Sri Dasam Granth

The primary anthology of the Sikh religion is the Adi Granth, or Guru Granth Sahib since its installation as Guru in 1708. Its final compilation, on the Leo new moon 1704 CE at Damdama Sahib in the Sikh homeland, occurred exactly one hundred years after installation of its original, Adi Granth, at Darbar Sahib, Amritsar, in 1604. Written and scripted in the Gurmukhi language, it is dedicated entirely to the devotion, or Bhakti, of a universal and personal God and therefore contains compositions from Sikh, Muslim and Hindu saints alike, as well as those of the Sikh Gurus and their disciples, in various musical meters and genres.

The secondary anthology of the Sikhs is the Dasam Granth, a specifically Sikh national anthology, defining aspects of their initiation ceremony into the Khalsa, religion, history, culture, identity, literature, warfare and politics, or Shakti. It has therefore often been the subject of internal and external controversy from those who, while might be prepared to accept that Sikhs follow a distinctive religion, are determined to undermine their status as a separate nation. It was compiled and scripted in the same language and by the same scribe as that of the Guru Granth Sahib, by the martyr Bhai Mani Singh, during his tenure as Jathedar of the Akal Takht. They were appointed by Guru Gobind Singh Ji who was the principal, if not sole author, although he maintained a coterie of 52 poets at his court, who composed a vast amount of literature, much of which has been lost to posterity.