Note 435 — Chapter II · (continued 3)

Nânac was born A. D. 1469, in a small village called Talwandi, now Raya-pur, on the banks of the Béyah, the ancient Hyphasis, in the district of Bhatti, in the province of Lahore. He was the only son of Kalu, of the Kshatriya caste, and the Vedi tribe of the Hindus—See vol. XI. of the As. Res., pp. 197-292, edit. Calc. a Sketch of the Sikhs, by Brigadier-General Malcolm. The learned author, whilst with the British army in the Penjab, in 1805, collected materials that would throw light upon the history, manners, and religion of the Sikhs. He succeeded in obtaining a copy of the Adi granth, the sacred book of the Sikhs, and of some historical tracts, the most essential parts of which were explained to him in Calcutta, by an intelligent Sikh priest of the Nirmala order. Dr. Leyden enriched this stock of materials by supplying the general with a translation of several tracts written by Sikh authors in the Penjabi and Duggar dialects, upon the history and religion of their nation. We may therefore believe we possess quite satisfactory information about the Sikhs in General Malcolm’s Sketch. I shall mark the references to this work in my notes by G. M. The Dabistán, never quoted in the said Sketch, furnishes some additional, and corroborates the principal, information derived from other sources.