Treatises on Indic religions
[Preliminary Entry] Janam-sākhī is an abridged translation of the life of Gurū Nānak, the founder of Sikhism. It was translated from the original work in Panjabi in 1806 at the request of Sir John Malcolm and is divided into 87 chapters (bayān), corresponding to the section termed sākhī in the original text. Janam-sākhī is styled in the form of a dialogue in which Gurū Aṅgad, the successor of Nānak, poses questions and Bālā Sandhā Jāt, one of Nānak’s companions, propounds the answers. On his arrival at Calcutta, the translator of Janam-sākhī, Ḫwāja 'Abd al-Ḥakīm Ḫān, was hired by Sir John Malcolm and instructed by him to render into Persian a Panjabi book on the birth and wanderings of Gurū Nānak entitled Pothī Janam-sākhī with the assistance of a Nānakpanthī darvīš called Agī Rām. Janam-sākhī is the translation of that Panjabi book by Ḫwāja 'Abd al-Ḥakīm.
S. Kh.
v) Information on colophon; vi) Description of miniatures/illustrations; vii) Other remarks; viii) Information on catalogue(s)
London, British Library, British Museum, Add. 24414, 1-125 ff.
, ii)19th century A.D.
, iv) Sir John Malcolm, vii)English translations of some passages of the manuscript are written in the margins.
The translator translated Janam-sākhī with the assistance of Agī Rām, a Nānakpanthī darvīš.
For the numerous editions of the Panjabi original see the catalogues of Panjabi books in British Museum and the India Office library.
, viii)Rieu 1879, pp. 293a-293b
.Marshall, D. N., 1967, Mughals in India A Bibliographical Survey, Bombay, Asia Publishing House, vol. 1, p. 5.
Munzavī, Ahmad, 1382 š./2003, Fihristwāra-yi Kitābhā-yi Fārsī, Tehran, Anjuman-i Āṯār wa Mafāḫir-i Farhangī, vol. 6. p. 4640.
Rieu, Charles, 1883, Catalogue of the Persian Manuscripts in the British Museum, London, Gilbert and Rivington, vol. 1, pp. 293a-293b.
Storey, C. A., 1989, Persian literature: A Bio-Bibliographical Survey, I, 1, London, Royal Asiatic Society, pp. 663-664.
| Main Persian Title: | Janam-sākhī |
| English Translation of Main Persian Title: | Birth story of Gūrū Nānak |
| Year / Period of Composition: | 1806 |
| Incipit: | بعد حمد فراوان و ثنای بی پایان مر ایزدیزا-الخ |
| Commissioner: | Sir John Malcolm |