Overview

The Kartarpur Bir is a manuscript volume revered in the Sikh tradition as the original Adi Granth, the first canonical scripture of Sikhism, compiled in 1604 under the fifth Guru, Guru Arjan, and written out by his scribe Bhai Gurdas. It is kept by the Sodhi family at Kartarpur, a town near Jalandhar in the Indian state of Punjab. This Kartarpur should not be confused with the Kartarpur in present-day Pakistan, founded by Guru Nanak, with which the manuscript has no connection; the Bir is neither kept there nor associated with that site.

As the earliest recension of the text that would later be expanded and installed as the eternal Guru Granth Sahib, the manuscript carries immense significance for the history of the Sikh canon. Because it is held privately and is only rarely and selectively made available, the volume has been the subject of a long scholarly debate over whether it is indeed the physical book of 1604. In deference to the sanctity the tradition attaches to the scripture and to the restrictions on its handling, this entry treats the manuscript with corresponding care.