ਸ਼ਹਾਦਤ ਬੰਦਾ ਸਿੰਘ ਬਹਾਦਰ | Martyrdom Banda Singh Bahadur, Sikh Military Leader, Life Story, Sikh Martyrs

Martyrdom Banda Singh Bahadur

Sikh Military Leader, Life Story, Sikh Martyrs

Banda Singh Bahadur, first Sikh military leader to wage an offensive war against the Mughal rulers of India, thereby temporarily extending Sikh territory. As a youth, he decided to be a samana (ascetic), and until 1708, when he became a disciple of Guru Gobind Singh, he was known as Madho Das.

Baba Banda Singh Bahadur (16 October, 1670 - 9 June, 1716) (Lachhman Dev alias Madho dass Bairagi), originally from the Jammu region, is revered as one of greatest Sikh warriors as well as one of the most hallowed martyrs of the Khalsa Army.

The Khalsa were engaged in a prolonged fight against the cruel Mughals, who were practising their tyranny and terrorism. His confrontation with the Mughal administration in Northern India, though brief, was strong and vigorous enough to shake the foundations of this evil empire.

The agrarian uprising that he led in the Punjab was the underpinning on which the Dal Khalsa, the Sikh Misls and Maharaja Ranjit Singh built the edifice which finally culminated with Ranjit Singh capturing Lahore in 1799 and establishing the Sikh Kingdom of the Punjab. This resulted in the end of a dark period in the history of India.

Baba Banda Singh Bahadur was born in a Minhas Rajput family on October 16, 1670 at Rajouri in the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir, Northern India; he was named Lachman Dev. Wrestling, horseback riding, and hunting were his major hobbies. He was a very active and energetic child.

However, as a young man, he shot a doe and was shocked to watch the mother and her aborted fawn writhing in pain and dying. After this gloomy scene, he had a change of heart. This experience moved him so much that he completely changed his outlook to life. He left his home and became a recluse. Soon, he met a Bairagi Sadhu, Janaki Das and became his disciple.

The Sadhu gave him the name, Madho Das. In the company of the Sadhus he travelled through Northern India and then finally arrived at Nanded (in present-day Maharashtra) in central India, situated on the bank of the river Godavari, where he built a hut to meditate upon God.