BUDDHA. BABA (1506-1631), a most venerated primal figure of early Sikhism, was born on 6 October 1506 at the village of Katthu Narigal, 18 km northeast of Amritsar (31° 36\'N, 74° 50\'E). Bura, as he was originally named, was the only son of Bhai Suggha, a Jatt of Randhava clan, and Man Gauran, born into a Sandhu family. As a small boy, he was one day grazing cattle outside the village when Guru Nanak happened to pass by. According to Bhai Mani Singh, Sikhan di Bhagat Mala, Bura went up to him and, making obeisance with a bowl of milk as his offering, prayed to him in this manner: "0 sustainer of the poor! I am fortunate to have had a sight of you today.
BUDDHA DAL and Taruna Dal, names now appropriated by two sections of the Nihang Sikhs, were the popular designations of the two divisions of Dal Khalsa, the confederated army of the Sikhs during the eighteenth century. With the execution of Banda Singh Bahadur in 1716, the Sikhs were deprived of a unified command. Moreover, losses suffered by the Sikhs during the anti Banda Singh campaign around Gurdaspur and the relentless persecution that followed at the hands of `Abd usSamad Khan, governor of Lahore, made it impossible for Sikhs to continue large scale combined operations.
BUDDHA SINGH (d. 1718), great great grand father of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, was the founder of the Sukkarchakkia family. One of his ancestors, Bhara Mall, who lived in the village of Sukkarchakk, in Gujranwala district, now in Pakistan, had been initiated into the Sikh faith by the Seventh Guru, Guru Har Rai. Buddha Singh received the rites of amrit at the hands of Guru Gobind Singh himself and fought in battles under him and under Banda Singh Bahadur.
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