236 SKETCH OW THE SffiaS. 



first treated witii every: kind of obloquy anxi' msuk, 2&i then; executed^ 

 A Muhammedan writer* relates the intrepidi,ty wi^h which these.; Sikh 

 prisoners, but particularly their leader, Banda, met death. « It is sin- 

 '\ gular,'' he writes, " that these people not only behaved firmly during 

 *^ the execution, but they v/ould dispute and wrangle with each other who 

 " should suffer first, and they made interest with the executioner to ob- 

 ^^ tain the preference. Banda," he'continues, «* was at last produced, his 

 ** son being seated in his lap. His father was ordered to cut his throat, 

 *' which he did,^ without uttering one word. Being then brought nearer 

 *^ tiie magistrate's tribunal, the latter ordered his flesh to be torn off with 

 *« red hot pincers, and It was in those moments he expired; his black 

 «' soul taking its flight, by one of those wounds, towards the regions, for 

 " which it was, so well fitted." 



, Xhus perished Banda; who, though a brave and able leader, was one 

 ®f the most, cruelj, and ferocjous of men, and endeavored to impart to his 

 Jbliowe^rsthat .f&elingof; mercile&sres^tmejit. which he cherished against 

 ^ewhofe MK^^?|E7^fJ^#;race, whom he ap^^ars, to h?iye thought account- 

 ^bje^for the cruelty and qppresision of a few. individwals of the persuasion .-f 



Though the Sikhs , from being animated by^ a similar fe-eling^ and enr- 

 couraged by his first successes, followed Ba^da to the field; they do not 

 revere his meiriory ; an^ he is termed, by some of their authors, a heretic, 



'' * The an tlior of the Sefr M^^i^oMer^?^, 



. i It is necessary, however, .to;sJ;ate^;tli|t4^5a°e:K SiM^jWho ar? termed 



Manddi, os the followers o/Bakda^wIio. totally deny this. account of ^^ of Banoa, and 



maintain that he escaped severely; waunded from his last battle, and took refuge in B'habarj 

 ■where he quietly ended his days, lea-ving two sons, Ajit SiNii , and Zora'wek Sinh, who 

 successfully pr^jpagated his doctrine. This sect chiefly r^des in Multany Tata and the other 

 •cities on the banks of the Jndui^ ^toj. r^CMe, the, '4rfi-Crrfl??('A3 but^ n^^ the Da^^wa 

 Padshah ka Grantli. 



