GURPRAṆĀLĪ, by Kesar Siṅgh Chhibbar, is a genealogical account of the ten Gurūs. Written in simple Punjabi prose, this Gurpraṇālī is different from other works in this genre in that it gives dates of most of the events recorded. The author and his predecessors had close relations with the Gurūs, his grandfather was in charge of the treasury of Gurū Gobind Siṅgh, and his great-grandfather, Dargāh Mal, had been dīwān to Gurū Tegh Bahādur. He must have been a small boy at the time. of Gurū Gobind Siṅgh's departure from Anandpur in 1705. Kesar Siṅgh seems to have had easy access to the records maintained in the Gurū's household.

         Kesar Siṅgh's Gurpraṇālī records many dates, but gives few biographical details. For his dates, the author made use of a scroll in the Gurū's records. The author traces the genealogy of each of the Gurūs. For example, it is recorded that Gurū Nānak's father Kaliāṅ Chand was the grandson of Rām Narāyan Bedī and son of Sivrām. The author states that Gurū Nānak was born on Kārtik 18, Pūranmāshī, 1526 Bk. Gurū Nānak was married to Sulakkhnī, daughter of Mūlā Choṇā of village of Pakho ke Randhāve on 24 Jeth 1544 Bk (AD 1487) . He had two sons: the elder one, Srī Chand was born on 5 Sāvan 1551 Bk (AD 1494) and Lakhmī Dās, the younger one, was born on Phāgun 19, 1553 Bk (AD 1497) . Gurū Nānak died on Assū vadī 10, 1596 Bk (AD 1539) at the age of 70 years, 5 months and 7 days. Similarly, all important dates in the lives of succeeding Gurūs are duly recorded. The martyrdom of Gurū Arjan took place on Jeṭh sūdī 4, 1663 of Bk (AD 1606), of Gurū Tegh Bahādur on Maghar sūdī 5, 1732 Bk (AD 1675). However, these dates have to be used with great caution.

         This Gurpraṇālī has since been published as part of Gurpraṇālīāṅ (Shiromaṇī Gurdwārā Parbandhak Committee, Amritsar).

Bhagat Siṅgh