On 14 May 1710, Banda and his army entered and captured Sirhind, and an immense destruction of life and property ensued shortly after.
Atrocities on Muslims A number of accounts point to general atrocities committed by Banda's troops on the Muslim community and their vassals in Sirhind; however during the expedition numerous Muslim tombs were spared including the
mausoleums of
Shaikh Ahmad Mujaddid Alif Sani leading to doubts on the extent.
Hari Ram Gupta noted that several notable Muslims saved their lives by converting to Sikhism. Yogesh Snehi noted that Banda Singh Bahadur destroyed imperial mosques and the fort of Sirhind during his raid, where the two young sons of Guru Gobind Singh were executed.
V.D. Mahajan also writes that thousands of Muslims were killed during the siege.
The New Cambridge History of India notes that the Sikhs massacred those who did not readily convert to Sikhism and destroyed the city buildings. According to
Ganda Singh, allegations of desecrations of mosques were unfounded since the mausoleum of Shaikh Ahmad Mujaddid Alif Sani, which was the most magnificent buildings in the city, was left untouched after the battle. He further castigates the writers of the Siyar-ul-Mutakherin and Muntakhib-ul-Lubab for exaggerating Sikh atrocities, the statements of which were repeated by later writers like Mohammad Latif. and Gokul Chand Narang as erroneous, lacking critical analysis and understanding, and on the basis of the chroniclers being Muslims and therefore ostensibly impartial to their regime. == Aftermath ==