E-Books
On this page we have collected a wide range of literature and documents on Bhai Nand Lal. This includes works of pious devotees, descendants of Bhai Nand Lal, academic literature as well as extracts from Sikh ithiaasik literature. They have been divided into three categories - English, Punjabi and Urdu/Farsi literature and placed according to date with the earliest on top.
English
In 1849 Lt. Cunningham finished his book ‘The history of the Sikhs’ wherein he included an English translation of the Tankhahnamâ Bhai Nand Lal. This translation is probably the earliest British translation of one of the works of Bhai Nand Lal to date. We must assume that the document was held in high reverence by the Sikhs of the time since its translation was included in the book.
In the famous “The Sikh religion, its Gurus, Sacred writings and authors” the author Macauliffe devoted a few pages to Bhai Nand Lal wherein he translated some extracts from the famous Zindagînamâ and Diwân-e-Goyâ.
This book was written by Dyal Ram, a direct descendant of Bhai Nand Lal in 1923. In this fascinating book the author provides details of the early life of Bhai Nand Lal that are not available in any other historical material. In this way, the family memories preserved trough oral traditions from father to son serve the purpose of filling the gaps that are left in other 18-19th century Sikh writings on Bhai Nand Lal.
In this scholarly article, the author compares a ghazal from the Diwân-e-Goyâ with the opening ghazal of the 12th century Diwân-e-Hafez composition. Fenech demonstrates how the ghazal of Goya is a poetic javâb (answer) to the queries and frustrations laid out by Hafez and how the Sikh path is presented as a more suitable path for the genuine seekers of enlightenment. The author furthermore shows how a meta-communication and exchange of ideas is taking place between Sikh faith and Sufi Path via the writings of Bhai Nand Lal.
This document provides the text of the tenth chapter of the Ganjnamâ in the original Persian script, Gurmukhi script as well as a Roman transliteration and English translation. It is a through endeavor of the unknown author.
This essay written by an Iranian scholar analyses the content of Guru Gobind Singh’s Zafarnama letter by comparing it to the classical Iranian epic Shahname. By reading the Zafarnama through the lenses of the Shahname he brings out lots of new angles and perspectives. The essay furthermore discusses the lesser known Fatehnama letter while the final part discusses the term ‘Nihang’ and then traces its origin back into the Shahname.
This book is an English translation of some of the Persian works of Bhai Nand Lal, including the Diwân-e-Goyâ, Zindagînamâ, Joti Bigâs (Farsi and Punjabi) and the two Punjabi rehitnamâs. It was the first major English translation of the works of Bhai Nand Lal and served as a great contribution to the commemoration of the works of the poet.
This essay examines the development of Sikh manuscripts of the Guru Granth Sahib from the mid 17th century to the introduction of the printing press by the British. The essay discusses illumination, illustrations and the signatures of the Gurus that are to be found in the early handwritten saroops and proposes ideas for the various stylistic developments that took place over the centuries.
This scholarly article reproduces and analyses the text of the earliest manuscript of the Tankhahnamâ found to date. The manuscript is dated to 1718 and the author discusses the various topics that are brought out in the rehitnamâ, what it tells us of the Sikh socio-political conditions of the time, and what can be extracted of Sikh piety of the time.
This featured essay written by the Sikh Scholar Gurinder Singh Mann, Leicester, examines the court of Guru Gobind Singh and some of the literature produced by the court poets. It provides rare images of manuscripts and contextualizes the arena in which Bhai Nand Lal worked within.
Punjabi
In this Braj document we have collected the various sakhis found in the Sikh history book ‘Mahima Prakash’ from 1775. The sakhis provide the early life of Bhai Nand Lal, the incident of the Quranic verse, the meeting with Guru Gobind Singh, the testing of the Langar halls in Anandpur and the famous Holi celebrations. Interestingly, many of the later writings on Bhai Nand Lal were based on the information provided by the research of Saroop Das Bhalla and as such, the Mahima Prakash becomes the most important source on the life and status of Bhai Nand Lal in the Sikh tradition.
This scholarly book by Ganda Singh was ground breaking when it was first published in 1963 in regards to the study and commemoration of Bhai Nand Lal and his works. Apart from the life story of the poet, the book contains memoirs and oral traditions of his descendants, a table of Bhai Nand Lal’s descendants up till the mid 20th century, a list of handwritten manuscripts the author had located all over Punjab as well as extensive Punjabi translations of the works of Bhai Nand Lal.
Please be aware that this particular e-book is more than 80MB.
This book is an extensive steek (commentary) of the Ghazals found in the Diwân-e-Goyâ, including the short compositions in the Rubayat and baint meters found towards the end of the Diwân. The book concludes with a short commentary on the Ganjnamâh’s tenth chapter on Guru Gobind Singh.
This ground breaking book by the esteemed author Piara Singh Padam examines the writings of the 52 poets. The book provides interesting information on each of the poets and samples of their writings that are scattered all over the archives and libraries of Punjab.
This short booklet is a Punjabi commentary of the Persian Ganjnamâ that praises the ten Gurus through spiritual and royal terminology.
Urdu/Farsi
This book written in Urdu is one of the rare publications that contain the original Persian script of the Diwân-e-Goya, Zindagînamâ, Joti Bigâs, Ganjnamâ and Tausif-o-Sanâ.