Dr. Kamalroop Singh
Courses
The Dasam Granth: History, Manuscripts, and the Scholarly Landscape
The Dasam Granth is a large scriptural compilation attributed to Guru Gobind Singh Ji (1666–1708), the tenth Sikh Guru, comprising approximately 1,428 pages of diverse literary and devotional compositions. This course surveys the manuscript history, the canonical debates, and the major scholarly positions that have shaped how Sikhs and academics understand this text. Students engage with the primary compositions, the historical transmission of manuscripts, and the institutional processes by which the Granth received its current form.
Jap Sahib, Swayye, and Benti Chaupai: The Daily Khalsa Banis
Three compositions from the Dasam Granth stand at the heart of Khalsa daily practice: Jap Sahib, the Swayye (Savaiye), and Benti Chaupai. This course provides close textual analysis of each bani, examining their literary structure, theological content, and devotional function within the Nitnem. Students engage with the original texts and their scholarly interpretations to understand why these compositions were chosen for daily recitation and Amrit Sanchar.
Chandi Di Var and Chandi Charitar: Heroic Poetry and the Divine Feminine
The Dasam Granth contains three major compositions celebrating the divine feminine warrior-power: Chandi Di Var, Chandi Charitar I, and Chandi Charitar II. This course examines these compositions as theological reinterpretations of classical Hindu narrative, analyzing how Guru Gobind Singh transforms the Devi Mahatmya tradition into a vehicle for Sikh monotheism and the spiritual rationale for Khalsa heroism. Students engage with the fetched source texts and scholarly analysis to understand the theology of divine power operating through heroic agency.
The Zafarnama: Guru Gobind Singh's Letter of Victory
The Zafarnama — the Letter of Victory — is Guru Gobind Singh's Persian epistle to Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, composed in the aftermath of the battles of Chamkaur and Muktsar and the martyrdom of all four of the Guru's sons. This course examines the Zafarnama as historical document, political epistle, theological statement, and literary masterwork, drawing on the fetched source text. Students analyze how a militarily defeated man claims moral and spiritual victory through the power of divine truth and poetic argument.
Reading the Dasam Granth: The Textual Scholarship of Dr. Kamalroop Singh
This course introduces students to the academic study of the Dasam Granth (ਦਸਮ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ) through the scholarship of Dr. Kamalroop Singh, a contemporary researcher known for his work on Sikh manuscripts and the writings attributed to Guru Gobind Singh. Students learn what the Dasam Granth is, how scholars examine its…
Charitropakhyan: Narratives, Ethics, Gender, and Scholarly Debate
The Charitropakhyan is the most debated section of the Dasam Granth: a collection of 405 narrative tales addressing themes of ethics, statecraft, gender, deception, and moral discernment. This course examines the Charitropakhyan's literary tradition, its relationship to classical South Asian narrative, the range of scholarly positions on its attribution and theological significance, and the ongoing community debates about its canonical status.
The Theology and Philosophy of the Dasam Granth
This advanced course synthesizes the theological and philosophical themes running across the Dasam Granth as a whole: the nature of God, the theology of creation, the role of divine power in history, the ethics of heroic action, and the eschatological vision of divine justice. Students engage with the Dasam Granth's distinctive theological vocabulary in dialogue with the Guru Granth Sahib, classical South Asian philosophy, and contemporary Sikh theological scholarship.
Guru Gobind Singh Ji as Poet: Jaap Sahib, Swayye, Akal Ustat, and the Zafarnama
This course offers close literary analysis of Guru Gobind Singh Ji's major poetic works: the Jaap Sahib, Tav Prasad Swayye, Akal Ustat, and the Persian Zafarnama. Students examine the Guru's multilingual poetic genius, his use of classical Indian and Persian literary forms, and the theological and political ideas encoded in each composition. The course draws on the scholarly edition of the Dasam Granth and comparative literary analysis to reveal the breadth and depth of the Guru's literary legacy.
The Dasam Granth and Guru Gobind Singh Ji's Literary and Intellectual Legacy
This course provides a comprehensive theological and literary study of the Dasam Granth, examining the major compositions attributed to Guru Gobind Singh Ji and the scholarly debates surrounding their authorship, purpose, and canonical status. Students engage with the Dasam Granth as both a theological document and a literary masterwork, examining how it deploys Indic and Persianate literary traditions in the service of a distinctive Khalsa theology. The course draws on the scholarly edition of the Dasam Granth and critical Sikh studies scholarship.
Advanced Sikh Manuscript Illumination and Paleography
This graduate seminar provides advanced training in the paleographic analysis and art-historical interpretation of Sikh illuminated manuscripts, with particular attention to the decorated Guru Granth Sahib manuscripts of the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries. Students develop skills in Gurmukhi paleography, the identification of decorative programmes and their iconographic sources, and the art-historical contextualization of Sikh manuscript production within the broader traditions of South Asian illuminated manuscript culture. The seminar draws extensively on Kamalroop Singh's archival scholarship.
Gurmukhi Paleography: Reading Historical Manuscripts
This graduate seminar develops the skills required to read, date, and critically analyze historical Gurmukhi manuscripts from the sixteenth through the nineteenth centuries. Students learn the methods of Gurmukhi paleography, codicology, and manuscript studies, applying these to Sikh primary sources including early Guru Granth Sahib manuscripts, Rehatnamas, and court documents. The course bridges linguistic competence and archival research, equipping scholars for original manuscript-based research.
Sikh Musical Manuscripts and Notation Traditions
This graduate seminar examines Sikh musical manuscripts in major South Asian and European repositories, developing paleographic competence, critically evaluating evidence for musical notation in Sikh manuscripts, and situating Sikh manuscript practice within the broader history of South Asian musical notation. Students engage with the methodological and ethical dimensions of manuscript scholarship.
Manuscript Studies and Textual Criticism of Sikh Sacred Texts
This graduate seminar applies the methods of codicology, paleography, and textual criticism to the manuscript traditions of Sikh sacred texts, with particular focus on early Granth manuscripts. Students examine scribal practices, manuscript transmission, textual variants, and the construction of the scriptural canon from the Kartarpuri Bir through the standardization of the nineteenth century.
