Person · Sikh military commander
Banda Singh Bahadur
Also known as Banda Bahadur, Banda Singh, Lachman Dev, Madho Das
An ascetic at Nanded whom Guru Gobind Singh sent north in 1708 with authority over the Khalsa. He took Sirhind in 1710, struck coin in the Gurus' name and abolished the zamīndāri system in the territory he held, giving land to those who worked it. Captured and executed at Delhi in 1716.
- Date
- 1670 – 1716
- Function
- Military & resistance
- Tradition
- Sikh and Mughal chronicles
- Confidence
- Established / referenced
Worth knowing
The land settlement is the part usually left out: for a few years in the eastern Punjab the peasant cultivator held the land outright, which is why the episode is read as the first Sikh state rather than as a raid.
Connections (2)
- Life routeHazūr Sāhib, Nanded
Banda was an ascetic at Nanded when Gobind Singh met him in 1708 and sent him north with five arrows and letters of authority. Within two years he had taken Sirhind, struck coin in the Gurus' names and abolished zamīndāri in the country he held. For a few years in the eastern Punjab the peasant cultivator held his land outright, which is why the episode is read as the first Sikh state rather than as a raid.
- CampaignAnandpur Sāhib
Banda's campaign of 1709 to 1715 ran out of the Shivalik country around Anandpur, and its land settlement is the part usually left out: for a few years the peasant cultivator in the eastern Punjab held his land outright. He was captured at Gurdas Nangal and executed at Delhi in 1716.
Sources
Wikipedia, “Banda Singh Bahadur”. The subject’s own writings where they survive, and the standard biographical literature.
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