ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>SAU S&#256KH&#298 (lit. a book of one hundred anecdotes)</TITLE> <style type="text/css"> .BODY { background-color: #EAF1F7; background-image: url('images/gtbh.jpg'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed; background-position: center; color: #0066CC;} .C1{text-align: justify;color: #0066CC;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .BIB{text-align: center;color: #000099;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .CONT{text-align: right;color: #FF0000;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} </style><META http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></HEAD> <BODY class="BODY" oncontextmenu="return false" ondragstart="return false" onselectstart="return false"> <FONT ALIGN="JUSTIFY" FACE="Tahoma"> <p class="C1">&#65279<i>SAU S&#256KH&#298</i> (lit. a book of one hundred anecdotes) is the popular name of <i>Gur Ratan M&#257l</i> (lit. a string of the Gur&#363's gems), a work esoteric and prophetic in nature : also problematic as regards the authenticity of its text. Its writer, one S&#257hib Si&#7749gh, describes himself only as a scribe who wrote to the dictation of Bh&#257&#299 Gurba<u>kh</u>sh Si&#7749gh, better known as Bh&#257&#299 R&#257m Ku&#7749var (1672-1761) and a knowledgeable and honoured member of the retinue of Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh (1666-1708). The book is meant to be a narrative pertaining to the life of Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh, supposedly based on the personal knowledge of Bh&#257&#299 R&#257m Ku&#7749var, although later interpolations and corruption of the text are clearly decipherable. The extant manuscripts of the work have textual variations. Not all of them have the number of anecdotes matching its popular title. Allegedly written in 1724 or 1734 (the two dates found in the text), <i>Sau S&#257kh&#299</i> remained unknown until it was discovered in 1815 in a Br&#257hma&#7751 family of Th&#257nesar, who presented the manuscript to Sard&#257r Amar Si&#7749gh Si&#7749ghpur&#299&#257. The latter got copies prepared by a scribe, Natth&#257 Si&#7749gh of B&#363&#7771&#299&#257. The book contained several allusions, in the form of prophetic utterances of Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh to contemporary personages such as Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh, R&#257&#7751&#299 Sad&#257 Kaur, and Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh's Muslim wife, Mor&#257&#7749. It became a much-sought-after work, though only rarely obtainable. Further changes and interpolations, evidently made after the annexation of the Punjab to British dominions, prophesied the re-establishment of Sikh sovereignty under Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Duleep Si&#7749gh. This roused the apprehension of the British government and, at their instance, Sir Att&#257r Si&#7749gh of Bhadau&#7771, translated the book into English in 1873 and got it published at V&#257r&#257&#7751as&#299. Several Punjabi editions appeared in print from 1890 onwards, the various versions continuing to differ in content and details, especially in respect of prophesies. The book is still popular with Niha&#7749gs, who hopefully look forward to the revival of <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 rule, and with the N&#257mdh&#257r&#299s who interpret some of the allusions in the text as referring to their own movement which was clearly anti-British under its leader, B&#257b&#257 R&#257m Si&#7749gh (1816-85).</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Prophecies bearing on the political aspirations of the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 or the N&#257mdh&#257r&#299 Sikhs are not, however, the only or even the principal theme of the <i>Sau S&#257kh&#299</i>. Only 15 to 20 anecdotes contain such forecast. Many of the stories are didactic in aim, and follow the pattern of Bh&#257&#299 Man&#299 Si&#7749gh's <i>Bhagat M&#257l</i>, better known as <i>Sikh&#257&#7749 d&#299 Bhagat M&#257l&#257</i>. Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh is shown as explaining and illustrating philosophical and ethical principles of the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 in answer to questions or doubts raised by the Sikhs. Occasionally, the Gur&#363 himself creates situations to elicit pertinent questions. Resort is had to fables and mythology. Some of the stories descibe the battles fought by the Sikhs under Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh's leadership, while other give an account of learned discussions among poets and scholars he had engaged. Two chapters in verse lay down the Sikh code of conduct in the style of the Rahitn&#257m&#257s. Another is a discourse on worldly wisdom and diplomacy. The book has some historical value too, but has to be used with great care because of several anachronisms, mis-statements, interpolations and motivated turns given to the text by different scribes.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;From the literary point of view, <i>Sau S&#257kh&#299</i> is a mixed fare. It is partly prose and partly verse. Punjabi is generally used for prose and Hindi for verse. Its anecdotal style and frequent use of narration in the first person, coupled with its euphoric, picturization of the future, make it interesting, but the idiom at places is too terse and obscure. On the other hand, this very obscurity lending itself to varying interpretations, heightens its appeal. It seems <i>Sau S&#257kh&#299</i> was a part of a larger volume, <i>Pañj Sau S&#257kh&#299</i> or five hundred anecdotes, no longer extant, which formed the basis of some of the episodes in Bh&#257&#299 Santokh Si&#7749gh, <i>Gur Prat&#257p S&#363raj Granth</i>.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1">Nayyar, G.S., ed., <i>Gur Ratan M&#257l : Sau S&#257kh&#299</i>. Patiala, 1985<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">T&#257ran Si&#7749gh<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>