Opinion on Banda Singh

[Arsh1469]

I don't want this to be a debate just a place where we can share our opinions on the heroic or evil Banda Singh (Heard people say he didn't take amirt)

IMHO he was bad. Genocideal man who drifted off the Gurus path and made himself a Guru.

(That was a terrible opinion by me long ago. I have changed how I see Baba Banda Singh Ji Bahadur now. Please forgive me for the nindya.

[ChardikalaUK]

I think he said himself that he went overboard with the killing and the looting and that is why he met such a violent death. At the end of the day he laid the foundations of the coming Sikh Empire and put a real dent in the Mughal Empire.

 

[Premi5]

6 hours ago, Arsh1469 said:

I don't want this to be a debate just a place where we can share our opinions on the heroic or evil Banda Singh (Heard people say he didn't take amirt)

IMHO he was bad. Genocideal man who drifted off the Gurus path and made himself a Guru.

Why would Dasam Patshaahi entrust Banda Singh Bahadur with leading the kaum if he was 'bad'. I think you need to think carefully about where your sources are from

Maybe the 'bad' actions were intended by the Gurus to ensure  Sikhs would not view Him as a 'Guru' in succession to our Gurus, who came in human form but were flawless 

[MisterrSingh]

4 hours ago, Arsh1469 said:

I don't want this to be a debate just a place where we can share our opinions on the heroic or evil Banda Singh (Heard people say he didn't take amirt)

IMHO he was bad. Genocideal man who drifted off the Gurus path and made himself a Guru.

So Guru Sahib was unaware of the future propensities of Baba Banda Singh when they conferred the de facto leadership of the Panth upon him? I thought they were jaani-jaan?

[dallysingh101]

I think our whole perspective of Banda Singh has been coloured by the contemporary sources we've been compelled to use for his history i.e. Persian. They are full of derogatory comments about him and Singhs in general. 

 

Recently Balwant Singh Dhillon published English translations of contemporary Rajastani sources that were unknown to the panth before. These do not have all the derogatory comments. 

I think he was a great leader and set the precedent  for taking on and defeating larger, better equipped moghul forces in full scale battles.  

[intrigued]

Contemporary sources do not paint the picture of Tat Khalsa and Bandai Khalsa that we think of today. Tat Khalsa was the "political party" of Ajit Singh Palit - the adopted son of Guru Gobind Singh. Ajit Singh Palit was honored by the Mughals during Banda Singh's time. Bandai Khalsa was the group of Sikhs with Banda Singh that would free the villages. While there were indeed some people who believed that Banda Singh was the next Guru, it wasn't the mindset of all of Bandai Khalsa.

[Arsh1469]

(Gone)

[Arsh1469]

1 hour ago, dallysingh101 said:

I think our whole perspective of Banda Singh has been coloured by the contemporary sources we've been compelled to use for his history i.e. Persian. They are full of derogatory comments about him and Singhs in general. 

 

Recently Balwant Singh Dhillon published English translations of contemporary Rajastani sources that were unknown to the panth before. These do not have all the derogatory comments. 

I think he was a great leader and set the precedent  for taking on and defeating larger, better equipped moghul forces in full scale battles.  

Can you provide the name of the text he translated.

[Arsh1469]

I just have to say love Banda hate Banda you have to admit that he had a huge influence in Sikh History.

[Arsh1469]

3 hours ago, MisterrSingh said:

So Guru Sahib was unaware of the future propensities of Baba Banda Singh when they conferred the de facto leadership of the Panth upon him? I thought they were jaani-jaan?

Guru Sahib knew someone would assassinate them they accepted hukam. Guru Ji knew that someone working at Anandpur would betray him and get his children and mother killed but he didn't change it he accepted hukam.