Birthday Baba Deep Singh Ji

Baba Deep Singh (26 January 1682 – 13 November 1757) is revered among Sikhs as one of the most hallowed martyrs in Sikhism. He is remembered for his sacrifice and devotion to the teachings of the Sikh Gurus. Baba Deep Singh was the first head of Misl Shaheedan Tarna Dal – an order of the Khalsa military established by Nawab Kapur Singh, the then head of Sharomani Panth Akali Buddha Dal. The Damdami Taksal also state that he was the first head of their order. 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. He was born into a Sandhu Jat Sikh family. He went to Anandpur Sahib on the day of Vaisakhi in 1700, where he was baptised into Khalsa by Guru Gobind Singh Ji, through the Khande di Pahul or Amrit Sanchar (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, he learnt reading and writing Gurmukhi 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 in 1705, where he helped Bhai Mani Singh Ji in making copies of the ure Guru Granth Sahib. In 1709, Baba Deep Singh joined Banda Singh Bahadur during the Battle of Sadhaura and the Battle of Chappar Chiri. In 1733, Nawab Kapur Singh appointed him a leader of an armed squad (jatha). On the Vaisakhi of 1748, at the meeting of the Sarbat Khalsa in Amritsar, the 65 jathas of the Dal Khalsa were reorganized into twelve Misls. Baba Deep Singh was entrusted with the leadership of the Shaheed Misl. 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 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 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 "Golden Gurudwara"). The shrine was blown up and the sacred pool filled with the entrails of slaughtered animals. Durrani assigned the Punjab region 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 Afghans 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.