Life and Work of Guru Arjan : History, Memory, and Biography in the Sikh Tradition/Pashaura Singh. New Delhi, Oxford University Press, 2006, xviii, 318 p., ISBN 0-19-567921-0.

    Contents: Foreword/W.H. McLeod. Preface and acknowledgements. Note on orthography. 1. Reconstructing a religious biography. 2. Situating the Guru in Indian history. 3. Vehicles to the past: the sources. 4. 'Divine presence' in history and memory: the life of Guru Arjan. 5. 'Sacred' city and the 'Divine court': the Darbar Sahib. 6. The Adi Granth: fixing the divine word. 7. Crystallization of a religious tradition: the Sikh Panth. 8. The martyrdom of Guru Arjan. 9. The teachings of Guru Arjan. 10. Narrating the person: images of the Guru. Glossary. Index.

    "A comprehensive study of the life and work of Guru Arjan (1563-1606), the Fifth Guru of the Sikhs, this volume reconstructs his life based on history, memory, tradition, and mythic representation.

    Pashaura Singh focuses on the major influences that shaped Guru Arjan's thought. He discusses the socio-political conditions that moulded the Guru's life, inspiring him to become one of the greatest religious leaders of the world. Presenting a systematic analysis of Guru Arjan's teachings, the author examines the Guru's role as leader of the growing Sikh Panth.

  The book discusses major institutional developments and the formation of the Sikh canon during the Guru's reign. It also explores the circumstances surrounding the Guru's martyrdom and the subsequent impact on the crystallization of the Sikh Panth.

     This volume, lucidly written and with a multidisciplinary focus, will be of keen interest to students and scholars of religion, especially Sikh studies as also historians, sociologists, and a wide general audience." (jacket)

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