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It was a custom to give the Pothi-Mala, the Seli Topi and Padam of Guru Nanak to the next Guru. This custom remained till the fourth Guru Ram Das. The fourth Guru was a Sodhi and had three sons, the eldest being Prithi Chand, the middle being Mahadev and the youngest Arjan Dev. Guru Ram Das chose his youngest son Arjan Dev to inherit the Guru Gaddi. Prithi Chand was denied Guruship as he had schemed against Arjan Dev and kept him away from Guru Ram Das by deceipt. Mahadev being a meditator had no interest in worldly affairs. Being enraged, Prithi Chand took possession of the Pothi-mala and declared himself as the Guru. Later he even tried to poison Hargobind, the only son of Guru Arjan Dev. The followers of Prithi Chand are called the Pirthias and their descendants are the Sodhis of Guru Har Sahai. They have a sizeable following and large holdings of land. Their present Gaddi Nashin is Baba Rustam Sher Sodhi. Guru Hardip Singh Sodhi and Rana Sodhi of Hindo (grand daughter of Baba Ram Singh Bedi) family are also Sodhis of Guru Har Sahai.
When the Pothi-mala of Guru Nanak was taken away by Prithi Chand, Guru Arjan Dev undertook the task of compiling the Aad Guru Granth. He did this to preserve the sanctity of the Baani of the Gurus and to ensure that outside writings were not claimed as Gurus teachings. The Aad Guru Granth has the Baani of the five gurus and the Bhagats. It was hand written by Bhai Gurdas Bhalla, the son of the bother of the third Guru Amar Das. The Aad Granth was installed at the Harmandir but later moved to Kartarpur when the sixth Guru Hargobind moved there. Later Guru Hargobind moved to Kiratpur but the Aad Guru Granth remained in kartarpur. Guru Hargobind had five sons, the eldest being Bhai Gurditta (who later succeeded Baba Sri Chand, older son of Guru Nanak, to run the Udasi Sect formed by Baba Sri Chand) and another amongst others being Teg Bahadur. Guru Hargobind chose his grandson Har Rai, the younger son of Bhai Gurditta, to succeed him as the seventh Guru. This enraged Dhir Mal, the elder son of Bhai Gurditta and brother of Har Rai, and he set himself up as a Guru at Kartarpur and took possession of Aad Guru Granth. He also had a sizeable following and his followers came to be known as Dhirmalias. He later connived with Ram Rai, the older brother of Guru Har Krishan and who was ostracised by the seventh Guru for distorting the Guru Baani to win favour of Emperor Auranzeb, to plot against Guru Tegh Bahadur for staking claim to the Ninth Guruship. The descendants of Dhir Mal are the Sodhis of Kartarpur and they still have the possession of the original Aad Guru Granth compiled by Guru Arjan Dev.