Banda Singh Bahadur reaches Punjab and wins at Samana

Who: Banda Singh Bahadur, the former ascetic Madho Das, whom Guru Gobind Singh sent north from Nanded with five Sikhs and the emblems of authority; the Sikhs who rallied to him in Punjab; and the Mughal-ruled town of Samana.

What: At Nanded on 3 September 1708 Banda met Guru Gobind Singh, called himself the Guru's banda (slave), took the vows of the Khalsa and the name Banda Singh. The Guru gave him a drum, a banner and five arrows, and sent him north with five companions, Binod Singh, Kahan Singh, Baj Singh, Daya Singh and Ram Singh, to punish the Mughal faujdar of Sirhind. As he reached Punjab, Sikhs rallied to his standard, and Ram Singh and Tilok Singh, ancestors of the Phulkian rulers, gave material help. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism says that within two months 4,000 to 5,000 horsemen and 7,000 to 8,000 foot had volunteered.

On 26 November 1709 Banda attacked Samana and destroyed it. It was the hometown of Jalal-ud-Din, the executioner of Guru Tegh Bahadur, and of the two men who had volunteered to behead Guru Gobind Singh's two young sons at Sirhind. He then took Ghuram, Thaska, Shahabad and Mustafabad, and razed Kapuri, whose faujdar was notorious for persecuting Hindus and Sikhs. Next came Sadhaura, whose chief had tortured to death the Muslim saint Sayyid Buddhu Shah for helping Guru Gobind Singh at Bhangani. Banda took this roundabout route to wait for Sikhs of the Doaba and Majha to join him before he marched on Sirhind.

Where: Samana, an old town about 30 km southwest of Patiala. The same area had once given refuge to Guru Tegh Bahadur: while imperial soldiers pursued him, a local Muslim noble of Sufi leanings, Muhammad Bakhsh, took him to his own house at Garhi Nazir, 3 km away.

Why it mattered: Samana is the first town the Encyclopaedia names in the campaign that took Sirhind on 14 May 1710 and made Banda, in its words, the first to seize territory for the Khalsa. It was an answer to named wrongs, the killing of the Guru and of the Sahibzade, and the towns he moved against next, Kapuri and Sadhaura, were singled out for persecuting Hindus, Sikhs and a Muslim saint who had helped the Guru. The Encyclopaedia adds that Banda was liberal towards Hindus and Muslims, many of whom joined him. The Encyclopaedia gives 26 November 1709 for the attack; some accounts give 28 November.