Author Description

1. The Historical Setting: The Panjab 1500-1800 -- 2. The Janam-sakhis: A Definition And Summary Description -- 3. The Principal Janam-sakhis -- The Bala Janam-sakhis -- The Puratan Janam-sakhis -- The Adi Sakhis -- The Miharban Tradition -- Gyan-ratanavali -- The Mahima Prakas Tradition -- Individual Janam-sakhis -- Miscellaneous Works Closely Related To The Janam-sakhis -- 4. The Language Of The Janam-sakhis -- 5. The Origins And Growth Of The Janam-sakhi Traditions -- 6. Constituents Of The Janam-sakhis -- Episodes From The Life Of Nanak -- Received Tradition -- The Epics And The Puranas -- Nath Tradition -- Sufi Tradition -- The Works Of Guru Nanak -- Ascetic Ideas -- 7. Janam-sakhi Forms -- Narrative Anecdotes -- Moralistic Anecdotes -chimeric Fairy-tales -- Devotional Legends -- Aetiological Legends -- Narrative Discourses -- Didactic Discourses -- Heterodox Discourses -- Codes Of Discipline -- 8. The Assembling And Transmission Of The Janam-sakhi Traditions -- 9. The Evolution Of Sakhis -- Baba Nanak's Visit To Multan -- Mula The Khatri -- Sajjan/bhola The Robber -- The Rich Man's Pennants -- Baba Nanak Returns To Talvandi -- Baba Nanak's Discourse With Sheikh Braham -- Baba Nanak's Visit To Mecca -- Discourses With Naths -- Raja Sivanabh -- Guru Angad -- Mardana And Bala -- 10. Sources Used By The Janam-sakhi Compilers -- Narrative I -- Narrative Ii -- Others Sources Of The Adi Sakhis -- Other Sources Of The B40 Janam-sakhi -- A Summary Of The B40 Sources -- A Summary Of The Janam-sakhi Sources -- 11. Purpose, Function, Value -- 12. The Purpose Of Janam-sakhis -- 13. The Function Of Janam-sakhis -- 14. The Janam-sakhis As Historical Sources -- The Janam-sakhis As Sources For The Life Of Guru Nanak -- The Janam-sakhi Image Of Baba Nanak -- The Sikh Community In The Seventeenth And Early Eighteenth Centuries -- The Janam-sakhis As Sources For The Wider History Of The Panjab -- 15. The Janam-sakhis In Panjabi Literature. By W. H. Mcleod. Includes Indexes. Bibli