E-Book Overview
This expanded and updated second edition of the dictionary is an excellent place to learn more about Sikhism. It provides a chronology of events, a brief introduction that gives a general overview of the religion, and a dictionary with several hundred entries, which present the gurus and other leaders, trace the rather complex history, expound some of the precepts and concepts, describe many of the rites and rituals, and explain the meaning of numerous related expressions. All this, along with a copious bibliography, provides readers with an informative and accessible guide toward understanding Sikhism.
E-Book Content
RELIGION • SIKHISM Historical Dictionaries of Religions, Philosophies, and Movements, No. 59
There is more to Sikhism than the distinctive dress of its adherents: the emergence of Guru Nanak, the founder, and his long line of successors; the precepts, many related to liberation through the divine name or nam; a particularly turbulent history in which the Sikhs have fought to affirm their beliefs and resist external domination; and, more recently, the dispersion of Sikhs from the Punjab throughout the rest of India and on to Europe and the Americas. With this emigration, Sikhism has become considerably less exotic but hardly better known to outsiders. The Historical Dictionary of Sikhism provides a brief introduction, a chronology, and a dictionary containing several hundred entries that present the Gurus and other leaders, trace Sikhism’s complex history, expound some of its precepts and concepts, describe many of its rites and rituals, and explain the meaning of numerous Sikh expressions.
HISTORICAL DICTIONARY OF
“Hew McLeod is the leading scholar of Sikhism in the western world, and this dictionary provides an authoritative reference work for those interested in the history and development of this important religious movement and the Sikh community.” —Asian Studies Review
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HISTORICAL DICTIONARY OF
SECOND EDITION
W. H. McLeod began studying Sikhism in the 1960s in the Punjab and has since produced numerous articles and several books on the topic. Dr. McLeod has also served as professor of history at the University of Otago (Dunedin, New Zealand) and visiting professor of Sikh studies at the University of Toronto. Few have done more to make this religion accessible to outsiders, as well as many Sikhs.
SECOND EDITION For orders and information please contact the publisher Scarecrow Press, Inc. A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200 • Lanham, Maryland 20706 1-800-462-6420 • fax 717-794-3803 www.scarecrowpress.com
Cover photo by Stephen Huyler, courtesy of the Huntington Archive, Ohio State University. Cover design by Jason Enterline
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HISTORICAL DICTIONARIES OF RELIGIONS, PHILOSOPHIES, AND MOVEMENTS Jon Woronoff, Series Editor 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25.
Buddhism, by Charles S. Prebish, 1993 Mormonism, by Davis Bitton, 1994. Out of print. See No. 32. Ecumenical Christianity, by Ans Joachim van der Bent, 1994 Terrorism, by Sean Anderson and Stephen Sloan, 1995. Out of print. See No. 41. Sikhism, by W. H. McLeod, 1995. Out of print. See No. 59. Feminism, by Janet K. Boles and Diane Long Hoeveler, 1995. Out of print. See No. 52. Olympic Movement, by Ian Buchanan and Bill Mallon, 1995. Out of print. See No. 39. Methodism, by Charles Yrigoyen Jr. and Susan E. Warrick, 1996. Out of Print. See No. 57. Orthodox Church, by Michael Prokurat, Alexander Golitzin, and Michael D. Peterson, 1996 Organized Labor, by James C. Docherty, 1996. Out of print. See No. 50. Civil Rights Movement, by Ralph E. Luker, 1997 Catholicism, by William J. Collinge, 1997