HARVARD ORIENTAL SERIES, VOL. 51 :

THE GOINDVAL POTHIS

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  • The Goindval Pothis: The earliest Extant Source of the Sikh Canon.

    by Gurinder Singh Mann

    pp. XIV + 219, [with 18 plates including 16 photos of the mss.]

    ISBN 0-674-35618-7, Price $ 35.00

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  • SUMMARY

    After the recent publication of a reconstitution of the earliest Indian text, the Rgveda, in HOS vol. 50, this volume deals with the earliest available version of the Sikh canon.

    It contains the first critical description and partial edition of the Goindval Pothis, a set of proto-scriptural manuscripts prepared in the 1570s. The manuscripts also contain a number of hymns by non-Sikh saints, some of them not found elsewhere.

    Through a meticulous analysis of the contents of these rare manuscripts, G.M. Singh establishes their place and importance in the history of Sikh canon formation.

    The book will be of great interest to scholars of comparative canon studies and of medieval Indian literature.