W H McLeod

William Hewat McLeod (1932–2009; also Hew McLeod) was a New Zealand scholar who helped establish Sikh Studies as a distinctive field.

Considered to be the most prominent Western historian of Sikhism, his publications had introduced higher criticism to Sikh sources for the first time and influenced generations of scholars. However, his scholarship remains controversial among traditional Khalsa scholars, who accuse him of disrespecting the religion and argue that Sikhism can't be studied using Western methodologies.

Career McLeod attended the Nelson College from 1946 to 1950, before joining the University of Otago, where he earned a BA. He would hold the post till retiring in 1997. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand in 1999. In May 1955 he married Margaret Wylie, whom he had met during his university days. A review in Archiv Orientální found his work to be the product of painstaking research and responsible approach, supplying a wealth of information on Nanak. Khushwant Singh, reviewing for The Journal of Asian Studies, admired McLeod's dispassionate objectivity in producing an exceptional scholarship; his exhaustive reading of primary sources and methodology of source criticism was lauded in particular.

Christopher Shackle notes that McLeod's questioning the historicity of previously unchallenged "facts" created a predictable ruffle among orthodox Sikhs. However, the work had exhibited a naive reductionist understanding of the links between hagiography and historical biography, and created a dead-end for scholars not willing to align with the Khalsa-centric school. S.C.R. Weightman had a mixed opinion. W. H. McLeod with J. S. Grewal, Santa Barbara, California UCSB, 2001. Photographed by Amarjit Chandan. J.S. Grewal took a critical view of the book. Pashaura Singh (along with Michael Hawley and Susan Prill) note that McLeod's work remains the best in expounding Nanak's teachings.

Early Sikh Tradition: A Study of the Janamsakhis This was written in 1971 but first published in 1980 by The Clarendon Press. So did Christine Moliner.

Shackle later noted that the political turbulence in Punjab since the 80s meant that McLeod's best work failed to receive its deserved attention among scholars. J.S. Grewal was again critical of his approach.

The Sikhs: History, Religion, and Society There were seven essays, five of which were reprints of the ACLS lectures. McLeod's willingness to critique his earlier stances and his fluency in recent scholarship were admired.

Who is a Sikh? The Problems of the Sikh Identity Published in 1990 by the Oxford University Press, this collated ten essays delivered during the 1986-87 Radhakrishnan Lecture at Oxford University.

Translation

The Chaupa Singh Rahit-nama Christopher Shackle, in a review for Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, found the work to cement McLeod's reputation as the preeminent scholar of Sikh Studies. The detailed notes accompanying the text and McLeod's introduction detailing the historical development of the text were particularly praised.