Baba Deep Singh Ji

Baba Deep Singh Ji is remembered as the Panth's scholar-warrior. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism names him the founder of the Shahid misl and of the Damdami Taksal, the Damdama school of Sikh learning, and records that he fell in 1757 fighting his way to Sri Harmandir Sahib after the Afghans had desecrated it.

Who he was. He was born in 1682 at Pahuwind, a village about 40 km south-west of Amritsar, the son of Bhai Bhagta and Mai Jioni. He took the vows of the Khalsa at Anandpur and stayed there to study the scriptures under Bhai Mani Singh.

Key moments

• 1706: he rejoined Guru Gobind Singh Ji at Talwandi Sabo. After the Guru left for the south he stayed on to look after Damdama Sahib, where he taught the scriptures and trained his band in arms.
• He joined Banda Singh Bahadur's campaign against the Mughal authority at the head of a small band, but left him in 1714 when the Tat Khalsa rose against Banda Singh.
• 1726: he had four copies of the Guru Granth Sahib made from the recension that Bhai Mani Singh had prepared under Guru Gobind Singh Ji's supervision at Damdama Sahib.
• 1732 and 1733: he went to the rescue of Ala Singh, besieged at Barnala, and then joined Nawab Kapur Singh at Amritsar in the Dal Khalsa. He was given command of one of its jathas, which came to be called the Shahid misl after he fell as a Shaheed.
• 1757: Jahan Khan, deputy of Timur Shah at Lahore, invested Amritsar in May, razed the Sikh fort of Ram Rauni and filled up the sacred pool. Baba Deep Singh set out with his jatha, and about 5,000 men had joined him by Tarn Taran. Jahan Khan's troops met them near Gohlwar, 8 km short of Amritsar. He was gravely wounded near Ramsar but fought on and fell close to the Harimandar on 11 November 1757. Wikipedia gives 13 November.

What he is remembered for. Sikh tradition holds that he fought on after his head was severed, carrying it in his left hand and wielding his khanda in his right until he had kept his pledge to free the shrine. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism records this as a legend that grew around his Shaheedi. Two shrines mark him: one on the circumambulatory terrace of the sarovar, where he fell, and Shahidganj Baba Deep Singh Shahid near Gurdwara Ramsar, where his body was cremated. The tower where he lived beside Takht Sri Damdama Sahib is still called Burj Baba Deep Singh Shahid.