GURPRAṆĀLĪ, attributed to Sevā Dās Udāsī, is, like other similar titles in the genre, a calendar of dates pertaining to the lives of the Gurūs. The text, copied from a rare manuscript preserved in the Sikh Reference Library, Amritsar, until it perished in 1984, was included in Gurpraṇālīāṅ, an anthology of gurpraṇālīs first published by the Shiromaṇī Gurdwārā Parbandhak Committee in 1951. Though there is no internal evidence to date the work, the language and style point towards the early nineteenth century as the probable period of its composition. Since the first page of the manuscript was torn, the date of Gurū Nānak's birth and the details of his life are missing. What the text retains is the date of his death -- Assū vadī 10, 1596 Bk/7 September 1539. Then follow the dates of birth and death of the succeeding Gurūs, along with the period for which each held the spiritual office. Also included in the calendar are the names of the children born to the Gurūs and the dates of several important events. Most of the dates from the lives of the Gurūs given here tally with those generally acceptable in the established Sikh tradition. However, the author differs on some counts such as the date of the battle of Chamkaur in which two elder sons of Gurū Gobind Siṅgh fell -- 17 Maghar 1762 Bk/ 16 November 1705 against the established 8 Poh 1762 Bk/ 7 December 1705, and that of the execution of the Gurū's two younger sons at Sirhind -- 2 Poh 1762 Bk/1 December 1705. The work of digging the Amritsar tank was completed on 13 Hāṛ 1634 Bk/10 June 1577 and of brick-laying on 22 Hāṛ 1646 Bk/19 June 1589. After Gurū Gobind Siṅgh the gurūship, according to this Gurpraṇālī, passed on to the Khālsā.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Dharam Siṅgh