School within Sikhi University
Department of History
The Sikh past, read from primary sources.
History here is not a list of dates. It is the record of a people learning to be sovereign — under the Gurus, under the misls, under empire, and in the diaspora now. The department works from the chronicles, the hukamnamas, the gazetteers and the oral record, and it does not look away from the hard chapters.
Explore the departmentFive and a half centuries, Nānak to now
Walk it like a museum — every course sits on this line
- 1469Guru Nānak SāhibThe founding — and the first of the ten Gurus. The Udāsīs, and a new way of seeing.
- 1604The Ādi GranthGuru Arjan Sāhib compiles the scripture and installs it at Darbār Sāhib.
- 1699The KhālsāGuru Gobind Singh Jī gives the Panth its form on Vaisākhī at Anandpur.
- 1799Sarkār-i-KhālsāRanjīt Singh takes Lahore — four decades of Sikh sovereignty across Punjab.
- 1849AnnexationThe Sikh kingdom falls to the East India Company after the Anglo-Sikh wars.
- 1920The Akālī LeharThe Gurdwārā reform movement; the SGPC is founded.
- 1947PartitionPunjab is cut in two — the largest forced migration in recorded history.
- 1984GhallūghārāThe attack on Darbār Sāhib, and the years that followed.
- NowA global PanthSikhs on every continent, and the questions the diaspora carries.
What you'll study
Three lines of work
The Guru period
The ten Gurus, the founding of the Khalsa, and the sources — Janamsakhis, Bhatt Vahis, court records — that carry it.
Sovereignty and empire
The misls, the Sarkar-i-Khalsa, the colonial encounter, and the reform movements that followed.
The modern Panth
1947, 1984, and the making of a global Sikh community.
Signature courses
Where to begin
Three courses that show the range of the department — an opening, a deep reading, a graduate seminar.
Faculty & sources
Taught from the authorities
Courses here are attributed to — and drawn from — the scholars whose work is definitive in the field.
Guided journeys
Follow a path, not a pile
A path runs foundations → advanced; finishing one course lights up the next.
- The Sikh History JourneyFrom Guru Nanak Dev Ji (1469) through all Ten Gurus to the Khalsa, the Sikh Empire, and the global community of today.94 courses →
- The Ten Gurus: A Deep StudyDedicated multi-course sequences for each of the Ten Gurus — life, Gurbani, institutions, historical context, and scholarly sources.73 courses →
The department curriculum
104 courses, 1 subject
Open a subject to see its courses, foundations through graduate.
History104 courses
Foundations of Sikh History
An introductory survey of Sikh history from the birth of Guru Nanak Sahib in 1469 through the era of the Ten Gurus, the founding of the Khalsa, the eighteenth-century struggle, the Sikh Empire, and the colonial and modern periods. The course teaches not only events and dates but also the historical method of the…
Guru Nanak's Udaasis: The World-Transforming Journeys
Trace Guru Nanak Dev Ji's four great Udaasis across roughly 27,000 km and 30 years, the sangats he founded, the sakhis that endure, and the world-transforming message of Ik Onkar he carried east, south, north, and west.
Sikh Women: Leaders, Warriors, and Equal Partners in Sikhi
A history of Sikh women as theologians, regents, military commanders, and Panthic leaders — from Guru Nanak's defence of women to Mata Sundri, Sada Kaur, Maharani Jind Kaur, Mai Bhago, and today.
Sikhs in Canada: From Komagata Maru to a Global Community
A history of Sikhs in Canada, from the first BC pioneers and the 1914 Komagata Maru tragedy through Ghadar activism, post-war immigration, the Air India bombing, and today's 770,000-strong community.
The Battle of Chamkaur Sahib: Sacrifice, Faith, and the Khalsa Spirit
An introductory history of the Battle of Chamkaur Sahib (December 1704), where Guru Gobind Singh Ji and ~40 Sikhs faced a vast Mughal army, two Sahibzade attained shaheedi, and the Zafarnama was born.
Guru Nanak Dev Ji: Life and Teachings
This course studies the life and message of Guru Nanak Dev Ji (1469-1539), the founder of the Sikh faith, in an academic but accessible way. It traces his birth at Nankana Sahib, the spiritual awakening at Sultanpur Lodhi, the four Udasis or great journeys, his central teachings on the One Creator, honest work,…
Guru Amar Das Ji: Equality and Reform
Guru Amar Das Ji (1479-1574), the Third Guru of the Sikhs, led the community from 1552 to 1574. This course studies his life and his lasting reforms. He built the town of Goindwal and its famous Baoli Sahib, and he made the rule that every visitor, of any rank, must first sit together and eat in the langar before…
Guru Amar Das Ji: Life, Discipleship, and Calling
This course examines the remarkable life of Guru Amar Das Ji (1479–1574), who became a devoted Sikh disciple at the age of sixty-one and received the Guruship at seventy-three. Students will trace his biography from his early Vaishnav practice through his transformation under Guru Angad Dev Ji, his ministry at Goindval, and his legacy as a Guru who demonstrated that spiritual transformation is possible at any stage of life.
Guru Angad Dev Ji: The Second Master
This course studies the life and contributions of Guru Angad Dev Ji (1504-1552), the Second Master of the Sikhs. Born Bhai Lehna, he met Guru Nanak Dev Ji at Kartarpur and was chosen as successor in 1539, over Guru Nanak's own sons, because of his humility and devoted service. As Guru he settled at Khadur Sahib,…
Guru Angad Dev Ji: The Second Master's Life and Ministry
This course examines the life, discipleship, and Guruship of Guru Angad Dev Ji (1504–1552), the second Guru of the Sikhs. Students will trace his origins as Lehna, a devoted Vaishnav, through his transformation into the chosen successor of Guru Nanak Dev Ji. Key themes include tests of devotion, the meaning of the name Angad, and the institutional contributions that shaped the young Panth.
Guru Har Krishan Ji: The Child Guru
This course examines the life of Guru Har Krishan Ji, the eighth Sikh Guru, who acceded to the Gurgaddi at the age of five and passed away at age seven. Drawing on Kavi Santokh Singh's Sri Gur Pratap Suraj Granth and other historical sources, students explore his installation, his spiritual authority, and the enduring significance of his short but powerful ministry.
Guru Har Krishan Ji: The Child Guru's Seva
Guru Har Krishan Ji (1656-1664) was the Eighth Guru of the Sikhs and became Guru as a young child, around the age of five, in 1661. This course studies his short but luminous life: his early succession after Guru Har Rai Ji, his journey to Delhi at the call of the Mughal court, and his remembered service to the…
Guru Har Rai Ji: Compassion and Care
Guru Har Rai Ji (1630-1661) was the seventh Sikh Guru, serving the community from 1644 to 1661. A grandson of Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji, he is remembered above all for his deep compassion and gentleness toward every living creature. This course studies his life and leadership: how he kept the Sikh community strong…
Guru Har Rai Ji: The Quiet Ministry of the Seventh Guru
This introductory course surveys the life and ministry of Guru Har Rai Ji (1630-1661), the Seventh Nanak, whose seventeen-year Guruship is characterised by compassion, healing, ecological sensitivity, and spiritual depth maintained without resort to warfare. Students explore how a Guru who fought no battles nonetheless advanced the Panth's spiritual and institutional development in significant ways.
Guru Ram Das Ji: Life, Service, and the Path to Guruship
This course traces the life of the Fourth Sikh Guru, Sri Guru Ram Das Ji (1534–1581), from his humble origins as Bhai Jetha in Lahore through his years of selfless service to Guru Amar Das Ji, and his eventual installation as Guru. Students will explore how Guru Ram Das Ji embodied the qualities of humility, dedication, and love that define the ideal Sikh. The course draws on Kavi Santokh Singh's Suraj Parkash Granth and other classical sources to examine the historical, social, and spiritual dimensions of his life.
Langar, Sangat, and the Expansion of Community Under Guru Angad Dev Ji
This course examines the development of the Langar and Sangat institutions under Guru Angad Dev Ji's ministry at Khadur Sahib, with particular attention to the role of Mata Khivi. Students will explore how communal eating and congregational worship functioned as engines of social equality and community formation in sixteenth-century Punjab, and trace the theological foundations of these institutions in Sikh teaching.
The Lives of the Ten Gurus
This course surveys the lives, teachings, and contributions of the ten human Gurus, from Guru Nanak Dev Ji to Guru Gobind Singh Ji, and the conferral of eternal Guruship upon ਸ੍ਰੀ ਗੁਰੂ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ ਸਾਹਿਬ ਜੀ. It pays special attention to how the devotional chronicles of Kavi (Bhai) Santokh Singh, above all his Sri Gur…
Guru Gobind Singh Ji and the Birth of the Khalsa
This course studies the life of Guru Gobind Singh Ji, the tenth Guru, and the founding of the Khalsa. It follows his birth in 1666, the martyrdom of his father, the founding of the Khalsa on Vaisakhi 1699, the first Amrit Sanchar and the Panj Pyare, the sacrifice of the Sahibzade, and the 1708 conferral of eternal…
Baba Bakale: The Guru's Last Words and the Search for a Successor
This course examines the episode known as 'Baba Bakale' — Guru Har Krishan Ji's dying words directing the Sikh community to the village of Bakala where the next Guru would be found — and the subsequent search and identification of Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji. Through the story of Makhan Shah Lubana's recognition of the true Guru, students explore Sikh theology of succession, community discernment, and the transition from the eighth to the ninth Guru.
Baba Deep Singh Ji and the Art of Telling Sikh History: Studying Dr. Ajit Singh Alaukh's Illustrated Story Work
This course studies the life, scholarship, and martyrdom of Baba Deep Singh Ji, an 18th-century Sikh scholar-warrior linked to Damdama Sahib, and how an author such as Dr. Ajit Singh Alaukh retells that history for younger readers through illustrated stories. We focus on the author and the craft of the retelling,…
Banda Singh Bahadur: Sikh Sovereignty and Revolutionary Rule
The life and revolution of Banda Singh Bahadur (1670-1716): from the ascetic Madho Das to the first Sikh sovereign, his land reforms, the Battle of Sirhind, and his martyrdom in Delhi.
Bansavalinama: The Lineage of the Gurus
An intermediate seminar on the ਬੰਸਾਵਲੀਨਾਮਾ ਦਸਾਂ ਪਾਤਸ਼ਾਹੀਆਂ ਕਾ (c.1769) of ਕੇਸਰ ਸਿੰਘ ਛਿੱਬਰ — one of the earliest connected biographical chronicles of all ten Gurus composed in Braj-inflected Punjabi verse. Students examine its structure of ten ਚਰਨ (chapters), its distinctive genealogical material on the Guru families, its theological vision of Sikhi as ਮੀਰੀ ਅਤੇ ਪੀਰੀ, and the Chibbar family's privileged access to the institutional memory of the Guru-darbar as ਦੀਵਾਨ and ਦਿਵਾਨੀ scribes. The course rigorously assesses both the historical value and the well-documented limitations of the text, comparing it with the ਜਨਮਸਾਖੀ tradition, the Gur Bilas literature, and modern critical historiography.
Bhai Randhir Singh: Sikh Freedom Fighter and Spiritual Leader
A study of Bhai Randhir Singh (1878-1961), Sikh revolutionary and mystic who fused anti-colonial struggle with Gurbani kirtan, founded the Akhand Kirtani Jatha, and shaped a distinctive devotional tradition.
Bhai Vir Singh and the Singh Sabha Renaissance
A study of Bhai Vir Singh (1872-1957), architect of the Sikh literary and religious renaissance: his Singh Sabha activism, publishing, theology, scriptural scholarship, and pioneering Punjabi literature.
Das Gur Katha: Stories of the Ten Gurus
An intermediate survey of ਦਸ ਗੁਰ ਕਥਾ as a genre of Sikh biographical literature. Students examine the major works that narrate the lives of the Ten Gurus — the ਸਾਖੀ tradition, the ਜਨਮਸਾਖੀ corpus, the ਗੁਰਬਿਲਾਸ literature, and modern hagiographic and critical biographies — analyzing their sources, literary styles, and theological frameworks. The course explores how the same events are remembered differently across competing biographical traditions, and how narrative (ਕਥਾ) became one of the primary vehicles for transmitting Sikh theology, ethics, and communal memory.
Founding Amritsar: The Sacred Tank and the City of Immortality
This course examines the founding of Ramdaspur — the city that became Amritsar — by Guru Ram Das Ji in the late sixteenth century. Beginning with the excavation of the Amrit Sarovar (Pool of Nectar) under Guru Amar Das Ji's direction, and culminating in the establishment of a thriving urban center during the time of Guru Arjan Dev Ji, this course traces the historical, theological, and architectural dimensions of one of the most significant sacred sites in the Sikh world. Students will engage with questions about how sacred space is created, maintained, and understood within Sikhism.
Guru Amar Das Ji: Social Reforms — Caste, Sati, Purdah, and Widow Remarriage
This course examines the social reform agenda of Guru Amar Das Ji, focusing on his challenges to four major oppressive practices of sixteenth-century Punjab: the caste system, sati (widow immolation), purdah (the veiling and seclusion of women), and the prohibition on widow remarriage. Students will explore both the theological foundations and the practical implementation of these reforms, situating them in their historical context and tracing their ongoing significance.
Guru Arjan Dev Ji: Life, Ministry, and the First Sikh Martyrdom
Guru Arjan Dev Ji (1563–1606) was the Fifth Sikh Guru and one of the most consequential figures in the history of the Sikh faith. Born the youngest son of Guru Ram Das Ji, he served as Guru for twenty-five years, completing the Harmandir Sahib, compiling the Adi Granth, and — through his martyrdom in 1606 — transforming the entire character of the Sikh movement. This course traces his life and ministry with particular attention to the historical sources available for the period, and examines the multiple dimensions of his lasting legacy.
Guru Gobind Singh Ji: Early Life, Patna Sahib, and the Crucible Years at Anandpur
This course examines the early life of Guru Gobind Singh Ji from his birth in Patna in 1666 CE through his formative years in the Shivalik hills at Anandpur Sahib. Drawing on Kuir Singh's Gurbilas Patshahi 10 and other primary sources, students trace the Guru's childhood, education, assumption of Guruship after his father's martyrdom, and the socio-political environment that shaped his mission. The course grounds each episode in documented historical evidence while noting where scholarly debate persists.
Guru Har Krishan Ji: Serving Delhi During the Smallpox Epidemic
This course provides a focused examination of Guru Har Krishan Ji's humanitarian service during the smallpox and cholera epidemic that struck Delhi in the early 1660s. Drawing on hagiographical sources, Sikh ethical principles, and historical context, students analyze the Guru's selfless actions as an expression of Sikh seva, the epidemic's human toll, and the enduring memory preserved at Gurdwara Bangla Sahib.
Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji: Life and the Transformation of the Panth
This course traces the life of the Sixth Nanak, Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji (1595–1644), from his birth at Wadali through his long Guruship of thirty-eight years. Students examine how the Guru transformed the Panth from a devotional community into a sovereign people, responding to his father Guru Arjan Dev Ji's martyrdom with institutional, military, and spiritual innovations that continue to define Sikhi.
Guru Nanak's Social Revolution: Caste, Gender, and Equality
This course examines Guru Nanak's revolutionary social teachings on caste, gender, and human equality — situating these teachings in the historical context of early sixteenth-century Punjab and assessing their long-term impact on Sikh community life. Students examine primary textual evidence from Gurbani, the institutional innovations of the udasi period (sangat, langar, pangat), and scholarly assessments of how Guru Nanak's social vision compared to and differed from the broader Bhakti movement. Special attention is given to how these teachings were received by different communities and how they have been implemented — and sometimes compromised — in subsequent Sikh history.
Guru Ram Das Ji: Founder of Amritsar
Guru Ram Das Ji (1534-1581) was the fourth of the ten Sikh Gurus and led the community from 1574 to 1581. Born in Lahore as Bhai Jetha, he is remembered for founding the settlement of Ramdaspur, which later grew into the city of Amritsar, and for beginning the excavation of its great sarovar (sacred pool). He…
Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji: Life, Early Years, and the Path to Guruship
This course traces the life of Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji from his birth in 1621 through his early years at Kiratpur, his long contemplative period at Bakala, and his recognition as the ninth Sikh Guru in 1665. Drawing on the Sri Gur Pratap Suraj Granth and other historical sources, students examine the formative experiences that shaped the ninth Guru's spiritual character and prepared him for the most consequential ministry of the Guru era.
Harmandir Sahib: Architecture, Theology, and the Four Open Doors
The Harmandir Sahib — the 'Temple of God,' now known worldwide as the Golden Temple — stands at the center of the Amrit Sarovar in Amritsar as the holiest gurdwara in the Sikh world. Completed by Guru Arjan Dev Ji in 1604, its architecture embodies a sophisticated theological vision: the building is below ground level (symbolizing humility), connected by a causeway (the path of devotion), and has four doors open to all four directions (universal welcome). This course examines the architecture, theological symbolism, and historical context of the Harmandir Sahib, as well as its continuing significance for the global Sikh community.
Hereditary Guruship: Succession, Controversy, and Resolution
The installation of Guru Ram Das Ji as the Fourth Sikh Guru marked a significant institutional shift: for the first time, the Guruship passed to a son-in-law rather than to an unrelated disciple. This course examines the circumstances, significance, and long-term consequences of this transition, including the controversies it generated within the Guru's family and the broader Sikh community. Students will engage with competing historical interpretations of hereditary succession and explore how the Sodhi lineage shaped the next six generations of Sikh Guruship.
Hukamnamas: The Official Letters of the Sikh Gurus
A semester-length intermediate study of the ਹੁਕਮਨਾਮੇ — the official letters and edicts issued by the Sikh Gurus to their ਸੰਗਤਾਂ across India. Working from Ganda Singh's foundational compiled edition, the course examines what these roughly seventy surviving documents are, their language and diplomatics, their geographic reach, and what they reveal about early Sikh administration, the ਮਸੰਦ system, the offering economy, ਦੇਗ and weaponry, and the lived organization of the Panth from Guru Hargobind through Guru Gobind Singh and into the era of Banda Singh Bahadur and the Mata Sahibs.
Prisoner and Liberator: The Gwalior Fort and the Bandi Chhor
This course provides a detailed historical and theological study of Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji's imprisonment in Gwalior Fort by Emperor Jahangir and the celebrated Bandi Chhor episode in which the Guru secured the release of fifty-two imprisoned kings. Students examine the historical sources, the theological significance of collective liberation, and how Bandi Chhor Divas became one of the most important commemorations in the Sikh calendar.
Sikhi in the Deccan: Nanded, Hazur Sahib, and the Southern Legacy
This course examines the southern frontier of Sikh history, centered on the town of Nanded on the banks of the Godavari River in present-day Maharashtra, where Guru Gobind Singh Ji spent his final months in 1708 and conferred eternal Guruship upon Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. It traces the rise of Takht Sachkhand Sri Hazur Sahib as one of the five seats of Sikh temporal authority and explores how geography, distance from Punjab, and local Maharashtrian culture produced a distinctive regional expression of Sikhi. Students will learn how the Nanded sangat preserved and adapted Khalsa traditions over three centuries.
Sri Gur Pratap Suraj Granth: An Introduction
A scholarly introduction to the ਸ੍ਰੀ ਗੁਰ ਪ੍ਰਤਾਪ ਸੂਰਜ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ of ਕਵੀ ਸੰਤੋਖ ਸਿੰਘ (1769-1843) — the vast 51,820-verse poetic biography of the Ten Gurus and Banda Singh Bahadur. The course surveys its twelve ਰਾਸ volumes plus the ਗੁਰ ਨਾਨਕ ਪ੍ਰਕਾਸ਼, its ਬ੍ਰਜ ਭਾਸ਼ਾ idiom, its composition under Sikh patronage at ਕੈਥਲ, the rich ਟੀਕਾ tradition it generated, and its complex standing between devotional masterpiece and contested historical source.
Suraj Prakash: The Life of Guru Nanak Dev Ji
An intermediate, semester-length study of the life of ਗੁਰੂ ਨਾਨਕ ਦੇਵ ਜੀ as narrated in the first Rut (ਰੁੱਤ) of Kavi Santokh Singh's monumental Braj-Punjabi epic ਸ੍ਰੀ ਗੁਰ ਪ੍ਰਤਾਪ ਸੂਰਜ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ, popularly called ਸੂਰਜ ਪ੍ਰਕਾਸ਼. Following the framework of Dr. Rattan Singh Jaggi's critical scholarship, the course reads the Suraj Prakash account of ਜਨਮ-ਸਾਖੀ tradition alongside its sources, tracing Guru Nanak's birth at ਰਾਇ ਭੋਇ ਦੀ ਤਲਵੰਡੀ, the childhood ਸਾਖੀਆਂ of the snake's shade and the grazed fields, the Sultanpur years and the ਵੇਈਂ revelation, the four ਉਦਾਸੀਆਂ, the great encounters with ਸੱਜਣ ਠੱਗ, ਭਾਈ ਲਾਲੋ, ਮਲਿਕ ਭਾਗੋ and ਵਲੀ ਕੰਧਾਰੀ, and the founding of ਕਰਤਾਰਪੁਰ. Throughout, students learn to read the text critically — as ਹੈਜੀਓਗ੍ਰਾਫੀ (hagiography), as theology, and as a literary monument of nineteenth-century Sikh devotional historiography.
The Akal Takht: Origins, Purpose, and Enduring Significance
This course provides a comprehensive historical and theological examination of the Akal Takht, established by Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji in 1606 CE. Students trace the structure's origins, its functions in the Guru period, its destruction and rebuilding, and its continuing role as the supreme temporal authority of the Sikh Panth.
The Baoli at Goindval and Sacred Geography
This course examines the baoli (step-well) constructed at Goindval under Guru Amar Das Ji and its significance as a sacred site, a center of pilgrimage, and an expression of Sikh theology about sacred space and geography. Students will explore the construction of the baoli, the spiritual practice associated with its eighty-four steps, and how Goindval became an early Sikh pilgrimage center that offered an alternative to the dominant Hindu and Muslim sacred geography of northern India.
The Bhagats of Gurbani: Saints Across Time and Tradition
A scholarly study of the Bhagats whose bani appears in Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji. Most lived before Guru Nanak, came from many regions, castes, and faiths, yet taught one truth — and Guru Arjan Dev Ji honoured them as proof of a universal scripture.
The Brahmin's Test: Waheguru's Grace Through the Child Guru
This course provides a detailed examination of the famous episode in which the Brahmin Lal Chand brought the illiterate water-carrier Chhaju Ram before Guru Har Krishan Ji in Delhi as a test of the child Guru's spiritual authority. Through close analysis of this narrative, students explore its anti-caste theology, its challenge to Brahminic religious monopoly, and its enduring significance in Sikh tradition.
The First Udasi: Guru Nanak's Journeys East — Sultanpur to Assam
This course traces Guru Nanak's first great journey (udasi) eastward from Sultanpur Lodhi, following the accounts preserved in the Janamsakhis and Kavi Santokh Singh's Sri Nanak Prakash. Students examine key encounters at Hardwar, Benaras, Gaya, Puri, and the distant eastern reaches including Dhubri and Assam. The course grounds devotional narrative in historical geography and critically evaluates the sources that preserve these accounts.
The Fourth Udasi: Guru Nanak's Journeys West — Sindh, Mecca, Medina, and Baghdad
This course traces Guru Nanak's fourth and final great journey westward through Sindh, Pak Pattan, Mecca, Medina, Baghdad, and Kabul, following janamsakhi accounts and Kavi Santokh Singh's Sri Nanak Prakash. Students examine the most famous episodes of the Udasi tradition — the Mecca Kaaba sakhi, the meeting with Bahlol Dana in Baghdad — and analyze what these encounters reveal about Guru Nanak's theology of divine omnipresence and his engagement with Islam at its most sacred sites.
The Khalsa & the Eighteenth Century
This course studies the most formative century of Sikh history. It begins with the founding of the Khalsa by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699 and ends as the Sikhs approached sovereign statehood. In these decades the community took on a clear identity with its own ideals and institutions. It survived years of persecution…
The Khalsa's Duty: Defending the Oppressed, Regardless of Creed
How Guru Tegh Bahadur's martyrdom for the Kashmiri Pandits established the Sikh duty of Deg Teg Fateh and Sarbat da Bhala: defending the dignity and freedom of all people, even those whose beliefs you reject.
The Legacy of the Eighth Guru: Compassion, Service, and Gurdwara Bangla Sahib
This course provides a comprehensive assessment of the legacy of Guru Har Krishan Ji — the Child Guru — examining how his brief ministry has shaped Sikh devotional life, communal values, and institutional practice across three and a half centuries. Students explore the Guru's place in Sikh liturgy, the development of Gurdwara Bangla Sahib, the theological significance of the child Guru paradigm, and the continuing relevance of his example for contemporary Sikh communities.
The Manji System: Guru Amar Das Ji and Scaling the Panth's Institutions
This course examines the Manji system established by Guru Amar Das Ji — a network of 146 district-level community leaders that organized the geographically expanding Sikh Panth in the sixteenth century. Students will trace the origins, structure, and function of the system, its relationship to other Sikh institutional innovations, and its significance as an early model of distributed religious organization.
The Second Udasi: Guru Nanak's Journeys South — Deccan, Tamil Nadu, and Sri Lanka
This course traces Guru Nanak's second great journey southward through the Deccan plateau, Tamil Nadu, Rameshwaram, and across to Sri Lanka (Lanka), following janamsakhi accounts and Kavi Santokh Singh's Sri Nanak Prakash. Students examine Guru Nanak's encounters with Nath yogis, Shaivite and Vaishnava communities, and diverse regional spiritual traditions. The course critically evaluates how these southern journeys expanded the geographic and theological scope of early Sikhism.
The Succession Dispute: Ram Rai, Aurangzeb, and the Protection of Gurbani
This course examines the succession dispute that defined Guru Har Krishan Ji's installation as Guru, focusing on Ram Rai's alteration of Gurbani at Aurangzeb's court and Guru Har Rai Ji's principled response. Students analyze the theological stakes of Gurbani's integrity, the political dynamics of Mughal-Sikh relations in the 1650s-1660s, and the lasting consequences of the Ram Rai schism for the Sikh community.
The Third Udasi: Guru Nanak's Journeys North — Kashmir, Sumer Parbat, and Tibet
This course traces Guru Nanak's third great journey northward into Kashmir, the Himalayan peaks, and the Tibetan plateau, following janamsakhi accounts and Kavi Santokh Singh's Sri Nanak Prakash. Students examine the Sidh Gosht dialogue tradition, Guru Nanak's encounters with Brahmin scholars in Kashmir, and the theological significance of the mountaintop encounters with Nath Siddhs. The course evaluates the scholarly debate over whether the Sidh Gosht represents a historical encounter or a literary-theological dialogue.
The Travels of Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji: Panjab, Bihar, Bengal, and Assam
This course examines the extensive travels of Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji across the Indian subcontinent — from Punjab through Bihar, Bengal, and Assam — during the active years of his Guruship (1665-1675). Drawing on historical sources and hagiographical traditions, students trace the Guru's itinerary, the sangats (communities) he established or strengthened, the Gurbani he composed during these journeys, and the lasting institutional legacy of his travels for Sikh communities in eastern India.
Women in Sikhi: Equality and History
An exploration of the principle of gender equality in Sikh teaching, its theological foundations in Gurbani, and the lives of notable Sikh women across history. The course examines women's roles in Sangat, Seva, and leadership, their equal access to initiation, and honestly considers the gap between Sikh ideals and…
ਅਕਾਲ ਤਖ਼ਤ: Seat of Sikh Sovereignty
A comprehensive intermediate course on ਅਕਾਲ ਤਖ਼ਤ, the supreme temporal seat of the Sikh Panth founded by Guru Hargobind Ji in 1609 facing ਹਰਿਮੰਦਰ ਸਾਹਿਬ. The course traces the doctrine of ਮੀਰੀ-ਪੀਰੀ, the institution of the five ਤਖ਼ਤ, the tradition of ਹੁਕਮਨਾਮੇ and ਗੁਰਮਤਾ, the governance of the Panth through ਸਰਬੱਤ ਖ਼ਾਲਸਾ during the ਮਿਸਲ period, the trauma of 1984, and contemporary debates over Panthic authority. Students examine the architectural and theological symbolism of the Takhat, its relationship to the ਗੁਰੂ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ–ਗੁਰੂ ਪੰਥ doctrine, and its evolving role as the conscience and sovereign voice of the Khalsa.
A Sikh Life Remembered: Bhai Rama Singh Ji and the Value of Autobiography for Sikh History
This course studies the Autobiography of Bhai Rama Singh Ji as a primary source and asks a simple question: what does one person's own story add to Sikh history? We treat the memoir as a first-person window onto a lived Sikh life and onto the Sikh experience in the diaspora, especially the United Kingdom. Students…
Dara Shikoh, Aurangzeb, and the Politics of Guru Har Rai Ji's Reign
This advanced course examines the complex political world in which Guru Har Rai Ji conducted his ministry, focusing on the relationships between the Seventh Guru, Mughal Prince Dara Shikoh, and Emperor Aurangzeb. Students analyse how the Guru navigated the Mughal succession crisis, the significance of the healing episode for Sikh-Mughal relations, and the political and theological implications of the Ram Rai affair.
Guru Arjan Dev Ji: The Scripture and the First Martyrdom
Guru Arjan Dev Ji (1563-1606), the fifth Sikh Guru, guided the community from 1581 to 1606. His era shaped Sikhi in lasting ways. He completed the Harmandir Sahib (the Golden Temple) at Amritsar and gave it doors on all four sides as a sign of openness to all people. He compiled the Adi Granth in 1604, gathering…
Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji: Miri-Piri and the Akal Takht
Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji (1595-1644), the Sixth Nanak, became Guru in 1606 following the martyrdom of his father, Guru Arjan Dev Ji. This course studies how he gave the Sikh community a balanced direction by joining spiritual life with worldly responsibility. He wore two swords, one for Miri (temporal authority) and…
Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji: Shield of Conscience
This course studies the life, travels, teaching, and martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji (1621-1675), the Ninth Guru of the Sikhs. He became Guru in 1665, journeyed across northern and eastern India, and founded the town that grew into Anandpur. In 1675 he was executed in Delhi under the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb…
Hind di Chadar: The Great Martyrdom for Religious Freedom
This course provides a comprehensive examination of Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji's martyrdom in Delhi in November 1675 — the defining event of his Guruship and one of the most consequential acts of principled sacrifice in world religious history. Students analyze the political circumstances of Aurangzeb's forced conversion campaign, the Kashmiri Pandits' appeal to the Guru, his theological reasoning for defending religious freedom, the martyrdom itself, and the enduring legacy of 'Hind di Chadar.'
Historical Sources and the Legacy of the Seventh Guru
This advanced course examines the primary and secondary sources available for studying Guru Har Rai Ji's life and ministry, evaluates their relative reliability and limitations, and synthesises the Seventh Guru's multidimensional legacy for the Sikh Panth. Students develop skills in historical-critical source evaluation and construct a nuanced understanding of how historical memory shapes Sikh identity.
Historical Sources: Gurbilas Patshahi Chevin and the Sixth Guru
This course provides a rigorous scholarly examination of the Gurbilas Patshahi Chevin as a primary source for the life of Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji. Students learn to read the text critically, understand its compositional history, evaluate its historical reliability, and situate it within the broader tradition of Sikh biographical literature.
Historical Sources: The Suraj Prakash Account of the Second Guru
This advanced course examines the Sri Gur Pratap Suraj Granth (Suraj Prakash) by Kavi Santokh Singh as a primary source for the history of Guru Angad Dev Ji. Students will learn to read hagiographic literature critically, understand the text's literary conventions, compare its account with other sources, and develop skills for evaluating historical claims in a tradition where history and theology are closely intertwined.
Mughal India and the Context of the Ninth Guru's Ministry
This course examines the Mughal political and religious context within which Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji's ministry unfolded, with particular attention to Aurangzeb's reign (1658-1707), the political economy of the empire, and the complex dynamics of Mughal-Sikh relations during the ninth Guru's decade of ministry. Students develop the historical and political literacy needed to understand the martyrdom's context and consequences.
Shaheedi in the Sikh Tradition: Martyrs, Memory, and the Ethics of Sacrifice
This course studies the Sikh idea of shaheedi (martyrdom) as both a historical record and a living moral tradition. Working from Dr. Gurcharan Singh Alaukh's collection of martyrdom narratives, Shaheedi Gathavan, we trace how Sikhs have remembered those who gave their lives for faith and justice from the time of…
The Battles, the Sahibzade, and the Siege of Anandpur Sahib
This course examines the military history of Guru Gobind Singh Ji's campaigns from the founding of the Khalsa in 1699 through the siege and evacuation of Anandpur Sahib in 1705. Central to the course is the martyrdom of the four Sahibzade (sons of the Guru) and the theological and historical significance of these sacrifices within Khalsa identity. Drawing on Kuir Singh's Gurbilas Patshahi 10, Giani Gian Singh's Twarikh Guru Khalsa, and the Bachittar Natak, students reconstruct the military, political, and spiritual dimensions of this defining period.
The Four Battles: Amritsar, Lahira, Kartarpur, and Phagwara
This course provides a detailed military and political history of the four battles fought by Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji against Mughal imperial forces between 1629 and 1635 CE. Students examine the causes, conduct, and consequences of each engagement, the primary sources that record them, and their enduring significance for Sikh understanding of dharam yudh.
The Global Sikh Diaspora
An academic survey of Sikh migration and settlement across the world, from the late nineteenth century to the present. The course follows the movement of Sikhs within the British Empire to East Africa and Southeast Asia, the early twentieth-century pioneers who reached the Pacific coast of North America, the…
The Sikh Empire: Maharaja Ranjit Singh
A university-level survey of the Sikh Empire under Maharaja Ranjit Singh (1780-1839), framed through the historical writing of the dhadi and historian Bhai Sohan Singh Sital, author of works such as Sikh Mislan and Sikh Raj Kivein Gaya. The course traces the rise of Ranjit Singh from a Sukerchakia misl chief to…
The Sikh Religion in English Scholarship
How Sikhi was presented to the English-speaking world through Max Arthur Macauliffe's six-volume study, The Sikh Religion (1909) — its making in partnership with Sikh scholars, its strengths and limits, and its lasting place in Sikh studies.
Reading Dorothy Field: An Early Western Introduction to Sikhi
This course studies Dorothy Field's 1914 book The Religion of the Sikhs, one of the earliest short English-language introductions to Sikhi written by a Western author. We look at what the book covered, where it sits among other early English accounts such as Max Arthur Macauliffe's The Sikh Religion (1909), and how…
Reading the Janamsakhis: Devotional Life-Narrative and the Memory of Guru Nanak
This course studies the janamsakhi tradition, the devotional life-accounts of Guru Nanak Dev Ji, taking the manuscript known as the Guru Nanak Surjode Janam Sakhi as a point of entry. Students learn what a janamsakhi is, how it narrates the Guru's life through episodes called sakhis, and why it belongs to a…
Bhai Randhir Singh: Faith and Freedom
Bhai Randhir Singh (1878-1961) was a Sikh devotee and freedom fighter whose life joined deep religious devotion with resistance to British colonial rule. Educated in the colonial system yet drawn back to Sikh practice, he embraced the discipline of Naam (meditation on the divine Name) and strict Rehat (the Sikh…
British Annexation and Sikh Resistance (1849–1919)
This advanced course traces the seventy-year arc from the fall of the ਸਰਕਾਰ-ਏ-ਖ਼ਾਲਸਾ (the Sikh state of Maharaja Ranjit Singh) to the eve of the Akali agitation. It examines the two Anglo-Sikh Wars, the diplomacy of the Treaty of Lahore and the Treaty of Bhairowal, the formal annexation of ਪੰਜਾਬ in 1849, and the dispossession of Maharaja Duleep Singh. Students will study the paradox of Sikh participation in the suppression of the 1857 rebellion, the transformation of the ਖ਼ਾਲਸਾ into the colonial "martial race," and the deep currents of religious and political reform that followed: the Nirankari and Namdhari (ਕੂਕਾ) movements, the ਸਿੰਘ ਸਭਾ revival with its contest between ਤੱਤ ਖ਼ਾਲਸਾ and ਸਨਾਤਨ ਸਿੱਖੀ, the founding of Khalsa College and the codification of a distinct Sikh identity, the transnational radicalism of the ਗ਼ਦਰ Party, and the trauma of the ਜਲ੍ਹਿਆਂਵਾਲਾ ਬਾਗ਼ massacre. The course closes at the threshold of the Gurdwara Reform Movement, the ਅਕਾਲੀ ਦਲ, and the SGPC. Drawing on Harnik Deol's sociology of religious nationalism and the major historiography of colonial Punjab, the course equips students to analyze how conquest, collaboration, reform, and resistance together forged modern Sikh political consciousness.
Builders of the Khalsa Raj: The Biographical History of Baba Prem Singh Hoti Mardan
This course studies the biographical history written by Baba Prem Singh Hoti Mardan, an early twentieth-century chronicler of the Sikh kingdom. Working in Punjabi prose, he wrote life-accounts of the sardars, generals, and leaders who built and served the Khalsa Raj of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. The course reads his…
Gurbilas Patshahi 10: Guru Gobind Singh Ji's Court
An advanced study of the ਗੁਰਬਿਲਾਸ ਪਾਤਸ਼ਾਹੀ ੧੦, Koer Singh's mid-eighteenth-century poetic biography of ਸ੍ਰੀ ਗੁਰੂ ਗੋਬਿੰਦ ਸਿੰਘ ਜੀ. The course examines the text as a foundational work of early Sikh historiography: its genre and ਕਵਿ conventions, the courtly world of ਪਾਉਂਟਾ ਸਾਹਿਬ and its ਬੱਤੀ ਕਵੀ (fifty-two poets), the founding of the ਖ਼ਾਲਸਾ, the ਅਨੰਦਪੁਰ period and its battles, the place of the ਦਸਮ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ, and the great ਸਾਖੀਆਂ of ਭਾਈ ਦਯਾ ਸਿੰਘ and ਭਾਈ ਮਨੀ ਸਿੰਘ. Students learn to read a ਗੁਰਬਿਲਾਸ critically — weighing its devotional aims, its ਪੁਰਾਤਨ sources, and its contested reliability — guided throughout by the scholarship of Piara Singh Padam, who edited and annotated the standard modern edition.
Gurbilas Patshahi 6: Guru Hargobind Ji and Miri-Piri
An advanced study of the Gurbilas Patshahi 6, the early Sikh verse-chronicle (ਗੁਰਬਿਲਾਸ) celebrating the reign of Guru Hargobind Ji, the sixth Nanak. The course examines the text as a literary and historical source for the doctrine of ਮੀਰੀ-ਪੀਰੀ — the union of temporal and spiritual sovereignty — the founding of the ਅਕਾਲ ਤਖ਼ਤ, the militarisation of the Panth, the four battles against Mughal forces, the Guru's imprisonment in Gwalior, his relations with Emperor Jahangir, and the development of Amritsar and the Kartarpur period. Students engage critically with questions of authorship, dating, and the place of ਗੁਰਬਿਲਾਸ literature within the wider corpus of Sikh historiography.
Hands That Serve: The Sevapanthi Tradition of Seva in Sikh History
This course studies the Sevapanthi tradition within Sikhism, a stream of devotional life that places selfless service (ਸੇਵਾ) at the center of faith. The tradition traces its inspiration to Bhai Kanhaiya Ji, who is remembered for carrying water to all the wounded on the battlefield without asking which side they…
Historical Sources and the Memory of Hind di Chadar
This advanced course examines the historical sources — Sikh, Mughal, and later — through which memory of Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji's martyrdom has been preserved and transmitted. Students develop critical historical literacy by comparing accounts, assessing their reliability, understanding the genres and purposes of different source types, and engaging with historiographical debates about the martyrdom narrative.
Historical Sources: Gurbilas Patshahi Dasvin and the Scholarly Record
This course offers a rigorous examination of the primary and secondary historical sources for Guru Gobind Singh Ji's life, with sustained focus on the Gurbilas Patshahi 10 of Kuir Singh and its relationship to the Bachittar Natak, Sri Gur Sobha, and Twarikh Guru Khalsa. Students develop skills in source criticism, historiographical method, and the evaluation of conflicting testimonies, learning to distinguish between well-documented events, events known primarily through oral tradition, and events that remain historically uncertain. The course equips students to read Sikh historical literature with scholarly precision.
Katha Pramaan Sagar — Part 1: Historical Evidence in Sikh Scholarship
An advanced study of Giani Mal Singh's Katha Pramaan Sagar as a reference granth, focused on historical pramaan (evidence) for the Gurus, Sikh events, institutions, and maryada, and on its use as a research tool.
Max Arthur Macauliffe and 'The Sikh Religion'
An advanced study of Max Arthur Macauliffe (1841-1913), the British civil servant who left his career to devote his life to Sikh studies, and his six-volume work 'The Sikh Religion: Its Gurus, Sacred Writings and Authors' (1909). This course examines who Macauliffe was, how he came to the project, how he worked…
Panth Prakash: Sikh History 1700–1800
An advanced, semester-length study of Giani Gian Singh's Sri Panth Prakash (late 19th c.), the monumental Punjabi verse-and-prose chronicle of the eighteenth-century ਖ਼ਾਲਸਾ. The course examines the text's methodology and sources, its account of the Sikh struggle from Guru Gobind Singh Ji and Baba Banda Singh Bahadur through the era of the ਜਥੇ and ਮਿਸਲਾਂ, the two ਘੱਲੂਘਾਰੇ, the rise of the ਸਰਬੱਤ ਖ਼ਾਲਸਾ and ਗੁਰਮਤਾ, and the consolidation of sovereignty under ਮਹਾਰਾਜਾ ਰਣਜੀਤ ਸਿੰਘ. Throughout, students learn to read Panth Prakash critically as historiography — weighing its devotional purpose, oral and documentary sources, chronological reliability, and its decisive contribution to the Sikh historical imagination.
Sarkar Khalsa: The Sikh Empire of Maharaja Ranjit Singh
An advanced survey of the ਸਰਕਾਰ ਖਾਲਸਾ (the Sikh state) under ਮਹਾਰਾਜਾ ਰਣਜੀਤ ਸਿੰਘ, ruling from the Lahore ਦਰਬਾਰ between 1799 and 1849. The course traces the rise of the ਮਿਸਲ confederacy into a unified kingdom, the ਖਾਲਸਾ army's French-trained modernization (the ਫੌਜ-ਏ-ਖ਼ਾਸ), territorial expansion from Lahore to Multan, Kashmir and Peshawar, and a deliberately pluralist administration that placed Muslims, Hindus, Dogras and Europeans in the highest offices. Students examine the empire's revenue and trade economy, the symbolic politics of the ਕੋਹਿਨੂਰ diamond and the ਸਰਕਾਰੀ patronage of ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰੇ and the rebuilding of ਸ੍ਰੀ ਹਰਿਮੰਦਰ ਸਾਹਿਬ, and the structural fragilities — succession, the Dogra factions, and the British frontier — that brought the kingdom down in the two Anglo-Sikh Wars by 1849.
Sikh Historical Chronicles with Giani Gian Singh
An upper-division study of the life, methods, and legacy of Giani Gian Singh (1822-1921), one of the most influential traditional Sikh historians. The course examines his major chronicles, the techniques and sources of pre-modern Sikh historiography, and the critical reading skills a modern student needs to weigh…
Sri Nanak Prakash: Theological Biography of Guru Nanak
An advanced study of ਸ੍ਰੀ ਨਾਨਕ ਪ੍ਰਕਾਸ਼, the early nineteenth-century poetic life of Guru Nanak composed by ਕਵੀ ਸੰਤੋਖ ਸਿੰਘ. The course examines the work's ਬ੍ਰਜ ਭਾਸ਼ਾ poetics, its relationship to the later ਸੂਰਜ ਪ੍ਰਕਾਸ਼, its theological framework of Guru Nanak as the ਜੋਤਿ incarnate, its major ਸਾਖੀਆਂ drawn from the ਜਨਮਸਾਖੀ tradition, and its enduring place in Sikh hagiography and the wider ਨਿਰਮਲਾ scholarly milieu.
Suraj Prakash: Guru Gobind Singh Ji — The Warrior-Saint
An advanced textual and historical seminar on the portions of Kavi Santokh Singh's monumental Sri Gur Pratap Suraj Granth (1843) that narrate the life of the tenth Master, ਗੁਰੂ ਗੋਬਿੰਦ ਸਿੰਘ ਜੀ. Reading the relevant Ruts of the Suraj Prakash alongside primary contemporary sources — the ਬਚਿੱਤ੍ਰ ਨਾਟਕ, the ਜ਼ਫ਼ਰਨਾਮਾ, the rehatnamas, and the Bhatt vahis — students examine the Guru's birth at Patna, the Paonta years and the literary darbar of fifty-two poets, the founding of the ਖ਼ਾਲਸਾ in 1699, the battles of Bhangani, Nadaun, and the Anandpur sieges, the evacuation and shaheedis at Chamkaur and Sirhind, the composition of the ਜ਼ਫ਼ਰਨਾਮਾ, the southern journey, and the conferral of eternal Guruship upon ਸ੍ਰੀ ਗੁਰੂ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ ਸਾਹਿਬ ਜੀ. The course foregrounds the figure of the ਸੰਤ-ਸਿਪਾਹੀ and trains students to read Braj-inflected nineteenth-century Sikh hagiography critically, distinguishing kavi convention from historical kernel.
The First Martyrdom: Mughal Politics, Historical Sources, and Legacy
The martyrdom of Guru Arjan Dev Ji in 1606 was a watershed event in Sikh history that transformed the trajectory of the Sikh movement. This advanced course examines the event through multiple historical lenses: the political context of the early Mughal empire under Jahangir, the primary sources (including Jahangir's own Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri), Sikh hagiographical accounts, and modern historical scholarship. Students will develop the skills to evaluate historical sources critically while understanding the theological and communal significance of the martyrdom.
The Janamsakhis: Devotional Biography and Historical Method
This advanced course examines the Janamsakhi tradition — the devotional biography collections that preserve the life of Guru Nanak — as both historical sources and literary-theological documents. Students learn to distinguish the major Janamsakhi traditions (Puratan, Miharban, Bala, and Gyan Ratanavali), evaluate their relative historical reliability, and apply critical methods to extract historical content from devotional narrative. The course also examines Kavi Santokh Singh's Sri Nanak Prakash as a nineteenth-century synthesis of the tradition.
The Misl Period: Sikh Confederacy and Self-Governance
An advanced, semester-length study of the Sikh Misl period (c. 1748-1799), the era in which the Sikh Panth, emerging from the trauma of the Ghallugharas, organized itself into twelve confederate misls under the umbrella of the ਦਲ ਖਾਲਸਾ. The course examines the political genesis of the misls under ਨਵਾਬ ਕਪੂਰ ਸਿੰਘ and ਜੱਸਾ ਸਿੰਘ ਆਹਲੂਵਾਲੀਆ, the distinctive governance instruments of ਗੁਰਮਤਾ, ਰਾਖੀ, and the biannual ਸਰਬੱਤ ਖਾਲਸਾ, the economic and land-tenure systems that financed Sikh power, and the shifting diplomacy among Afghans, Marathas, and Mughals. It closes by analyzing how this decentralized commonwealth was consolidated into monarchy under ਮਹਾਰਾਜਾ ਰਣਜੀਤ ਸਿੰਘ, and what the period reveals about Sikh political philosophy translated into practice.
Twarikh Guru Khalsa: A Systematic Sikh History
An advanced study of ਤਵਾਰੀਖ਼ ਗੁਰੂ ਖ਼ਾਲਸਾ, Giani Gian Singh's monumental late-nineteenth-century prose history of the Ten ਗੁਰੂ Sahiban and the early ਖ਼ਾਲਸਾ. The course examines the text's scope, its synthesis of ਗੁਰਬਾਣੀ, ਜਨਮਸਾਖੀ, ਗੁਰਬਿਲਾਸ, ਰਹਿਤਨਾਮੇ, and Indo-Persian chronicle traditions, its relationship to the author's earlier verse ਪੰਥ ਪ੍ਰਕਾਸ਼, and its position within nineteenth-century ਸਿੰਘ ਸਭਾ historiography. Students engage critically with scholarly debates over the work's reliability, its narrative method, and its enduring impact on modern Sikh historical consciousness.
Zafarnama: Guru Gobind Singh Ji's Letter of Victory
An advanced, semester-length study of the ਜ਼ਫ਼ਰਨਾਮਾ — the "Letter of Victory" composed in Persian verse by ਗੁਰੂ ਗੋਬਿੰਦ ਸਿੰਘ ਜੀ and addressed to the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb after the battle of ਚਮਕੌਰ ਸਾਹਿਬ and the martyrdoms of the ਸਾਹਿਬਜ਼ਾਦੇ. The course examines the epistle as literature, as theology, and as political-moral indictment. Students analyze its 111 couplets in the qasida tradition, its opening hymn of praise to ਅਕਾਲ ਪੁਰਖ, its scathing exposure of Aurangzeb's treachery and broken oaths sworn on the Qur'an, its doctrine of the righteous sword (ਤੇਗ਼), and the celebrated declaration that when all peaceful means fail it is lawful to take up the sword. We situate the text within the Persian literary canon (Firdausi, Sa'di), within ਸਿੱਖ history, and within the manuscript tradition of the ਦਸਮ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ, closing with its historical reception — Aurangzeb's reported remorse and the letter's afterlife as a charter of conscientious resistance.
Baba Sumer Singh and the Devotional History of the Gurus: Reading 'Sri Gur Pad Prem Parkash'
This course studies Baba Sumer Singh, a nineteenth-century mahant (custodian) of Takht Sri Patna Sahib and a poet-scholar, and his devotional-historical writing about the Sikh Gurus. The central text is his poetic work 'Sri Gur Pad Prem Parkash' ('the loving light at the feet of the Guru'), a verse retelling of the…
The Colonial Era & the Singh Sabha Movement
This upper-level course traces the Sikh experience from the British annexation of Punjab in 1849 through the colonial period and the Singh Sabha renaissance to the Sikh Gurdwaras Act of 1925. Students study key reformers, institutions, the Tat Khalsa and Sanatan debates, and the Gurdwara Reform movement, with…
Documenting Sikh History
Source-based historiography in the work of Dr. Ganda Singh — archives, evidence, and the discipline of Sikh history.
Sikh Constitutional Theory: Gurmata to Modern Governance
An expert-level study of how the Sikh tradition has theorised legitimate collective authority — from the Gurbani vision of ਹਲੇਮੀ ਰਾਜੁ and the institution of the ਪੰਜ ਪਿਆਰੇ, through the deliberative sovereignty of the ਸਰਬੱਤ ਖ਼ਾਲਸਾ and the binding ਗੁਰਮਤਾ, to the personalised statecraft of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the bureaucratic constitutionalism of the 1920 SGPC, and the unresolved dilemmas of Sikh political representation today. The course treats Sikh constitutionalism not as a borrowed liberal framework but as an indigenous theory of authority grounded in ਮੀਰੀ-ਪੀਰੀ, the doctrine of ਗੁਰੂ ਪੰਥ, and ਗੁਰੂ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ as final sovereign.
Critical Analysis of Primary Sources in Sikh History
This graduate seminar develops rigorous methodological skills for critically analyzing the diverse primary sources used in Sikh historical research, from <span class='gur'>ਗੁਰਬਾਣੀ</span> and early hagiographic literature through colonial administrative records and oral traditions. Students learn to assess the provenance, authorial perspective, genre conventions, and evidential value of each source type, situating them within the broader historiography of Sikh studies. The course equips scholars with the critical toolkit needed for original archival research.
Sikh Historiography: Methods, Sources, and Critical Analysis
This graduate seminar examines the production, methods, and critical analysis of Sikh historical writing from the earliest Janam Sakhis through the colonial encounter to the debates of postcolonial Sikh historiography. Students engage with primary historical sources — including the Suraj Prakash Granth, Sikh Rahitnamas, and colonial administrative records — while developing critical tools for evaluating historical claims in the Sikh tradition.
Sikh Resistance: Misl, Akali, and Independence Movements
This graduate seminar examines Sikh resistance from the eighteenth-century <span class='gur'>ਮਿਸਲ</span> period through the twentieth-century independence movements, analyzing the ideological, organizational, and tactical dimensions of <span class='gur'>ਖ਼ਾਲਸਾ</span> resistance to external domination. Students engage critically with primary Punjabi sources alongside colonial and postcolonial scholarship to reconstruct the full arc of Sikh political resistance. The course culminates in analysis of the demand for <span class='gur'>ਆਜ਼ਾਦੀ</span> in the independence and partition era.
Sikhi and Modernity: Colonial Encounter, Reform, and Postcolonial Thought
This graduate seminar examines the transformative encounter between the Sikh tradition and colonial modernity, analyzing how British colonialism, the Singh Sabha reform movement, print culture, and postcolonial political developments reshaped Sikh identity, institutions, and self-understanding. Students engage critically with postcolonial theory and Sikh historical scholarship to analyze the construction of modern Sikh identity.
The Sikh Empire: Advanced Political and Military History
This graduate seminar examines the Sikh Empire (1799–1849) through advanced political, military, and administrative lenses, drawing on primary Punjabi sources alongside modern historiography. Students engage critically with court records, Anglo-Sikh diplomatic correspondence, and contemporary scholarship to reassess the nature and legacy of Maharaja Ranjit Singh's state. The course ends with the annexation, its causes, and its long interpretive shadow.
Start where your question is
You do not need a background, an application, or a fee. Pick a course and begin — the department is here whenever you want to go deeper.
