Banda Bahadur
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Baba Banda Singh Bahadur (pronounce like this: Banda- "Bun-tha", Bahadur- "Bah-Ha-'th'ur" {'th' pronounced as 'th' in 'the'}) is revered as one of Sikhism's greatest warriors as well as one of its most hallowed martyrs. His confronation with the Mughal administration in Northern India, though brief, was strong enough to shake its foundations. The agrarian uprising that he led in the Punjab was the foundation on which the Dal Khalsa, the Sikh Misls and Maharaja Ranjit Singh built the edifice which finally culminated with Ranjit Singh capturing Lahore in 1799 and establishing the Sikh Kingdom of the Punjab.
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[edit] Early life
Banda was born on October 16, 1670 at Rajouri in the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir, into a family of Minhas Rajputs. He was named Lachman Dev. Wrestling, horseback riding, and hunting were his major hobbies. As a young man, he shot a doe and was shocked to watch the mother and her aborted fawn writhing in pain and dying. After this gloomy scene, he had a change of heart. He left his home and became a disciple of a Bairagi Sadhu, Janaki Das, who gave him the name, Madho Das. In the company of the Sadhus he traveled through Northern India and finally arrived at Nanded (in present-day Maharashtra), situated on the bank of the river Godavari, where he built a hut to meditate upon God.
[edit] Madho Das meets Guru Gobind Singh
In the September of 1708, Guru Gobind Singh, who had come to the Deccan along with the Mughal Emperor, Bahadur Shah, happened to go to Madho Das’ hut while hunting. Madho Das was away. The Guru ordered his disciples to cook food there and then. The matter was reported to Madho Das, who was enraged. He had learnt Tantra and tried some tricks to humiliate the Guru. But none had any effect on Guru Gobind. The Guru then asked him, “Who are you?” Madho Das, who had accepted defeat, said with great humility, "I am your banda (slave)." The Guru inquired, if he knew who he was talking to. Banda said he was none other than Guru Gobind Singh. The Guru encouraged him to give up his present way of living and resume the duties of a true warrior.
[edit] Banda's mission
Guru Gobind Singh hoped that Emperor Bahadur Shah would fulfill his promise and do justice in the Punjab by punishing the Governor of Sirhind, Nawab Wazir Khan and his accomplices for their crimes against the people including the deaths of the Guru's mother, Mata Gujri and his two younger sons, Sahibzada Zorawar Singh and Sahibzada Fateh Singh. Finding him reluctant, the Guru deputed Madho Das Bairagi, under the leadership of five Sikhs, to end Mughal persecution of non-Muslims in the Punjab.
In a few days, the Guru held a durbar, baptised Madho Das and conferred the title of Banda Bahadur on him. He appointed him as his military lieutenant and invested him with full political and military authority as his deputy to lead the campaign in the Punjab against the Mughal administration and to punish Nawab Wazir Khan and his supporters.
Banda was supplied with five gold tipped arrow and a nagada (drum) as symbols of temporal authority. He was given an advisory council of five devoted Sikhs (Hazuri Singhs), who on their arrival in the Punjab were to assure the Sikhs that Banda was the Guru's nominee and deputy and to organize them in order to lead an expedition against Sirhind:
- Baj Singh, a descendant of the third Sikh Guru, Guru Amar Das.
- Baj Singh's brother Ram Singh.
- Binod singh, a descendant of the second Sikh Guru, Guru Angad Dev.
- Binod Singh's son Kahan singh
- Fateh Singh.
Twenty five soldiers were to act as Banda's bodyguards. A Hukumnamah (edict) in the handwriting of the Guru instructing Sikhs to join Banda Bahadur in his struggle against Mughal rule was provided. As an insignia of his temporal authority invested in him, the Guru gave Banda Bahadur his own sword, green bow, five arrows from his quiver and a Nishan Sahib. Three hundred Sikh cavaliers in battle array accompanied Banda upto a distance of eight kilometers to give him a final send off.
[edit] En route to the Punjab
At the rate of ten-sixteen kilometres per day, it should have taken Banda more than a hundred day to complete his journey, but he actually took about a year. Probably, he might have been frequently in hiding. The emperor must have instructed his officers to kill Banda and his band. That is why Banda traveled right across Maharashtra and Rajasthan, both of which were then in revolt against the Mughals.
[edit] Banda in present-day Haryana
[edit] Narnaul
,
[edit] Hissar
He was well received by local Hindus and Sikhs as a leader and a deputy of Guru Gobind Singh. Liberal offerings were made to him, which he distributed among the poor and the needy.
[edit] Tohana
Malwa, to join him in his crusade against Wazir Khan of Sirhind.
Banda made proper arrangements to escort Mata Sahib Kaur to Delhi. From Kharkhauda about fifty kilometres north-west of Delhi, Mata Sahib Kaur was sent to Delhi under armed escort, to join Mata Sundari, who was acting as the head of the Khalsa after the death of her husband, Guru Gobind.
[edit] Sonepat
[edit] Kaithal
Near Kaithal, about a hundred kilometres further north, Banda seized a government treasury, which was being sent from the northern districts to Delhi. He kept nothing out of it for himself and gave it away to his rank and file.
[edit] Samana
Samana, fifty kilometres farther north, was the native place of Jalal-ud-din Jallad, the professional executioner, who had beheaded Guru Teg Bahadur, while his son had beheaded the two younger sons of Guru Gobind Singh. Ali Hussain, who by making false promises had lured Guru Gobind Singh to evacuate the fort of Anandpur also belonged to Samana. It was an accursed place in the eyes of the Sikhs. The entire peasantry of the neighbourhood was now up in arms, and Banda's following had risen to several thousands. Banda fell upon the town on November 26, 1709. The inhabitants were massacred in cold blood and the town razed. Samana was the district town and had nine Parganas attached to it. It was placed under the charge of Fateh Singh. Samana was the first territorial conquest and the first administrative unit of Banda.
Then, Kunjpura, Ghuram, and Thaska inhabited by Muslim Ranghars were destroyed. Damla was the village of the Pathans, who had deserted Guru Gobind Singh in the Battle of Bhangani, It was ravaged. Shahabad Markanda also fell to Banda.
[edit] Sadhaura
Usman Khan, the chief of Sadhaura, about twenty-five kilometres away, had persecuted Sayyid Budhu Shah for helping Guru Gobind Singh in the Battle of Bhangani. On the approach of Banda , the leading Muslims of the town gathered in a big and strongly built mansion. They were all massacred. This building came to be known as Qatal Garhi (The Fort of Murder). Banda attacked the town and destroyed it.
A contemporary historian, Khafi Khan wrote: "In two or three months time four to five thousands pony-riders, and seven to eight thousand warlike footmen joined him. Day by day their number increased, and abundant money and material by pillage fell into their hands. Numerous villages were laid waste and he appointed his own police officers (thanedars) and collectors of revenue (Tahsil-dar-e-mal)"
[edit] Lohgarh
The ultimate aim of Banda was to punish Wazir Khan and conquer Sirhind. It required time to consolidate his material and territorial gains. He also wanted to study the military resources of Sirhind. He was anxious to see what steps the government would take against him. He therefore established his headquarters, in the beginning of February 1710, at Mukhlisgarh situated in the lower Siwalik Hills south of Nahan, about twenty kilometres from Sadhaura. His fort stood atop a hill top. Two kuhls or water channels flowed at its base and supplied water to it. This fort was repaired and put in a state of defense. All the money, gold and costly material acquired in the expeditions were deposited here. He minted coins and issued orders under his seal. The name of Mukhlisgarh was changed to Lohgarh (the Fort of Steel), and it became the capital of the first Sikh state.
[edit] Banda's kingdom
Banda ruled over the region bounded on the north by the Shiwalik hills, on the west by the river Tangri, on the east by the river Jamuna, and in the south by a line passing through Samana, Thanesar, Kaithal and Karnal. He abolished the Zamindari System of land prevailing under the Mughals and declared the actual cultivators as the owners of land. Thus he established peasant proprietorship, and won the approbation and support of the overwhelming majority of the population. Khafi Khan says that Banda "issued orders to imperial officers and agents and big jagirdars to submit and give up their business." Guru Gobind Singh's dream of Sikh political sovereignty was thus realized within a year of his death.
[edit] The invasion of Sirhind
[edit] Banda's Troops
Banda devoted three months in organizing his civil and military administration. Bahadur Shah was still away from Delhi. The Delhi Government had made no attempt to recover their lost territory from Banda. Wazir Khan of Sirhind was making his own preparations independently to meet the danger from Banda.
Banda's troops were mostly untrained, raw levies and not fully armed. Banda possessed no elephants, no good horses and no guns. His followers had matchlocks, spears, swords, bows and arrows. According to Khafi Khan, the number of Banda's troops rose from thirty to forty thousand.
[edit] Wazir Khan's Preparations
Wazir Khan had proclaimed a jihad or a holy war against Banda. He was joined by the Nawab of Malerkotla, other Muslim chiefs and jagirdars as well as Ranghars in large numbers. The majority of his soldiers were trained men. Wazir Khan's own forces were six thousand horsemen, eight to nine thousand musketeers (burqandaz) and archers, and with these about ten guns of artillery and many elephants. In addition, there were about ten thousand Ghazis. The total number of Wazir Khan's troops was about thirty thousand.
Banda advanced from Lohgarh and halted at Banur, near Ambala, fourteen kilometres from Rajpura. Banda sacked the town, and then went towards Sirhind.
[edit] The Battle of Chhappar Chiri
The battle was fought on May 12, 1710 at Chhappar Chiri, twenty kilometres from Sirhind. On the Mughal side, Sher Muhammad Khan, the Nawab of Malerkotla was the leader of the right flank. Wazir Khan was in command of the center. Suchanand, Diwan of the Nawab was put on the left. On the Sikh side, Baj Singh and Binod Singh (two of the five Sikhs sent by Guru Gobind along with Banda to the Punjab) headed the right and left flanks respectively while Banda commanded the center facing the Wazir Khan's army.
Suchanand could not withstand Baj Singh's attack and fled. Sher Mohammed Khan was about to overpower Binod Singh's wing when he was suddenly struck by a bullet and was instantly killed. His men immediately dispersed. Wazir Khan was rushing upon Banda who stuck fast to his ground and discharged arrows relentlessly. Baj Singh and Binod Singh now joined Banda. Due to their combined assault, Wazir Khan was killed.
Wazir Khan's death is variously described. One version says that he was struck by a musket ball. Another says that Baj Singh rushed upon Wazir Khan, who threw his spear. Baj Singh caught hold of it and flung the same spear upon Wazir Khan. It struck the forehead of his horse. Wazir Khan discharged an arrow which hit Baj Singh's arm. He then rushed upon him with his sword. At this juncture, Fateh Singh came to Baj Singh's resuce. His sword cut Khan from shoulder to waist.
[edit] Pursuit of fugitives
Wazir Khan's head was stuck up on a spear and lifted high up by a Sikh who took his seat in the deceased's howdah. Sirhind's troops on beholding the Nawab's head took alarm, and fled in dismay and despair. The Sikhs fell upon them and there was a terrible carnage. The Sikhs reached Sirhind by nightfall. The gates of the city were closed. The guns mounted on the walls of the fort commenced bombardment. The Sikhs laid siege to the place. They took rest at night. Wazir Khan's family and many Muslim nobles fled to Delhi at night.
By the next afternoon, the Sikhs forced open the gates and fell upon the city. The Government treasury and moveable property worth two crores fell into Banda's hand which was removed to Lohgarh. Several Muslims embraced Sikhism. Dindar Khan, son of Jalal Khan Rohilla became Dindar Singh. The official newswriter of Sirhind, Mir Nasir-ud-din changed his name to Mir Nasir Singh.
[edit] The province of Sirhind occupied
The entire province of Sirhind consisting of twenty-eight paraganas and extending from the Satluj to the Jamuna and from the Shiwalik hills to Kunjpura, Karnal and Kaithal, yielding Rs. fifty-two lakhs (one lakh = one hundred thousand Rupees) annually came into Banda's possession. Baj Singh was appointed the governor of Sirhind. Ali Singh was made his deputy. Their chief responsibility was to be on guard against the Mughal troops from Lahore and Jammu. Fateh Singh retained charge of Samana. Ram Singh, brother of Baj singh became the Chief of Thanesar. Binod singh in addition to his post of the revenue minister, was entrusted with the administration of Karnal and Panipat. His main duty was to guard the road from Delhi. Banda retired to his capital at Lohgarh. His era began from May 12, 1710, the date of his victory in the battle of Sirhind. The Zamindari system was abolished in the whole province in one stroke.
[edit] Banda advances towards Lahore
Having set up administrative machinery, Banda advanced from Sirhind to Malerkotla in June, 1710 . The town was saved for a ransom of two lakhs on the recommendation of Kishan Das Banya, an old acquaintance of Banda. From there he marched to Morinda whose faujdar had handed over Guru Gobind Singh's mother and his two younger sons to Wazir Khan. Then he visited Kiratpur and Anandpur to pay homage to shrines. He took Hoshiarpur and Jalandhar. Banda crossed the Beas into Majha and fell upon Batala. After this, he went on a pilgrimage to Dera Baba Nanak. At Amritsar, Banda made large offerings. He invited young men to embrace Sikhism promising remission of land revenue and other rewards. Many from Majha joined the Khalsa. Banda marched towards Lahore. Sayyid Islam Khan, the Governor mounted guns on the walls of city. Banda laid a siege, but was unable to scale up the walls of the fort. Lahore could have fallen, but Banda was in hurry to look after his government.
Though the city remained safe owing to its fortifications, the suburbs were completely destroyed by Banda and his men.
[edit] Capture
Banda's rule, though short-lived, had a far-reaching impact on the history of the Punjab. With it, began the decay of Mughal authority and the demolition of the feudal system of society it had created. Banda's increasing influence roused the ire of the Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah, who journeyed northwards from the Deccan to punish the Sikhs. Instructions were issued to the governors of Delhi and Oudh and other Mughal officers to march towards the Punjab. Prohibitory laws against Sikhs were passed.
On December 10, 1710 Emperor Bahadur Shah issued a general warrant for the faujdars to "kill the worshippers of Nanak (the Sikhs), wherever they were to be found." (Nanak Prastan ra Har ja kih bayaband baqatl rasanand). Banda was chased out of every corner of the Punjab and he took refuge in the Shivalik hills.
He got married to the daughter of one of the hill chiefs and it was a few years before the Mughals could trace him down. He again started his campaigns against the Mughals and down from the hills to the plains but was overwhelmed by the superior numbers of Mughal forces.
A massive imperial force drove the Sikhs from Sirhind and other places to take shelter in the fort of Lohgarh in the hilly region. Further reinforcements arrived and sixty thousand horse and foot closely invested Banda's hill retreat. For want of provisions, Sikhs were reduced to rigorous straits. They killed their horses for food, and when they could stand up to the enemy no longer, they made desperate nightly sallies to escape into the hills of Nahan. Banda though did not lose hope.
The Sikhs came out of their mountain haunts to recover their lost territories and once again occupied Sadhaura and Lohgarh. Farrukhsiyar, who came to the throne of Delhi in 1713, ordered against them the sternest campaign ever launched. They were hounded out of the plains and their main column of about 4,000 men under Banda were subjected to a terrible siege at the village of Gurdas-Nangal, about six kilometers from Gurdaspur.
For eight months the garrison resisted the siege of 100,000 Mughal troops under gruesome conditions. Towards the end, an unfortunate dispute arose between Banda and one of his most trusted advisers, Binod Singh. This man along with Baj Singh and three others made up the war council that Banda was supposed to consult in any difficult situation. Binod Singh advised the evacuation of the fortress, but for some reasons of his own, Banda wished to fight it out there. Binod Singh was senior in age, and when this difference of views flared up into an open quarrel, Banda agreed to let Binod Singh take his men out of the Fortress. Binod Singh and his supporters then charged out of the fortress and escaped.
Towards the end of November 1715, the remaining defenders were running out of ammunition and food. They were trying to exist on boiled leaves and the bark of trees, and were gradually reduced to mere skeletons. Then on December 17, 1715, Abdus Samad Khan, one of the Mughal commanders, shouted across the separating moat, that he would not allow any killing by his men, if Banda opened the gate to the fortress. When Banda ordered the gate be opened, the Mughals rushed in to spear or stab as many as three hundred of the half-dead and helpless defenders. About two hundred were captured alive and handcuffed in twos. Banda had chains round his ankles and his wrists, and was then locked in an iron cage. The Mughals were still afraid that he might escape and so they placed a guard on each side of the cage with swords drawn and the cage was placed aloft an elephant, which led the procession, which paraded through Lahore, before proceeding towards Delhi. Zakarya Khan, the son of the Lahore Governor, then ordered his men to lop off more Sikh heads on the way. The prisoners were first taken to Lahore, and thence to Delhi.
[edit] Torture and execution
The cavalcade to the imperial capital was a grisly sight. Besides 740 prisoners in heavy chains, it comprised seven hundred cartloads of Sikh heads with another 200 stuck upon pikes. On February 26, 1716, the procession neared Delhi, and Farukh Siyar ordered his Minister, Mohammed Amin Khan to go out to receive them and to prepare them for a suitable display in the city. On February 29, the citizens of Delhi lined the streets, to get a good sight of the procession.
First came two-thousand soldiers, each holding a Sikh head impaled on his upright spear. Next followed Banda's elephant. A gold-laced red turban was placed on his head, and to add further mockery to his plight, a bright printed scarlet shirt was slipped on his body. Then came 740 prisoners (500 had been collected on the way). These men were chained in pairs and thrown across the backs of camels. Their faces were blackened, and pointed sheepskin or paper caps were clapped on their heads. Behind this line came the Mughal Commanders, Abdus Samad Khan, his son Qamar-ud-Din Khan, and his son-in-law Zakaria Khan. Their men lined both sides of the streets.
For seven days, executions were carried out, until all the ordinary captives had been disposed off. Their bodies were loaded on wagons and taken out of town to be thrown to the vultures. The heads were hung up on trees or on poles near the market-place to be a lesson to all rebels. The jailors next turned their attention to the 20 major leaders, including Baj Singh, Fateh Singh, Ali Singh and Gulab Singh. These men were tortured to the extreme and were asked to divulge the place where they had buried all the treasures that had been looted from Sirhind, Batala and other towns during their better days.
Failing to get any clues after three months, they prepared to put an end to their lives on Sunday, June 9, 1716. Banda's cage was again hoisted on top of an elephant, and he was dressed in the mock attire of an emperor, with a colourful red pointed turban on his head. His four-year old son, Ajai Singh was placed in his lap. The twenty chiefs marched behind the elephant and this procession then passed through the streets of Delhi, and headed for the mausoleum of Bahadur Shah, near the Qutub Minar. On reaching the graveyard, the captives were again offered a choice of two alternatives: conversion to Islam or death. All chose death. They were tortured again before being executed. Their heads were then impaled on spears and arranged in a circle around Banda who was now squatting on the ground. There were hundreds of spectators standing around watching this scene.
Banda was then given a short sword and ordered to kill his own son, Ajai Singh. As he sat unperturbed, the executioner moved forward and hacked the little child into pieces. Banda sat through all this without any display of emotion.
Mohammed Amin Khan, who was standing nearby remarked: "It is surprising that one, who shows so much acuteness in his features and so much of nobility in his conduct, should have been guilty of such horrors."
Banda replied, "Whenever men become so corrupt and wicked as to relinquish the path of equity and abandon themselves to all kinds of excesses, then Providence never fails to raise up a scourge like me to chastise a race so depraved; but when the measure of punishment is full then he raises up men like you to bring him to punishment."
On June 9, Banda Bahadur died when the executioner's axe fell on his neck.
[edit] Legacy
With Banda's death, the torch of the Khalsa was taken up by new warriors like Baba Deep Singh, Nawab Kapur Singh, Chhajja Singh, Bhuma Singh, Hari Singh Dhillon, Jassa Singh Ramgarhia, Jassa Singh Ahluwalia, Budh Singh, Naudh Singh and Charhat Singh Sukerchakia and others. The Age of the Dal Khalsa and the Sikh Misls (principalities) had dawned. Within ninety years, Ranjit Singh Sukerchakia united the Misls, captured Lahore and established the Sikh Kingdom of the Punjab.
[edit] See also
- Baba Deep Singh
- Hari Singh Nalwa
- Jassa Singh Ahluwalia
- Jassa Singh Ramgarhia
- Maharaja Ranjit Singh
- Nawab Kapur Singh
- Sawan Mal
[edit] References
- Banda Singh Bahadur
- Banda Bahadur
- Harbans Singh "The encyclopedia of Sikhism.
- Hari Ram Gupta "The Heritage of the Sikhs.
- Sohan Lal Suri "Umdat-ut-Tawarikh"
- Khushwant Singh "A History of the Sikhs, Volume I"
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