Banda Singh Bahadur; born Lachman Dev;[3][1][4] (27 October 1670 – 9 June 1716), was a Sikh warrior and a general of the Khalsa Army.

[1] After establishing his authority and the Sikh Republic in Punjab,[6][page needed] Banda Singh Bahadur abolished the zamindari (feudal) system, and granted property rights to the tillers of the land.

Not much is known about his early life other than the fact that Banda Singh was fond of hunting and shooting and learned the arts of horseriding, wrestling, archery, and swordsmanship at a young age and quite quickly.

It was in these villages that Banda Singh sent letters to the Sikh communities in the Majha, Doaba, and Malwa regions of Punjab to join him on his campaign against the Mughal authorities.

[21] Banda Singh with a force of 500 soldiers lead an attack on Sonipat which war near the imperial capital Delhi.

Along the way Banda Singh lead an attack on a Mughal detachment near Kaithal that was carrying imperial treasure headed to Delhi.

Banda Singh and the Sikhs fought a hard battle, but being mostly footmen compared to the Mughal cavalry were facing losses.

[25] Banda Singh decided to head east towards Kiratpur in order to liberate Sikhs of Majha and Doaba held up in Malerkotla and Ropar.

[26][27][28] Banda Singh heard about Kapuri's Zamindar Qadam-ud-din, his reportedly immoral life[29] and persecution of Hindus and Sikhs.

Sadhaura was ruled by Osman Khan, who tortured and executed the Muslim saint Syed Pir Budhu Shah, for helping Guru Gobind Singh in the Battle of Bhagnani.

[40] The Sikhs were planning to wage dharamyudh against the city of Sirhind, its Governor Wazir Khan and Dewan Sucha Nand, to avenge Mughal oppression and the execution of the two young children of Guru Gobind Singh.

[47] On the other hand, Banda Singh's army was ill-equipped with long spears, arrows, swords, without artillery and elephants and insufficient amount of horses.

[46][51] This motivated the Sikh force who shouted, "Waheguru ji ki Fateh" (Victory belongs to the Wondrous Enlightener) as they charged against the Mughals and their elephants.

Sikhs yelled out war cries of "Sat Sri Akaal" (True is the Timeless Lord) as they fell upon Sirhind.

[63] The coin described Lohgarh: "Struck in the City of Peace, illustrating the beauty of civic life, and the ornament of the blessed throne".

[73] In 1712, the Sikhs gathered near Kiratpur Sahib and defeated Raja Ajmer Chand,[74] who was responsible for organizing all the Hill States 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.

[76] In 1713 the Sikhs left Lohgarh and Sadhaura and went to the remote hills of Jammu and where they built Dera Baba Banda Singh.

[78] Banda Singh came out and captured Kalanaur and Batala (both places in modern Gurdaspur district[79] which rebuked Farrukh Siyar to issue Mughal and Hindu officials and chiefs to proceed with their troops to Lahore to reinforce his army.

[82] The Sikhs defended the small fort for eight months under conditions of great hardship,[83] but on 7 December 1715 the Mughals broke into the starving garrison and captured Banda Singh and his companions.

[94] Banda Singh Bahadur is known to have halted the Zamindari and Taluqdari system in the time he was active and gave the peasants proprietorship of their own land.

[96] Local tradition recalls that the people from the neighborhood of Sadaura came to Banda Singh complaining of the iniquities practices by their feudal lords.

[97] In 1714, a resolute effort was envisaged by Farrukh Siyar to suppress Banda's rebellion, who was evading capture despite significant Mughal endeavors and investment of resources.

At first, Mata Sundari (Guru Gobind's widow) was asked to persuade Banda to stop his lawlessness and expedition against the Mughals in exchange for jagirs and recruitment for Sikh soldiers into the imperial army.

[98][99][100][101] Mata Sundari's intervention led to half of Banda's followers (approximately fifteen thousand) abandoning him prior to the siege of Gurdas Nangal.

[102][103][104] Disputes between the Tat Khalsa and the Bandais primarily included topics including Banda's abandonment of the traditional blue robes in favor of red ones, his insistence on vegetarianism, his observance of caste rituals, and his replacement of the prescribed Sikh slogan with "Fateh Darshan", as well as concerns over excesses committed by Banda's troops during their campaign of retribution against the Mughals.

[116]However Hari Ram Gupta notes that the term "Sri Sacha Sahiba" found in Banda Singh's writings was used to only refer to God and the Guru and not himself.

[117]Ganda Singh also concurred that Banda invented his own salutation and prohibited the consumption of meat, likely motivated by his Bairagi background as opposed to the customs of the Khalsa.

[118]According to Purnima Dhavan, while Banda did reiterate support of the Khalsa rahit in his hukam-namas, he also revered the values of vegetarianism and customs associated with the Hindu elite, made appeals to a collective Hindu and Sikh religion, and omitted prior orthodox Sikh sentiments and apprehensions about the Khalsa's interactions with other groups.

The 328 feet tall Fateh Burj was dedicated to Banda Singh Bahadur who led the army and defeated the Mughal forces.