6_Glorious_Epochs_of_Indian_History

6TH GLORIOUS EPOCH 397.
rishable and resplendent martyrdom of Shree Veer Banda,
which is available even now.
979. According to the belief prevalent among his disci­
ples, Veer Banda's body was thrown away into the debris on
the outskirts of the city under the impression that he was
dead. But with his magic poM-er and some miraculous herb
that his disciples made him eat, Veer Banda Baba came to
his senses and he was secretly and immediately taken to the
Punjab"*. Further on an institution grew up in his name
and hundreds of his Sikh followers have kept it running to
this day under the name, 'Bandai'. Like the kuka followers
of Guru Ramsingh of a later date these 'Bandais' call
themselves Hindus.
980. After the tragic death of Veer Banda there was
no armed force left either of the Khalsas, Bandais, Sahaj-
dharis or any other Sikh or Hindu sect. Every one of them
was disorganized and disgruntled. But on the contrary the
Muslim political power had begun to crumble down by the
time it was fighting with Veer Banda. Throughout the whole
of India, a new resurgent Hindu power—the Maratha military
and political aspiration—was dealing knock-down blows to.
the Moghal imperial power and the latter existed only nomi­
nally from Delhi to the Punjab, Multan, Kashmir and
Kandahar. Only the local ruffians terrorized the general
populace with their bands of scoundrels !
981. How the Sikh power grew thereafter and how at
last in the times of Maharaja Ranjitsing it spread through­
out the whole of the Punjab and Kashmir obliterating every
vestige of the Muslim rule and how the Hindu independent
empire came into existence—we can only just hint at here !
For all these events fall out of the period under discussion
here.
982. However two or three statements about this period
of the Punjabi History can be made here briefly, and it is
neces.iary to do so.
983. The first successful attempt to overthrow the
Muslim rule in the Punjab was made by the Marathas. The