Surinder Kohli

Prof. Surinder Singh Kohli, the first and senior most Professor of Punjabi Language and Literature, served as Head of the Department of Panjabi, Panjab University, Chandigarh, for 17 years before he retired from service. He is an authority on Sikh religion and philosophy, and has not only made a significant contribution as a Punjabi poet, writer, editor, critic, and researcher, but also done a distinct service to the realm of Comparative Religion in general and Sikhism in particular by his works, like A Critical Study of the Adi Granth, Outlines of Sikh Thought, Sikh Ethics, Philosophy of Guru Nanak, Sikhism and Guru Granth Sahib, Travels of Guru Nanak, The Sword and the Spirit, Life and Ideals of Guru Gobind Singh, etc. His work is marked by clarity, brevity, and sound scholarship. He has made a thorough and critical study of the Sikh Scriptures in a dispassionate and scholarly manner. His work entitled A Conceptual Encyclopaedia of Guru Granth Shaib is a landmark in the domain of Comparative Religious Philosophy. As a post-graduate teacher Prof. Kohli has guided research in Punjabi literature for doctoral theses with devotion and exceptional academic commitment and flung open the portals of research in Punjabi.