Joseph Davey Cunningham, (b. Scotland, 1812, d. 1851) was the author of the book History of the Sikhs and an authority in Punjab historiography. His father was the famous Scottish poet and author Allan Cunningham

Joined the Bengal engineers, 1834. Appointed assistant to the political agent on the Sikh frontier, 1837, and occupied several political positions in this area until 1845. Political agent in Bhopal, 1846–50. Published History of the Sikhs in 1849, which brought about his dismissal from political service

The Sikhs as well, have for the most part dismissed his work as poorly researched. The Englishman, Max Arthur Mccauliffe, who worked with Sikhs in the latter part of the nineteenth century to produce the work "history of the sikhs", is credited to be the first westerner to bring sikh history to worldwide attention