Home›Sources›Joseph Davey Cunningham, A History of the Sikhs, from the Origin of the Nation to the Battles of the Sutlej (1849)SourcesJoseph Davey Cunningham, A History of the Sikhs, from the Origin of the Nation to the Battles of the Sutlej (1849)John MurrayCitation FormatsGeneral ReferenceGeneral Reference Citation TextDivinity Atlas. "Joseph Davey Cunningham, A History of the Sikhs, from the Origin of the Nation to the Battles of the Sutlej (1849)." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://divinity.interactivelion.com/sources/cunningham-a-history-of-the-sikhs-1849.Copy General ReferenceAPA StyleAPA Style Citation TextDivinity Atlas. (n.d.). Joseph Davey Cunningham, A History of the Sikhs, from the Origin of the Nation to the Battles of the Sutlej (1849). Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://divinity.interactivelion.com/sources/cunningham-a-history-of-the-sikhs-1849Copy APA StyleBibTeXBibTeX Citation Text@misc{divinityatlas-joseph-davey-cunningham-a-history-of-the, author = {Divinity Atlas}, title = {Joseph Davey Cunningham, A History of the Sikhs, from the Origin of the Nation to the Battles of the Sutlej (1849)}, year = {2026}, url = {https://divinity.interactivelion.com/sources/cunningham-a-history-of-the-sikhs-1849}, note = {Accessed August 30, 2026} }Copy BibTeXThe first substantial critical history of the Sikhs written in English, by a British East India Company officer fluent in Persian and Punjabi who had direct access to Sikh court records; controversial in its own day for treating Sikh sovereignty sympathetically, which cost Cunningham his career, and the earliest source to read Guru Tegh Bahadur's 1675 execution as turning substantially on territorial and revenue politics rather than on religious doctrine alone.FactsSourcesClaims Backed By This Source (9 claims)Comments (0)Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)FactsAssessmentReliability TierWell-attested2A near-contemporary nineteenth century scholarly history rather than modern archival research: Cunningham had genuine primary access to Sikh court records, but his factual synthesis has been superseded in many particulars by later academic work such as Grewal's. Reused here specifically for its documented historiographical POSITION, the political-rivalry reading of Guru Tegh Bahadur's execution, which modern historiography still credits him as the first to argue, not as this atlas's most reliable narrative source for the conflict generally.CitationAuthorWell-attestedJoseph Davey CunninghamPublisherWell-attestedJohn Murray, LondonPublication YearWell-attested1849Source TypeWell-attestedScholarly (superseded)SourcesJoseph Davey Cunningham, A History of the Sikhs, from the Origin of the Nation to the Battles of the Sutlej (1849)tier 2Joseph Davey Cunningham, John Murray, London, 1849Claims Backed By This Source (9 claims)This source backs 9 claims across the atlas. As facts: 6 well-attested, 1 scholarly debate. Plus 2 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.Disposition By TopicSources, 5 claims: 5 well-attested.Articles, 2 claims: 1 well-attested, 1 general references.Wars & Conflicts, 2 claims: 1 scholarly debate, 1 general references.Well-attested6ArticlesFaith Defended or Power Contested, Historians Divide Over a Guru's DeathSourcesJoseph Davey Cunningham, A History of the Sikhs, from the Origin of the Nation to the Battles of the Sutlej (1849)Scholarly debate1Wars & ConflictsSikh-Mughal WarsGeneral References2ArticlesFaith Defended or Power Contested, Historians Divide Over a Guru's DeathWars & ConflictsSikh-Mughal WarsComments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.View At A Past YearThe atlas records no dated fact of its own for this entry, so there is no other year to choose.Show This Year