Dera Baba Banda

  Dera Baba Banda is not only a major pilgrimage centre for Sikhs but attracts people from other faiths also. It has a Gurudwara built by Baba Banda Bairaagi on the banks of river Chenab. He was Guru Gobind Singh`s favourite `Saint-soldier`. Pilgrims in great number especially from North India throng this place in the month of April to participate in the three-day annual mela. This place is around 300-year-old. The historic gurdwara at Dera Baba Banda Bahadur has the samadhi of Banda Bahadur. Here the ashes of Banda Bahadur are also kept, along with an arrow given by Guru Gobind Singh to Banda. Other attractions include number of weapons and a huge sword used by Banda during wars. Every year an average of 30,000 devotees, from all over northern India, visit throughout the year and especially on the occassion of Vaishakhi, when a three day mela is held.

Banda Singh Bahadur (born Lachman Dev Bhardwaj )  October 1670 – 9 June 1716, Delhi), was a Sikh military commander who established a Sikh state with capital at Lohgarh (Haryana). At age 15 he left home to become an ascetic, and was given the name ‘’Madho Das’’. He established a monastery at Nānded, on the bank of the river Godāvarī, where in September 1708 he was visited by, and became a disciple of, Guru Gobind Singh, who gave him the new name of Banda Singh Bahadur after initiating him into the Khalsa. Armed with the blessing and authority of Guru Gobind Singh, he came to Khanda in Sonipat and assembled a fighting force and led the struggle against the Mughal Empire. Guru Gobind Singh also appointed five Sikhs (Baj Singh, Binod Singh, Ram Singh, Daya Singh, Kahan Singh) to assist him.

His first major action was the sacking of the Mughal provincial capital, Samana, in November 1709.After establishing his authority in Punjab, Banda Singh Bahadur abolished the zamindari system, and granted property rights to the tillers of the land. He was captured by the Mughals and tortured to death in .

There are different views regarding the origin of Banda Singh Bahadur:

• The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism, published by the Punjabi University, Patiala, states that he was born at Rajauri in Jammu Kashmir, the son of Ram Dev, a ploughman of the Mohyal Brahmin family.
• The Mahan Kosh, a Sikh encyclopaedia compiled by Bhai Kahan Singh Nabha (Bhasha Bibhag Punjab, Patiala), states that he was a Minhas Rajput, either from Rajouri in Jammu region or Doaba region of Punjab.
• Giani Budh Singh, Poonch scholar, in his book Chhowen Rattan, described Banda Singh Bahadur as a Bairagi Brahmin and his parents were Brahmins
• Harjinder Singh Dilgeer in his book Sikh Twareekh (1469–2007) (published by Singh Brothers Amritsar, in 5 volumes in 2008) narrates that Banda Singh was a Rajput born in 1670. At the age of 16 he left his home and joined the party of wandering Hindu ascetics (sadhu). He spent two years with two Bairagi sadhus (Janki Das and then Ram Das)and hence got his last name Bairagi. He then joined Baba Lunia, near Burhanpur. In 1696, he met Guru Gobind Singh at Kankhal, near Haridwar but this was a short meeting. After this, Sri Guru Gobind Singh visited him in August 1708. Dilgeer's account is challenged by some Sikh authorities.
• After a meeting with Guru Gobind Singh on 3 September 1708, he became a Sikh. The Guru ordered him to go to Khanda and fight the Mughals with the help of the Sikh army in Kaithal.
  In 1709 he defeated Mughals in the Battle of Samana and captured the Mughal city of Samana, killing about 10,000 Mohammedans.
  Samana minted coins. With this treasury the Sikhs became financially stable. The Sikhs soon took over Mustafabad and Sadhora (near Jagadhri).The Sikhs then captured the Cis-Sutlej areas of Punjab, including Malerkotla and Nahan.
  On 12 May 1710 in the Battle of Chappar Chiri the Sikhs killed Wazir Khan, the Governor of Sirhind and Dewan Suchanand, who were responsible for the martyrdom of the two youngest sons of Guru Gobind Singh. Two days later the Sikhs captured Sirhind. Banda Singh was now in control of territory from the Sutlej to the Yamuna and ordered that ownership of the land be given to the farmers, to let them live in dignity and self-respect.
• Banda Singh Bahadur developed the village of Mukhlisgarh, and made it his capital. He then renamed it to Lohgarh (fortress of steel) where he issued his own mint. The coin described Lohgarh: "Struck in the City of Peace, illustrating the beauty of civic life, and the ornament of the blessed throne".
  He briefly established a state in Punjab for half a year. Banda Singh sent Sikhs to the Uttar Pradesh and Sikhs took over Saharanpur, Jalalabad, Muzaffarnagar and other nearby areas, bringing relief to the repressed population. In the regions of Jalandhar and Amritsar, the Sikhs started fighting for the rights of the people. Banda Singh Bahadur captured Rahon after defeating Mughals in the Battle of Rahon . Sikhs used their newly established power to remove corrupt officials and replace them with honest ones.
• The rule of the Sikhs over the entire Punjab east of Lahore obstructed the communication between Delhi and Lahore, the capital of Punjab, and this worried Mughal Emperor Bahadur ShahHe gave up his plan to subdue rebels in Rajasthan and marched towards Punjab.
  The entire Imperial force was organized to defeat and kill Banda Singh Bahadur. All the generals were directed to join the Emperor's army. To ensure that there were no Sikh agents in the army camps, an order was issued on 29 August 1710 to all Hindus to shave off their beards.
  Banda Singh was in Uttar Pradesh when the Moghal army under the orders of Munim Khan marched to Sirhind and before the return of Banda Singh, they had already taken Sirhind and the areas around it. The Sikhs therefore moved to Lohgarh for their final battle. The Sikhs defeated the army but reinforcements were called and they laid siege on the fort with 60,000 troops. Gulab Singh dressed himself in the garments of Banda Singh and seated himself in his place.
  Banda Singh left the fort at night and went to a secret place in the hills and Chamba forests. The failure of the army to kill or catch Banda Singh shocked Emperor, Bahadur Shah and On 10 December 1710 he ordered that wherever a Sikh was found, he should be murdered. The Emperor became mentally disturbed and died on 18 February 1712.
  Banda Singh Bahadur wrote Hukamnamas to the Sikhs to reorganise and join him at once. In 1712, the Sikhs gathered near Kiratpur Sahib and defeated Raja Ajmer Chand, who was responsible for organizing all the Hill Rajas against Guru Gobind Singh and instigating battles with him. After Bhim Chand's dead the other Hill Rajas accepted their subordinate status and paid revenues to Banda Singh. While Bahadur Shah's four sons were killing themselves for the throne of the Mughal Emperor,Banda Singh Bahadur recaptured Sadhaura and Lohgarh. Farrukh Siyar, the next Moghal Emperor, appointed Abdus Samad Khan as the governor of Lahore and Zakaria Khan, Abdus Samad Khan's son, the Faujdar of Jammu.
  In 1713 the Sikhs left Lohgarh and Sadhaura and went to the remote hills of Jammu and where they built Dera Baba Banda Singh.During this time Sikhs were being persecuted especially by Mughals in the Gurdaspur region. Banda Singh came out and captured Kalanaur and Batala which rebuked Farrukh Siyar to issue Mughal and Hindu officials and chiefs to proceed with their troops to Lahore to reinforce his army.
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