traditional scholars, count seventeen. Pandit Kartar Singh Dakha gives nineteen. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism explains the spread by the Bhatts' habit of singing in chorus: a group's verse might carry the leader's name or the names of its members.[EoS]

• The Bhatts
  Who wrote which verse

  BaniDB tags these angs under twelve name forms, with 49 records for Kal and Kall Sahaar, 17 each for Gayand and Mathura, and 12 for Nal among them. Its total of 122 records is close to the Encyclopaedia's 123, but its figures for individual poets differ from the Encyclopaedia's, and the two lists have not been reconciled.[DB][EoS]

• The Bhatts
  Reliability of the vahis

  The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism gives entries in the vahis weight as a record of dates and events, while warning that they are not eyewitness diaries. Its entries depend largely on one researcher's transcripts, and part of that material remains in manuscript at Punjabi University, Patiala.[EoS][EoS]

• Bibi Bhani
  Year of the marriage

  The Encyclopaedia dates the wedding to 18 February 1554. Gupta places it at the beginning of 1553.[EoS][Gupta]

• Bibi Bhani
  Land at Amritsar

  The Encyclopaedia presents the gift from Akbar as one version among others. Macauliffe and Gupta tell it as the emperor's grant in her name.[EoS][Macauliffe][Gupta]

• Sri Guru Arjun Dev Ji
  Why Jahangir acted

  Jahangir's memoir gives religious hostility and the blessing of Khusrau as reasons. Sikh sources emphasise Chandu Shah's grudge and a demand to change the scripture. Historians generally take Jahangir's statement as decisive and treat the other elements as context.[EoS][EoS][Grewal]

• Sri Guru Arjun Dev Ji
  Mian Mir and the foundation stone

  The tradition that the Lahore Sufi laid the foundation of the Harmandir appears in later sources and is not in the earliest accounts; it is widely repeated and symbolically important but not securely attested.[EoS]

• Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji
  Year of birth

  1666 (Encyclopaedia of Sikhism, modern consensus) against 1661 (older tradition, Wikidata). The site uses 1666.[EoS][WD]

• Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji
  The Dasam Granth

  How much of the Dasam Granth is Guru Ji's own work has been argued since the Singh Sabha period. The core devotional and autobiographical texts are widely accepted; the Charitropakhyan and some Puranic retellings are contested. The site cites the Dasam Granth for Guru Ji's own voice only where attribution is broadly accepted.[EoS][(eds.)]

• Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji
  Details of the 1699 Vaisakhi

  The 'five heads' narrative comes from eighteenth-century sources. Sri Gur Sobha, the nearest contemporary account, confirms the creation of the Khalsa and its code without that episode.[Src][EoS]

• Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji
  Birth: 1661-12-22

  An older tradition, followed by some early writers and recorded on Wikidata, gives 1661. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism and most modern accounts give 1666, which fits his father's eastern journey.[WD][EoS]

• Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji
  Birth: 1667-01-05

  The Nanakshahi calendar fixes the birthday celebration on 5 January; the Bikrami date converts to 22 December 1666.[EoS]

• Sri Guru Hargobind Ji
  Length of the Gwalior imprisonment

  Accounts range from a few months to twelve years, and dates from about 1609 to 1620. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism says a few months some time between 1617 and 1619, and the Dabistan-i-Mazahib says twelve years. The life and times page sets these out.[EoS]

• Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji
  Date of birth

  The earlier Janamsakhis (Puratan, Miharban) and the Encyclopaedia of Sikhism give Vaisakh 1469, equivalent to 15 April. The Bala Janamsakhi gives Kartik, and that date entered the festival calendar in the nineteenth century. The site shows 15 April 1469 and notes the Kartik tradition.[EoS][McLeod]

• Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji
  Historicity of the travel stories

  The Janamsakhis were composed decades to centuries after Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji's passing and contain miracle stories and anachronisms. Scholars accept the broad fact of long journeys and of debates at Haridwar, Mecca and elsewhere, while treating individual episodes as tradition. Macauliffe's narrative, used here for colour, follows the Janamsakhis closely.[McLeod][EoS][Macauliffe]

• Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji
  Bhai Bala

  The companion Bala, who appears alongside Mardana in later tradition, is absent from the oldest Janamsakhis and from Bhai Gurdas's account, and most historians treat him as a later addition.[EoS][McLeod]

• Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji
  Birth: 1469-11

  The Bala Janamsakhi places the birth on the full moon of Kartik (October-November), and that is the day on which the birthday is celebrated worldwide. The older Janamsakhis and modern scholarship favour Vaisakh.[McLeod]

• Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji
  Passing: 1539-09-22

  Wikidata's preferred value and many popular sources give 22 September 1539. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism gives Assu vadi 10, 1596 Bk, which it converts to 7 September 1539.[WD][EoS]

• Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji
  Passing: 1538-09-22

  Some older accounts place the passing a year earlier; Wikidata records this too.[WD]

• Sri Guru Ram Das Ji
  Who provided the land for Amritsar

  Accounts differ on whether the site was purchased from local villagers, granted by Akbar to Bibi Bhani, or both. The Encyclopaedia records the traditions without settling the point.[EoS][EoS]

• Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji
  Grounds for the execution

  Sikh tradition centres the Kashmiri Brahmins' appeal and a refusal to convert. Mughal records of the trial do not survive; some later Persian sources describe Guru Ji as a disturber of the peace who had raised armed followers. Most historians accept that religious refusal was central while noting the political dimension.[EoS][Grewal][(eds.)]

• Harchand Singh Longowal
  Date of the accord

  Grewal gives 24 July 1985 and the Encyclopaedia's Akali Dal entry 25 July.[Grewal][EoS]

• Jahangir
  What exactly did Jahangir order?

  The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism's entry on Jahangir quotes him as ordering capital punishment with torture. The Rogers and Moosvi translations of the same passage have no such words. Moosvi renders it as capital punishment, using a term that can refer to the Mongol code, under which the blood of honoured persons was not to be spilled. Grewal accepts that Guru Ji was tortured, and asks whether this was the mode that Jahangir ordered. The Encyclopaedia's entry on the memoir has a different wording again.[EoS][Src][(eds)][EoS]

• Jahangir
  The fine

  Jahangir mentions no fine on Guru Ji. The Dabistan and the Jesuit writer Guerreiro both report a heavy one. The Dabistan says that Guru Ji could not pay it, and the Encyclopaedia of Sikhism says that Guru Ji refused to pay. Guerreiro also has a wealthy surety inflicting the torments, where the Dabistan blames the collectors.[Src][(eds)][EoS]

• Jahangir
  The date

  The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism gives 30 May 1606 for Guru Ji's martyrdom. Moosvi says that the traditional Sikh accounts point to June. The memoir's own entry is also dated differently: Moosvi says that it follows an event of 22 Muharram (30 May), while the Encyclopaedia's entry on the memoir dates it 22 Safar (19 June).[EoS][(eds)][EoS]

• Jahangir
  How long was the stay at Gwalior?

  The Dabistan says twelve years. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism says a few months at some point between 1617 and 1619, and adds in its entry on Guru Ji that the length cannot be stated with certainty.[(eds)][EoS][EoS]

• Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale
  How he is seen

  The Encyclopaedia, a Sikh reference work, portrays a preacher of great charisma provoked by government hostility. The Indian government's White Paper presents the movement around him as extremist and secessionist, responsible for killings of civilians and police. Grewal gives a more mixed account. Sikh opinion remains divided on him.[EoS][Src][Grewal]

• Maharaja Duleep Singh
  Date of accession

  The entry on him gives 18 September 1843, and the entry on his mother 16 September.[EoS][EoS]

• Maharani Jindan Kaur
  Her role in the war

  Some historians said she wanted the Khalsa army destroyed in a war with the British. B. J. Hasrat, writing in the Encyclopaedia, rejects this from British papers and argues that she alone showed resolve during the war.[EoS]

• Maharani Jindan Kaur
  Her reduced allowance

  One entry says her allowance was cut to 48,000 rupees, and another to 12,000.[EoS][EoS]

• Mai Bhago
  Dates

  No date of birth or death is recorded in the Encyclopaedia, so this page gives none.[EoS]

• Makkhan Shah Lubana
  Timing against the recognition of Guru Ji

  The Encyclopaedia's entry on Baba Bakala dates Guru Ji's formal installation to 11 August 1664, and its entry on Makkhan Shah dates his arrival to 9 October. If both are right, the story cannot be what first settled the succession. The Baba Bakala entry has him making the public announcement after the installation, at a time when rival claimants were still active.[EoS][EoS][Gupta]

• Makkhan Shah Lubana
  Where he came from

  The Encyclopaedia and Gupta say Tanda, near Muzaffarabad. Gupta notes that Giani Gian Singh places Tanda in Jhelum district. Macauliffe says he came from Gujarat in the Deccan.[EoS][Gupta][Macauliffe]

• Makkhan Shah Lubana
  The size of the vow

  The Encyclopaedia and Macauliffe say 500 gold coins. Gupta says 101.[EoS][Macauliffe][Gupta]

• Makkhan Shah Lubana
  The danger to his cargo

  The Encyclopaedia's Makkhan Shah entry speaks of a vessel run aground, its life of Guru Ji of a storm, and Macauliffe of a sinking ship. Gupta speaks only of a calamity.[EoS][EoS][Macauliffe][Gupta]

• Master Tara Singh
  A plot in 1947

  The Encyclopaedia's partition entry mentions a secret intelligence report that he was plotting sabotage and the assassination of Jinnah. No proof is given, and no charge followed.[EoS]

• Mata Ganga
  Date of her passing

  Two entries in the Encyclopaedia disagree. Its entry on her gives 14 May 1621. Its entry on Baba Bakala gives 15 Har 1685 Bikrami, or 12 June 1628. Macauliffe gives the first of Jeth, Sambat 1678, which is 1621, and his narrative places it during a visit by Sri Guru Hargobind Ji to Bakala.[EoS][EoS][Macauliffe]

• Mata Ganga
  Passing: 12 June 1628

  The Encyclopaedia's entry on Baba Bakala gives 15 Har 1685 Bikrami, against 14 May 1621 in its entry on Mata Ganga. Macauliffe also gives 1621.[EoS][Macauliffe]

• Mata Gujri
  Passing: 13 December 1705

  The Encyclopaedia's entry on Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji gives this date; its entries on the two boys and on Mata Gujri give 12 December.[EoS]

• Mata Gujri
  Passing: Late December

  Sikhs commemorate these events in the last week of December, on 11-13 Poh in the Bikrami calendar.[EoS]

• Mata Sahib Devan
  When she passed away

  No exact date has been confirmed. The Encyclopaedia reasons from her letters that it fell between 1734 and 1747. Gupta gives about 1750. Macauliffe says she passed away of grief very soon after Guru Ji in 1708, which her dated letters contradict.[EoS][Gupta][Macauliffe]

• Mata Sahib Devan
  Her name and father

  She is Sahib Devan in the Encyclopaedia, Sahib Devi in her own letters and in Gupta, and Sahib Kaur in Macauliffe, who says she received that name at initiation. The Encyclopaedia names her father as Har Bhagwan, also called Ramu, and Gupta as Ram Basi.[EoS][EoS][Gupta][Macauliffe]

• Mata Sahib Devan
  When she came to Guru Ji

  The Encyclopaedia and Gupta date the marriage to April 1700. Macauliffe notes that Bhai Sukha Singh places the episode during Guru Ji's journey to the south.[EoS][Gupta][Macauliffe]

• Mata Sahib Devan
  How many weapons, and her return to Delhi

  The Encyclopaedia says five weapons, and Macauliffe six. The Encyclopaedia has her return to Delhi from Nanded before Guru Ji passed away, as does Macauliffe. Gupta elsewhere says she was sent to Delhi from Kharkhauda with an escort during Banda Singh Bahadur's advance.[EoS][Macauliffe][Gupta]

• Mata Sulakhni
  Her name

  The Miharban Janamsakhi calls her Ghumi. McLeod reads this as a corruption of Choni, her family name, by which she would usually have been known. The name Sulakhni appears only later in the record, in the Bala tradition, but no other personal name is offered and McLeod sees no reason to dispute it.[McLeod]

• Mata Sulakhni
  Date of the marriage

  Local tradition gives 24 September 1487. McLeod compares the texts: the Puratan gives Guru Ji's age as twelve, the Gyan Ratnavali fourteen, the Miharban tradition implies 1485, and the Bala tradition places the wedding after the move to Sultanpur. He thinks the wedding probably came before that move, and that the exact year is doubtful.[EoS][EoS][McLeod][Singh]

• Mata Sundari
  Whether she was a separate person from Mata Jito

  A note in Macauliffe records the opinion of a learned Sikh that Sundari was another name for Mata Jito and not a second wife. The Encyclopaedia, Gupta and Macauliffe's own narrative all treat them as two women.[Macauliffe][EoS][EoS][Gupta]

• Mata Sundari
  Date of the marriage and of her son's birth

  The Encyclopaedia gives 4 April 1684 and January 1687. Gupta gives April 1685 and places Ajit Singh's birth at Paonta in 1686.[EoS][Gupta]

• Mata Sundari
  Her part in the break with Banda Singh Bahadur

  Gupta presents it as following imprisonment and imperial pressure. The account of her imprisonment was read only in Gupta and has not been confirmed elsewhere.[Gupta]

• Mata Tripta
  Her name

  The Miharban Janamsakhi calls her Tipara, while the Gyan Ratnavali and the Bala Janamsakhis use forms of Tripta. McLeod treats Tripta as the more likely name.[McLeod]

• Mata Tripta
  When she passed away

  The Encyclopaedia's account places it soon after 1522. The Gyan Ratnavali tradition described by McLeod puts both parents' passing much closer to 1539. McLeod regards that later date as possible but unlikely.[EoS][McLeod]

• Nawab Kapur Singh
  Command after 1748

  Most entries say he gave up the command to Jassa Singh Ahluwalia. The misl entry says he stayed supreme commander with Jassa Singh in joint command.[EoS][EoS]

• The Panj Piare
  The five heads

  The scene of Guru Ji demanding heads appears in eighteenth-century sources; Sainapati's near-contemporary Sri Gur Sobha confirms the creation of the Khalsa and the new code without it.[Src][EoS]

• Sahibzada Ajit Singh
  Date of Chamkaur

  The Encyclopaedia dates the battle to 7 December 1705. Gupta dates it to 22 December 1704. The site follows the Encyclopaedia and notes the difference.[EoS][EoS][Gupta]

• Sahibzada Ajit Singh
  Date of birth

  The Encyclopaedia gives 26 January 1687, and Macauliffe Magh sudi 4, Sambat 1743, which he equates with 1687. Gupta says 1686.[EoS][Macauliffe][Gupta]

• Sahibzada Ajit Singh
  His name in Sri Gur Sobha

  Sainapati, a near-contemporary poet, writes Jeet Singh and Ranjit Singh in passages that seem to mean him. His modern translator, following Ganda Singh, treats these as the same person.[Src]

• Sahibzada Ajit Singh
  Birth: 1686

  Gupta places the birth at Paonta in 1686.[Gupta]

• Sahibzada Ajit Singh
  Passing: 22 December 1704

  Gupta's date for the battle of Chamkaur.[Gupta]

• Sahibzada Fateh Singh
  His age

  His birth date in the Encyclopaedia makes him six. Two other Encyclopaedia entries, on Sirhind and Fatehgarh Sahib, say seven, and so does Macauliffe. Gupta says five.[EoS][EoS][EoS][Macauliffe][Gupta]

• Sahibzada Fateh Singh
  Date of the martyrdom

  Most of the Encyclopaedia's entries give 12 December 1705, and its entry on Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji gives 13 December. Macauliffe gives 13 Poh, Sambat 1762, and Gupta gives 27 December 1704. Commemoration follows the Bikrami month of Poh and falls in late December.[EoS][EoS][Macauliffe][Gupta][EoS]

• Sahibzada Fateh Singh
  How they were martyred

  Macauliffe reports a general Sikh belief that the children were walled up and left to die, against the Suraj Prakash and a Gurbilas, which both say the sword. The Encyclopaedia and Gupta describe the wall being raised and then the sword. Macauliffe has the brothers contending for who should go first.[Macauliffe][EoS][EoS][Gupta]

• Sahibzada Fateh Singh
  How many were captured

  The letter in the Ahkam-i-Alamgiri speaks of the capture of Guru Ji's mother and one son. Sikh sources speak of two boys.[EoS]

• Sahibzada Fateh Singh
  Passing: 13 December 1705

  The Encyclopaedia's entry on Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji.[EoS]

• Sahibzada Fateh Singh
  Passing: 27 December 1704

  Gupta's date.[Gupta]

• Sahibzada Jujhar Singh
  Which son fell at Chamkaur

  The Encyclopaedia and Gupta say Ajit Singh and Jujhar Singh. Macauliffe says Ajit Singh and Zorawar Singh, and puts Jujhar Singh at Sirhind. Sainapati names Jujhar Singh in both places.[EoS][Gupta][Macauliffe][Src]

• Sahibzada Jujhar Singh
  Date of Chamkaur

  The Encyclopaedia dates the battle to 7 December 1705, and Gupta to 22 December 1704.[EoS][Gupta]

• Sahibzada Jujhar Singh
  Birth: Magh, Sambat 1753 (1697)

  Macauliffe gives this date, and notes that others give Sambat 1747.[Macauliffe]

• Sahibzada Jujhar Singh
  Passing: 22 December 1704

  Gupta's date for the battle of Chamkaur.[Gupta]

• Sahibzada Jujhar Singh
  Passing: 13 Poh, Sambat 1762, at Sirhind

  Macauliffe places him at Sirhind, not Chamkaur.[Macauliffe]

• Sahibzada Zorawar Singh
  His age

  The Encyclopaedia makes him nine, from its birth date of November 1696. Gupta says eight. Macauliffe's boys at Sirhind are nine and seven, but his elder boy is Jujhar Singh.[EoS][EoS][Gupta][Macauliffe]

• Sahibzada Zorawar Singh
  Date of the martyrdom

  Most of the Encyclopaedia's entries give 12 December 1705, and its entry on Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji gives 13 December. Macauliffe gives 13 Poh, Sambat 1762, and Gupta gives 27 December 1704. Commemoration follows the Bikrami month of Poh and falls in late December.[EoS][EoS][Macauliffe][Gupta][EoS]

• Sahibzada Zorawar Singh
  How they were martyred

  Macauliffe reports a general Sikh belief that the children were walled up and left to die, against the Suraj Prakash and a Gurbilas, which both say the sword. The Encyclopaedia and Gupta describe the wall being raised and then the sword. Macauliffe has the brothers contending for who should go first.[Macauliffe][EoS][EoS][Gupta]

• Sahibzada Zorawar Singh
  How many were captured

  The letter in the Ahkam-i-Alamgiri speaks of the capture of Guru Ji's mother and one son. Sikh sources speak of two boys.[EoS]

• Sahibzada Zorawar Singh
  Birth: Chet, Sambat 1747

  Macauliffe's date, following the Suraj Prakash and a Gurbilas.[Macauliffe]

• Sahibzada Zorawar Singh
  Passing: 13 December 1705

  The Encyclopaedia's entry on Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji.[EoS]

• Sahibzada Zorawar Singh
  Passing: 27 December 1704

  Gupta's date.[Gupta]

• Shaikh Farid
  Authorship of the Farid-bani

  Whether all the saloks are by Farid himself or partly by a later successor of the same name (Shaikh Ibrahim, 'Farid the Second', whom Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji met) has been argued since the nineteenth century. The Encyclopaedia records both positions.[EoS]

• Sohan Singh Bhakna
  Founding of the party

  The entry on him says Stockton in summer 1913, while the Ghadar entry says Portland in 1912 for the association and May 1913 for the party.[EoS][EoS]

• Wazir Khan
  The ages of the Sahibzade

  The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism's entries on Wazir Khan and on Sirhind say that they were nine and seven. Its own entries on the boys give births in November 1696 and February 1699, which makes them nine and six in December 1705.[EoS][EoS][EoS][EoS]

• Wazir Khan
  How the Sahibzade were martyred

  Sikh tradition says that they were sealed into a wall. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism's entry on Zorawar Singh adds that the masonry crumbled and that they were martyred the next day. The Mughal sources say less. The Ahkam letter reports one son and his mother captured. Muhammad Qasim says that the prisoners were held in the fort with their needs met, and his translator notes that he avoids saying directly what happened to them. The Zafarnamah speaks of all four sons as lost.[EoS][EoS][(eds)][EoS]

• Wazir Khan
  Who broke the promise at Anandpur?

  The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism's entry on Wazir Khan calls the sworn safe-conduct his ruse. The Zafarnamah holds Aurangzeb and his officers answerable. Muhammad Qasim does not mention an oath. He traces the fighting to court orders and a demand from Wazir Khan that revenue be paid on Guru Ji's lands.[EoS][EoS][(eds)]

• Wazir Khan
  Was he behind the stabbing at Nanded?

  The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism's entries say that he hired the assassins, fearing Guru Ji's friendship with Bahadur Shah. Grewal gives this as one view. Muhammad Qasim instead describes a quarrel with Afghan horse traders over money owed, and a court report mentions only an Afghan. No document from the time has been confirmed as linking Wazir Khan to the attack.[EoS][EoS][(eds)]

• Gurdwara Bangla Sahib
  Where Guru Ji passed away

  One account says Guru Ji moved to a place on the Yamuna to protect Raja Jai Singh's household from infection, and passed away there. Some chroniclers say Guru Ji passed away in the Raja's house, and was only taken to the Yamuna for cremation.[EoS]

• Gurdwara Ber Sahib
  The tree

  The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism says the old ber is believed to be the tree under which Guru Ji meditated. Wikipedia and the architectural study add that Guru Ji planted it. No early source settles either claim, and the age of the tree has not been confirmed.[EoS][Web][Singh]

• Gurdwara Ber Sahib
  How long Guru Ji was gone, and when

  The Encyclopaedia's account of Gurdwara Ber Sahib says Guru Ji was not seen for two days, while its note on Sant Ghat speaks of the third day, and Wikipedia says three days. Wikipedia dates the event to 1499, at the age of 30. The Encyclopaedia's entry gives no year.[EoS][Web]

• Gurdwara Ber Sahib
  Dates of the building

  The Encyclopaedia gives exact dates of 25 February 1937 and 26 January 1941, and this page follows them. Wikipedia gives 1937 or 1938 for the cornerstone and 1941 or 1942 for completion.[EoS][Web]

• Sri Harmandir Sahib
  Who laid the foundation

  Current tradition says the Muslim saint Mian Mir laid the cornerstone on 28 December 1588. Bute Shah says he placed four bricks around the pool and one in the middle, Sohan Lal Suri has Guru Ji seeking his help at Lahore, and Giani Gian Singh says plainly that he laid the foundation. These accounts differ in detail, and all are from long after the event.[EoS]

• Sri Harmandir Sahib
  How the land was acquired

  Sources differ between a purchase from Tung village and a gift from the Emperor Akbar.[EoS]

• Gurdwara Sri Hemkunt Sahib
  How the site is known

  The link to this location rests on a 19th-century scholar's reading and a 1934 survey, not on any record from the lifetime of Guru Ji. The Encyclopaedia reports this identification without question, but readers should note how recent it is.[EoS]

• Gurdwara Janam Asthan
  The date of birth

  The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism gives 15 April 1469, in the month of Vaisakh. The Bala Janamsakhis instead give the full moon of Kartik, more than six months later, which McLeod identifies as the source of the popular Kartik tradition.[EoS][McLeod]

• Gurdwara Janam Asthan
  Who built the first room

  The Encyclopaedia names Baba Lakhmi Das or, more probably, Baba Dharam Chand. Wikipedia names only Baba Dharam Chand. Neither gives a contemporary record of the building.[EoS][Web]

• Gurdwara Janam Asthan
  The number martyred in 1921

  The Encyclopaedia gives estimates from 82 to 156. Wikipedia gives 86. Qaisar's survey prints the date of the cremation as 20 February 1920, which appears to be an error for 1921; the Encyclopaedia places the cremation on 23 February 1921.[EoS][Web][Qaisar]

• Gurdwara Charan Kanwal Sahib, Machhiwara
  Who Gulaba was, and whose garden it was

  The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism calls him a masand and treats the garden as outside the village. Macauliffe calls him a Sikh whom Guru Ji met in the garden. Randhir calls the garden that of Masand Gulab Rai.[EoS][Macauliffe][Randhir]

• Gurdwara Charan Kanwal Sahib, Machhiwara
  Where the brothers met Guru Ji

  Macauliffe brings them to Gulaba's house. Randhir says they recognised Guru Ji at the garden. The Encyclopaedia also notes a belief that Guru Ji stayed briefly in the brothers' own house.[Macauliffe][Randhir][EoS]

• Gurdwara Manikaran Sahib
  The origin of the springs

  The 1897 gazetteer treats the springs as a natural feature and a Hindu sacred site. Hindu tradition credits them to Shiva and Parvati. Sikh tradition, as reported by Fauja Singh and Kirpal Singh and by Wikipedia, credits Guru Ji's visit.[Arch][Singh][Web]

• Sri Darbar Sahib, Muktsar
  The date of the battle

  The Bhatt Vahis give 29 December 1705. Local tradition favours 21 Vaisakh 1762 Bikrami, which is 18 April 1705.[EoS]

• Gurdwara Sri Nanak Jhira Sahib
  When the gurdwara was built

  Wikipedia says it was built in 1948. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism dates Sikh control to 1948 and completion of the main building to 1966.[Web][EoS]

• Gurdwara Sri Nanak Jhira Sahib
  Wikipedia's attribution to the Janamsakhis

  Wikipedia ascribes the story to the Janamsakhis and dates the journey to 1510-1514. The Encyclopaedia introduces the spring only as tradition and gives no year.[Web][EoS]

• Gurdwara Nanak Mata Sahib
  Where the place is described as being

  The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism places it in Pilibhit district of Uttar Pradesh. Macauliffe says about twenty miles north of Pilibhit, and Harbans Singh fifteen miles north-west of it. Randhir and others give Nainital district. Wikipedia places the town in Uttarakhand, which is followed here.[EoS][Macauliffe][Singh][Randhir][Web]

• Gurdwara Nanak Mata Sahib
  Who Almast followed

  The Encyclopaedia calls him an Udasi Sikh and Macauliffe simply a Sikh. Daljit Kaur Gill's thesis describes him in one place as a disciple of Baba Gurditta and in another as an early Udasi follower of Baba Sri Chand.[EoS][Macauliffe][Gill]

• Gurdwara Nanak Mata Sahib
  Gurdwara Reetha Sahib

  The Encyclopaedia puts it 40 km north-west of Nanak Mata. Macauliffe and Harbans Singh put it forty miles east, Kohli about thirty miles, and Randhir about 140 km. Kohli has Guru Ji go on to it from Nanak Mata, while Fauja Singh and Kirpal Singh report a local tradition of the reverse order.[EoS][Macauliffe][Singh][Kohli][Randhir][Singh]

• Gurdwara Panja Sahib
  The handprint story

  The story comes from a 19th-century Sikh poem and is given as tradition. It is a story about how the place came to be revered, and it should be read as such.[EoS]

• Gurdwara Parivar Vichhora Sahib
  How many crossed, and who attacked

  The Encyclopaedia says about 150 followers crossed with Guru Ji, and Wikipedia says 50. The architectural study names Wazir Khan, governor of Sirhind, as leader of the attack, while the Encyclopaedia speaks only of the pursuing host.[EoS][Web][Singh]

• Gurdwara Parivar Vichhora Sahib
  Where the separation took place

  The Encyclopaedia places the gurdwara about 12 km north of Ropar, on the north bank of the Sarsa, and says the family parted after crossing. Wikipedia names the village as Majri, and the architectural study as Nangal Sirsa. G. S. Randhir and Wikipedia describe the younger Sahibzade and Mata Gujri as separated in the confusion of the crossing itself. Macauliffe has Guru Ji meet them and send them on before reaching Ropar.[EoS][Randhir][Web][Macauliffe]

• Gurdwara Rori Sahib, Eminabad
  The date of the sack

  The Encyclopaedia's entry on Eminabad says 1521, and Qaisar's Samvat 1578 agrees. McLeod gives 1520, which is also the date in the site's life of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji.[EoS][Qaisar][McLeod]

• Gurdwara Rori Sahib, Eminabad
  The distance from the town

  The Encyclopaedia says half a kilometre north-west of Eminabad. Qaisar says one and a half kilometres, by a metalled road.[EoS][Qaisar]

• Gurdwara Sachcha Sauda
  Details of the story

  The Encyclopaedia and McLeod's text of the Bala story give twenty rupees, and Qaisar agrees. The 1962 survey says fifty. The Encyclopaedia and the survey name Bhai Bala as the companion, McLeod's translation says a servant, and Qaisar names Baba Mardana. The Bala text as McLeod gives it says the money was meant to buy fine yarn.[EoS][McLeod][Khan][Qaisar]

• Gurdwara Sachcha Sauda
  The land grant

  The Encyclopaedia gives over 100 acres. Qaisar gives 250 bighas. The two units are not directly comparable and the figures have not been reconciled.[EoS][Qaisar]

• Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha Southall
  The 2003 opening

  The gurdwara's history says the then Prince of Wales inaugurated it on 30 March 2003. Wikipedia gives the same opening date but says his visit took place in June 2003.[Web][Web]

• Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha Southall
  How large it is

  Wikipedia variously calls it the largest gurdwara in London, one of the largest outside India, and the largest outside Asia. The gurdwara describes itself as the leading gurdwara outside India. These rankings have not been independently confirmed.[Web][Web][Web]

• Gurdwara Sahib Stockton
  Where the Ghadar movement was founded

  The Encyclopaedia's entry on the Ghadar movement says the association was formed at Portland in 1912. Its entry on Baba Sohan Singh Bhakna places the founding meeting at Stockton in summer 1913.[EoS][EoS]

• Gurdwara Sahib Stockton
  The place of the 1911 meeting and the ranch

  The gurdwara's history says the 1911 meeting took place at Holt. Wikipedia places the ranch at a Holtville next to Stockton. Most details of the founding here come from the gurdwara itself and from Wikipedia, and have not been checked against records of the time.[Web][Web]

• Banda Singh Bahadur
  The revenue of his territory

  The entry on Banda Singh puts the annual revenue of his conquests at 36 lakh rupees. The entry on the misls puts Sirhind province alone at 52 lakh.[EoS][EoS]

• Banda Singh Bahadur
  His claim to Guruship

  Mainstream Sikhs hold that the line of living Gurus ended with Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji. The Encyclopaedia reports that some Bandai Sikhs still regard Banda Singh as the eleventh Guru, and that his opponents said he allowed followers to treat him as one. It does not quote any statement of his own making the claim.[EoS][EoS]

• Colonial Punjab
  The founding of the Ghadar party

  The Encyclopaedia's Ghadar entry says the association was formed at Portland in 1912 and the party in May 1913. The entry on Sohan Singh Bhakna places the founding at Stockton in summer 1913.[EoS][EoS]

• Colonial Punjab
  Deaths at Budge Budge

  The Komagata Maru entry says nineteen Sikhs and four police and officers were killed, while the entry on Baba Gurdit Singh and J. S. Grewal say eighteen.[EoS][EoS][Grewal]

• Colonial Punjab
  Deaths at Jallianwala Bagh

  Dyer estimated 200 to 300, the official figure was 379 killed, and Pandit Malaviya's inquiries put it above 1,000.[EoS]

• Colonial Punjab
  How Namdharis should be described

  The Encyclopaedia describes them both as religious reformers and as an early form of nationalism. Grewal adds that their belief in a living Guru could not fit the Singh Sabha's view of the Granth and the Panth.[EoS][EoS][Grewal]

• The Sikh diaspora
  The Sikh population abroad

  Census counts exist for Canada (771,790 in 2021) and for England and Wales (about 524,000 in 2021). For other countries, including the United States, Italy and Malaysia, the available figures are estimates that vary widely. The world total is given as more than 25 million by one source and about 27 million by another.[DB][EoS][Web][Web]

• The Sikh diaspora
  Support for Khalistan overseas

  Writers such as Axel and Tatla, as summarised on Wikipedia, argue that diaspora Sikhs kept the demand alive after it weakened in Punjab. Sikh organisations overseas differ widely on the issue, and the Indian government has presented it as a security threat.[Web][Web]

• The Sikh diaspora
  Who was behind the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar

  Canada's prime minister alleged a possible link to Indian government agents. India denied it and called Nijjar a terrorist, which he and his supporters rejected. The Canadian case was continuing as of the most recent reports.[Web]

• Gurdwara reform
  Deaths at Nankana Sahib

  The entry on the massacre gives estimates between 82 and 156. The SGPC entry says about 200, and the Central Sikh League entry about 150.[EoS][EoS][EoS]

• Gurdwara reform
  The return of the keys

  The Encyclopaedia dates the surrender of the keys variously to 5 January 1922, 17 January and 19 January.[EoS][EoS][EoS]

• Gurdwara reform
  The Babbar Akalis

  The Encyclopaedia calls them both a terrorist movement and patriots attached to their faith. They killed British officials and Indians they saw as informers, and the SGPC's leaders held to non-violence.[EoS][EoS]

• Gurdwara reform
  Numbers for Sikh war service

  Figures vary by source and definition. The UK government gives 83,000 Sikh dead across both wars. A University of Huddersfield news item, quoting a student on the Empire, Faith and War project, says Sikhs grew from 35,000 in the army to some 100,000 volunteers by 1918. The government statement gives no breakdown of its figure.[Web][Web]

• Partition
  The number of dead

  Estimates begin at 200,000 and reach 1,000,000. The Encyclopaedia's author favours the lower end. This is one writer's opinion rather than a count.[EoS]

• Partition
  The Sikh leadership's choices

  Sikh sources stress that their leaders were caught with no good option. The Encyclopaedia also reports a British intelligence claim about Tara Singh's plans, which it attributes to a secret report without further proof. Mountbatten said the idea of dividing Punjab came mainly from Sikh requests and from Congress, while Sikhs said the promise of other factors misled them.[EoS][EoS]

• Partition
  Management of Kartarpur

  India's foreign ministry said the management of the gurdwara had been passed to a non-Sikh body. Pakistan's foreign ministry called this propaganda and said the unit only assisted the Sikh committee.[Web]

• Persecution and the misls
  The toll at Kup

  The Encyclopaedia's entry on the battle reports estimates from 20,000 to 50,000 and prefers 25,000 (Miskin) and 30,000 (Ratan Singh Bhangu). Its entry on Jassa Singh Ahluwalia attributes about 25,000 to the Persian Tahmas Namah.[EoS][EoS]

• Persecution and the misls
  Durrani's march to Kup

  One entry gives about 200 km in under forty-eight hours. Another gives about 250 km in under thirty-six hours and a force of 150,000, which it describes as an estimate.[EoS][EoS]

• Persecution and the misls
  Who led the Dal Khalsa in 1748

  Some entries say Nawab Kapur Singh handed over command to Jassa Singh Ahluwalia. The entry on the misls says Jassa Singh held joint command while Nawab Kapur Singh remained the acknowledged supreme commander.[EoS][EoS][EoS]

• Persecution and the misls
  Bhai Mani Singh's origins and tax

  Kesar Singh Chhibber, his contemporary, calls him a Kamboj. Later writers following Giani Gian Singh call him a Dullat Jatt of Kamboval. The sum demanded in 1737 is given as 5,000 rupees, or 10,000 according to Ratan Singh Bhangu.[EoS]

• Persecution and the misls
  What rakhi was

  The Encyclopaedia presents rakhi as protection that brought peace to a chaotic countryside and likens it to the Maratha chauth. The same entries describe it as protection money. These entries are written from a Sikh viewpoint, and no independent assessment has been confirmed.[EoS][EoS]

• Persecution and the misls
  When Ranjit Singh inherited

  The misl entry says Mahan Singh passed away in 1790, when his son was ten. The entry on Sada Kaur gives 1792.[EoS][EoS]

• The Punjabi Suba and 1984
  Casualties of Operation Blue Star

  The White Paper lists 493 civilians and militants killed and 86 injured in the Golden Temple area, with 83 army dead (4 officers, 4 junior commissioned officers and 75 other ranks) and 249 injured. For all of Punjab it gives 554 civilians and militants killed and 92 army dead. Grewal cites Chand Joshi's estimate of about 700 soldiers and about 5,000 civilians. Human Rights Watch says thousands were believed killed, most of them pilgrims. A Wikipedia summary reports Inderjit Singh Jaijee's citation of human rights estimates of over 10,000, and an army figure of about 700 attributed to a disclosure by Rajiv Gandhi. No independent count exists.[Src][Grewal][Web][Web]

• The Punjabi Suba and 1984
  How the Sikh Reference Library burned

  The White Paper says a fire broke out during the fighting and that militant gunfire stopped troops from putting it out. Wikipedia, citing later accounts, says the library was intact on the night of 6 June and that the army burned it around noon on 7 June after removing books. Library staff and the SGPC have asked for the return of the books.[Src][Web]

• The Punjabi Suba and 1984
  Damage to the Harmandir Sahib and the use of force

  The White Paper says fire on the Akal Takht began only after heavy army losses, that militants fired from the Harmandir Sahib itself, and that troops showed restraint. The Encyclopaedia says the Akal Takht was destroyed and that shells damaged the treasury on the night of 5 to 6 June. Human Rights Watch describes indiscriminate use of force. Grewal says the action came too late and proved too much.[Src][EoS][EoS][EoS][Web][Grewal]

• The Punjabi Suba and 1984
  Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale

  The White Paper presents him as the leader of an extremist and secessionist movement that used the Sri Harmandir Sahib complex as a base for killing. The Encyclopaedia's entry presents him as a religious missionary driven into confrontation by government actions and the Nirankari killings of 1978. Grewal records that he declined any settlement short of the Anandpur Sahib Resolution in June 1984, and that senior Congress ministers had greeted him with respect in 1981. Human Rights Watch notes that many Sikhs angered by the attack did not support the Khalistan campaign.[Src][EoS][Grewal][Web]

• The Punjabi Suba and 1984
  Deaths in November 1984

  The Home Minister told the Rajya Sabha 2,146 Sikhs were killed in Delhi and 586 elsewhere. The Ahuja Committee found 2,733 in Delhi, and Human Rights Watch uses at least 2,733 in Delhi alone. An early official figure was 325. The PUCL and PUDR team estimated over 1,000 by mid-November. Sikh bodies told the Nanavati Commission the figure was above 3,000, and it accepted the Ahuja number for lack of firmer evidence. Business Standard wrote of over 4,000 in 2005. Wikipedia reports a later government figure of 3,350 and other estimates of 8,000 to 17,000.[Src][Web][Src][Web][Web]

• The Punjabi Suba and 1984
  Riot, massacre, pogrom or genocide

  The Nanavati report says riots and also organised carnage. Human Rights Watch writes of pogroms. Grewal calls them massacres and refers to spontaneous anger as well as Congressmen in the crowds. Reuters writes of anti-Sikh riots. The word used often marks the writer's view of who was responsible.[Src][Web][Grewal][Web]

• The Punjabi Suba and 1984
  The Anandpur Sahib Resolution

  Grewal calls it the most controversial resolution in Akali history. The White Paper sets out three versions, from 1973, 1981 and 1982. The Encyclopaedia prints a version naming the Sikhs a nation and asking for an autonomous region within India. Its date is given as Vaisakhi 1973 by Grewal and as 16-17 October 1973 by the White Paper and the Encyclopaedia.[Grewal][Src][EoS]

• The Punjabi Suba and 1984
  Deaths in the insurgency and its suppression

  Human Rights Watch says tens of thousands lost their lives. The South Asia Terrorism Portal counts 21,677. Human Rights Watch describes faked encounters and secret cremations that would not appear as such in official counts. Police officials have presented those killed as militants who fell in clashes.[Web][DB]

• The Sikh Empire
  The charge of treason against Lal Singh and Tej Singh

  The Encyclopaedia's war entry, by B. J. Hasrat, says Lal Singh was in contact with the British agent Peter Nicholson and that both commanders deliberately lost battles. No account defending the commanders has been confirmed.[EoS]

• The Sikh Empire
  Maharani Jindan Kaur and the war

  Some historians, according to the Encyclopaedia, say she wanted the Khalsa army destroyed in a war with the British. The entry's author rejects this and points to British preparations and provocations.[EoS]

• The Sikh Empire
  Was annexation lawful

  Dalhousie's proclamation said Sikhs had broken the treaties. The Encyclopaedia's authors say the Multan rising was a local revolt that the British let grow, that the Darbar had supported the Resident, and that the Treaty of Bhairowal bound Britain to protect the Maharaja until 1854. Contemporaries including Henry Lawrence and John Sullivan criticised the act.[EoS][EoS]

• The Sikh Empire
  Dates and battlefield figures

  Ranjit Singh's proclamation is dated 12 April 1801 in one entry and 11 April in another. Duleep Singh's accession is 16 or 18 September 1843. The Encyclopaedia's figures for British dead at Sobraon and Chillianwala look high beside the other numbers it gives and may be casualties rather than deaths.[EoS][EoS][EoS][EoS][EoS][EoS]

• The Sikh Empire
  The verdict on Ranjit Singh

  The Encyclopaedia's long entry, by Khushwant Singh, is admiring and calls capital punishment unknown in his reign. The same entry describes a personal military despotism, and the entry on Sada Kaur records her confinement at Lahore until her death.[EoS][EoS]

• Weapons at the Akal Takht
  How firm the list is

  The inventory rests on a community wiki and an undated website. Treat individual attributions as unverified.[Web][Web]

• Anandpur manuscript
  Date

  Mann calls it undated but compiled in the 1690s. Wikipedia gives 1696.[Mann][Web]

• Anandpur manuscript
  Court product or later?

  Mann and Kamalroop Singh treat it as made at the Anandpur court. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism instead says Bhai Mani Singh compiled the Dasam Granth about two decades after Guru Ji passed away. Authorship of parts of the Dasam Granth remains contested.[Mann][EoS][Web]

• Anandpur manuscript
  The pasted portraits

  Mann reads them as work of artists at Anandpur. No portrait from a Guru's lifetime is established, so they are not presented here as a likeness.[Mann]

• B-40 Janamsakhi
  Is it the earliest?

  A modern reference guide calls it the earliest synthesised biography. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism treats a dated Bala manuscript of 1658 as the earliest janam sakhi manuscript of any tradition.[EoS][EoS]

• Bhai Banno manuscript
  Date

  Tradition says 1604. Wikipedia reports a view that it was made in 1642. Daljeet Singh (1987) reports the 1977 university team and Pritam Singh dating the Kanpur volume to 1699, and notes a claim that the year in its index was altered.[EoS][Web][Singh]

• Bhai Banno manuscript
  Status of the text

  The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism calls the extra material apocryphal. Other writers, reported in Daljeet Singh and Wikipedia, have argued that this recension may be close to an early form of the text. Daljeet Singh rejects that.[EoS][Singh][Web]

• Chola Sahib
  Where it came from

  The custodian's booklet says Guru Ji received it in Arabia from a descendant of Pir Dastgir, and that it later came from a cave in Balkh-Bukhara. The Encyclopaedia says a devotee at Baghdad gave it. The Tribune report says it was given at Mecca. None of these sources gives independent dating of the cloth.[Src][EoS][Web]

• Chola Sahib
  When it reached Dera Baba Nanak

  The Encyclopaedia dates its arrival to 1 March 1828. The booklet says Baba Kabli Mal Ji had his dream about 260 years ago, which would be much earlier, and it gives the arrival as 21 Phagan (4 March) with no year.[Src][EoS]

• Chola Sahib
  The writing

  The booklet says it carries the thirty sections of the Quran and the Arabic and Persian abjad. The Encyclopaedia describes Quranic verses and Arabic numerals in the form of charms, and The Tribune says the writing is believed to be Quranic. This site has not found an independent reading of the text.[Src][EoS][Web]

• Colebrooke Janamsakhi
  Date

  The manuscript has no date. A cryptic reference may point to 1635. The Encyclopaedia reports proposals ranging from 1588 to the early eighteenth century and itself favours the sixteenth century on language.[EoS][McLeod]

• Damdama recension of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji
  Fate of the original

  No scholarly account of what happened to it was found. The loss story has not been confirmed against print sources.

• Coin of Banda Singh Bahadur
  Who issued the first Sikh coin?

  Mann argues that the symbols may go back to Anandpur and suggests coins may have been minted there. He notes that Surinder Singh rejects this.[Mann]

• Goindwal Pothis
  Where the volumes are now

  The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism gives Pinjore and Darapur. A modern reference guide says Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur and Patiala. No source that settles this could be reached.[EoS]

• Goindwal Pothis
  An earlier pothi

  The Puratan Janam Sakhi mentions a book passed from Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji to Sri Guru Angad Dev Ji. The Encyclopaedia says linking it with Guru Har Sahai pothi rests on insufficient authority.[EoS]

• Guru Har Sahai pothi
  Identification

  The link between this pothi and the book named in the Puratan Janam Sakhi is not established.[EoS]

• Gyan Ratnavali manuscripts
  Authorship

  Some modern scholars doubt that Bhai Mani Singh wrote it, or suspect later additions.[EoS]

• Hukamnamas of Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji
  A disputed letter at Patna

  Mann reports that scholars dismiss as spurious a Patna letter asking for hukkas and chilams to be sent to Anandpur. He suggests these may have been wanted for non-Sikh soldiers.[Mann]

• Kapal Mochan copper plate
  Dating and anachronism

  The plate uses 'Singh' and 'Khalsa' two decades before 1699. Mann takes this as a reason to rethink the chronology. It could equally raise doubts about the date. No independent study was found.[Mann]

• Kartarpur manuscript of the Adi Granth
  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]

• Kartarpur manuscript of the Adi Granth
  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]

• Kartarpur manuscript of the Adi Granth
  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]

• Kartarpur manuscript of the Adi Granth
  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]

• Koh-i-Noor
  Ownership

  Wikipedia reports claims by India, Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The British government holds that it was acquired legally under the 1849 Treaty of Lahore.[Web]

• Miharban Janamsakhi manuscripts
  How close to Miharban is it?

  The Encyclopaedia says the surviving text is late and heavily expanded, and that his own contribution can hardly be separated out.[EoS]

• Naina Devi copper plate
  Authenticity

  Mann presents this as an attribution and calls for study. No independent assessment was found.[Mann]

• New Delhi manuscript of 1713
  Autograph claim

  The statement that some folios are in Guru Ji's hand comes only from Wikipedia among the sources read.[Web]

• Patna manuscript of the Dasam Granth
  Date

  Mann leaves open whether this is the 1698 manuscript or a copy of it.[Mann]

• Portraits claimed to date from the Gurus' lifetimes
  Are any of these true portraits?

  Mann thinks some have survived. This site follows the wider caution that no portrait from a Guru's lifetime is established and does not treat any as a likeness.[Mann]

• Weapons of Mata Sahib Devan at Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib
  Whose weapons?

  The Encyclopaedia's two entries differ on whether they first belonged to Sri Guru Hargobind Ji.[EoS][EoS]

• Maharaja Ranjit Singh's throne
  Date and place

  The V&A calls both its date of 1805-1810 and its making in Lahore probable or almost certain, not recorded.[Arch]

• Collection of the Sikh Reference Library
  Fire

  The Army has said the library caught fire during the exchange of fire. The SGPC has said the Army burned an empty building after removing the contents. The Tribune (2019) says what happened remains unclear.[Web][Web]

• Collection of the Sikh Reference Library
  Removal and return

  A government answer of 2 December 1998 said the Army gave items to the CBI in July 1984, that the CBI returned them to the SGPC in October 1989, and that a few were destroyed as objectionable. In 2000 a former inspector said material was packed in gunny bags and trunks and taken to an unknown place. The Defence Ministry said in 2009 that everything had been returned.[Web][Web]

• Collection of the Sikh Reference Library
  The SGPC receipt

  In 2019 a former SGPC assistant secretary stood by his signature on a September 1984 receipt but said a handwritten line stating that all material had been received was not there when he signed. The SGPC disputes that everything came back.[Web]

• Collection of the Sikh Reference Library
  After return

  A petition to the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2019 alleged that items returned to the SGPC later went missing. Scholars cited in the 2026 letter raised concern that some manuscripts may have been sold abroad. These are allegations.[Web][Web]

• Zafarnama of Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji
  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]

• Zafarnama of Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji
  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]

• The Dasam Granth and Other Bani
  Who wrote the Dasam Granth

  Three broad positions are described. One holds that Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji wrote all of it. A second holds that it was written by poets at Guru Ji's court. A third holds that Guru Ji wrote part of it and other poets the rest. Wikipedia's account says traditional scholars have relied on a letter attributed to Bhai Mani Singh that later study judged unreliable. It also says some critics consider Charitropakhyan out of keeping with other Sikh scripture, and it reports the historian Syan's view that the question has not been settled, while pre-colonial Sikhs accepted the work as Guru Ji's. The Encyclopaedia says the authorship of some writings is questioned. It adds that compositions with the full signature Sri Mukhvak Patshahi X are generally accepted as Guru Ji's, while those with a shorter signature or none may or may not be. This site does not rule on the question.[Web][EoS]

• Equality: Caste and Gender
  Teaching and social practice

  The Encyclopaedia's entry on caste rejects any religious basis for it among Sikhs and treats what remains as a fading exception. The same entry records that some Khatri and Arora groups marry within the group, that Jat Sikhs generally marry within their class, and that discrimination has continued against Mazhabi and Ramdasia Sikhs, whose families were historically assigned sanitation and leather work. It also notes that in 1920 officiants at Harmandir Sahib at first refused offerings from Sikhs of these backgrounds. The gap between teaching and practice is therefore recorded in the sources themselves.[EoS][EoS]

• Equality: Caste and Gender
  Who writes these accounts

  The Encyclopaedia's entries on caste and on women are written from within the Sikh tradition and argue a case. Both describe an ideal more fully than they measure how far it has been reached. The women's entry says Sikh women have shared equally in religious life, but gives no figures for women in leading roles.[EoS][EoS]

• Gurpurabs
  The birthday of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji

  The SGPC's account gives the birth as 15 April 1469, yet observes the birthday on Kartik Puranmashi, the full moon of Kartik in October or November. The Encyclopaedia also records Sikh texts placing the birth in Vaisakh. Both facts are stated side by side here. The page on Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji discusses the evidence.[Web][EoS]

• Guru Granth and Guru Panth
  Evidence for the 1708 succession

  The Encyclopaedia concedes that no archival record proves the succession, unless the Bhatt Vahi entry counts as one. That entry reached historians through a modern transcript by Giani Garja Singh. Its case rests on tradition and on rahitnamas and chronicles. It records that groups following personal Gurus ask for firmer evidence. Sri Gur Sobha, the nearest narrative source, emphasises the Khalsa.[EoS][Src]

• The Sikh Rehat Maryada
  Date of the code

  The Encyclopaedia's entry on the Rahit Maryada gives final approval on 3 February 1945. Its entry on the rahitnamas cites an edition published at Amritsar in 1950. The two dates may refer to approval and to a later printing, but this has not been confirmed.[EoS][EoS]

• The Sikh Rehat Maryada
  Scope of its authority

  The English preface calls the code the final word in its field, and asks that it take precedence over sectional preferences. Groups described on the page on Sikh orders keep some practices of their own. Nihangs, for example, recite additional compositions and hold other customs described in the Encyclopaedia. The Rehat Maryada itself records one open difference, on reading the Ragmala.[Src][EoS][EoS]

• Sikh Orders and Movements
  How these groups relate to the mainstream

  The Encyclopaedia's account is written from a mainstream Sikh viewpoint. Its entry on caste criticises Udasi and Nirmala influence in the eighteenth century, and treats Nirankari and Namdhari lines of teachers as a falling away. Accounts written from within these groups are not represented here, and they may describe their history differently.[EoS][EoS][EoS]

• Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji
  How many hymns

  The SGPC's account gives 5,894, with 974 by Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, 62 by Sri Guru Angad Dev Ji, 907 by Sri Guru Amar Das Ji, 679 by Sri Guru Ram Das Ji, 2,218 by Sri Guru Arjun Dev Ji, 115 by Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji and 922 by the Bhagats. Those parts add up to 5,877. The Encyclopaedia gives nearly 7,000 in one entry and nearly 6,000 in another, 63 saloks for Sri Guru Angad Dev Ji and 638 hymns for Sri Guru Ram Das Ji. Totals depend on what counts as one hymn.[Web][EoS][EoS][EoS][EoS]

• Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji
  How many Bhatts

  The Encyclopaedia reports 11 Bhatts among modern scholars, 17 in traditional writers and 19 in one count, and explains that groups sang in chorus and were credited sometimes by leader and sometimes individually. The SGPC's account names 11.[EoS][Web]

• Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji
  The Ragmala

  Its authorship has been debated, and with it whether it should be read as part of the text. The Encyclopaedia says it appears in the Kartarpur volume, and that most full readings include it, with exceptions such as at the Akal Takht. The Sikh Rehat Maryada lets a reading end at the Mundavani or the Ragmala by local custom, records the difference of opinion, and forbids producing a copy without it.[EoS][Src]

• Sri Guru Angad Dev Ji
  Marriage to Mata Khivi

  This is a disagreement between two entries of one reference work. The marriage itself is not in doubt, since the Var of Balvand and Satta names Mata Khivi.[EoS][EoS]

• Sri Guru Angad Dev Ji
  How Bhai Lehna came to the faith

  The Mahima Prakash supplies the name Jwalamukhi for the shrine. The earlier versions speak only of a shrine of Durga.[EoS][EoS][Macauliffe]

• Sri Guru Angad Dev Ji
  Collecting the founder's hymns

  The Puratan tradition says Guru Ji received a book of hymns from Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, but scholars differ on what survives.[EoS][EoS][Mann]

• Sri Guru Arjun Dev Ji
  The foundation of the Harmandir Sahib and Mian Mir

  None of the named sources is close to 1588. Two were printed in 1885 and 1896, and the third is cited from an undated manuscript. Nothing read for this page from Guru Ji's lifetime mentions the story. It may preserve a memory of real goodwill between the two men, or it may reflect the value later writers placed on the idea. The Mian Mir entry's doubt about the life spans is itself odd, since he was born in 1550 and Guru Ji in 1563, and it is given here as the source states it.[EoS][EoS][Macauliffe][Gupta][EoS]

• Sri Guru Arjun Dev Ji
  The complaint against the Granth

  The 1596-97 date comes before the Granth was finished in 1604, unless it refers to material in progress. No Mughal source for this was found in the sources read.[EoS][EoS][Macauliffe][Gupta]

• Sri Guru Arjun Dev Ji
  Baba Mohan and the Goindwal Pothis

  The Pothis exist. Whether Guru Ji used these particular volumes as his main source is argued over, and the street scene appears only in later chronicles.[EoS][EoS][Mann][EoS]

• Sri Guru Arjun Dev Ji
  The Kartarpur manuscript

  Family custody has limited close examination, which is why claims about it are hard to test. Mann's reassessment does not deny its importance, but does change how it should be described.[EoS][EoS][Mann][EoS]

• Sri Guru Arjun Dev Ji
  The fine: the Dabistan and the Jesuits against Jahangir's silence

  Ganda Singh argues that the fine is a mistaken report, perhaps caused by the fine levied on Amba in the next lines of the Tuzuk. Moosvi instead treats the Jesuit and Dabistan reports as agreeing with each other against the Tuzuk. Macauliffe says Guru Ji refused to pay and forbade Sikhs to collect the money, which contradicts the Dabistan's statement that Guru Ji was unable to pay and matches the Sikh view that the penalty was illegitimate. The questions remain open.[Src][(eds)][EoS][Src]

• Sri Guru Arjun Dev Ji
  Chandu Shah in the Sikh accounts

  No outside source read for this page names Chandu. The Encyclopaedia's own entries differ in weight: the Chandu Shah entry follows the chronicles, while the life of Guru Ji plays down his role.[EoS][Macauliffe][EoS][Src]

• Sri Guru Arjun Dev Ji
  The ordeal at Lahore and the Ravi

  That Guru Ji suffered and passed away in custody is supported by the Dabistan, the Jesuits and Sikh memory. The exact torments are given in detail only in later accounts. Jahangir mentions none of them. The end of the body is also uncertain: one Encyclopaedia entry has it cremated, and another has it given to the water. The date is also uncertain. The Encyclopaedia and Ganda Singh give 30 May, while Moosvi says the traditional Sikh account points to June.[EoS][EoS][Macauliffe][Src][EoS][EoS]

• Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji
  The arrival at Chakk Nanaki

  Compare the same difference on the page of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji.[EoS][EoS]

• Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji
  Who wrote the Dasam Granth?

  The authorship debate is live, and the site takes no side. Works generally cited as Guru Ji's own voice include the Bachitra Natak and the Zafarnamah. The Wikipedia item is a map of the debate, and specific scholars' arguments should be checked at source.[EoS][EoS][Web]

• Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji
  Vaisakhi at Anandpur: the older and later accounts

  The date also varies. The Encyclopaedia gives Vaisakhi 1756 Bikrami, 30 March 1699. The translator of Sri Gur Sobha gives March 20, 1699 in one note and heads the chapter with 1752 Bikrami, and notes that Kesar Singh Chhibber has 1755 and Bhangu 1752. Sainapati's silence does not prove the later story false, as he openly avoids events, but it shows the details cannot be traced to him. The tradition's account of the goats is not in the Encyclopaedia's version.[Src][EoS][EoS][Macauliffe][EoS]

• Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji
  The younger sons at Sirhind

  The site does not choose between 12 and 13 December. The late-December commemoration follows the Bikrami month of Poh, which is why it falls later than either Common Era date. The entries also differ on detail: Fateh Singh's age is given as seven, or six from his birth date of 25 February 1699, Gangu is a cook or an old servant, and the arrest is dated 7 or 8 December. The imperial letter speaks of one son captured, while Sikh sources speak of two.[EoS][EoS][EoS][EoS][EoS][Src]

• Sri Guru Har Krishan Ji
  Did Guru Ji meet the emperor?

  Both versions are later Sikh tellings. Neither is backed by a Mughal record read for this page.[EoS][EoS][Macauliffe]

• Sri Guru Har Krishan Ji
  Where did Guru Ji pass away?

  This disagreement is why both Bangla Sahib and Bala Sahib matter here. The Encyclopaedia does not resolve it, and neither does this page.[EoS][EoS][EoS][EoS]

• Sri Guru Har Rai Ji
  Anointed by the grandfather

  The two dates cannot both stand if the grandfather performed the rite himself. The fact of the succession is not in doubt, only this detail.[EoS][EoS]

• Sri Guru Hargobind Ji
  How long was the detention?

  This list is the honest answer: the Dabistan is the only near-contemporary witness and it says twelve years; most modern writers shorten this, because children were born in those years, but they do not agree on when. No imperial document read for this page gives the date.[Src][EoS][EoS][EoS][Gupta]

• Sri Guru Hargobind Ji
  Who secured the release

  The Dabistan credits Jahangir's kindness; Sikh tradition credits Mian Mir or Wazir Khan.[Src][EoS][Macauliffe][Gupta]

• Sri Guru Hargobind Ji
  Founding Sri Hargobindpur and fighting at Ruhela

  The mosque (Guru ki Masit) survives as a building, and Sikh chronicles report its construction. No near-contemporary text read for this page confirms the 1621 clashes. If Gupta's date for the Gwalior release is right, the 1621 clashes came very soon afterwards.[EoS][EoS][EoS]

• Sri Guru Hargobind Ji
  The hawk and the battle of Amritsar

  The battle itself is close to certain. The hawk is a chronicle explanation for a conflict that probably had broader causes, and the Encyclopaedia itself calls the cause minor. The date 1629 appears in only one entry.[EoS][Src][EoS][Macauliffe]

• Sri Guru Hargobind Ji
  Baba Gurditta's passing

  Baba Gurditta was also appointed head of the Udasis by Baba Sri Chand, as the Encyclopaedia reports, with Guru Ji's approval. The Dabistan's account is the nearer in time. The cow story closely parallels the Atal Rai story and may be a variation of the same teaching tale.[EoS][Src]

• Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji
  Birth and the date dispute

  Bhai Gurdas gives no clear date: one line of Var 1 has been read as pointing to Vaisakhi, and a Kabitt as pointing to Kartik, and McLeod rejects both readings. McLeod also notes that the name of the child may hint at a birth in the mother's family home at Chahal, a possibility which one Miharban manuscript supports and all others contradict. The Kartik date remains the one on which the Gurpurab is celebrated.[EoS][McLeod][McLeod][Web][EoS]

• Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji
  The sacred thread

  This is the clearest example of the argument over settings: the hymn is scripture, but nothing in it says when, where or why it was spoken.[Src][(tr.)][McLeod]

• Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji
  Marriage to Mata Sulakhni

  Miharban calls her Ghumi, which McLeod reads as a corruption of her family name Choni. The name Sulakhni appears only in the later record, but he finds no reason to dispute it.[EoS][EoS][McLeod]

• Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji
  How many journeys?

  The Puratan has four udasis with returns home between them, Miharban two, and the Gyan Ratnavali three; none can be proved.[Src][Src][EoS][McLeod][EoS][Singh]

• Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji
  Bhai Bala

  Bala's place in Sikh memory is real and old, going back to 1658 at least, and devotional portraits often show him. His role as an eyewitness dictating a biography is what scholars reject.[EoS][EoS][Src][McLeod]

• Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji
  Sajjan the thug

  Sajjan appears as a sheikh in the Puratan and as a Vaishnava who steals clothes in the Bala. The tomb is real but tells us only of a local memory.[EoS][McLeod][Src][(tr.)][Macauliffe]

• Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji
  Bhai Lalo and Malik Bhago

  Var 11's lists of early Sikhs in pauris 13-14 do not name Lalo, which supports McLeod on this point. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism and Harbans Singh read the hymn's refrain as a personal address to a real disciple.[EoS][EoS][Src][McLeod][Singh][EoS][Macauliffe]

• Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji
  Haridwar: watering the fields

  Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji threw water the other way at Haridwar, the story says, to question offerings sent to the ancestors.[McLeod][McLeod][EoS][Singh]

• Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji
  The land ruled by women

  Sikh biographers usually read this as evidence of a visit to Assam. McLeod's argument is about the story's setting, and gurdwaras in the region, he says, probably come from the later spread of the tradition.[McLeod][McLeod][EoS]

• Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji
  Raja Shivnabh of Sri Lanka

  The inscription argument depends on identifying Jnanakacarya with Guru Ji, which has not been generally established.[EoS][McLeod][Singh][Singh][Singh]

• Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji
  Mount Sumeru and the Siddhs

  Some writers identify Sumeru with Kailash; McLeod rejects the identification.[Src][McLeod][EoS][EoS]

• Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji
  Nanakmata

  A Nath centre said to have been renamed after a visit by Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, when a withered tree turned green.[McLeod][EoS][McLeod]

• Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji
  Mecca: the moving mihrab

  Var 1 offers a separate exchange: asked whether Hindu or Muslim is greater, Guru Ji replies that neither has standing without good deeds. McLeod finds this fits Guru Ji's teaching in general, but doubts the Mecca setting.[Src][EoS][(tr.)][McLeod][McLeod][Grewal][Singh]

• Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji
  Medina

  Medina appears in some tellings, but neither Puratan nor Miharban mentions it.[Src][EoS][McLeod]

• Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji
  Baghdad and the inscription

  This is a good test of the sceptical method, because a single expert letter on one line changed the assessment, and later scholars have contested it. The inscription has not been re-edited here, and this site reports the disagreement without choosing. The Sufi figures named in some accounts, Abd al-Qadir Jilani and Bahlul, lived long before, so tradition must in any case be taken loosely on who was met.[Src][EoS][McLeod][Singh][Singh][EoS]

• Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji
  Vali Qandhari and Panja Sahib

  McLeod also notes old reports that the hand-mark stood out in relief while it is now recessed. The gurdwara's importance as a place of Sikh memory does not depend on the story's date.[EoS][EoS][McLeod]

• Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji
  The Chola Sahib

  The object exists and can be seen. What is disputed is its origin, and no independent dating of the cloth has been found.[Src][EoS][Web]

• Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji
  The Tilang hymn: 'seventy-eight' and 'ninety-seven'

  McLeod's English gives ninety-nine at this point, but the Gurmukhi on BaniDB reads ninety-seven (satanvai), and his own explanation works from 1597. It seems to be a slip.[Src][EoS][McLeod]

• Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji
  The sack of Saidpur

  Bhai Gurdas says nothing of this in Var 1. The conflict between 1520 and 1521 is internal to the Encyclopaedia of Sikhism.[EoS][EoS][(tr.)][McLeod][McLeod]

• Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji
  The meeting with Babur

  McLeod relies on Annette Beveridge's description of the 1520 expedition. Babur's silence about any such meeting is noted by the Encyclopaedia of Sikhism, which still will not rule it out.[EoS][EoS][EoS][McLeod]

• Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji
  Returning to Talwandi and the parents' passing

  The Gyan Ratnavali also says that Mata Sulakhni passed away fifteen days after Guru Ji, which older accounts do not mention. McLeod reports this without accepting it.[McLeod][EoS][EoS]

• Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji
  Multan and the cup of milk

  Early transmission is not in doubt, because the story is in Bhai Gurdas. What is contested is whether it happened, given the older parallel.[Src][EoS][McLeod]

• Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji
  Bhai Mardana's passing

  The Encyclopaedia takes the Bihagra slok as Mardana's own. The heading could also mean it was addressed to him; the question is not settled here.[EoS][McLeod][Src]

• Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji
  How Bhai Lehna came to Kartarpur

  Two versions tell how Bhai Lehna, a devotee of Durga, became a Sikh.[EoS][McLeod]

• Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji
  The bundle of wet grass and the test of the pyre

  The Encyclopaedia's entry says the truth of the story lies in the loyalty it depicts, not in the miracles. It is told in the context of a contest with the sons.[EoS][McLeod][McLeod]

• Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji
  The date of passing

  McLeod's reasoning makes this one of the rare places where a Janamsakhi date, the Puratan's, is rejected for a documentary one. The Kartarpur manuscript was not seen by McLeod himself: he relied on a copy by Bhai Jodh Singh.[EoS][McLeod][McLeod][EoS][Web]

• Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji
  The flowers and the sheet

  The two forms of the story differ in striking ways. The version told at the site can be dated to 1647, which is earlier than any securely dated Puratan manuscript, though not necessarily earlier than the Puratan story.[McLeod][McLeod][(translator)][McLeod]

• Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji
  Kartarpur, the flood and the place of the remains

  If Surat Singh is right, the story of the transfer cannot be quite as usually told, since Baba Sri Chand passed away in 1629 by the Encyclopaedia's date. Both accounts are later than the event, and neither should be treated as settled. Today both Kartarpur and Dera Baba Nanak honour the memory of Guru Ji. The words marhi and mazar are Surat Singh's own, as given in Rezavi's translation. Sikh sources for these sites speak of a samadh or dehra. These are separate traditions. No source consulted for this page explains how an urn of ashes fits with a body that vanished. A natural reading is that the ashes came from the cremated share of the sheet or flowers, but that is an inference, and no source consulted says so.[EoS][EoS][EoS][(translator)][Src]

• Sri Guru Ram Das Ji
  Contest with the sons of Sri Guru Amar Das Ji

  Sri Guru Ram Das Ji did return to Goindwal and passed away there, so any break was not total. Mann's reading is an interpretation, and it does not cite a particular incident.[Mann][EoS][EoS]

• Sri Guru Ram Das Ji
  How the land was acquired

  No document from the time is cited by any of these. The Encyclopaedia's life of Guru Ji gives the Gazetteer as a plain purchase, while Gupta's quotation includes an imperial grant, so the Gazetteer itself needs checking. The purchase and the grant are not necessarily exclusive. The gift story also depends on Akbar's visit to Goindwal, which is not corroborated in the sources read.[EoS][EoS][Macauliffe][Gupta][EoS]

• Sri Guru Ram Das Ji
  Who began the tank

  Macauliffe notes that the Suraj Prakash puts some tank episodes in the time of Sri Guru Arjun Dev Ji and doubts this. Santokhsar and the main pool may have been in progress at different times, and this is one reason the dates vary.[EoS][Macauliffe][Gupta]

• Sri Guru Ram Das Ji
  Masands and offerings

  Three entries in one reference work give three starting points. A likely reading is that the function grew gradually and the name became fixed later, but the sources show only the disagreement.[EoS][EoS][EoS]

• Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji
  Twenty years at Bakala, or a journey east?

  The two pictures can be partly reconciled, but eight years away is a large exception to twenty years of retirement. The 1656 dates appear to depend on the Bhatt Vahi chronology, though the entry does not say so directly. The much-told account of a long hidden life should be read with this in mind.[EoS][EoS][EoS]

• Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji
  Dhir Mall's attack and the forgiveness

  The return of the goods is common ground. Whether the shot missed or wounded is where the entries differ. The Encyclopaedia's entry on Dhir Mall also records that his descendants still hold the original volume.[EoS][EoS][EoS]

• Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji
  Stopped at Dhamtan

  If the Dhamtan arrest happened, it is the first sign of Mughal interest in Guru Ji, ten years before the end.[EoS][EoS][EoS][EoS]

• Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji
  Assam and the peace with the Ahoms

  The sources differ on dates. The role in the peace is claimed only by Sikh chroniclers, and the Encyclopaedia's Ram Singh entry makes clear the fighting resumed.[EoS][EoS][EoS]

• Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji
  When did the family reach Chakk Nanaki?

  A difference of a year in these entries affects how the travels are timed.[EoS][EoS][EoS]

• Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji
  Malikpur or Agra? The arrest

  The Encyclopaedia calls Agra the common belief, now challenged by recent research on the Bhatt Vahis. Muhammad Ehsan Ijad, quoted in Irvine, is also cited for Malikpur, but was not read directly.[EoS][EoS][Macauliffe][EoS]