Sakhi (Gurmukhi: à ¨¸à ¨¾à ¨Âà ©Â; sÃÂkhë) literally means 'historical account', 'anecdote', or 'story'. It is derived from the Sanskrit word sÃÂkṣë (à ¤¸à ¤¾à ¤Âà ¥Âà ¤·à ¥Â) which literally means 'witness'.
The term refers to the accounts of the historical events in Sikhism. It is a tale usually from the era during the times of the Sikh Gurus and their devoted followers and associates. However, many Sakhis do exist from the period before and after the times of the ten gurus. Most Sakhis have a moral lesson and highlight important Sikh principles.
According to Harbhajan Singh, the janamsakhi and sakhi tradition was associated with the Gurmat literary tradition, the goshti tradition is associated with the Minas, and the parchai tradition is linked to the Sewapanthis, with there being similiarities between all four types of works. The janamsakhis and sakhis are some of the earliest surviving examples of Punjabi prose but evidence hints that prose writing had developed earlier. It is probable that the development of the genre was influenced by both the Sufi tradition of malfuzat, aqwal, or bachans, and the Buddhist tradition of jataka. The earliest surviving prose Punjabi work may be either the Ekadashi Mahatam or the Puratan Janamsakhi (which was written in 1635 or earlier). The later janamsakhis, sakhis, and goshtis came after it. Prior to the sakhis being authored involving the Sikh gurus, there were biographical, narrative works from North India covering other mediaeval saints, like Kabir, these works belonged to the varta, vÃÂr, and mala literary traditions. These works covered the lives of sants and bhaktas that belonged to the same religious tradition or sect as the author. Examples include the Chaurasi Vaishnavan di Varta (covering Vallabhachari's disciples) by Gokul Nath (1551âÂÂ1674), the Do Sau Bavan Vaishnava di Varta (covering Vithal Nath's disciples), and the Bhagatmal (1592, covering bhaktas of the Ramamnandis, originally written by Nabhadas, with a Punjabi version of the work being composed in 1777 by Narayan Das).
In a comparable manner, the Sikh literature focuses on the Sikh gurus, such as the VÃÂran by Gurdas, goshtis by Miharvan, the janamsakhis, and the sakhis. Whilst the sakhi genre arose amongst the Gurmat Sikh tradition, different sects adopted the tradition and used their own terminology for it to establish a more distinct identity, sometimes also adding other elements to create further distinctiveness. The Sewapanthi sect, whom were sehajdharis, were able to produce their parchai literature covering the bhagats (whose works are found in the Guru Granth Sahib), the mahatmas of their sects, and Sikh gurus, as they did not have an outward Khalsa Sikh appearance so they were spared from the same extent of anti-Sikh persecution that Khalsa Sikhs faced from the Mughals. The parchais were written in Braj-Sadhukari verse or Punjabi prose, with two notable authors being Suhajram and Sewa Das. Bhai Mani Singh was tied to the sakhi tradition and produced some works. Meanwhile, the Minas developed the goshtis, differed from the sakhis of the Gurmat tradition (which they were opposed to) by being more of a dialogue rather than narrative, with the question-and-answer format being utilized in the goshtis. Rather than merely citing and quoting the gurbani authored by Guru Nanak as the sakhis do, the Mina goshtis include expositions on them, which is known as parmarath, making the Mina goshtis more philosophical than the more narrative-based sakhis of the Gurmat tradition.
List of prominent sakhi works and the number of sakhis found in them is as follows:
Modern Stories