Baba Banda Singh Bahadar

[jassa]

the very same thing was tried on tat khalsa then in amritsar .... but they mughals were not able to make them fool .... mughals want them to stay at one place .... they even offered them money ....

but chardikalla singhs never stayed at one place they were moving ....

[Bundha]

From 1713 to 1715 Bandha stayed in the remote hills of Jammu, now called Dera Baba Bandha Singh, it lies on a bend in the river Chanab. The Sikhs were regrouping and taking stock of their weapons and horses. Then suddenly in 1715 Bandha and his men appeared on the plains below Jammu and headed for Kalanaur. Suhrab Khan the commander of Kalanaur headed an impressive force of soldiers but were overrun and the victors headed towards Batala, which was also taken.

Alarmed at this news the emperor mobilised the largest force he could muster to head off the Sikhs. On being informed of the extensive preparations underway, Bandha chose to take a stand half-way between Batala and Kalanaur. When the combined Moghal forces and the heavily outnumbered Sikhs clashed, Bandha stood his ground and in the first encounter fought to heroically that he came very near to victory. Hard pressed, he made cunning use of the terrain to maks constant changes in position. Khafi Khan records that ‘ the infidels fought so fiercely that the army of Islam was nearly overpowered, they over and over again showed the greatest daring.’

Inevitably, the Khalsa had to fall back to Gurdas Nangal and hastily built fortifications. Even in the annals of those violent times, the siege of Gurdas Nangal, which lasted eight months, stands out as an epic event. Hopelessly out numbered, starving, sick and suffering the besieged force fought back with heroism and tenacity which earned the begrudging admiration of the enemy. When the end came it was due to sheer hardship. When the grass and leaves that the Sikhs had lived on had ran out and the bark of the trees which they had ground to make flour also ran out and with men dying of starvation, Gurdas Nangal was overrun on 17 December 1715.

[Bundha]

William Irvine describes the course of events in his Political History of the Sikhs :

‘Every day a hundred brave men perished and at night their headless bodies were loaded into carts, taken out of the city and hung on trees. It was not until June 9, 1716 that Bandha himself was lead out to execution, all efforts having failed to buy him off. They took him away to the old city where the red Qutb Minar lifts its proud head of white marble over the crumbling walls of the Hindu fortress. Here they paraded him around the tomb of the later emperor, Bahadur Shah and put him to barbarous death. First they placed his child in his arms and bade him to kill it. When he refused they ripped open the child infront of his fathers eyes, thrust his quivering flesh into Bandhas mouth, with hot pincers they tore out his eyes and hacked him to pieces limb by limb.’

The historian Kamwar Khan writes :

‘It was by the grace of God and not by wisdom or bravery that this came to happen. It is known to everyone that the late emperor and his four sons and numerous generals had made efforts to repress this rebellion, but it was all fruitless, and now that the infidel of the Sikhs and a few thousand of his companions have been starved into surrender.’ (Taskira-Salatin Chughtiya, 179.)

So ended the life of a man who is seven short years had so mocked the might of the Moghals with his victories that they could never again reassert their authority over the land they once ruled with such confidence. Though their numbers were tiny compared to the Moghal forces, Bandha and his men had taken control of extensive territories and established the first independent Sikh state complete with it’s royal seal, its own coins and an administrative system. In the absence of first hand written accounts by Sikh chroniclers, the reporting of Muslim and other observers has led to a very distorted picture of Bandha and exaggerated tales of atrocities committed by his followers , painted by people resentful of his meteoric rise.

Bandha Singh was a great man and leader with immense innocence of heart. He possessed good conduct in abundance, he was courageous and intelligent and wanted to infuse the spirit of self-confidence and honour in his followers. He was neither a religious Guru of the Sikhs and nor pretended to be. He was appointed their temporal leader .

Guru Gobind Singh Ji had not only foreseen the inherent weakness of the decaying Moghal empire, Guru Ji had also accurately assessed Bandhas potential for carrying out the Khalsa’s mission of asserting Sikh authority in Punjab. Even though the brutality of the Moghal rulers and the genocide of the Sikhs would reach new levels after Bandhas death, there was no longer any question of curbing the growth of Sikh power. Much blood would be spilt before the Khalsa fulfilled its destiny, but the way ahead had been shown by Bandha Singh Bahadur, or Bandha Singh the Brave, as all Sikhs admiringly call him.

[N30S1NGH]

Only thing I heard regarding baba banda singh ji bahudar was he didnt follow hakum of sri guru gobind singh ji not to marry because of obvious reasons stated by bunda veer ji, but he end up marrying and end up having a kid, turks capture his son and infront of baba banda singh bahudar ji ripped his son heart and fed his heart to baba ji himself. dont know how true is that.

If anyone can verify this, that be great?

[jassa]

yep thats true .....

he was a great jarnail no doubt in that .... he killed suba sirhand and all the dokhis of guru ghar .... but his ghamand of being un defeated drowned him .... he started disrespecting singhs .... he started giving his charan paul .... he banned use of garlic and onion in langer .... he himself started wearing red clothes and told his bandai khalsa to do so ....

and he realised his mistake when he was caught .... then he remembered what was the hukam of guru and what he had done ....

[Bundha]

<<< but his ghamand of being un defeated drowned him .... he started disrespecting singhs >>>

This is a complete fallacy. Baba Ji was a pooran gursikh, he took his strength from Guru Maharaj Ji himself, he could never disrespect Sikhs.

Many false things have been written about Baba Ji, it pains me that such a Gursikh who gave avery drop of his blood to Sikhi and we doubt him.

The following is by C. R. Wilson, the author of the 'Early Annals of the English in Bengal', has given in the second volume, part II, the following description of the entry of Banda Singh and his fellow captives into Delhi on February 27, 1716, based on the articles of William Irwine on the 'Political History of the Sikhs' (Asiatic Quarterly, January 1894, pp. 420-31 ) and 'Guru Gobind Singh and Bandah' (Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal for 1894, part I, pp. 112-43). He says:

The ceremonial on this occasion was copied from that observed after the capture of the Maratha Sambhaji. Malice did its utmost to cover the vanquished with ridicule and shame. First came the heads of the executed Sikhs, stuffed with straw, and stuck on bamboos, their long hair streaming in the wind like a veil, and along with them to show that every living creature in Gurdaspore had perished, a dead cat on a pole.

The teacher himself dressed out of mockery in a turban of red cloth, embroidered with gold, and a heavy robe of brocade, flowered with pomegranates, sat in an iron cage, placed on the back: of an elephant.

Now, because the mughals captured Bundha Ji and dressed him in red suddenly it turns into "Bundha Singh used to dress in red ........." it is shame uon us that we cannot totally beleive in our own heros, rather we dissrespect them.

Tell me, if we so disrespect Guru Gobind Singh Ji's chosen Sikh, then will Guru Je be waiting for us on the other side?

I doubt it.

[jassa]

simple ... banda bahadur started giving his charan paul or not ?????

yes or no

[chatanga]

what is your basis for saying Baba Banda Singh giave charan pahul?

[isl]

Only thing I heard regarding baba banda singh ji bahudar was he didnt follow hakum of sri guru gobind singh ji not to marry because of obvious reasons stated by bunda veer ji, but he end up marrying and end up having a kid, turks capture his son and infront of baba banda singh bahudar ji ripped his son heart and fed his heart to baba ji himself. dont know how true is that.

If anyone can verify this, that be great?

John Surman and Edward Stephenson

INTRODUCTORY NOTE

The paragraph which refers to the arrest and massacre of the Sikhs at Delhi in 1716 is extracted from a letter dated Delhi, March 10, 1716, written by Messrs. John Surman and Edward Stephenson to the Hon'ble Robert Hedges, President and Governor of Fort William, etc., Council in Bengal. These gentlemen and their Secretary, Hugh Barker, were then present in the Mughal capital as ambassadors of the East India Company's Council in Bengal to the Court of Emperor Farrukh-Siyar. Under instructions of their principals, the ambassadors maintained a regular Diary of the events and transactions at the royal court, and wrote to Calcutta to keep the headquarters informed of the political and other developments there. This letter of March 10, 1716, was read at a consultation at Fort St. George on Tuesday, 5th June, 1716, and is to be found in the Madras Diary and Consultation Book for 1715 to 1719, No. 87, Range 237, in the India Office (now Commonwealth Relations Office), London. It is also reproduced in C. R. Wilson's The Early Annals of the English in Bengal, volume II, part II (Calcutta, 1911), pp. 96-98, and in J. T. Wheeler's Early Records of British India, p. 180.

The chief of the Sikhs, Banda Singh, referred to in the letter as 'the great Rebel Gooroo', was originally an ascetic sadhu of the bairagi order. He was initiated into the Sikh order of the Khalsa in September 1708 by Guru Gobind Singh at Nander in the Deccan where he had gone in connection with the negotiations that had been going on with Emperor Bahadur Shah (1707-12) since July 1707. There the Guru was stabbed by a Pathan from Sirhind in the last week of September 1708, and he died of his wound on October 6-7. The line of the Sikh Gurus that had begun with Guru Nanak (1469-1539), the founder of Sikh religion, came to an end with the tenth and the last Guru Gobind Singh who bequeathed spiritual heritage of Sikhism to the Sikh holy book, Guru Granth Sahib, and the temporal leadership of the Sikhs to the general body of the Khalsa.

Before the death of the Guru, however, Banda Singh, with the renewed zeal and vigour of a new convert, had left for the Panjab, not as Guru or the Sikhs but as commander of the forces of the Khalsa. Here the Sikhs gathered round him in large numbers and in the summer of 1710 he was soon able to carve out a small Sikh kingdom which, later, paved the way for the freedom of the country from under the Mughal yoke. But the Mughal empire was too strong for the infant power of the Sikhs under Banda Singh. He was captured in December 1715, during the reign of Emperor Farrukh-Siyar, under whose orders he was carried to Delhi as a prisoner along with 694 other Sikhs. Here they were all, with exception of Banda Singh and a few chosen leaders, executed in the maidan opposite the Chandni Chauk Kotwali at the rate of a hundred a day beginning on March 5, 1716. The turn of Banda Singh himself and his associates came three months later on June 9, when he was taken out to the Qutb Minar and torn to pieces near the tomb of Emperor Bahadur Shah.

C. R. Wilson, the author of the 'Early Annals of the English in Bengal', has given in the volume II, part II, pp. xlii-xliii, the following description of the entry of Banda Singh and his fellow captives into Delhi on February 27, 1716, based on the articles of William Irwine on the 'Political History of the Sikhs' (Asiatic Quarterly, January 1894, pp. 420-31 ) and 'Guru Gobind Singh and Bandah' (Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal for 1894, part I, pp. 112-43). He says:

The ceremonial on this occasion was copied from that observed after the capture of the Maratha Sambhaji. Malice did its utmost to cover the vanquished with ridicule and shame. First came the heads of the executed Sikhs, stuffed with straw, and stuck on bamboos, their long hair streaming in the wind like a veil, and along with them to show that every living creature in Gurdaspore had perished, a dead cat on a pole.

The teacher himself dressed out of mockery in a turban of red cloth, embroidered with gold, and a heavy robe of brocade, flowered with pomegranates, sat in an iron cage, placed on the back: of an elephant. Behind him stood a mail-clad officer, with a drawn sword. After him came the other prisoners, seven hundred and forty in number, seated two and two upon camels without saddles. Each wore a high fool's cap of sheepskin and had one hand pinned to his neck, between two pieces of wood. Many were also dressed in sheep skins with wooly side turned outwards. At the end of the procession rode three great nobles, Muhammad Amin Khan, sent by the emperor to bring in the prisoners, (From Agharabad to the Lahori gate of the palace] Kamr-ud-Din, his son, and Zakariya Khan, his son-in-law, who being also the son of Abd-us-Samad Khan had been deputed to represent his father at the ceremony.

The road to the palace, for several miles, was lined with troops and filled with exultant crowds, who mocked at the teacher and laughed at the grotesque appearance of his followers. They wagged their heads and pointed the finger of scorn at the poor wretched as they passed. 'Hu! Hu!, infidel dog-worshippers, your day has come. Truly retribution follows on transgression, as wheat springs from wheat, and barley from barley.' Yet the triumph could not have seemed complete. Not all the insults that their enemies had invented could rob the teacher and his followers of their dignity. Without any sign of dejection or shame, they rode on, calm, cheerful, even anxious to die the death of martyrs.

Life was promised to any who would renounce their faith, but they would not prove false to their Guru, and at the place of suffering their constancy was wonderful to look at. 'Me, deliverer, kill me first' was the prayer which constantly rang in the ears of the executioner.

One there was, a young man, an only son, whose widow mother had made many applications to the Mughal officers, declaring that her son was a Sikh prisoner, and no follower of the Guru. A release was granted and she hastened to the prison-house to claim her son. But the boy turned from her to meet his doom crying, 'I know not this woman. What does she want with me? I am a true and loyal follower of the Guru.' For a whole week the sword of the executioner did its butcher's work. Every day a hundred brave men perished and at night the headless bodies were loaded into carts, taken out of the city, and hung upon trees.

It was not till June 19 [sunday, the 29th Jamadi-ul-Akhir, 1128 A.H., June 9, 1716 O.S.] that Banda himself was led out to execution, all efforts having failed to buy him off. They dressed him, as on the day of his entry, set him again on an elephant, and took him away to the old city, where the red Qutb Minar lifts its proud head of white marble over the crumbling walls of the Hindu fortress. Here they paraded him round the tomb of the late emperor Bahadur Shah, and put him to a barbarous death. First they made him dismount, placed his child in his arms and bade him kill it. Then, as he shrank with horror from the act, they ripped open the child before its father's eyes, thrust its quivering flesh into his mouth and hacked him to pieces limb by limb.

The authors of the despatch John Surman and Edward Stephenson (and the Secretary, Hugh Barker) were, evidently, eyewitnesses of the dreadful massacre of the Sikhs at Delhi in March recorded by them. The executions began on March 5, five days before the date of the despatch, March 10, when a few hundred Sikhs had yet to be executed. This paragraph of the despatch, therefore, is of great historical value to the students and scholars of history. The last sentence regarding the unflinching devotion of the Sikhs to their faith under the severest of trials is very significant. Except for the number of the Sikh prisoners, which Muhammad Hadi Kamwar Khan gives as 694 in his 'Tazkirat-us-Salatin', the despatch of the English ambassadors is in full agreement with the writings of the other eye-witnesses and contemporaries. The reader interested in futher study of the exploits and achievements of Banda Singh is referred to 'Life of Banda Singh Bahadur' published in 1935, and the bibliography appended to it.

Dr Ganda Singh

Letter XII

The Honourable Robert Hedges Esq.,

President & Governor of Fort William. & Council in Bengal.

Honourable Sirs. etc..

We wrote your Honour on the 7th ultimo since which we have received no letters.

The great Rebel Gooroo [banda Singh] who has been for these 20 years so troublesome in the Subaship [suba] of Lahore is at length taken with all his family and attendance by Abd-us-Samad Cawn the Suba [subedar. i. e., Governor] of that province. Some days ago they entered the city laden with fetters, his whole attendants which were left alive being about seven hundred and eighty all severally mounted on camels which were sent out of the City for that purpose, besides about two thousand heads stuck upon poles. being those who died by the sword in battle. He was carried into the presence of the King, and from thence to a close prison. He at present has his life prolonged with most of his mutsuddys in the hope to get an Account of his treasure in the several parts of his Kingdom, and of those that assisted him, when afterwards he will be executed, for the rest there are 100 each day beheaded. It is not a little remarkable with what patience they undergo their fate, and to the last it has not been found that one apostatised from his new formed Religion.

Dilly

March the 10th , 1716 We are,

Honourable Sir & Sirs,

Your most obedient humble servants,

John Surman,

Edward Stephenson.

Cojee Seerhaud assenting.

Hugh Barker. Secretary.

Source:Early European Accounts of the Sikhs, Dr Ganda Singh

[Guest Narinder Singh]

simple ... banda bahadur started giving his charan paul or not ?????

yes or no

No, and if you say he did, prove it. And dont go on about "this granth says this" and so on, many of these historical granths written contradict each other, keep that in mind also.

You people have a deep rooted agenda to destroy Baba Ji's reputation at any cost, make up all the lies you want, but at the end of the day, you will have to answer to Guru Sahib.

You have proven nothing in your posts, yet you've made a bunch of claims without backing them up. Its like the RSS that says Guru Gobind Singh Ji worshiped Shiva, can they prove it, no, so why believe it.

Fateh.