Mahan Kosh - Encyclopedia of Sikh Literature

Gur Shabad Ratanakar Mahankosh by Kahan Singh Nabha, popularly known as Mahan kosh is a not only the first dictionary of Sikh Scripture and books on Sikh Religion on western concept of lexis but also a classical reference book of Sikh History, Philosophy and contemporary Sikh States . Even after a century of its compilation, it still remains a unique reference document. Every Sikh household must have this book. Guru Shabad Ratnakar Mahan Kosh, known by its more popular name of Mahan Kosh, is a Punjabi language encyclopedia which was compiled by Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha over fourteen years. It was the first Punjabi encyclopedia and is considered a ground breaking work in terms of its impact and its level of scholarship. Mahan Kosh has 64,263 entries arranged in the alphabetical order of the Gurmukhi script covering religious and historical terms in the Sikh canon. Each entry records the etymology and different meanings of a term "according to its usage at different places in different works" alongside textual quotations. History: While studying two existing titles, Pandit Tara Singh Narotam's Granth Guru Girarth Kos (1895) and Hazara Singh's Sri Guru Granth Kos (1899), Kahn Singh realized there would be great value in a lexicography on words occurring in Sikh historical texts as well as in the Guru Granth Sahib because it would promote literacy and critical studies in Punjabi. On May 12, 1912 he resigned his position in Nabha State and began work on the project. Kahn Singh finished the work on February 6, 1926 and printing began on October 26, 1927 at the Sudarshan Press in Amritsar, owned by the poet Dhani Ram Chatrik. The first printing, in four volumes, was finished on April 13, 1930. The Languages department of Punjab, Patiala then published Mahan Kosh in one volume and it has gone through three editions, the latest released in 1981.