Arjun’s compilation is called the Adi-granth, or original book, to distinguish it from the later additions made by Guru Govind.  It comprises hymns and prayers by Nanak and the four Gurus who followed him (including Arjun himself), Ramanand, Kabir and others, amounting to thirty-five writers in all.  The list is interesting as testifying to the existence of a great body of oral poetry by various authors ranging from Ramanand, who had not separated himself from orthodox Vishnuism, to Arjun, the chief of the Sikh national community.  It was evidently felt that all these men had one inspiration coming from one truth and even now unwritten poems of Nanak are current in Bihar.  The Granth is written in a special alphabet known as Gurmukhi[671] and contains both prose and poetical pieces in several languages:  most are in old western Hindi[672] but some are in Panjabi and Marathi.

But though in compiling a sacred book and in uniting the temporal and spiritual power Arjun was influenced by the spirit of Mohammedanism, this is not the sort of imitation which makes for peace.  The combination of Hinduism and Islam resulted in the production of a special type of Hindu peculiarly distasteful to Moslims and not much loved by other Hindus.  Much of Arjun’s activity took place in the later years of the Emperor Akbar.  This most philosophic and tolerant of princes abandoned Mohammedanism after 1579, remitted the special taxes payable by non-Moslims and adopted many Hindu observances.  Towards the end of his life he promulgated a new creed known as the Din-i-ilahi or divine faith.  This eclectic and composite religion bears testimony to his vanity as well as to his large sympathies, for it recognized him as the viceregent or even an incarnation of God.  It would appear that the singular little work called the Allopanishad or Allah Upanishad[673] was written in connection with this movement.  It purports to be an Upanishad of the Atharva Veda and can hardly be described as other than a forgery.  It declares that “the Allah of the prophet Muhammad Akbar[674] is the God of Gods” and identifies him with Mitra, Varuna, the sun, moon, water, Indra, etc.  Akbar’s religion did not long survive his death and never flourished far from the imperial court, but somewhat later (1656) Muhammad Dara Shukoh, the son of Shah Jehan, caused a Persian translation of about fifty Upanishads, known as the Oupnekhat,[675] to be prepared.  The general temper of the period was propitious to the growth and immunity of mixed forms of belief, but the warlike and semi-political character of the Sikh community brought trouble on it.

Arjun attracted the unfavourable attention of Akbar’s successor, Jehangir,[676] and was cast into prison where he died.  The Sikhs took up arms and henceforth regarded themselves as the enemies of the government, but their strength was wasted by internal dissensions.  The ninth Guru, Teg-Bahadur, was executed by Aurungzeb.  Desire to avenge this martyrdom and the strenuous character of the tenth Guru, Govind Singh (1675-1708), completed the transformation of the Sikhs into a church militant devoted to a holy war.