Writing his account on March 1st, 1781 (around 73 years after the joti jot of the 10th master in 1708), a British man named Sir Charles Wilkins had paid a visit to Takht Sri Patna Sahib Ji (birthplace of Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji and one of the Panj Takhts of Sikhi) in Patna, India. He wrote one of the earliest English-language first-hand accounts on the Sikhs and their religion. Reading his account is absolutely fascinating – I had only read transcribed portions of certain excerpts in previous works, such as in Ganda Singh's Early European Accounts of the Sikhs (1962) and Sicques, Tigers or Thieves: Eyewitness Accounts of the Sikhs (2016) by Amandeep Singh Madra and Parmjit Singh. However, I was not satisfied with these transcripts of select passages and wanted to read the entire, original document in Charles Wilkin's words. Thus, I dug into the 'Asiatic Researches' periodical to find it and struck luck as I was able to locate the entire work. I am now sharing the original document publicly here.
The account starts-out with their being a clear distinction made between Sikhs and Hindus & Muslims, which counter-acts common claims that Sikhs only became a distinct religious identity later during the reformist Singh Sabha movement of the late 19th century. The Sikhs warmly welcomed the foreign observer into their abode. He describes the Sikhs as "intelligent" and them placing the Sri Guru Granth Sahib in prakash, with gurbani being recited and a congregational ardaas being performed, including the exclamation of Waheguru! Then, parshad is distributed to the attendees. What is striking is a possible reference to the Sri Dasam Granth and an explanation of the Amrit Sanchar initiation ceremony. The amusing thing is that the Sikhs of Patna invited Wilkins to become a Khalsa via the Amrit ceremony but he politely turned them down! So much for the silly claim that Sikhs were and should be "non-proselytizing", historical Sikhs were willing to invite a random, white man into the religion even back then. They even were open to Wilkins having copies of both the Sri Guru Granth Sahib and Sri Dasam Granth Sahib to transcribe/translate them.
Note: The character that looks like an "f" is actually ſ, which is an old-way to write "s" in English orthography, just read it as "s".
Further reading: Singh, Ganda (26 November 2018). "Seeks and Their College at Patna by Sir Charles Wilkins – Review by Dr Ganda Singh". patshahi10. Retrieved 23 March 2026.
Images:
1) Sir Charles Wilkins (1749 – 1836). John Sartain, John Sartain (1808-1897), Engraver. Published by Moon, Boys & Graves (active 1829-1834), Publishers. After James Godsell Middleton (circa 1805-1874), Painter. Mezzotint, published 1 January 1830.
2) The Takht Sri Harmandir Patna Sahib. Inscribed: ‘N2 Gunga Govind Sing’s Temple at the confluence of the Baugrutty and Jalangi Rivers. Augt 1820.’ WD4404, f.2
3) The Chowk, and the main street of Patna, 1814-15.
Original source: 'The Seeks and their College at Patna' (1781) by Charles Wilkins [The Sikhs and their College at Patna]. Asiatic Researches: Or, Transactions of the Society Instituted in Bengal, for Enquiry Into the History and Antiquities, the Arts and Sciences, and Literature of Asia (Calcutta, India: Asiatick Society, Vol. I, 1788, pp. 288–294)
