The Source Book On Sikhism

Guru Granth Sahib - The Spiritual Guru of the Sikhs

1539 - Death of Guru Nanak Dev Ji. The first Pothi of hymns handed by Guru Nanak to Guru Angad.

1552 - Death of Guru Angad. The Pothi of hymns (first Pothi plus the hymns of Guru Angad) handed by Guru Angad to Guru Amardas.

1574 - Death of Guru Amardas. The updated Pothi of hymns handed by Guru Amardas to Guru Ramdas.

1601 - Guru Arjan Dev started the compilation of Granth Sahib.

1604 - Completion of Granth Sahib and installation of the Granth at Harimandir. Guru Arjan called the Granth as Pothi

Sahib. The scribe of the Granth was Bhai Gurdas, a maternal uncle to Guru Arjan.

1605 - Emperor Akbar paid homage to the Granth at Batala. He also offered 51 gold mohars as the offering.

1604-1635 - Granth Sahib remained at Amritsar.

1635 - Granth Sahib moved to Kiratpur Sahib by Guru Hargobind.

1661 - Emperor Aurangzeb summoned Guru Har Rai to Delhi to defend some of the hymns of Granth Sahib.

1661 - Guru Har Rai sent his older son Ramrai to Aurangzeb. Ramrai dared to change a hymn of the Granth. Guru Hair Rai disowned Ramrai. Death of Guru Har Rai.

1674 - Original Bir recovered by the Sikhs from Dhirmal, but returned to him

again by the orders of Guru Tegh Bahadur.

1706 - Second version of the Granth compiled by Guru Gobind Singh at Damdama Sahib. The scribe was Bhai Mani Singh.

1706 - Four copies of the Granth made by Baba Deep Singh.

1708 - Granth Sahib was declared as the spiritual Guru of the Sikhs by Guru Gobind Singh, at Nanded.

1762 - Original Bir (second version) taken by Ahmed Shah Abdali to Kabul.

1849 - Original Bir (first version) discovered by the British at the Lahore Court with its golden stand.

1849-1850 - Court case for the possession of the original Bir.

1850 - Court gave its custody to the descendants of Dhirmal.

1850 - A copy of the Granth presented to Queen Victoria by the Sodhis (Dhirmal clan)

1900-1990 - Attack on Guru Granth Sahib by the leaders of Arya Samaj Nirankaris, Radha Soamis and Eurocentric Sikh researchers such as Trump, McLeod, Oberio, Pashaura Singh and Gurindar Mann. Editor

This article is a courtesy of the Sikh Courier, International. Some technical portions of this excellent article have been omitted so as to sustain the interests of the youths and young adults. Editor