The Sikh Zafar-namah of Guru Gobind Singh: A Discursive Blade in the Heart of the Mughal Empire - Softcover

Fenech, Louis E.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0199931453 ISBN 13: 9780199931453

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2013

Synopsis

Louis E. Fenech offers a compelling new examination of one of the only Persian compositions attributed to the tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708): the Zafar-namah or 'Epistle of Victory.' Written as a masnavi, a Persian poem, this letter was originally sent to the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb (d. 1707) rebuking his most unbecoming conduct. Incredibly, Guru Gobind Singh's letter is included today within the Sikh canon, one of only a very small handful of Persian-language texts granted the status of Sikh scripture. As such, its contents are sung on special Sikh occasions. Perhaps equally surprising is the fact that the letter appears in the tenth Guru's book or the Dasam Granth in the standard Gurmukhi script (in which Punjabi is written) but retains its original Persian language, a vernacular few Sikhs know.

Drawing out the letter's direct and subtle references to the Iranian national epic, the Shah-namah, and to Shaikh Sa'di's thirteenth-century Bustan, Fenech demonstrates how this letter served as a form of Indo-Islamic verbal warfare, ensuring the tenth Guru's moral and symbolic victory over the legendary and powerful Mughal empire. Through analysis of the Zafar-namah, Fenech resurrects an essential and intriguing component of the Sikh tradition: its Islamicate aspect.

About this title

About the Author:

Louis E. Fenech is Professor of South and Sikh History at the University of Northern Iowa.

Review:

"Looking through the lens of the Islamicate context of Persian sources, Louis Fenech offers a novel reading of the Zafar-namah, demonstrates its immediate impact on the conscience of Emperor Aurangzeb, and skillfully illuminates its ongoing relevance in Sikh imagination. This is a highly commendable study that opens up new horizons of understanding."--Pashaura Singh, Professor and Dr. Jasbir Singh Saini Endowed Chair in Sikh and Punjabi Studies, University of California, Riverside

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0199931453
• ISBN 13: 9780199931453
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 336