I discuss the issue of dating the birth of Guru Nanak and the day of Vaisakhi. A translation of a letter between Giani Gian Singh and Karam Singh ‘Historian’ is included.
This paper reproduces an exchange between two well-known Sikh academics, Giani Gian Singh and Karam Singh, in which the former draws a false equivalence of authenticity between the janamsakhis and hadith literature:
"If any rationalist non-Sikh tries to prove the Jānāmsākhī stories as baseless gossip tales then they must also analyse the Hindu Purānas, Islamic Hadiths..."
Of course, anyone who knows anything about the two subjects will know that while the entire hadith corpus is based on isnad (chain of transmission), the janamsakhis have nothing that comes remotely close. It would be an insult to historical analysis to claim that questioning one could undermine the other. Such a claim can only stem from ignorance of the science of hadith literature.
Vaisakhi and the debate about the nativity of Guru Nanak
This paper reproduces an exchange between two well-known Sikh academics, Giani Gian Singh and Karam Singh, in which the former draws a false equivalence of authenticity between the janamsakhis and hadith literature:
"If any rationalist non-Sikh tries to prove the Jānāmsākhī stories as baseless gossip tales then they must also analyse the Hindu Purānas, Islamic Hadiths..."
Of course, anyone who knows anything about the two subjects will know that while the entire hadith corpus is based on isnad (chain of transmission), the janamsakhis have nothing that comes remotely close. It would be an insult to historical analysis to claim that questioning one could undermine the other. Such a claim can only stem from ignorance of the science of hadith literature.