The Faridkot Tika, formally Adi Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji Satik and commonly called the Faridkot Wala Teeka, is the first full scale printed exegesis of the Guru Granth Sahib. Raja Bikram Singh, ruler of the princely state of Faridkot, commissioned a complete Punjabi commentary after Ernest Trumpp's 1877 English translation of the Adi Granth was received by Sikhs as gravely insulting. Giani Badan Singh of Sekhvari, a scholar of the Nirmala order, prepared the first draft, completed by 1883, in Braj Bhasha, the literary idiom Nirmala scholarship characteristically used for Sanskrit informed exegesis. A synod of Sikh scholars representing several schools then revised the draft, chaired by Mahant Sumer Singh of Patna Sahib, and it was printed in three volumes in 1905 and 1906 under Raja Balbir Singh, with a fourth volume completed under Maharaja Brijindar Singh, a second edition in 1924, and reprints by the Punjab Languages Department beginning in 1970 that keep it in circulation today.
Facts
Citation
AuthorGiani Badan Singh of Sekhvari (first draft), completed by a revision synod of Sikh scholars chaired by Mahant Sumer Singh of Patna Sahib
PublisherCommissioned by the ruling house of Faridkot State
No fixed commercial publisher of record survives from the original 1905 to 1906 printing; it was issued under the patronage and at the expense of the Faridkot ruling house that commissioned it. Later reprints, including the Punjab Languages Department's from 1970, are a separate publishing history from the original. Publication Year1905
The first of three volumes printed in 1905 and 1906; the first draft was completed in 1883 and a fourth volume followed later, so the work's full printed form spans several years around this date. Source Typeprimary-text
Assessment
Reliability Tier2
Tier two: a landmark primary work of the tradition's own exegetical scholarship, the first published full scale commentary on the Guru Granth Sahib and historically significant for that reason, but a tradition's own interpretive primary text rather than independent academic secondary scholarship, and its specific Vedantic and Sanskritic reading was itself later contested from inside the tradition by Singh Sabha and Tat Khalsa era reformers. Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
This source names Braj directly: "the first draft, completed by 1883, in Braj Bhasha, the literary idiom Nirmala scholarship characteristically used for Sanskrit informed exegesis."
This source names Nirmalas directly: "The Faridkot Tika, formally Adi Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji Satik and commonly called the Faridkot Wala Teeka, is the first full scale printed exegesis of the Guru Granth Sahib."
Patna, Cities This source names Patna directly: "chaired by Mahant Sumer Singh of Patna Sahib, and it was printed in three volumes in 1905 and 1906 under Raja Balbir Singh, with a fourth volume completed under Maharaja Brijindar Singh, a second..."
This source names Punjabis directly: "The Faridkot Tika, formally Adi Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji Satik and commonly called the Faridkot Wala Teeka, is the first full scale printed exegesis of the Guru Granth Sahib."
Sumer, Regions This source names Sumer directly: "revised the draft, chaired by Mahant Sumer Singh of Patna Sahib, and it was printed in three volumes in 1905 and 1906 under Raja Balbir Singh, with a fourth volume completed under Maharaja Brijindar..."
This source names Patna Sahib directly: "chaired by Mahant Sumer Singh of Patna Sahib, and it was printed in three volumes in 1905 and 1906 under Raja Balbir Singh, with a fourth volume completed under Maharaja Brijindar Singh, a second..."
Claims Backed By This Source (33 claims)
This source backs 33 claims across the atlas. As facts: 19 well-attested, 1 scholarly debate. As cited relationships: 10 holds. Plus 3 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.
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- Literary Works, 13 claims: 7 well-attested, 1 scholarly debate, 4 holds, 1 general references.
- Sources, 12 claims: 6 well-attested, 6 holds.
- Articles, 8 claims: 6 well-attested, 2 general references.
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