The Illustrated History of the Sikhs

Front Cover
Oxford University Press, 2006 - 278 pages
This pictorial edition of A History of the Sikhs has updated and edited the most comprehensive two-volume book on the community. Written in Khushwant Singh's trademark style to be accessible to a general audience, it is based on scholarly archival research of original documents in Persian, Gurmukhi, and English.

It examines the social, religious, and political background that led to the formation of the Sikh faith in the fifteenth century. The transformation of the Sikhs from a pacifist sect to a militant group called the Khalsa led by Guru Gobind Singh is portrayed in detail, as is the relationship of the Sikhs with the Mughals and the Afghans, until the consolidation of Sikh power under Maharaja Ranjit Singh. The continuing Sikh struggle for survival as a separate community marked by the demand for a distinct Sikh state is chronicled, until the events leading up to and following Operation Blue Star when the Indian army entered the Golden Temple. This edition includes an epilogue that analyzes events following the end of terrorism in Punjab and the achievement of the community's aspirations, never more visible than in the elevation of a Sikh to the country's Prime Ministership.

From inside the book

Contents

The Rise and Fall of Banda Bahadur 47 7 Persecution of the Sikhs and
54
captured by Abdali p
68
Jassa Singh Ramgarhia with Jodh Singh and Bir Singh p
69
Copyright

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About the author (2006)

Khushwant Singh was born on February 2, 1915 in the village of Hadali in what is now the Punjab province of Pakistan. He attended St. Stephen's College in Delhi, Government College in Lahore, and King's College London. In 1947, he worked for India's ministry of external affairs and served as press officer in Ottawa and London. From 1980 to 1986, he was a member of the upper house of the Indian parliament. He was an author and journalist. His newspaper column, With Malice Towards One and All, was syndicated all over India. During his lifetime, he wrote more than 100 novels and short-story collections including Train to Pakistan, I Shall Not Hear the Nightingale, Delhi: A Novel, The Company of Women, and The Sunset Club. He also wrote a two-volume History of the Sikhs, an autobiography entitled Truth, Love and a Little Malice, and a book of biographical profiles entitled The Good, the Bad and the Ridiculous. He died on March 20, 2014 at the age of 99.

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