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Sikhs history - Banda Singh Bahadur Era
Banda Singh's original name was Madho Dass and he had many
spiritual powers. He renounced the world lived in Nanded, South
India. Guru Gobind Singh Ji reached there in 1708 and preached
to him that renouncing the world may not be the right path, when
the poor are being treated unfairly by the rich in this world.
He became the Guru's follower and got baptized and changed his
name to Banda Singh. Guru Ji sent him to Punjab in northern
India, along with 5 Sikhs to fight the tyrants. He came to
Punjab, collected an army and started attacking the small rulers
of villages and towns. Ultimately, he had enough soldiers to
fight with the ruler of Sirhind, who had mercilessly killed the
two innocent young children of Guru Gobind Singh Ji. The Sirhind
army was composed of 25,000 men with cannons and elephants.
Banda Singh had a smaller army with no artillery. But Banda
Singh's army had something which other side lacked. They were
ready to fight with religious fervor and to avenge the deaths of
two innocent children of Guru Gobind Singh Ji. There was a
fierce fight outside of Sirhind. Originally the Sirhind army
started moving forward due to their superiority. Then Banda
Singh prayed and used one of the five arrows given to him by
Guru Gobind Singh Ji, who asked him to use them during these
times. It tilted the scales. Now Banda Singh's army started
moving forward. Ultimately, Banda Singh led his army to victory
in that battle. He entered Sirhind and punished the cruel
rulers. The ruler of Sirhind got killed, as with many of his
advisors. He established the first Sikh kingdom. He made his
close advisors the rulers of Sirhind and other towns. He
established a new fort near Nahan and gave it a name of Lohgarh.
That became Banda Singh's capital.
Banda Singh ruled only short time but he made a great
contribution for the poor people of Punjab. He ordered that
ordinary peasants, who were doing agricultural work for the
landlords, will actually be the real land owners. So he helped
the poor and downtrodden people. He started his own currency in
the name of Guru Nanak -- Guru Gobind Singh Ji. Banda Singh's
kingdom stretched all the area of Punjab between Delhi and
Lahore.
The Emperor of Delhi didn't like Banda Singh's rise. He ordered
the Lahore ruler to collect all the army and attack Banda Singh.
The Hindu and Muslim rulers of other towns and cities also
obeyed to emperor's orders and joined the Lahore army. Banda
Singh was in the Gurdaspur area when he was attacked from all
sides. The Sikhs fought with bravery, but they were encircled
from all sides. Ultimately, they fell back to Gurdas Nangal
fort. There they remained encircled for eight long months. They
ran out of ammunition and all rations. Many died due to hunger.
The remaining were half dead due to hunger. Ultimately they were
made prisoners in December 1715.
Banda Singh and 740 of his associates were brought to Delhi as
prisoners. There they were given the choice to embrace Islam or
get ready to die. All of them refused the forced conversion and
were ultimately killed. Banda Singh and his four year old
innocent child were brought out of prison. They were given the
same choice but they refused. Ultimately Banda Singh's four year
old son was killed and his the child's heart was forcibly put
into Banda Singh's mouth. Then he was killed limb by limb. He
was martyred in 1716.