Synopsis First published in 1963, this is the standard and well-established book on its subject. It is accessible to a general, non-scholarly audience, while being based on scholarly archival research. Volume 1 covers the social, religious and political background which led to the forming of the Sikh faith in the fifteenth century. Basing his account of original documents in Persian, Gurmukhi and English, the author traces the growth of Sikhism and tells of the compilation of its sacred scriptures in the Granth Sahib. The transformation of the Sikhs from a pacifist sect to a militant group called the Khalsa led by Guru Gobind Singh is portrayed in detail, as is the relationship of the Sikhs with the Mughals and the Afghans, until the consolidation of Sikh power under Maharaja Ranjit Singh.