History has always observed that India was never empty. It was full of people replete with knowledge. When the rest of the world was barbaric, our cities were full of Vedic scholars who would carefully observe every little change in the night constellations and comprehend them into complex mathematical models. We produced extraordinary wisdom, but outsourced arms and organised force. The subcontinent’s defence suffered from caste-based compartmentalisation. Scholars would never touch a sword.
The answer to our sovereignty lay in making our people not just scholars alone but also swordsmen. Here in this space steps in a septuagenarian Baba Deep Singh and stands before us as a raging saint-soldier, severed head in one hand and Khanda blazing in the other–declaring that when wisdom picks up the sword, and the sword bows to the wisdom. Baba Deep Singh’s birth anniversary falls on 27 January, which invites us to remember that a free civilisation is forged when saint-soldiers are produced.
In 1682, a boy is born in a village Pahuwind, Amritsar is sent to Anandpur Sahib to study under Guru Gobind Singh and Bhai Mani Singh. He learns Gurumukhi, Gurbani, theology and martial arts—horsemanship, archery and shastar-vidya. Guru Gobind Singh, the Tenth Guru, tells him the power of Miri Piri—the power of Miri in one hand and the power of Piri in the other. He learns that a Sikh must be both the one deeply immersed in prayers and also the defender of the weak. He is initiated into the Khalsa at Vaisakhi 1699, and he deeply internalises the twin command of the Tenth Guru-be both the lover of the Divine and the defender of the oppressed—the saint-soldier (Sant-Sipahi).
When Guru Gobind Singh went to Talwandi Sabo, the place which is known as Damdama Sahib because the 10th Guru camped there for a long rest, therefore, Talwandi Sabo came to be known as Damdama Sahib–‘the Guru’s resting/breathing place.’ Guru Sahib handpicked Baba Deep Singh as one of the principal scholars and scribes to help prepare the final version of Guru Granth Sahib. Therefore, the place was declared as ‘Guru Ki Kashi’(a supreme seat of learning)–thus it meant that it is a place where one pauses to study and arm oneself spiritually.
Baba Deep Singh was then chosen as the head of Damdama Sahib by the Guru in 1706. There evolved Damdami Taksal–a place of learning of scriptures and martial training for the Khalsa Panth. ‘Taksal’ in Punjabi means a mint–where coins are minted by striking and tested for purity. Thus ‘Damdami Taksal’ means the Guru’s mint where Sikhs are struck in Gurbani and refined and sent out to be the saint-soldier. Thus, Damdami Taksal became the great centre for spiritual learning and armed training. Here Baba Deep Singh taught Sikhs, Santhia (right pronunciation of Gurbani) and organised people for prayers and armed readiness. At the Taksal, for years, Babaji calligraphed copies of the Guru Granth Sahib, copying line after line, saroop after saroop, sending them out like seeds to the Takhts.
When Banda Singh Bahadur rose at the Guru’s direction, Baba Deep Singh also came out into the battle. He fought the Battle of Samana, the Battle of Sadhaura and at Sirhind, where the Guru’s young sons had once been bricked alive, he fought beside Banda Singh against Wazir Khan’s army of 20,000 strong force with war elephants and artillery and won the battle. The Sikhs ended Wazir Khan’s rule over Sirhind in the battle of Chhappar Chhiri, which is known as one of the greatest victories avenging the martyrdom of Sahibzade.
Around 1730-40 mughal rule had weakened. It was a time when the Governor of Lahore sought peace with the Sikhs and offered Jagir to the Sikhs, and the Sikhs because Sikhs were protecting the people. Baba Deep Singh joined Nawab Kapur Singh in forging Dal Khalsa and Buddha Dal (army of the elderly) and Tarna Dal(army of the young) both being types of Nihang order as arms of Dal Khalsa. From these sprang jathas, and from the jathas the Misls which later became the 12 Misls that unitedly ruled under Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Jatha under Baba Deep Singh was known as Shaheedan Misl—the Misl of Martyrs. His headquarters remained at Talwandi Sabo, his tower still standing there like a finger pointing to heaven, called Burj Baba Deep Singh Shaheed. Baba Deep Singh would train a band of men who treat martyrdom not as an accident but as a job description. They call it the Shaheedan Misl. An institution that trains you to read, then trains you to die.
Nadir Shah invaded and plundered India in 1739 and he was assassinated by his own guards in 1747. Ahmad Shah Durrani (Abdali) emerged as a successor from that chaos. Abdali annexed Punjab after his third invasion in 1952 and left his son Taimur in Lahore, and Jahan Khan to weaken the spirit of Sikhs. On his fourth invasion in 1957 he sacked Delhi on returning, Sikh Jathas ambushed on his army freed hundreds of captive women and looted the plunder.
In retaliation. Abdali General Jahan Khan attacked Amritsar, desecrating the Sarovar and Sri Harmander Sahib, the holy temple, turning the precinct of the temple into a place of debauchery. On hearing this sacrilege, Baba Deep Singh rose and drew a line on the ground with his sword and declared that whoever wished to lay down his life for the honour of Sri Harmandar Sahib should cross it. Around a thousand Sikhs crossed the line and advanced in a Jatha towards Amritsar.
When Jahan Khan heard about Baba Deep Singh’s advancement, he marched with an army of twenty thousand. Baba Deep Singh’s khanda moved like lightning thunder. Each Sikh around him fought fiercely. The Afghan army seemed to break. But reinforcements were quick. The legend says that when an enemy’s blade gashed Baba Deep Singh’s neck. A young Sikh cried out, “Baba ji, what of your vow! Harmander Sahib!” The words pierced the roar like a shabad. Baba Deep Singh stood, they say, lifting his own severed head into his left palm, khanda still heavy in his right. The sight of him—headless and advancing—sent shivers down many hardened soldiers. The Mughal line cracked. He walked until he reached the parikarma of Harmander Sahib. There, on the cold stones, he bowed his head down at the Guru’s feet. Only then did his body fall.
The story of Baba Deep Singh appeared in Giani Gian Singh’s Panth Prakash, which presented a remembrance of the extraordinary courage and battlefield leadership of Baba Deep Singh which continues to inspire generations. The learnings that shaped the life of Baba Deep Singh are deep commitment to the Guru’s Shabad and Sri Harmandar Sahib, and defending the religious freedom of all. Therefore, the desecration of Harmandir Sahib was not just an attack but an attack on the spiritual heart of the Sikhs.
To understand this martyrdom, we need to understand the Khalsa. The Khalsa, in fact, implies as ‘Fauj of Akal Purakh (The army of the Timeless One). The Khalsa is not merely the followers, but the Khalsa is the visible extension of the Guru’s own being. Baba Deep Singh lived exactly in this consciousness, carrying the Guru’s presence in one’s own self. And when the Guru’s house was under attack it was the Guru’s body that came under the attack.
Baba Deep Singh inspires us as the Head of Damdami Taksal, who opened the gates of scriptural wisdom and literacy to all, and as the founder of Shaheedan Misl, who opened the gates of organised courage to all. In him, the scholar does not advise the warrior—but the scholar is the warrior.
