Guru Tegh Bahadur Gurdwara Sikhi Class

Baba Banda Singh Bahadur’s name was Lachman Das when he was born. He was a very active and energetic child.

He really enjoyed wrestling, horseback riding and hunting.

As a young man, Lachman Das would go hunting with his bow and arrow. One day, he saw a deer and shot it with his arrow.

As the deer painfully died, Lachman Das looked with shock and sadness when he saw that the deer he had shot was pregnant with twins.

He saw the twins and their mother suffer and die right in front of him.

This incident had a very big impact on Lachman Das. He decided to never hunt again.

He left his home and avoided talking to people. He wanted to become more religious.

Eventually, Lachman Das met a Sadhu (Saint) called Janaki Das who showed him how to meditate.

Lachman Das became a follower of Janaki Das, who changed his name from Lachman Das to Madho Das.

In 1708, Madho Das had built a hut in which he would sit for hours meditating. Madho Das had a lot of ego as he had developed spiritual powers. People began following and worshipping Madho Das.

One day, Guru Gobind Singh Ji came across Madho Das’ hut. Madho Das was not home when Guru Sahib arrived. Guru Sahib ordered the Singhs to start cooking food in Madho Das’ hut to annoy him.

One of the followers of Madho Das went to him and told him “A man and his followers have entered your hut and they’ve started cooking food using your cauldrons”.

Madho Das got angry and he told his followers “I will use my powers to call that man here and then I will teach him a lesson”.

Madho Das tried to use his powers but they did not work against Guru Sahib as Guru Sahib is the most powerful.

Instead, Guru Sahib called upon Madho Das and told him “Life is not about meditating to get spiritual powers, it is about conquering the mind. You have to kill your ego Madho Das”.

Madho Das was shocked and he got really scared as he had never met someone more powerful than him. Madho Das went to his hut where he met Guru Sahib.

Guru Sahib told Madho Das “Over the years, you have travelled so far and you have come to stay here to meditate. But what sort of Saint are you who hides in the jungles and allows innocent people to be killed by the evil Mughals. You need to start your journey again by stepping into the world and helping those in need".

Madho Das was shocked as Guru Sahib told him about his life as a child and the time he killed a pregnant deer.

Madho Das got down on his knees and Guru Sahib asked him “So Madho Das, tell me, who are you?”. Holding his hands together, Madho Das replied “I am your Banda (slave)”.

A few days later, Guru Gobind Singh Ji held an Amrit Sanchaar in which Madho Das took Amrit and was given the name Banda Singh Bahadur by Guru Sahib himself.

After the Amrit Sanchaar, Guru Gobind Singh Ji gave Baba Banda Singh Bahadur 5 gold tipped arrows to show that he will lead the Khalsa army as it punishes the evil people who enjoy hurting and killing innocent people.

Guru Sahib selected 5 Singhs to help Baba Ji and Guru Sahib told Baba Banda Singh Bahadur “You will listen to these 5 Singhs and you cannot disagree with them”.

25 other Singhs were also selected who would travel with Baba Ji on their journey of freeing the people of Punjab.

Baba Ji and the Khalsa army went from town to town and killed the evil leaders who hurt and killed the innocent people of that town.

After taking over a town, Baba Ji would gather all the wealth and distribute it equally to the people of the town.

The aim of Baba Ji and the Khalsa army was to reach Sirhind. This is where Wazir Khan, the murderer of the Sahibzaade, ruled and lived.

The Khalsa army reached Sirhind in 1710 and this is when the Khalsa army faced Wazir Khan’s army (Battle of Sirhind).

The Sikhs fought bravely and managed to kill thousands of Wazir Khan’s Men. Many Sikhs also got Shaheed that day.

During the battle, Baba Ji got the chance to fight Wazir Khan himself and eventually Wazir Khan was beheaded by Fateh Singh.

Wazir Khan’s head was put on a spear and the Singhs roared “Bole So Nihaal! Sat Sri Akaal!”.

The Mughals were shocked and they ran away from the battle as they saw Wazir Khan’s head.

Baba Banda Singh Bahadur placed a Nishan Sahib at Sirhind and the Khalsa had taken over.

Baba Ji also went on to kill Sucha Nand and the 2 brothers, Shashel Beg and Bashel Beg, who had bricked and killed Baba Zorawar Singh Ji and Baba Fateh Singh Ji.

In 1710, the Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah (son of Aurengzeb) moved his large army towards Punjab to kill all the Sikhs, including Baba Banda Singh Bahadur.

The Khalsa army killed many of the Mughals and they fought bravely even though the Mughal army was a lot bigger.

The Khalsa army may have killed many Mughals but Bahadur Shah had ordered the Governors of other states to send their army towards Punjab.

Baba Ji knew that many Sikhs would lose their lives if they remained in Sirhind so Baba Ji and the Khalsa army moved to Lohgarh Fort.

By 1713, the Mughal army got very big and Baba Ji and the Khalsa army left Lohgarh Fort and moved to Gurdas Nangal. Here, they had to survive with very little food and they were constantly being attacked by the Mughals.

After many months, in 1715, the Mughals finally got hold of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur and the 200 Singhs that were still with him.

Every Mughal was scared of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur as they knew that Baba Ji was not a normal human, he was someone with spiritual powers.

For this reason, the Mughals put chains around Baba Ji’s wrists and ankles, locked him in a cage and always had someone guarding in case he escapes using his powers.

After Baba Ji was captured, Zakaria Khan became the new Governor of Lahore. Zakaria Khan ordered his men to collect the heads of every Sikh they saw. Baba Ji and the 200 Singhs were taken to Lahore and then Delhi.

Baba Ji’s cage was put on top of an elephant and a parade was carried out in Delhi to show that the Mughals had killed all the Sikhs.

In the parade, behind the elephant, were 700 Singhs and 200 Mughals who were each holding a spear with the head of a Sikh on it.

After arriving at Delhi, Baba Ji was kept in a cage. The other 700 Singhs had the choice of converting to Islam or getting their head chopped off. All 700 Singhs accepted death happily.

The 700 Singhs were lined up to be beheaded but it was chaos as every Singh would push in the line and say “Me! Kill me first! Please!”.

The Singhs thanked Vaheguru for giving them the opportunity to give their life for Sikhi. They were all Shaheed that day.

In 1716, another parade was carried out where Baba Ji was dressed up to look like an Emperor and his 4-year-old son, Ajai Singh, was placed in his laps.

Behind the elephant, carrying Baba Ji, were a few hundred Singhs. They were taken to a graveyard where they were asked to convert. They all accepted death.

The Singhs were tortured and beheaded. Their heads were placed on spears and arranged in a circle around Baba Ji to scare Baba Ji.

Then, Baba Ji was given a small dagger and asked to kill his son, Ajai Singh. Baba Ji sat calmly in bliss and continued to jap the Naam, Vaheguru.

Suddenly, the executioner ran towards Baba Ji’s little 4-year-old son, Ajai Singh, and with a sword cut Ajai Singh into two in front of Baba Ji.

Everyone looked at Baba Ji, expecting a reaction, but he had the same blissful expression on his face just as Guru Gobind Singh Ji did when his older sons were Shaheed in the Battle of Chamkaur.

The executioner then carried on cutting Ajai Singh into pieces and he threw the pieces at Baba Ji’s face.

Baba Ji remained in bliss chanting Vaheguru. Then, Ajai Singh’s heart was put in Baba Ji’s mouth but Baba Ji still remained calm knowing that his time to merge with Vaheguru has come.

Finally, the executioner moved to Baba Ji and with a dagger cut Baba Ji’s eyes out. Baba Ji remained still and everyone watching was shocked as Baba Ji felt no pain.

The executioner got angry and cut Baba Ji’s legs off and then his arms, Baba Ji remained calm.

Then, red-hot pincers were used to pierce through Baba Ji’s flesh and blood gushed out of Baba Ji’s body.

When the executioner ran out of torture methods , Baba Ji’s body was cut up into pieces and this is when Baba Ji left their body and went to Sach Khand to merge with Vaheguru.