Baba Deep Singh
ji (1682–1757) is revered among Sikhs as one of the most hallowed
martyrs in Sikhism and probably
the only martyr in the world who fought
the battle with his head-less body having his head in left hand and Khanda (double-edged-sword)
in his right hand. He is remembered for his sacrifice and devotion to the teachings of
the Sikh Gurus
In April 1757,
Ahmad Shah Durrani raided Northern India for the fourth time. While he was
on his way back to Kabul from Delhi with precious booty and young men and women as
captives, the SIKHS made a plan to relieve him of the valuables and free the captives.
The squad of Baba Deep Singh ji was deployed near Kurukshetra.His squad freed a
large number of prisoners and raided Durrani's considerable treasury.
On his arrival
in Lahore Durrani, embittered by his loss, ordered the demolition of the Harmandir
Sahib.The shrine was blown up and the sacred pool filled with the entrails of
slaughtered cows. Durrani assigned the Punjab region to his son Prince Timur
Shah and left him a force of ten thousand men under General Jahan Khan.
On hearing
the news that Harmandir Sahib has
been attacked by Ahmed Shah Durrani Baba Deep Singh Ji, aged 75-years old-
emerged from scholastic retirement (he had been making copies of the Guru Grant
Sahib Ji at Talwandi Sabo), and declared to a congregation at Damdama Sahib
that he intended to rebuild the temple. Five hundred men came forward to go
with him. Deep Singh ji offered prayers before starting for Amritsar: "May
my head fall at the Darbar Sahib." As he marched forward many villagers
joined him. By the time Baba Deep Singh ji reached Tarn Taran Sahib ten miles from Amritsar, over five thousand Sikhs
armed with hatchets, swords, and spears accompanied him.
The Sikhs
and the Afghans clashed, in the battle of Amrirsar at the village of Gohalwar on November 11,
1757 and in the ensuing conflict Baba Deep Singh was decapitated but he continued
to fight after having been decapitated, slaying his enemies with his double-edged
sword in the right hand and his head on the left hand and upon reaching the periphery
of Harmandir Sahib he died.
The
following quote of Guru Nanak Sahib Ji is from the Sikh Holy Book may have influenced Baba Deep Singh:
JYO TO PREM KHELAN KA CHAO
SEER DHAR TALI GALI MERI AAO
IT MARAG PER DHARIJE
SEER DEEJE KAHAN NA KEEJE.
Shouldst thou wish to play
the game of love,
come unto my Path with thy head on thy palm.And,
once you step unto this path
you may well give up thy head, rather than the cause
