GURBILAS PATSHAHIDASVIN, a poeticized account of the life of Guru Gobind Singh by Bhai Sukkha Singh. The poet, a convert to Sikhism from the barber caste, was born at Anandpur in 1768 and completed the work in 1797 when he was barely twenty-nine. The poetry is more Braj than Punjabi,

PAURIAN GURU GOBIND SINGH KIAN is a poetic composition in Punjabi, in praise of Guru Gobind Singh, with a brief description of the battle of Bharigani (1688). Pauri is the name given to each stanza of a vdr (ballad), paundn being the plural form. The text totally consists of

WAJAB UL-ARZ, lit. a properly petition, is a section of Sikhan di Bhagat Mala, also known as Gursikkhan di Bhagatmal, a manuscript in Punjabi, Gurmukhi script, attributed to Bhai Mani Singh (d. 1737) the martyr, who had received the rites of initiation at the hands of Guru Gobind Singh himself.

AMARNAMA, a Persian work comprising 146 verses composed in AD 1708 by Bhai Natth Mall, a dhadi or balladeer who lived from the time of Guru Hargobind to that of Guru Gobind Singh, Nanak X. The manuscript of the work in Gurmukhi script obtained from Bhai Fatta, ninth in descent

GURPRANALI, a distinct genre in Punjabi historical writing, providing in prose or in verse chronological information about the lives of the Gurus and of the members of their families. The genre records in the main dates of their birth, marriage and death. Occasionally, the dates of some major events are

POTHI ASAVARJAN, pothi, i.e. book, comprising discourses of some of the saints of the Sevapanthi sect. Since the sermons are interspersed with hymns composed by saints who used to sing them at their sangats in Asavari rdga or musical measure, the book is called Pothi Asdvandn. The language of

ZINDAGI NAMAH, a book of pious poetry in Persian by Bhai Nand Lal Goya, an honoured Sikh of Guru Gobind Singh, whose name continues to be remembered with affection and esteem. A distinction which uniquely belongs to him is that his verse can be sung along with Scriptural hymns at

ANI RAI, author of Jangnama Guru Gobind Singh Ji, was one of the numerous poets and scholars who enjoyed the patronage of Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708). The Jangnama is an account in verse of a battle on the banks of the River Sutlej in which an attack from the imperial

GURUJI KE SITFAN KI KATHA, lit. katha or story of the sutan or sons of Guru (Gobind Singh), by Bhai Dunna Singh Handuria, was preserved in manuscript form under MS. No. 6045 in the Sikh Reference Library at Amritsar until the Library perished in the army assault of 1984. The

RAHITNAME, plural of rahitndmd (rahit = conduct, stipulated conduct or way of life: name = letters, writings, manuals) is a term used in Punjabi in reference to a genre of writings specifying approved way of life for a Sikh. These writings, enunciating conduct and behaviour in accordance with the principles

ARZ ULALFAZ, lit. breadth or scope (arz) of words (aJfaz) or petition, request or address (arz) in words (alfaz), is a versified composition in Persian by Bhai Nand Lal Goya, a noted poet and devout follower of Guru Gobind Singh. Bhai Nand Lal in between his periods of service at

GURU KIAN SAKHIAN, containing stories from the lives of the Gurus, was written by Bhatt Sarup Singh Kaushish, of Bhadson, in Parganah Thanesar. As recorded by the author, the manuscript was completed in 1847 Bk/AD 1790 at Bhadson itself. The original manuscript was written in Bhattachchhari, a script used by