These pathbreaking essays by historians, geographers, economists and scholars in Sikh religion and Punjabi literature cover the whole span of Sikh history and nearly all its important aspects. Three essays in this volume provide refreshing perspectives on such basic issues as the nature of Guru Nanak's mission, the Sikh way of life, and the martial and political culture of the Khalsa. In four other contributions fresh light is thrown on Sikh patronage of painting, journalism, demographic change, and spatial dispersal. Two essays deal with the princely states of Nabha and Patiala, the first in relation to the Sikh community and the second in relation to the Paramount Power. Two papers relate to the Sikhs overseas: one, on the role of a Sikh missionary' in North America and UK and another, on the socio-economic significance of remittances made by the Sikhs from UK in the early 1970s. One essay examines the problem of Sikh identity in relation to the issue of Khalistan. The last contribution covers five hundred years of Sikh educational heritage.