Banda Singh Bahadur (Punjabi: ਬੰਦਾ ਸਿੰਘ ਬਹਾਦਰ)(1670–1716) was a Sikh warrior and martyr. A Minhas Rajput, he became part of struggle against the Mughal Empire in the early eighteenth century, after meeting Guru Gobind Singh. Guru Gobind Singh gave him the new name of Banda Singh Bahadur. He is best known for the sack of the Mughal provincial capital, Sirhind, and is revered as one of the most hallowed martyrs of the Khalsa.
His brief agrarian uprising against the Mughal administration in the Punjab region of northern India was a critical event in the development of the Dal Khalsa and the Sikh Misls, which eventually led to Ranjit Singh capturing Lahore in 1799 and establishing the Sikh Kingdom of the Punjab.
After establishing his authority in Punjab, Banda Singh Bahadur abolished the zamindari system, and granted property rights to the actual tillers of the land.

Early life

Banda Singh Bahadur was born in a Minhas Rajput family, on October 16, 1670 at Rajouri in the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir. He was named Lachman Dev. Wrestling, horseback riding, and hunting were his major hobbies. 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. He left his home and became a disciple of a Bairagi Sadhu, Janaki Das, who gave him the name, Madho Das. In the company of the Sadhu he traveled through Northern India and finally arrived at Nanded (in present-day Maharashtra), situated on the bank of the river Godavari, where he built a hut to meditate upon.

Banda's Mission

Guru Gobind Singh hoped that Emperor Bahadur Shah would fulfill his promise against the Governor of Sirhind, and his accomplices for persecuting the people of Punjab. It was the Governor of Sirhind who had captured and murdered the Guru's mother, Mata Gujri and his two younger children, Sahibzada Zorawar Singh and Sahibzada Fateh Singh, for their continued refusal to convert to Islam. The promise was made by Bahadur Shah to the Guru earlier, when Shah asked the Guru to help him consolidate his rule over India, following the death of his father, Emperor Aurangzeb. Guru Gobind Singh had rendered help to Bahadur Shah in the war of succession after the death of Aurangzeb, in which Bahadur Shah emerged as a victor. Bahadur Shah never carried out his promise. He may have been reluctant to do so or unable to do so during his delicate rule. The Guru was disappointed with duplicity of new Muslim ruler even though he and his Sikhs had been traveling with the Emperor to the Deccan, the Guru decided to part ways with the Muslim ruler for once again betraying Sikhs. Earlier 9th Sikh Guru had been brutally murdered by Bahadur Shah's tyrant and fanatically orthodox Islamist father Aurangzeb.
In a few days, the Guru held a darbar and administered Pahul (ceremonial initiation into Khalsa) to Madho Das and naming him Gurbaksh Singh (beloved by the Guru). He appointed him as his jathedar (military commander) and invested him with full political and military authority as his deputy to lead the campaign in the Punjab against the Muslim and Mughal administration, to avenge the murders of Sikh gurus and their families and innocent civilian followers by Muslims, and to punish Nawab Wazir Khan and his supporters for these inhumane crimes.
The Guru gave Banda five arrows from his quiver by as a symbol of temporal authority. He was given an advisory council of the following five devoted Sikhs (Hazuri Singhs), who on their arrival in the Punjab were to assure the Sikhs that Banda was the Guru's nominee and deputy and to organize them in order to lead an expedition against Muslims and Sirhind to avenge the atrocities against Sikhs:
Bhagwant Singh Bangeshri, a cousin of Bhai Mani Singh
Baj Singh, brother of Bhagwant Singh Singh
Kuir Singh singh, brother of Bhagwant Singh Singh
Dharam Singh
Fateh Singh
(These names appear in 'Guru Kian Sakhin' written in 1790 by Swarup Singh kaushish).
Twenty five soldiers were to accompany Banda from Nanded to Punjab. A Hukumnamah (edict) by the Guru, instructing Sikhs to join Banda Bahadur in his struggle against Muslim tyrant Wazir Khan (Mughal Goverener of Punjab) was provided. As an insignia of the temporal authority vested in him, the Guru also gave Banda Bahadur his own sword, green bow, nagara (War drum) and a Nishan Sahib (religious sign as sign of divine approval for churshing Muslims for preservation of the local native Indian dharma). Three hundred Sikh Risaldari ( cavaliers) in battle array accompanied Banda up to a distance of eight kilometres to give him a final send off.