End Of Baba Banda Singh

[Bijla Singh]

The following is taken from Ibratnama written by Mirza Muhammad. He was employed by Aurangzeb at the court in 1703. His work contains narratives of political events from 1703 to 1719. It is a long text but the following paragraph deserves some attention.

On this day [of their arrival] I went to the Salt Market to witness the event and accompanied them from there to the Imperial Fort. Of the people of the city there were few who did not come to see the humbling of those rebels. Large crowds gathered in every lane and market such as had seldom appeared before. The Muslims were in a happy and festive mood. Yet many of those ill-fated ones [the Sikhs], who had come as prisoners in this condition, insisted on standing fast by their villainy. There was no sign of humility and submission on their faces. Rather most of them riding on the camels’ backs kept singing and reciting melodious verses. If anyone in the lanes and bazaars reminded them of the cruelties they had committed, which brought them to this condition, they gave immediate and manly retorts, and attributed their capture and humiliation to the doings of fate. If anyone told them that they would now be executed, they replied, “Let them kill us! We do not fear death. Had we feared it, how could we have fought so many battles with you? We have fallen in your hands only because of hunger and lack of provisions; otherwise, you would have come to know of our bravery far more than has been witnessed till now.”

The following is an extract from letter of John Surman and Edward Stephenson from Delhi to Robert Hedges, President and Governor of Fort William, Council in Bengal, dated 10 March 1716. John and Edward received the details of Baba Banda Singh from Mughal officials which is why he calls him “Goroo” otherwise there is no proof that Baba Ji claimed such titles for himself. He always remained a devout Sikh.

The great rebel Goroo who has been for these twenty years so troublesome in the Subaship of Lahore is at length taken with all his family and attendance by Abdell Summed Cawn (Khan), the Suba of that province, some days ago they entered the city loaded with fetters, his whole attendance which were left alive being about seven hundred and eight 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 the 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 hopes 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 apostatized from this new formed Religion.

It is clear that Sikhs were bold and strong in their faith even in the face of death. The reason of their capture was that they ran out of supplies and when they were arrested they were “half men half dead” as Muhammad Qasim (in Ibratnama written in 1723) puts it. It is thus clear that capture of Baba Banda Singh and Sikhs was not because he turned his back on Guru Sahib’s words but lack of supplies. Also, imperial forces were too strong for him. Sikhs never gave up their faith which proves that they were indeed absorbed in Naam and love for the true Guru. There are numerous other eye witness accounts which give lot more details about battles and activities of Baba Banda Singh but common misconceptions that he declared himself “Guru” and turned back on Sikhi are no where found in contemporary sources. He was a great gursikh and made a great sacrifice for the true cause. Let’s not belittle his name.

[Laadli Fauj]

akaalo

[immortalshaheed]

He may of called himself guru but thats not the point, if he did then he took his punishment like a devout true sikh and a singh of guru gobind singh. therefore theres no problem, he was a gursikh!!

[jassa]

otherwise there is no proof that Baba Ji claimed such titles for himself.

actually there are many

almost all sikh historical texts written by sikh scholars till the time of british raj which covers the story of banda bahadar claims that

creation of bandai khalsa

bandai khalsa vs tatt khalsa

mata jis letter to banda bhadur to come to delhi and his reply back

banda bhadars gaddi still going on in kashmir area with linage from banda bhadur till today

fathe darshans drowning and vahegurujikakhalsa vahegurujikifathe floating in amrit srover at harimandar sahib ... when bhai mani singh settled the issue between them regarding the control of sri amritsar sahib ...

banda bhadar died as a sikh no question in that but he also projected himself as guru for some time which is proven ...

[guptveer1469]

AKAALLL

banda bhadars gaddi still going on in kashmir area with linage from banda bhadur till today

So true. I've heard that there are still a few Bandai Sikhs in Hissar area of Haryana which he he also ruled amongst other areas...

[Quest4Akal]

Its funny that I stumbled across this because I just heard this katha. In the katha what jassa above is saying is true however the kathavachik states that banda singh never called himself guru. That was done after his passing. After that bhai mani singh had to come with the tatt khalsa and deal with the bandai khalsa whos leader at the time was claiming guruship. They did it in two ways. First by parchia writing fateh darshan on the bandai khalsa parchi which was there version of fateh. And writing Waheguru ji ka khalsa waheguru ji ki fateh on the second parchi. When they put it in the soravar both settled to the bottom however after waheguru ji ka khalsa waheguru ji ki fateh parchi came to the top. After that the fake guru protested and they did a wrestling match between a big banda khalsa jiwan and a skinni khalsa jiwan singh. In which the khalsa singh won. After which the fake guru protested again but a khalsa singh at this point cut his head off with one stroke. But nowhere in the katha does he say that banda singh was the orchastrater of any of this as all this happened after he passed.

[guptveer1469]

Brother, could u please tell by who this katha is?

[Bijla Singh]

actually there are many

almost all sikh historical texts written by sikh scholars till the time of british raj which covers the story of banda bahadar claims that

No Sikh source is as authentic as contemporary sources. Sikh sources were written later.

creation of bandai khalsa

bandai khalsa vs tatt khalsa

This doesn’t prove Baba Ji claimed to be a Guru. After his martyrdom, some declared him the Guru but Baba Ji himself remained a gursikh.

mata jis letter to banda bhadur to come to delhi and his reply back

Letters and hukamnamas written by Baba Ji prove that he remained a Khalsa and instructed others to do the same.

banda bhadars gaddi still going on in kashmir area with linage from banda bhadur till today

His descendents believe in Guru Granth Sahib. Dr. Ganda Singh has written a detailed account on how they live and what they believe in. Believing in Baba Banda Singh as a Guru ended soon after the battle near Darbar Sahib.

fathe darshans drowning and vahegurujikakhalsa vahegurujikifathe floating in amrit srover at harimandar sahib ... when bhai mani singh settled the issue between them regarding the control of sri amritsar sahib ...

True but this only shows how some took Baba Ji as their Guru. Baba Raam Singh always remained a Sikh but his followers, Naamdharis, have started a cult after his name. Similarly, some Sikhs misused Baba Ji’s name. There is no proof that he was the one to call himself a Guru and start a separate sect.

banda bhadar died as a sikh no question in that but he also projected himself as guru for some time which is proven ...

It is not proven. None of the Persian sources written during that time till 1734 make such claims.

[THE WARRIOR]

Whatever may be the case we all acknowledge that Guruship ended with Guru Granth Sahib ji, we can never categorically establish the truth surrounding Baba Banda Ji so much of our history is corrupted. What we do know, do understand and agree on he without any question was a fundamental character who with respect has engrained himself in Indian history. Whatever the case he clearly experienced life, pain and death without detracting from his staunch belief for that he commands respect from every opinion. So often we project opinions from our own life experiences, we cannot possibly understand the upheaval and turbulent climate that was experienced back then they experienced life at a totally different level to what we think we may know. To know of something and to experience something are worlds apart.

[xHarinder_singh]

In my personal opinion, after Baba Budha Jee, Baba BAnda Singh Jee Bahadur was the greatest gursikh of the panth.

To say that he called himself Guru is NINDIYAA, and SHAME on people who spread this propaganda that Baba Jee became a Guru.