The Making of Sikh Scripture

The Adi Granth or "original book" - the primary scripture of the Sikhs - comprises approximately 3000 hymns. Although the authorship of the hymns is well recorded, the history of the compilation of the Adi Granth - the creation of the Sikh "canon" - is the subject of considerable speculation and debate. This work attempts to construct a comprehensive picture of the making of Sikh scripture, drawing on the recently discovered early manuscripts as well as the extensive secondary literature on the topic. The author's findings on some key issues differ from the traditional Sikh position and from the hypotheses of the other 20th-century scholars, as well as raising other questions. Mann's revised and expanded picture of the history of the text and institution of Sikh scripture should be of interest not only to scholars of Sikhism and Sikh religionists, but to scholars of comparative canon formation.