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The Janamsakhis (, IAST: , ), are popular hagiographies of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism. Considered by scholars as semi-legendary biographies, they were based on a Sikh oral tradition of historical fact, homily, and legend, with the first janamsakhi were composed between 50 and 80 years after his death. Guru Nanak, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Brian Duignan (2017) Many more were written in the 17th and 18th century. The largest Guru Nanak Prakash, with about 9,700 verses, was written in the early 19th century by Kavi Santokh Singh.
The four janamsakhi traditions that have survived into the modern era include the Bala, Miharban, Adi and Puratan versions. While each tradition offering their own perspectives, interpretations, and points of emphasis on the stories they report, they generally present Guru Nanak's life in three parts: the first part covering his childhood and early adulthood, the second part as an itinerant missionary after receiving the call from Akal Purakh ("Timeless Being," God), and the last part presents him as settled in Kartarpur, founding his community of believers.
Over 40 significant manuscript editions of the janamsakhis are known, all composed between the 17th and early-19th centuries, with most of these in the Puratan and Bala collections. The expanded version containing the hagiographies of all ten Sikh Gurus is the popular Suraj Prakash by Santokh Singh. This poetic janamsakhi is recited on festive occasions in Sikh Gurdwaras, Sikh ceremonies and festivals.
The dominant motif of the janamsakhi is not chronological or geographical accuracy, as history was not their concern, but the depiction of various themes of "the divine dispensation of Nanak, his concern for kindness, social cohesiveness, and his stress on divine unity and the consequent unity of humanity," revealing the beliefs, attitudes, and needs valued by the Sikh community of the age. Incorporating verses from Guru Nanak's works to illuminate his theological and ethical teachings in a biographical framework and in the idiom and style of myth and allegory, their quick, vigorous style would lend them to a popular oral tradition of moral instruction. Along with Indic mythologizing traditions of itihasa, which incorporated mythology, history, philosophy, and geography, the Janamsakhi tradition was also contemporary with the Sufi allegorical traditions about Muhammad ( mu'jizat) and Muslim saints ( karamat), during influence in the period of Islamic domination. In this milieu where spiritual figures were understood and remembered, the janamsakhis commemorated and expounded upon the teachings of Guru Nanak.
The janamsakhi may have been the early didactic texts in the Sikh tradition, including a teaching, a moral instruction along with an associated hymn found in the Sikh scripture, serving as pedagogical texts, sustaining Guru Nanak's message through time for the community that valued it. In order to convey Guru Nanak's teachings, the janamsakhis make extensive use of allegory, often with mythic elements to imbue meaning. Though the birth narrative of Nanak shares similarities with that of Christ, Buddha, and Krishna, he is depicted as having a normal birth, with a Muslim midwife, Daultan, beside Guru Nanak's mother Mata Tripta, implying interfaith harmony. Typically dangerous natural phenomena either protect Nanak or are mastered by him, as a cobra shades child Nanak as he sleeps, or a rolling boulder being stopped by his hand. In a parable placed in Mecca, during Guru Nanak's travels he fell with his feet towards the Kaaba, to which a Qadi objected, but when he tried to rotate his feet away from it, the Kaaba reorients in the direction of Guru Nanak's feet, attesting to the omnipresence of God and the internality of faith as opposed to the external. A parable also relays Guru Nanak's body vanishing after his death and left behind fragrant flowers, which Hindus and Muslims then divided, one to cremate and other to bury.Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh (1992), The Myth of the Founder: The Janamsākhīs and Sikh Tradition, History of Religions, Vol. 31, No. 4, Sikh Studies, pages 329-343
The term Puratan janamsakhis means ancient janamsakhis and is generally used with reference to the composite work which was compiled by Bhai Vir Singh and first published in 1926. Of the still existing copies of the Puratan janamsakhis the two most important were the Colebrooke and Hafizabad versions. The first of these was discovered in 1872, the manuscript had been donated to the library of the east India company by H.T. Colebrooke and is accordingly known as the Colebrooke or Vailaitwali janamsakhi. Although there is no date on it the manuscript points to around 1635.
In the year 1883 a copy of a janamsakhi was dispatched by the India Office Library in London for the use of Dr. Trumpp and the Sikh scholars assisting him. (It had been given to the library by an Englishman called Colebrook; it came to be known as the Vilayat Vali or the foreign janamsakhi.) This janamsakhi was the basis of the accounts written by Trumpp, Macauliffe, and most Sikh scholars. Gurmukh Singh of the Oriental College, Lahore, found another janamsakhi at Hafizabad which was very similar to that found by Colebrook. Gurmukh Singh who was collaborating with Mr. Macauliffe in his research on Sikh religion, made it available to the Englishman, who had it published in November 1885.
According to the Puratan janamsakhi, Guru Nanak Dev Ji was born in the month of Vaisakh, 1469. The date is given as the third day of the light half of the month and the birth is said to have taken place during the last watch before dawn. His father Kalu was a khatri of the Bedi sub-cast and lived in a village Rai Bhoi di Talwandi; his mother's name is not given. When Guru Ji turned seven he was taken to a pundit to learn how to read. After only one day he gave up reading and when the pundit asked him why Guru Ji lapsed into silence and instructed him at length on the vanity of worldly learning and the contrasting value of the Divine Name of God. The child began to show disturbing signs of withdrawal from the world. He was sent to learn Persian at the age of nine but returned home and continued to sit in silence. Locals advised his father that Nanak should be married. This advice was taken and at the age of twelve a betrothal was arranged at the house of Mula of the Chona sub-caste. Sometime later Nanak moved to Sultanpur Lodhi where his sister Nanaki was married. Here he took up employment with Daulat Khan. One day Nanak went to the river and while bathing messengers of God came and he was transported to the divine court. There he was given a cup of nectar (amrita) and with it came the command Nanak, this is the cup of My Name (Naam). Drink it. This he did and was charged to go into the world and preach the divine Name.
There are reasons to doubt this contention as Guru Angad, who is said to have commissioned the work and was also a close companion of the Guru in his later years, was, according to Bala's own admission, ignorant of the existence of Bala.
The oldest accepted manuscript of the Bala janamsakhi was written by Gorakh Das in 1658, but the actual date is believed to be earlier.
It is generally believed this janamsakhi were written by Hindals as in a number of stories Guru Nanak praises Baba Hindal. Some are of the belief that this is a contemporary work and was later edited by the Hindals. One of the people who subscribed to this belief was Santhok Singh the author of the famed Suraj Prakash. Santhok Singh wrote Nanak Parkash based on the Bala janamsakhi with the goal of removing parts he believed were edited and added by the Hindals.
Dr. Trilochan Singh counters some of the points raised against the Bala janamsakhi by stating that Mehma Parkash and Mani Singh's janamsakhi both mention Bhai Bala. Bala is further mentioned in Suchak Prasang Guru Ka by Bhai Behlo written during Guru Arjan time. Bhai Behlo says, “Bala discarded his body there, At the holy city of Khadur Sahib, Angad, the master, performed the rites, Graciously with his own two hands.” He also raises the point that Bhai Bala’s family is still living in Nankana Sahib and that Bala’s samadhi exists in Khadur Sahib. Singh claims the janamsakhi was written by Bhai Bala and is mostly authentic but was edited and changed by anti-Sikh sects.
In the first journey or udasi, Guru Nanak left Sultanpur Lodhi towards East India and included, in the following sequence: Hakimpura →Lahore → Goindval → Fatehbad → Ram Tirath → Jahman → Chahal → Ghavindi → Khalra → Kanganwal → Manak Deke → Alpa → Lahore District → Eminabad → Sialkot → Sahowala → Ugoke → Pasrur → Deoka → Mitha Kotla → Changa Manga → Chunian → Hissar → Rohtak → Sirsa → Pehowa → Thanesar → Kurukshetra → Karnal → Panipat (Sheikh Sharaf) → Delhi (Sultan Ibrahim Lodi) → Haridwar → Prayagraj → Varanasi → Nanakmatta → Kauru, Kamrup region in Assam (Nur Shah) → Nagapattinam Port → Sri Lanka → Patna → Chittagong →Dibrugarh → Talwandi Sabo (twelve years after leaving Sultanpur) → Pakpattan (Sheikh Ibrahim) → Goindval → Lahore → Kartarpur.
The second udasi was to the south of India with companion Bhai Mardana: Delhi → Ayodhya → Jagannath Puri → Rameswaram → Sri Lanka → Vindhya Range → Narmada River → Ujjain → Saurashtra → Mathura
The third udasi was to the north: Kashmir → Mount Meru → Batala
The fourth udasi was to the west: Afghanistan → Iran → Baghdad → Mecca
The Miharban exegesis reflected strong Khatri affiliation, as opposed to the rising Jat Sikh influence in the community at the time, leading to McLeod's assertion that the collection dated to later than its given date of 1828 CE, possibly in the late 19th century.
The first three sakhis recount the greatness of Raja Janak and describes an interview with God wherein Raja Janak is instructed that he is to return to the world once again to propagate His Name. Details of Guru Nanak's birth are given in the fourth sakhi and his father was Kalu, a Bedi and his mother Mata Tripta. The account of Guru Nanak learning to read from the pundit is also recounted here. After the interlude at Sultanpur Guru Nanak set out to Mount Sumeru. Climbing the mountain, the Guru found all nine Siddhas seated there – Gorakhnath, Matsyendranatha, Isarnath, Charapatnath, Barangnath, Ghoracholi, Balgundai, Bharathari, and Gopichand. Gorakhnath asked the identity of the visitor and his disciple replied, "This is Nanak Bedi, a pir and a bhagat who is a householder." What follows is a lengthy discourse with the siddhas which ends with the siddhas asking what is happening in the evil age of Kali Yuga. The Guru responds with three slogans:
Attempts to change birth places, birth and death dates, and the level of spiritual prominence of the orthodox Gurus by rival claimants of Sikh guruship have been considered to be a source of divergence from the normative tradition. Such attempts, such as modification of the historically highly regarded janamsakhis written by Paida Mokha detailing Nanak's travels, by rival family members of Guru Arjan, who would start the Mina sect and the Miharban collection, would eventually prompt authoritative written traditions in response. The sectarian intent of the Miharban and Bala janamsakhis have been questioned by Sikh scholars, namely that in the case of the Hindalis, Hindal and Kabir are promoted at the expense of Nanak, who was depicted as having prophesied Hindal's arrival.
There are some doubts about the authenticity and author of this janamsakhi. Older manuscript of the Mani Singh janamsakhi have different dates for the death and birth of Guru Nanak compared to popular renditions. The language from this janamsakhi compared to Mani Singh’s Sikhian di Bhagat Mal is noticeably different. No eighteenth century manuscript of this text exists. All of this has led some to doubt whether Mani Singh was the author and the reliability of this janamsakhi.
The work is an expansion of the first Vaar of Varan Bhai Gurdas. It shows influence from the Bhai Bala tradition. This janamsakhi tradition makes no mention of Bhai Bala amongst the list of Guru Nanak's close companions and associates.
On the basis of W. H. McLeod's critical methodology which included:
McLeod placed each narrative into five categories: the established, the probable, the possible, the improbable, and the impossible. Out of 124 sakhis, he classified 37 as "probable" or "established," and 28 as "possible." Specifically looking for details "of importance" of Guru Nanak's life, he filled out just under one typeset page, though most sakhis are themselves brief at three to four pages. He considered the Miharban and earlier manuscripts of the Bala collections, belonging to the schismatic, now-extinct Mina and Hindali sects respectively, to have particularly dubious origins.
His approach "proved to be highly controversial," as it "angered many Sikhs" who saw him as "removing the vibrant life and message of their Guru from these texts," using incompatible Christian heuristic methodologies comparable to the Higher Criticism of the Gospels, through which Trilochan Singh contends that he would have set out to prove that that Guru Nanak himself had never existed, though failing to do so.
Throughout the early seventeenth and eighteenth century Janamsakhis, Nanak is consistently likened and considered tantamount to the Divine itself, though this has been downplayed among recent Sikh scholars.
The earliest illustrated manuscripts are as follows:
The art of illustrated Janamsakhi manuscripts declined following the introduction of the printing press in Punjab during the 1870s.
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