BINOD SINGH, a Trehan Khatri in direct descent from Guru Angad, Nanak II, was a devoted disciple of Guru Gobind Singh and was among the few Sikhs who accompanied him to the South in 1708. He was chosen to be one of the five companions of Banda Singh (1670-1716) sent by the Guru in 1708 from Nanded to the Punjab to chastise the persecutors of the Sikhs. Binod Singh was Banda Singh`s ally in the campaign he launched upon arrival in the Punjab. In the battle of Sirhind fought in May 1710. Binod Singh commanded the left wing of Banda Singh`s army.

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.