Abdal Sámad Khán put to death great numbers of the Sikhs after the surrender of Lóhgad, the fortress in which they took refuge; but sent Banda, and the principal chiefs of the tribe, to Dehli, where they were first treated with every kind of obloquy and insult, and then executed. A Muhammedan writer[55] relates the intrepidity with which these Sikh prisoners, but particularly their leader, Banda, met death. "It is singular," he writes, "that these people not only behaved firmly during the execution, but they would dispute and wrangle with each other who should suffer first; and they made interest with the executioner to obtain 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 the 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." Thus perished Banda; who, though a brave and able leader, was one of the most cruel and ferocious of men, and endeavoured to impart to his followers that feeling of merciless resentment which he cherished against the whole Muhammedan race, whom he appears to have thought accountable for the cruelty and oppression of a few individuals of the persuasion[56]. Though the Sikhs, from being animated by a similar feeling, and encouraged by his first successes, followed Banda to the field, they do not revere his memory; and he is termed, by some of their authors, a heretic; who, intoxicated with victory, endeavoured to change the religious institutions and laws of Gúrú Góvind, many of whose most devoted followers this fierce chief put to death, because they refused to depart from those usages which that revered spiritual leader had taught them to consider sacred. Among other changes, Banda wished to make the Sikhs abandon their blue dress, to refrain from drinking and eating flesh; and, instead of exclaiming _Wá! Gúrúji ki Futteh! Wá! Khálsaji ki Futteh!_ the salutations directed by Góvind, he directed them to exclaim, _Futteh D'herm! Futteh dersan!_ which means, "Success to piety! Success to the sect!" These innovations were very generally resisted; but the dreaded severity of Banda made many conform to his orders. The class of Acálís[57], or immortals, who had been established by Gúrú Góvind, continued to oppose the innovations with great obstinacy; and many of them suffered martyrdom, rather than change either their mode of salutation, diet, or dress; and, at the death of Banda, their cause triumphed. All the institutions of Gúrú Góvind were restored: but the blue dress, instead of being, as at first, worn by all, appears, from that date, to have become the particular right of the Acálís, whose valour, in its defence, well merited the exclusive