BALA JANAM SAKHI, The Janam Sakhis of the Bala tradition owe both their name and their reputation to Bhai Bala, a SandhuJa^ from Guru Nanak's village of Talvandi. According to the tradition's own claims, Bala was a near contemporary of Guru Nanak who accompanied him during his period in Sultanpur and during the course of his extensive travels. If these claims are correct and if in fact the eponymous tradition records the authentic narrative of such a man, it must follow that the Bala Janam Sakhis provide an essentially trustworthy account of the early life of Guru Nanak. For more than a hundred years, from the late eighteenth until the early twentieth century, this claim was scarcely challenged. During the course of the present century it has been vigorously assaulted, without being wholly