Historical Dictionary of Sikhism
Historical Dictionary of Sikhism

Author: Louis E. Fenech

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2014-06-11

Total Pages: 447

ISBN-13: 1442236019

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Sikhism traces its beginnings to Guru Nanak, who was born in 1469 and died in 1538 or 1539. With the life of Guru Nanak the account of the Sikh faith begins, all Sikhs acknowledging him as their founder. Sikhism has long been a little-understood religion and until recently they resided almost exclusively in northwest India. Today the total number of Sikhs is approximately twenty million worldwide. About a million live outside India, constituting a significant minority in the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States. Many of them are highly visible, particularly the men, who wear beards and turbans, and they naturally attract attention in their new countries of domicile. This third edition of Historical Dictionary of Sikhism covers its history through a chronology, an introductory essay, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 1000 cross-referenced entries on key persons, organizations, the principles, precepts and practices of the religion as well as the history, culture and social arrangements. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Sikhism.

The A to Z of Sikhism
The A to Z of Sikhism

Author: W. H. McLeod

Publisher: Scarecrow Press

Published: 2009-07-24

Total Pages: 330

ISBN-13: 0810863448

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Contrary to popular opinion, there is more to Sikhism than the distinctive dress. First of all, there is the emergence of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, and the long line of his successors. There are the precepts, many related to liberation through the divine name or nam. There is a particularly turbulent history in which the Sikhs have fought to affirm their beliefs and resist external domination that continues to this day. There is also, more recently, the dispersion from the Punjab throughout the rest of India and on to Europe and the Americas. With this emigration Sikhism has become considerably less exotic, but hardly better known to outsiders. This reference is an excellent place to learn more about the religion. It provides a chronology of events, a brief introduction that gives a general overview of the religion, and a dictionary with several hundred entries, which present the gurus and other leaders, trace the rather complex history, expound some of the precepts and concepts, describe many of the rites and rituals, and explain the meaning of numerous related expressions. All this, along with a bibliography, provides readers with an informative and accessible guide toward understanding Sikhism.

Approaches to History
Approaches to History

Author: Sabyasachi Bhattacharya

Publisher: Primus Books

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 377

ISBN-13: 9380607172

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

History as a social science is arguably more self-reflective than associated disciplines in that family. Other social scientists seem to see little reason to look beyond the paradigm they are developing in the present times. Historians on the other hand, tend to depend on the cumulative process of the development of their craft and the fund of accumulated knowledge. Yet, while this is acknowledged in the practice of research, Historiography in itself as a subject of study has rarely found its place in the syllabi of Indian universities. Knowledge of Historiography is taken for granted when a scholar plunges into research. In an attempt to address this lacuna, the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) has planned a series of volumes on Historiography comprising articles by subject specialists commissioned by the ICHR. The first volume in the series, Approaches to History: Essays in Indian Historiography brings to the readers the first fruits of that endeavour. While the essays encompass areas of research presently at the frontiers of new research, scholars will also find the bibliographies accompanying the essays of significant appeal.

History of Sikh Gurus Retold: 1606-1708 C.E
History of Sikh Gurus Retold: 1606-1708 C.E

Author: Surjit Singh Gandhi

Publisher: Atlantic Publishers & Dist

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 734

ISBN-13: 9788126908585

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The Impulse Behind The Study In Hand Was The Longing To Find Adequate Answers To Certain Vital Questions What Exactly Does Sikhism Stand For? Why Was It Originated And Developed By Guru Nanak And His Nine Successors? How Did It Strike Roots Among People? What Institutions And Structures The Gurus Evolved To Highlight And Escalate It? What Type Of Praxis Of Man And Society Gurus Visualized? How Was It Different From Contemporary Religious Systems Islam, Hinduism, Sahajyana, Buddhism, Nathism, Bhakti System Etc.? Was It A Synthesis Of Different Traits Of Different Religions? Was It A Syncretism Of Hindu And Muslim Cultures Or Was It An Independent System? Did Sikhism Purport To Design To Raise Itself On Premises Different From The Ones Which Formed The Foundations Of Hindu Or Other Societies? Was It Merely Reformist Movement Aiming At Certain Targets Within Time And Space Or A Distinct Spirito-Social Process To Urge The People To March Towards Integrated Development Both At Micro And Macro Levels? What Was The True Nature Of Supreme Reality As Conceived By The Gurus? How Is This Related With The Universe Including Man And How Does It Permeate, Pervade And Operate The Whole Universe? What Type Of Society Conforms To God S Will And How Was Its Consummation Possible? Which Models Of Polity And Social Edifice Were Recommended By The Gurus? Is Sikhism A Life-Affirming Dispensation Or Life-Negating Philosophy? Why Was Structural Bonding Of Religion And Politics Effected And Institutionalised? What Is The Place Of Sikhism In The Comity Of Religions And How It Is Relevant To Challenges Of The Present-Day World? Such Questions And A Lot More Being Vital And Crucial For The Understanding Of The Role Of Gurus And Their Dispensation, Have Been Fully Taken Cognizance Of In The Present Study.

Religious Celebrations [2 volumes]
Religious Celebrations [2 volumes]

Author: Bloomsbury Publishing

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2011-09-13

Total Pages: 1077

ISBN-13: 1598842064

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This two-volume work presents a comprehensive survey of all the ways people celebrate religious life around the globe. Religious Celebrations is an alphabetically organized encyclopedia that covers more than 800 celebratory occasions from all of the world's major religious communities as well as many of the minor faith traditions. The encyclopedia provides a complete reference tool for examining the myriad ways people worldwide celebrate their religious lives across religious boundaries, providing information on numerous celebratory activities never before covered in a reference work. Offering the most comprehensive coverage of religious holidays ever assembled, this two-volume book covers festivals, commemorations, holidays, and annual religious gatherings all over the world, with special attention paid to the celebrations in larger countries. Entries written by distinguished researchers and specialists on different religious communities capture the unique intensity of each event, be it fasting or feasting, frenzied activity or the universal cessation of work, a huge gathering of the faithful en masse or a small family-centered event. The work spotlights celebrations that currently exist without overlooking now-abandoned celebrations that still impact the modern world.