Art by sikhiart.com

Bhai Taru Singh was a Sikh martyr.  He was born during the reign of the Mughal Empire to a Sandhu Jatt family of Poohla village, in the Amritsar district of the Punjab.  His father, Bhai Jodh Singh died in battle, and so Bhai Taru Singh and his younger sister, Bibi Tar Kaur were raised by their widowed mother, Bibi Dharam Kaur.

Bhai Taru Singh was a pious Sikh who, following the teachings of the Sikh Gurus, worked hard tilling his land diligently and lived frugally. Although not a rich man, he was always happy and did much for his Sikh brothers and sisters.

During this time, Sikh revolutionaries were plotting the overthrow of the Khan and had taken refuge in the jungle. Bhai Taru Singh and his sister, Tar Kaur (Taro) Kaur gave food and other aid to these Sikh fighters.  Whatever Taru Singh saved went to his Sikh brethren who had been forced into exile by government persecution.

He was spied upon by Akil Das (also known as Harbhagat Niranjania) of Jandiala, a government informer, who told Governor Khan about their actions of giving aid to the revolutionaries.

Subsequently Taru Singh was hauled before Zakariya Khan, the governor of Punjab who was based at Lahore and both he and his sister were arrested for treason. Though his sister’s freedom was bought by the villagers, Bhai Taru Singh refused to seek a pardon.

The exact method of his execution is somewhat ambiguous. However, it is believed that after a short period of imprisonment and torture, Bhai Taru Singh was brought before the Khan and given the choice of converting to Islam or being executed.

As a symbol of his conversion, he would have to cut off his Kesh (hair) and present it as an offering to the Khan. Upon his refusal, and in a public display, Bhai Taru Singh’s scalp was cut away from his skull with a sharp knife to prevent his hair from ever growing back. This torturous act is believed to be carried out on June 9, 1745.

Taru Singh was barely 25 years of age. His dead body was cremated outside Delhi Gate at Lahore, where a “Shahidganj”, or martyrs’ memorial, was later constructed. It has become a place of pilgrimage for the Sikhs.

~ This information was originally published by SikhiWiki, on the page “Bhai Taru Singh.”