On 27 October 1670, a braveheart named Lachman Dev Bhardwaj was born to a farmer Ram Dev at Rajouri in Jammu and Kashmir in a Dogra Rajput family. However, before becoming a warrior who defeated Mughals and killed thousands of Jihadis, he was an ascetic. In his early teenage years, he saw a deer dying with pain. The sight made him very uncomfortable and compelled him to renounce his comfortable life. At the tender age of 15, he left his home and became a ‘bairagi’ (ascetic). He learnt yog sadhna and became a yogi named Madho Das Bairagi. He went on to build a monastery at Nānded, on the bank of the river Godāvarī.
In 1708, Guru Gobind Singh visited Madho Das Bairagi and asked him to become Sikh and fight cruel and barbarous Mughals. Madho Das accepted his proposal and was given a new name Banda Singh Bahadur by Guru Gobind Singh. He became a disciple of Guru Gobind Singh and was given five arrows by the Guru as a blessing for the battles ahead. He began fighting Mughals in Khanda in Sonipat by gathering a fighting force in the battle of Sonipat. In November 1709, his first major action took place when he sacked the Mughal provincial capital in the battle of Samana and captured the Mughal city of Samana (30 km southwest of Patiala).
He was against the prevalent zamindari system so soon after establishing his authority and Khalsa rule in Punjab, he granted property rights to the tillers of the land. Samana was famous for minting coins and Sikhs became financially stable with this treasury. After this, the Sikhs captured Mustafabad (now Saraswati Nagar) and Sadaura (both places in present Yamunanagar district, Northern eastern Haryana). Later on, they captured the Cis-Sutlej areas of Punjab, including Malerkotla and Nahan.
Afterwards, in the Battle of Chappar Chiri, the Sikhs under the leadership of Banda Singh Bahadur killed Wazir Khan on 12 May 1710. Wazir Khan was the Governor of Sirhind and responsible for the martyrdom of the two youngest sons of Guru Gobind Singh, Sahibzada Zorawar Singh and Sahibzada Fateh Singh. Two days later, the Sikhs captured Sirhind. From here on, Banda Singh controlled territory from the Sutlej to the Yamuna.
Banda Singh Bahadur showed his administration skills and developed the village of Mukhlisgarh and made it his capital. He then renamed it to Lohgarh (fortress of steel) where he issued his own mint. He briefly established a state in Punjab for half a year. Banda Singh sent Sikhs to Uttar Pradesh and Sikhs took over Saharanpur, Jalalabad, Muzaffarnagar and other nearby areas. In the battle of Sadhaura, he defeated the Sayyids and Shaikhs.
The rising power of the Sikhs throughout the entire Punjab east of Lahore led to hindrance in communication between Delhi and Lahore, the capital of Punjab. This
worried Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah. The power of Banda Bahadur worried him so much that he gave up his plan to vanquish rebels in Rajasthan and marched towards Punjab. The entire Mughal force was organized to defeat and kill Banda Singh Bahadur. Bahadur Shah directed all the generals to join the Emperor's army. On 29 August 1710, Bahadur Shah issued an order to all Hindus to shave off their beards to make sure that there were no Sikh agents in the army camps.
When the Mughal army marched to Sirhind under the orders of Munim Khan, Banda Singh was in Uttar Pradesh and the Mughal forces had already captured Sirhind and the adjoining areas before the return of Banda Singh. This is why the Sikhs moved to Lohgarh for their final battle. The Sikhs showed true valour and defeated the army. However, Mughals called reinforcements and they laid siege on the fort with a mammoth 60,000 troops in comparison to a few thousand troops. However, the shrewdness of Sikhs helped Banda Singh Bahadur escape when Gulab Singh dressed himself in the garments of Banda Singh and seated himself in his place.
Banda Singh left the fort at night and went to a secret place in the hills and Chamba forests. The failure of the army to kill or catch Banda Singh shocked Emperor Bahadur Shah. On 10 December 1710, an infuriated Bahadur Shah ordered that wherever a Sikh was found, he should be murdered. Banda Singh Bahadur wrote Hukamnamas to the Sikhs to reorganize and join him at once. While Bahadur Shah's four sons were killing themselves for the throne of the Mughal Emperor, Banda Singh Bahadur recaptured Sadhaura and Lohgarh.
Farrukh Siyar, the next Mughal Emperor, appointed Abdus Samad Khan as the governor of Lahore and Zakaria Khan, Abdus Samad Khan's son, the Faujdar of Jammu. In 1713 the Sikhs left Lohgarh and Sadhaura and went to the remote hills of Jammu and where they built Dera Baba Banda Singh. During this time Sikhs were being persecuted by Mughals in the Gurdaspur region. Banda Singh came out and captured Kalanaur and Batala (both places in modern Gurdaspur district) which rebuked Farrukh Siyar to issue Mughal officials and chiefs to proceed with their troops to Lahore to reinforce his army.
Execution
In March 1715, the army under the rule of Abd al-Samad Khan, the Mughal governor of Lahore, drove Banda Bahadur and the Sikh forces into the village of Gurdas Nangal, 6 km to the west of city Gurdaspur, Punjab and laid siege to the village. However, the bravery and perseverance of Sikhs knew no limits. Under conditions of great hardship, they defended the small fort for eight months. Unfortunately, on 7 December 1715, the Mughals broke into the starving garrison and captured Banda Singh and his companions.
Banda Singh Bahadur was put into an iron cage and the remaining Sikhs were chained. The Sikhs were brought to Delhi in a procession with the 780 Sikh prisoners, 2,000 Sikh heads hung on spears, and 700 cartloads of heads of slaughtered Sikhs used to terrorise the population. They were put in the Delhi fort and pressured to give up their faith and become Muslims. The prisoners remained unmoved. On their firm refusal these non-converters were ordered to be executed.
Every day Mughals brought 100 Sikh soldiers out of the fort and slaughtered them in public. This went on for approximately seven days. Banda Singh Bahadur was ordered to kill his four-year-old son, Ajai Singh, which he refused to do. So, the savage Jihadis butchered Ajai Singh and cut out his heart and thrust it into Banda Bahadur's mouth. Despite going through such inhumane torture, his resolution did not break and did not lose his patience. On 9 June 1716, after three months of confinement, Banda Singh's eyes were gouged out, his limbs were severed, his skin removed, and then he was killed.
Battles fought by Banda Singh
Battle of Sonipat
Battle of Samana
Battle of Chappar Chiri
Battle of Sadhaura
Battle of Lohgarh
Battle of Jammu
Battle of Rahon, (1710)
Battle of Jalalabad (1710)
Battle of Gurdas Nangal or Siege of Gurdaspur
Battle of Sirhind
Baba Banda Singh Bahadur War Memorial
To salute and relish the heroism of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur, a war memorial was built where the Battle of Chappar Chiri was fought. The 328 feet tall Fateh Burj was dedicated to Banda Singh Bahadur who led the army and defeated the Mughal forces. The Fateh Burj is taller than Qutub Minar and is an octagonal structure.
Comments