Review
Dr Balwant Singh Dhillon, Director, Centre on
Studies in Sri Guru Granth Sahib, who retired as
a Professor from Guru Nanak Studies Department of
Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, is a well
established author in Sikh literature. He has
published almost a dozen books on Sikh history
and Sikh religion. Banda Singh Bahadur is an
edited volume based on 21 original historical
sources in Persian. After reading the text in
Punjabi, I have come to the conclusion that no
historian of Sikh history has taken so much
trouble to search for original evidence about the
struggle of Banda Singh Bahadur to establish the
first Sikh rule in Punjab. Dr Dhillon has
retrieved facts and figures from all reliable
Persian sources, both contemporary and not so
contemporary, written in the era 1708-1800 (CE).
Karam Singh historian wrote his account of Banda
Singh Bahadur in 1907. He was the pioneer to use
Persian sources as evidence to record his
historical account. Dr Ganda Singh, the doyen of
Sikh historians, published his well researched
book, “Life of Banda Singh Bahadur” in 1935. Dr
Dhillon claims that most of the Sikh historians,
including Dr Ganda Singh and Dr J S Grewal, fail
to provide full references to available Persian
sources. He therefore extended his domain of
research to most extant Persian sources available
in the libraries of India, Pakistan and
England. These sources are Tarikh-i-Jahandar
Shah, Ibratnama (Kamraj-bin-Nain Singh), Shahnama
Munawar Kalam, Fatuhatnama-i-Samadi and many more
which refer to rise and fall of Banda Singh Bahadur.
The author has given an elaborate introduction to
his edited volume which is an abstract or summary
of his findings. He appreciates the Mughal
system of collecting news. These reporters were
sending all information to the central authority
at Delhi. These classified news diaries were
known as ‘Akhbar-i-Darbar-i-Mualla’. The only
contemporary Sikh source used by the author is
‘Amarnama’ of Dhadi Nath Mal. It is written in
Persian verse and gives an account of Guru Gobind
Singh’s meeting with Banda Singh Bahadur and
dispatching him to Punjab as leader of a mission
to destroy the Mughal empire root and branch.
The copies of these reports were secretly
collected by Rajput Maharajas through their
courtiers (agents) in the Mughal Darbar. The
author has made use of Jaipur Records kept in the
state archives in Bikaner. A letter addressed to
Mirza Raja Swai Jai Singh by Baba Banda Singh on
September 11, 1711, with a plea to join his
mission is cited by the author. I found almost
all Persian sources relate the story of Banda
Singh Bahadur in a similar vein, with a little
variation here and there. It is better to give a
brief account of salient features of this story under different headings.
1. Crusade of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur: The first
meeting between Guru Gobind Singh and Bairagi
Madho Das took place at Nander, on the banks of
the river Godavri, on 3rd September 1708. He was
baptized by the Guru and called Banda
Singh. After his conversion to Khalsa fold, he
was asked to proceed to Punjab to fulfil Tenth
Guru’s mission of liberating Punjab from the
oppressive rule of the Mughals. The Sikh
tradition believes that the main clause of his
mission was to teach a lesson to Wazir Khan, the
Subedar of Sirhind, who was responsible for
bricking alive the two younger Sahibzadas of Guru
Gobind Singh. Baba Banda Singh entered Punjab at
Kharkhoda, a place in between Rohtak and
Sonepat. He collected his followers from Malwa
region of Punjab and began his crusade at
Sonepat. Their next onslaught was Thanesar,
Mustafabad, Sadhaura, Ghuram, Samana and
Chhat-Banur. The Sikh crusaders under Baba Banda
Singh Bahadur’s leadership occupied areas of
Punjab lying between the rivers Jamuna and
Sutlej. The Muslim chieftains of these areas
were devastated and their land holdings were
distributed to cultivators of their lands. This
was a revolutionary step in the history of India
when the feudal system was abolished in Punjab.
The Sikh army under Banda Singh was not a regular
army but they were highly motivated to defeat and
destroy the oppressive regime of Mughals. After
winning some battles, they were itching to attack
Sirhind. Wazir Khan confronted Baba Banda Singh
at Chappar Chirri (near Landran and Mohali).
Wazir Khan was an experienced commander and
brought his elephants, artillery, cavalry and
infantry, supported by the Nawab of Malerkotla
and other Chieftains into the battlefield. The
army of Banda Singh was uprooted in the first
attack. Then Banda Singh himself jumped into the
fray and led the Sikh army from the front. A
ferocious battle took place in which Wazir Khan
was killed and his army defeated. Chappar Chirri
was a historical battle fought on May 12, 1710 in
which mighty Mughal army was defeated by the
Khalsa. Sirhind was occupied on 14th May by Baba
Banda Singh Bahadur. The Khalsa army devastated
Sirhind and killed all those courtiers who had
voted for the execution of the two younger
Sahibzadas of Guru Gobind Singh. The Persian
sources have called the Khalsa army as the
butchers of Sirhind as they destroyed the city
and killed its entire population. Some sources
claim that even pregnant Muslim women were not
spared. The Khalsa army wanted to avenge the
killing of younger Sahibzadas and Sirhind was
demolished brick by brick (fJZN Bkb fJZN yVek
fdZsh). In Sikh parlance it is called Guru-cursed Sirhind (r[o{ wkoh ;ofjzd).
2. Foundation of Khalsa Raj: After conquering
Sirhind, Banda Singh occupied Saharanpur, Buria,
Ambala, Shahbad Markanda and all areas upto
Panipat and beyond. He chose a place called
Mukhlisgarh (renamed Lohgarh) in the Shivalik
hills of Nahan state as his capital. Khalsa flag
was hoisted on the ramparts of Lohgarh fort and a
coin was struck in the name of Guru Nanak – Guru
Gobind Singh to commemorate the setting up of
first Khalsa Raj in Punjab. But this Khalsa
glory was short-lived. The Mughal emperor,
Bahadur Shah himself led the Mughal army and
attacked the Lohgarh fort. The Khalsa army
suffered heavy loses, the fort was destroyed by
the artillery but Banda Singh had a narrow escape
and could not be captured alive. The Mughal
chronicle writers believed that Banda Singh is a
magician who can change his appearance and escape
in any garb. There were many rumours in the
Mughal army that he can escape as an animal,
knows black magic and can disappear in no time.
The Khalsa army re-assembled to conquer areas of
Jallandhar Doab. Banda Singh set up his police
station (thana) at Rahon. He re-captured Lohgarh
again and hoisted the Khalsa flag.
Emperor Bahadur Shah died, Jahandar Shah was
killed and Farukhsiyar occupied the Delhi
throne. He appointed Abdus Samad Khan, the
Subedar of Lahore, to capture Banda Singh
alive. Abdus Samad Khan succeeded in his
mission. He surrounded the Khalsa army in a
fortress at Gurdas Nangal (near Gurdaspur) and
cut off all food and fodder supplies. The Khalsa
army was starved to death during this occupation
of 8 months (7th April 1715 to 7 December
1715). Those who survived this ordeal
surrendered before Abdus Samad Khan and made
prisoners of war. Banda Singh and 700 Sikh
soldiers of his army were brought to Delhi in
chains by Zakarya Khan and Kamrudin Khan. To
humiliate them, they were made to dress up as
clowns and wear sheep skin hats and presented to
Mughal emperor in Red fort on March 1, 1716, who
ordered the execution of captured Sikhs @ 100 per
day at Kotwali Chabutra in full public view. The
massacre of Sikhs started on March 6, 1716 and
continued for one week. They were given the
option to embrace Islam and save their
lives. Persian sources reveal that not a single
Sikh saved his life by accepting Islam. So much
so that a young Sikh boy whose mother got
reprieve for his son by making a false claim that
he is not a Sikh, offered his head to the
executioner telling him that his mother was a
liar. Finally, Banda Singh and his
comrades-in-arms, like Baj Singh and Fateh Singh,
were executed on June 9, 1716 in Mehrauli. Banda
Singh was ordered to kill his 5 year old son,
Ajay Singh. When he refused to do so, the jalad
(executioner) thrust a dagger into Ajay Singh’s
stomach, killed him and thrust his quivering
heart into the mouth of Banda Singh. After that
Banda Singh was blinded, his body was cut into
pieces and he died as the Khalsa of Guru Gobind Singh Ji.
3. Highlights of Banda Singh Bahadur’s compaign:
a) Baba Banda Singh created the first Khalsa
commonwealth of Guru Gobind Singh ji’s dreams in Punjab.
b) He abolished feudal system of Jagirdari and
established democracy and Panchayati raj.
c) He has been wrongly assigned the title of
Guru by the Mughal chronicle writers. They
created a myth that Guru Gobind Singh’s spirit
has entered his body. He was represented as Guru-incarnate for the Sikhs.
d) All chronicle writers used most derogatory
epithets for Banda Singh and his comrades. They
call him God-cursed (oZph efjo dk wkfonk),
magician (ikd{ro, pj[-o{ghnk), Kafir (ekfco),
characterless (pd-feodko) and leader of low
castes (pdiks), dogs and pigs (;r ns/ ;{o). Both
Hindu and Muslim chronicle writers call Sikhs as dogs (;r, e[Zs/) .
e) Even when they hate Banda Singh and his
comrades in strongest terms, Khafi Khan is all
praise for their courage and bravery. They died
to the last man rejecting all offers of saving
their lives. Their dead bodies were hanged from
tree tops on all entry points to Delhi to create
a fear psychosis among the public.
f) It is unfortunate that fissures appeared in
followers of Banda Singh Bahadur. They split
into two groups: Bandais and Tat Khalsa. This
may be one of the reasons of their defeat at the hands of Abdus Samad Khan.
g) Jaipur Records establish that Banda Singh
wrote letters to Rajput Maharajas to join his
crusade for uprooting the Mughal Empire. He wrote
a letter to Mirza Raja Swai Jai Singh on
September 11, 1711 but got no moral or physical support.
h) In campaign of Lohgarh and Gurdas Nangal,
Hindu Rajas of Shivalik hill states supported the
Mughal army by men and materials. They proved to
be traitors to the noble cause of Banda Singh
Bahadur. Banda fought for liberation of India but
Indians preferred the slavery of Mughals!
End Note: No reliable information is available
about the fate of Raj Kumari Rattan Kaur, wife of
Banda Singh Bahadur. Khushal Chand in
Tarikh-i-Mohammad Shahi (1740 CE) writes that she
was put under the tutelage of Dakhani Begum in
Red Fort. She embraced Islam and went on
pilgrimage to Mecca. Conflicting accounts have
been given by Dr Sukhdial Singh (Abstracts of
Sikh Studies, Vol. XIV, Issue 2, 2012). Sikh
historians must trace her roots to bring out the truth. |