Bhai Shahbaz Singh

Bhai Shahbaz Singh (died 1745) was the son of Bhai Subeg Singh of Jambar village in Lahore district, the Sikh who served as kotwal, the police chief, of Lahore under the Mughal governor Zakariya Khan. Father and son were broken on the wheel at Lahore for refusing to leave Sikhi.

The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism says Shahbaz Singh studied Persian and Arabic at a Muslim school and did well. A maulawi who noticed his progress tried to win him over to Islam with various inducements, and later a mulla and the qazi of Lahore also tried to persuade him to give up his ancestral faith. He refused every offer.

• The governor of Lahore had Shahbaz Singh and his father arrested on charges described as acts prejudicial to Islam and to the State.
• Both were offered the choice of accepting Islam to save their lives. Both refused.
• Both were tortured and broken on the wheel in 1745. The Encyclopaedia reports that father and son kept repeating "Akal, Akal" as their bodies were broken.

Sources differ on which governor gave the order. Hari Ram Gupta, as cited by Wikipedia, names Zakariya Khan. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism names his eldest son Yahya Khan, who succeeded him as governor of Lahore. The Encyclopaedia dates the execution to 1745, the year before the Chhota Ghallughara of 1746. None of the sources opened here gives Shahbaz Singh's age. Monuments to the execution stand at Gurdwara Mehdiana Sahib in Ludhiana district and at Gurdwara Shaheed Baba Tega Singh in Moga district (Wikipedia).

He is remembered for holding to Sikhi. He studied at a Muslim school as a boy, and a maulawi, a mulla, the qazi of Lahore and the rulers of Lahore offered him every inducement to give it up. He refused them all and died beside his father.