JOURNAL OF PUNJAB STUDIES Editors Indu Banga Panjab University, Chandigarh, INDIA Mark Juergensmeyer University of California, Santa Barbara, USA Gurinder Singh Mann University of California, Santa Barbara, USA Ian Talbot Southampton University, UK Shinder Singh Thandi Coventry University, UK Book Review Editor Eleanor Nesbitt University of Warwick, UK Ami P. Shah University of California, Santa Barbara, USA Editorial Advisors Ishtiaq Ahmed Stockholm University, SWEDEN Tony Ballantyne University of Otago, NEW ZEALAND Parminder Bhachu Clark University, USA Harvinder Singh Bhatti Punjabi University, Patiala, INDIA Anna B. Bigelow North Carolina State University, USA Richard M. Eaton University of Arizona, Tucson, USA Ainslie T. Embree Columbia University, USA Louis E. Fenech University of Northern Iowa, USA Rahuldeep Singh Gill California Lutheran University, Thousand Oaks, USA Sucha Singh Gill Punjabi University, Patiala, INDIA Tejwant Singh Gill Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, INDIA David Gilmartin North Carolina State University, USA William J. Glover University of Michigan, USA J.S. Grewal Institute of Punjab Studies, Chandigarh, INDIA John S. Hawley Barnard College, Columbia University, USA Gurpreet Singh Lehal Punjabi University, Patiala, INDIA Iftikhar Malik Bath Spa University, UK Scott Marcus University of California, Santa Barbara, USA Daniel M. Michon Claremont McKenna College, CA, USA Farina Mir University of Michigan, USA Anne Murphy University of British Columbia, CANADA Kristina Myrvold Lund University, SWEDEN Rana Nayar Panjab University, Chandigarh, INDIA Harjot Oberoi University of British Columbia, CANADA Christopher Shackle SOAS, University of London, UK Joginder Singh Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, INDIA Mohinder Singh National Institute of Pb. Studies, Delhi, INDIA Nirvikar Singh University of California, Santa Cruz, USA Pashaura Singh University of California, Riverside, USA Pritam Singh Oxford Brookes University, UK Darshan Singh Tatla Lyallpur Khalsa College, Jalandhar, INDIA Michael Witzel Harvard University, USA Tan Tai Yong National University of Singapore, SINGAPORE JOURNAL OF PUNJAB STUDIES Special Issue: W.H. McLeod: Assessing his Legacy Volume 17 Numbers 1 & 2 2010 ___________________________________________________________ Gurinder S. Mann Editorial 1 Articles Contents Gurinder S. Mann Guru Nanak’s Life and Legacy: 3 An Appraisal Pashaura Singh Revisiting the “Evolution of the 45 Sikh Community” Louis E. Fenech Martyrdom: W.H. McLeod and 75 his Students Harjot Oberoi Empire, Orientalism, and Native 95 Informants: The Scholarly Endeavours of Sir Attar Singh Bhadour J.S. Grewal W.H. McLeod and Sikh Studies 115 Book Reviews Introduction 145 Reviews Reviews 147 Recent Theses Abstracts 165 In Remembrance Norman Gerald Barrier by Indu Banga 181 Garib Das Vartia by Gibb Schriffler Ajeet Sing Matharu by Naindeep S. Chann Editorial 1 Editorial W. H. McLeod (1932-2009) played a singularly important role in introducing the Sikh tradition to the Western world. He emerged on the scholarly scene in the mid-1960s and remained a dominant presence during the subsequent four decades. Responses to his research ranged from unequivocal admiration to downright denunciation, but there cannot be any disagreement that his work remained at the center of scholarly output of his generation. Soon after Professor McLeod’s death, I discussed the possibility of reviewing his contribution to Sikh studies with Professor J.S. Grewal whom McLeod had called “my elder brother, who knows more.” The idea was to bring to focus McLeod’s considerable scholarly production and, in the process, assess the strides made by his generation. Professor Grewal graciously agreed and I am grateful to him for his essay that appears here. Later, it occurred to me that given Professor McLeod’s close association with the Journal of Punjab Studies since its inception in 1994, we should dedicate a special issue to commemorate his first death anniversary. I have always been very grateful to the honor that McLeod bestowed upon Harjot Oberoi, Pashaura Singh, Louis E. Fenech, and myself by calling upon the four of us “to keep the flag [of Sikh studies] flying” in the dedication to his Sikhism (1997). This special issue seemed like an opportunity for each of us to write about how we have executed the responsibility he assigned in our research, teaching, and outreach activity while simultaneously providing an assessment of the state of the field. My three colleagues readily agreed to share in this project, though we left it open to handle this brief in the particular way each one of us deemed fit. I am grateful that they took time from their busy schedules to write the essays that appear here. This issue is divided into two sections. The first comprises five essays. Gurinder Singh Mann’s essay begins by examining McLeod’s interpretation of Guru Nanak’s life and teachings and proceeds to include his suggestions for expanding our understanding of the demographic origins of the early Sikh community. Pashaura Singh’s essay highlights the strengths and weaknesses of McLeod’s understanding of the early Sikh community, and how the recent developments in scholarship can contribute toward our understanding of the Guru period. Louis E. Fenech addresses the theme of martyrdom in the Sikh tradition and brings to focus the differences between both McLeod and his students and amongst the students themselves. Harjot Oberoi takes us to the late nineteenth century, and presents a case study of Attar Singh Bhadaur, a Sikh savant who provided information to European scholars 2 JPS 17:1&2 interested in the Sikh community. In the closing essay, J.S.Grewal presents a comprehensive assessment of McLeod’s scholarly output. In the second section, there are reviews of five books, the abstracts of five doctoral dissertations, all written within the past several years, as well as information regarding a new Punjabi language manual to be published in early 2011. This provides a window into the activity of new scholars working in the field. All of these studies have either a direct or indirect association with the program at UC Santa Barbara, and we view this work as the effort of a new generation of scholars to keep “the flag flying.” This year we also mourn the loss of Norman Gerald Barrier (1940- 2010), a senior voice in Sikh studies, Garib Dass Vartia (1939-2010), a dholi and a cultural icon of the past generation, and Ajeet Singh Matharu (1983-2010), a doctoral student at Columbia University and a budding scholar in the field. Their obituaries share with our readers their accomplishments and dreams. I hope that an assessment of the work of the W.H. McLeod, a leader in the field, presented in this issue will provide a timely and necessary impetus for a new phase in Sikh studies. Learning from the agony of the past decades, we look forward to an era in which debates are constructive and creative rather than a distracting side show of attacks and allegations. The Journal of Punjab Studies would welcome meticulous critiques of the essays included in this issue. This may be the best way to honor the memory of Professor McLeod! Gurinder Singh Mann UC Santa Barbara Fall 2010 G.S. Mann: Guru Nanak’s Life and Legacy 3 Guru Nanak’s Life and Legacy: An Appraisal Gurinder Singh Mann University of California, Santa Barbara _____________________________________________________ Taking W.H. McLeod’s Guru Nanak and the Sikh Religion as a point of departure, this essay examines the previous generation’s understanding of Guru Nanak’s life and mission and expands upon it in light of empirical evidence culled from early contemporary sources. By questioning McLeod’s arguments regarding the paucity of general historical information about Guru Nanak’s life and his close participation in the Sant community of poets such as Kabir and Ravidas, this essay argues that the Guru founded a new community replete with a distinct set of beliefs and institutional structures. While scholars have tended to focus on the upper caste Hindu background of Guru Nanak, very little attention has been directed towards articulating the social demographics of this new community, which were overwhelmingly drawn from nomadic and low-caste Hindu society. _____________________________________________________ Guru Nanak (1469–1539), the founder of the Sikh community, is a subject of perennial interest for the Sikhs and their scholars, and a quick look at any bibliography on the subject would reflect the range and the depth of writings available on various aspects of his life and teachings. Given his relatively recent dates, there is a wide variety of sources available about his life and mission (Jagat nistaran).1 These comprise texts, including his poetic compositions and the writings of his immediate successors and early followers; sites such as Talwandi, the place of his birth, and Kartarpur (The Town of the Creator), the center he established; and two known artifacts associated with his life.2 These sources provide primary information for a scholarly reconstruction of the Guru’s life. Among the studies that have shaped the discussion on this issue in recent scholarship, Guru Nanak and the Sikh Religion (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1968) by W. H. McLeod (1932–2009) would be the first to come to mind. Since its publication, this book has served as a key source of information on the Guru and the founding of the Sikh tradition in the English language.3 Its conclusions pertaining to the details of the Guru’s life, the import of his teachings, and the nature of his legacy in the rise of the Sikh community have remained dominant in scholarship on Guru Nanak and early Sikh history created during the last quarter of the twentieth century.4 4 JPS 17:1&2 With the post-partition generation’s work in Sikh studies reaching a close, it seems reasonable to begin reflecting on the field’s future expansion.5 Beginning this process with a discussion on Guru Nanak and the origins of the Sikh community is logical, and making Guru Nanak and the Sikh Religion the point of departure seems pragmatic.