Baba Deep Singh (26 January 1682 – 13 November 1757) is revered among

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism (Sikhi), a monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ' ...

s as one of the most hallowed

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external ...

s in

Sikhism Sikhism (), also known as Sikhi ( pa, ਸਿੱਖੀ ', , from pa, ਸਿੱਖ, lit=disciple', 'seeker', or 'learner, translit= Sikh, label=none),''Sikhism'' (commonly known as ''Sikhī'') originated from the word ''Sikh'', which comes fr ...

. He is remembered for his sacrifice and devotion to the teachings of the

Sikh Gurus The Sikh gurus (Punjabi: ਸਿੱਖ ਗੁਰੂ) are the spiritual masters of Sikhism, who established this religion over the course of about two and a half centuries, beginning in 1469. The year 1469 marks the birth of Guru Nanak, the founde ...

. Baba Deep Singh was the first head of Misl Shaheedan Tarna Dal – an order of the Khalsa military established by

Nawab Kapur Singh Nawab Kapur Singh Virk (1697–1753) is considered one of the major figures in Sikh history, under whose leadership the Sikh community traversed one of the darkest periods of its history. He was the organizer of the Sikh Confederacy and the ...

, the then head of Sharomani Panth Akali Buddha Dal. The

Damdami Taksal The Damdamī Ṭaksāl is an orthodox Sikh cultural and educational organization, based in India. Its headquarters are located in the town of Mehta Chowk, approximately 40 km north of the city of Amritsar. It has been described as a seminary o ...

also state that he was the first head of their order.Damdami Taksal opens shop to provide religious literature
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Early life

Baba Deep Singh Ji was born on 26 January 1682 to his father Bhagta, and his mother Jioni. He lived in the village of Pahuwind in

Amritsar district Amritsar district is one of the twenty three districts that make up the Indian state of Punjab. Located in the Majha region of Punjab, the city of Amritsar is the headquarters of this district. As of 2011, it is the second most populous distr ...

. He was born into a

Sandhu Sandhu or Sindhu is a clan or family name found among the Punjabi Jatts in India and Pakistan. It is Punjab's second largest Jatt clan. The etymology is connected to the word ''Sindhu'', the native name for the Indus river. Notable people with ...

Jat Sikh Jat Sikh (also known by the more conventional endonym Jatt Sikh) is a sub-group of the Jat people and the Sikh religious group from the Indian subcontinent. They are one of the dominant communities in the Punjab, India, Punjab owing to their la ...

family. He went to

Anandpur Sahib Anandpur Sahib, sometimes referred to simply as Anandpur (lit. "city of bliss"), is a city in Rupnagar district (Ropar), on the edge of Shivalik Hills, in the Indian state of Punjab. Located near the Sutlej River, the city is one of the most ...

on the day of

Vaisakhi Vaisakhi (Punjabi: ), also pronounced Baisakhi, marks the first day of the month of Vaisakh and is traditionally celebrated annually on 13 April and sometimes 14 April as a celebration of spring harvest primarily in Northern India. Further, o ...

in 1700, where he was baptised into

Khalsa Khalsa ( pa, ਖ਼ਾਲਸਾ, , ) refers to both a community that considers Sikhism as its faith,Kha ...

by Guru Gobind Singh Ji, through the ''Khande di Pahul'' or

Amrit Sanchar Amrit Sanchar (Gurmukhi: ਅੰਮ੍ਰਿਤ ਸੰਸਕਾਰ "nectar ceremony"; also called Amrit Parchar, or Khande di Pahul ਖੰਡੇ ਦੀ ਪਾਹੁਲ) is one of the four Sikh Sanskaars. The Amrit Sanskar is the initiation rite ...

(ceremonial initiation into Khalsa). As a youth, he spent considerable time in close companionship of Guru Gobind Singh Ji, learning weaponry, riding and other martial skills. From

Bhai Mani Singh Bhai Mani Singh was an 18th-century Sikh scholar and martyr. He was a childhood companion of Guru Gobind Singh and took the vows of Sikhism when the Guru inaugurated the Khalsa in March 1699. Soon after that, the Guru sent him to Amritsar t ...

, he learnt reading and writing

Gurmukhi Gurmukhī ( pa, ਗੁਰਮੁਖੀ, , Shahmukhi: ) is an abugida developed from the Laṇḍā scripts, standardized and used by the second Sikh guru, Guru Angad (1504–1552). It is used by Punjabi Sikhs to write the language, commonl ...

and the interpretation of the Gurus' words. After spending two years at Anandpur, he returned to his village in 1702, before he was summoned by Guru Gobind Singh Ji at

Talwandi Sabo Talwandi Sabo is a town and Municipal Council in Bathinda district, Punjab, India. It is famous for being one of the five Takhts of Sikhism (Sikh Religious Places), Takht Sri Damdama Sahib. It is also famous for its Baisakhi, which is celebrat ...

in 1705, where he helped

in making copies of the scripture

Guru Granth Sahib The Guru Granth Sahib ( pa, ਗੁਰੂ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ ਸਾਹਿਬ, ) is the central holy religious scripture of Sikhism, regarded by Sikhs as the final, sovereign and eternal Guru following the lineage of the ten human gurus of the rel ...

Warrior

Misldar

In 1709, Baba Deep Singh joined

Banda Singh Bahadur Banda Singh Bahadur (born Lachman Dev) (27 October 1670 – 9 June 1716), was a Sikh warrior and a commander of Khalsa army. At age 15, he left home to become an ascetic, and was given the name Madho Das Bairagi. He established a monastery a ...

during the

Battle of Sadhaura The Battle of Sadhaura was fought between Sikhs and the combined forces of the Sayyids and the Sheikhs Sheikh (pronounced or ; ar, شيخ ' , mostly pronounced , plural ' )—also transliterated sheekh, sheyikh, shaykh, shayk, shekh, sha ...

and the

Battle of Chappar Chiri The battle of Chappar Chiri, also called Battle of Sirhind, was fought between Mughal Empire and the Sikhs on 12 May 1710 at Chappar Chiri, located 20 kilometers from Sirhind Background The Sikhs were planning to crusade against the city of S ...

. In 1733,

appointed him a leader of an armed squad (''jatha''). On the Vaisakhi of 1748, at the meeting of the

Sarbat Khalsa Sarbat Khalsa (lit. meaning ''all the Khalsa''; Punjabi: ( Gurumukhi)), was a biannual deliberative assembly (on the same lines as a Parliament in a Direct Democracy) of the Sikhs held at Amritsar in Panjab during the 18th century. It litera ...

Amritsar Amritsar (), historically also known as Rāmdāspur and colloquially as ''Ambarsar'', is the second largest city in the Indian state of Punjab, after Ludhiana. It is a major cultural, transportation and economic centre, located in the Maj ...

, the 65 ''jathas'' of the Dal Khalsa were reorganized into twelve

Misl The Misls (derived from an Arabic word مِثْل meaning 'equal') were the twelve sovereign states of the Sikh Confederacy, which rose during the 18th century in the Punjab region in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent and is cit ...

s. Baba Deep Singh was entrusted with the leadership of the Shaheed Misl.

The Demolition of the Harmandir Sahib

In April 1757,

Ahmad Shah Durrani Ahmad Shāh Durrānī ( ps, احمد شاه دراني; prs, احمد شاه درانی), also known as Ahmad Shāh Abdālī (), was the founder of the Durrani Empire and is regarded as the founder of the modern Afghanistan. In July 1747, Ahm ...

raided

Northern India North India is a loosely defined region consisting of the northern part of India. The dominant geographical features of North India are the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas, which demarcate the region from the Tibetan Plateau and Central ...

for the fourth time. While he was on his way back to

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Ac ...

from Delhi with young men and women as captives, the

Sikhs Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

made a plan to relieve him of the valuables and free the captives. The squad of ''Baba'' Deep Singh was deployed near

Kurukshetra Kurukshetra (, ) is a city and administrative headquarter of Kurukshetra district in the Indian state of Haryana. It is also known as Dharmakshetra ("Realm of duty ") and as the "Land of the Bhagavad Gita". Legends According to the Pur ...

. His squad freed a large number of prisoners and raided Durrani's considerable treasury. On his arrival in

Lahore Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest ...

, Durrani, embittered by his loss, ordered the demolition of the Harmandir Sahib (the "Golden Gurudwara"). The shrine was blown up and the sacred pool filled with the entrails of slaughtered animals. Durrani assigned the

Punjab region Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

to his son, Prince Timur Shah, and left him a force of ten thousand men under General Jahan Khan. Baba Deep Singh, 75 years old, felt that it was up to him to atone for the sin of having let the

Afghan Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia *Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity ** Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pa ...

s desecrate the shrine. He emerged from scholastic retirement and declared to a congregation at Damdama Sahib that he intended to rebuild the temple. Five hundred men came forward to go with him. Baba Deep Singh offered prayers before starting for Amritsar: "May my head fall at the Darbar Sahib." As he went from hamlet to hamlet, many villagers joined him. By the time ''baba'' Deep Singh reached

Tarn Taran Sahib Tarn Taran Sahib is a city in the Majha region of the state of Punjab, in northern India. It is the district headquarters and hosts the municipal council of Tarn Taran district. Gurdwara Sri Tarn Taran Sahib, a prominent Sikh shrine is locate ...

, ten miles from Amritsar, over five thousand Sikhs armed with hatchets, swords, and spears accompanied him.

Death

Baba Deep Singh had vowed to avenge the desecration of the Golden Temple by the

Afghan army The Army of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (), also referred to as the Islamic Emirate Army and the Afghan Army, is the land force branch of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The roots of an army in Afghanistan can be t ...

. In 1757, he led an army to defend the Golden Temple. The Sikhs and the Afghans clashed in the Battle of Amritsar on 13 November 1757, and in the ensuing conflict Baba Deep Singh was decapitated. There are two accounts of Baba Deep Singh's death. According to one popular version, Baba Deep Singh continued to fight after having been completely decapitated, slaying his enemies with his head in one hand and his sword in the other. In this version, only upon reaching the sacred city of

did he stop and finally die. According to t