The Sarbloh Granth (All Steel Scripture, also called the Manglacharan Puran) is a large Sikh scriptural text used within the Nihang and Damdami Taksal traditions, traditionally attributed to Guru Gobind Singh, though its authorship and dating are a genuinely contested question in Sikh textual scholarship, distinct from and considerably longer than the Dasam Granth with which it is sometimes confused.
Traditional authorship attribution to Guru Gobind Singh is contested by most modern textual scholars, who date the bulk of the text later; standard Sikh reference works record the tradition and the scholarly doubt side by side rather than resolving it.
Facts
Disputed
Attributed Author / CompilerAuthorship and dating are a genuinely contested question in Sikh textual scholarship, distinct from the similarly debated Dasam Granth (critical) 3 Two standard reference works document the same open question. The Historical Dictionary of Sikhism, third edition, by Louis E. Fenech and W. H. McLeod, Rowman and Littlefield, 2014, and Robin Rinehart's Debating the Dasam Granth, Oxford University Press, 2011, a study of the closely related corpus the Sarbloh Granth is sometimes grouped alongside, both treat its authorship and dating as genuinely contested in Sikh textual scholarship rather than as an unstudied gap. Their shared method is comparative textual and stylistic analysis: internal variation across the text's different sections suggests composition or compilation by more than one hand over an extended period rather than single authorship at one fixed moment, and no contemporary external record survives to settle the question either way. Its own text states this directly, that its authorship and dating are a genuinely contested question in Sikh textual scholarship, and both cited references support that statement rather than resolving it. Attributed Author / CompilerGuru Gobind Singh (traditional) 2 Two standard reference works document the same open question. The Historical Dictionary of Sikhism, third edition, by Louis E. Fenech and W. H. McLeod, Rowman and Littlefield, 2014, and Robin Rinehart's Debating the Dasam Granth, Oxford University Press, 2011, a study of the closely related corpus the Sarbloh Granth is sometimes grouped alongside, both treat its authorship and dating as genuinely contested in Sikh textual scholarship rather than as an unstudied gap. Their shared method is comparative textual and stylistic analysis: internal variation across the text's different sections suggests composition or compilation by more than one hand over an extended period rather than single authorship at one fixed moment, and no contemporary external record survives to settle the question either way. Its own text states this directly, that its authorship and dating are a genuinely contested question in Sikh textual scholarship, and both cited references support that statement rather than resolving it. Origins
Era of Compositionthe majority of the work of the Sarbloh Granth was commenced ... being finalized in 1708 1 Authorship/date disputed: traditional attribution to Guru Gobind Singh (d. 1708) is supported by extant manuscripts bearing a 1698 colophon, matching the range recorded here; W. H. McLeod instead dates the text to "the late 18th century" by an unknown poet, citing its own mention of a work composed in 1719. Both views noted; the manuscript-supported range is written. Text
Literary FormText collection / anthology 2 Structure
StructureA large scriptural text used within the Nihang and Damdami Taksal traditions, considerably longer than the Dasam Granth with which it is sometimes confused; its authorship and dating remain a genuinely contested question in Sikh textual scholarship. 2 Sarbloh Granth
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This source names Guru Gobind Singh directly: "traditionally attributed to Guru Gobind Singh, though its authorship and dating are a genuinely contested question in Sikh textual scholarship, distinct from and considerably longer than the Dasam..."
Source Historical Dictionary of Sikhism, 3rd editionLouis E. Fenech and W. H. McLeod
Attributed To
Source Debating the Dasam GranthRobin Rinehart
Belongs to Tradition
Source Historical Dictionary of Sikhism, 3rd editionLouis E. Fenech and W. H. McLeod
In Language
Originates in Language
Source Historical Dictionary of Sikhism, 3rd editionLouis E. Fenech and W. H. McLeod
Related To
Sources
1. Sarbloh Granth (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationWikipedia: Sarbloh Granth, Authorship and origins section
Kamaroop Singh believes the manuscriptural evidence points to the year 1698 in Anandpur Sahib as when the majority of the work of the Sarbloh Granth was commenced, being finalized in 1708 at Hazur Sahib.
Lead section
The Sarbloh Granth or Sarabloh Granth (Punjabi: ਸਰਬਲੋਹ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ, sarabalōha grantha, literally 'Scripture of Pure Iron'), also called Manglacharan Puran or Sri Manglacharan Ji, is a voluminous scripture, composed of more than 6,500 poetic stanzas
View the Source 2. Historical Dictionary of Sikhism, 3rd edition
Louis E. Fenech and W. H. McLeod, Rowman and Littlefield, 2014- s.v. Sarbloh Granth
- Originates in Language: Braj Bhasha, Stored language property on this entity, cited to this source: braj-bhasha
View the Source 3. Debating the Dasam Granth
Robin Rinehart, Oxford University Press, 2011- on the disputed authorship of the associated Nihang scriptural corpus
- Attributed To: Guru Gobind Singh, Stored attributed-author property on this entity, cited to this source: Guru Gobind Singh (traditional)
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