Baba Banda Singh Bahadur (1670-1716)

●Born in a Rajput family.

• Childhood name -Lachhman Das.

• Disciple of Guru Gobind Singh
 Taught basic principles of Sikhism and baptised him.
 Christened as ‘Banda Singh’.

● Famous saint soldier of Guru Govind Singh.

• Accomplishments:

 Captured large part of Punjab and established first Sikh rule – Khalsa Republic – as instructed by Guru Gobind
Singh.
 Early 18th century -struggle against the Mughal Empire in Northern India.
 1710 to 1716 – 3 battles against Mughals – brief confrontation – shook their foundations.
 Rise of Sikh power.
 1710 – Attacked Mughal provincial capital, ‘Sirhind’.  Banda Bahadur destroyed the city and killed its governor Wazir Khan.
 Fought for freedom and protection of poor &
marginalized people, and upliftment of all sections.
 Abolished the zamindari system in Punjab.
 Granted proprietary rights to the actual tillers of the land.
 Banda Singh Bahadur became the first ruler of the world to abolish feudal system, much earlier than the French Revolution.

 Lohgarh/Lokgarh fort – one of the most important places in Sikh history.
 1709-10 – Khalsa Rajdhani – Baba Banda Singh Bahadur declared it the capital of the first Sikh state.
 Largest Fort in the world – recent archaeological research.
 Epicenter – spread in almost 7000 acres.
 Almost 70 to 80 years to construct.
 Said that its construction was started Guru Hargobind Sahib.
 3 major battles fought between Sikhs and Mughals.
 After the arrest of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur, the fort was captured and finally
demolished by the Mughals.
 Fort is of National importance.

 Minted coins in the names of Guru Nanak Dev ji and Guru Gobind Singh ji.
 Inscribed Lohgarh as Khalsa Takth.

• Death of Baba Banda Singh
 Faruksiyar – Delhi’s emperor and ordered
the capture of Banda Singh.
 Captured in December 1715.

 Banda singh along with the 700 soldiers were taken to Delhi and tortured to convert to Islam – none of them converted.
 Cruelly executed in 1716.

• Known and celebrated in Bengal -Rabindranath Tagore wrote a poem titled Bandi Bir