The 18th Century was a century of martyrdoms in the Sikh history. When Banda Bairagi,a Hindu ascetic became a disciple of Guru Gobind Singh Ji in Nanded ,the10th guru gave him the name of Banda Singh Bahadur and deputed him to Punjab to awaken and embolden the people of Punjab against the unjust rulers of Mughal empire He assembled a fighting force and started his mission with sacking of provincial capital, Samana, in November 1709 Then, the Sikh forces took over Mustafabad (now Saraswati Nagar)and Sadhora (near Jagadhri).Further, they captured the Cis-Sutlej areas of Punjab, including Malerkotla and Nahan.On 12 May 1710 in the Battle of Chappar Chiri the Sikhs killed Wazir Khan, the Governor of Sirhind and Diwan Suchanand, who were responsible for the martyrdom of the two youngest sons of Guru Gobind Singh. Two days later the Sikhs captured Sirhind. In 1710 itself he took over other Northeren Areas in between rivers of Jamuna and Ganga such as Saharan Pur, Shamli, Muzzafar Nagar etc. Banda Singh established his capital at Mukhlis Garh, a place situated in the base of hills and away from the main highway and central areas from security point of view. He repaired the fort of Mukhlis Garh and renamed it as Loh Garh. He even started a mint to make coins and stamps in the name of Guru Nanak and Guru aGobind singh and established Khalsa kingdom After establishing his authority and Khalsa rule in Punjab, Banda Singh Bahadur abolished the zamindari system, and granted property rights to the tillers of the land so that they could live with self respect When, after the battle of Gurdaspur Nangal,Banda Singh was captured by the Mughals, he was brought to Delhi along with a number of Sikhs and all of them were asked to accept Islam or face torturous death. None of them accepted to give up his religion and all of them were punished with torturous death.Banda Singh’s 4 years old son was seated on his lap. A dagger was given to Banda Singh and ordered to cut his own son. He refused. The executioner pierced the chest of his son, took out the violently vibrating heart and tried to push into the mouth of Banda Singh. After this his flesh was notched out with pliers, hot sharp rods were inserted into his flesh. His eyes were notched out, hands and feet were chopped off. Thus when he became unconscious, his head was chopped The brave warrior,who founded Sikh empire,became immortal with his martyrdom. After the martyrdom of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur, the Mughal rulers were determined to extinguish the Sikhs and for that reason thousands of Sikhs had to sacrifice their lives for protecting their identity and religion. Some of the prominent Sikh martyrs of this century include Bhai Mani Singh, Bhai Tara Singh of Vaan, Bhai Sukha Singh Bhai Mehtab Singh, Bhai Taru Singh, Bhai Bota Singh, Bhai Garja Singh and Bhai Subheg Singh Bhai Shahbaz Singh. All of them were given inhuman torture with a view to scare them so that they could adopt Islam, but, there is not even a single person, who agreed for this conversion by giving up his faith. Whereas Bhai Mani Singh got himself cut to pieces from each joint of the body, Bhai Taru Singh dared his sculpt removed instead of alloying his hair to be cut. Bhai Subheg Singh and Bhai Shahbaz Singh were put on the rotating wheels on which they were broken into pieces.
When Chhota Ghallughara and Vadda Ghallughara took place in 1746 and 1762, Ahmedshah Abadali got thousands of Sikhs killed. Meer Mannu, Lahore Suba was so cruel that he did not spare even women and children. However, when Sikh misls came into being, Some prominent Sikhs, heads of these misls captured certain areas and started ruling over them. Some of these leaders like Nawab Kapur Singh, Baba Ala Singh, S. Jassa Singh Ahluwalia, S. Jassa Singh Ramgarhia and S. Baghel Singh defeated the Mughal Empire at many a places including Delhi, where on the defeat of royal forces, the Sikhs entered the Red Fort and occupied the Diwan-I-Aam. The Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II had no other alternative but to make a settlement with the brave Sikhs who had won supremacy by establishing their area of influence in Jalandhar-Doab and Hariana near Hoshiarpur. When the Sikhs won the victory over Sirhind in January, 1764, Bhghel Singh extended his area towards Karnal and went towards Yamuna to capture Saharanpur, Muzaffar Nagar and several other villages of the Yamuna-Gangetic areas. However, despite such vast powers and influence, S. Bhagel Singh preferred to make the emperor accept his proposal to raise Gurdwaras in Sikh historical sites in Delhi. In addition, the Sikhs were allowed to realize 37.5% of the octroi duties in the capital. He located seven sites connected with the lives of the Gurus and had shrines raised thereon within the space of eight months, from April to November 1783. Gurdwara Sis Ganj marked the spot in the main Mughal Street of Chandni Chowk where Gurur Tegh Bahadur had been executed under the fiat of the emperor and Gurdwara Rakabganj, near modern day Parliament House where his body was cremated. Bangla. Sahib and Bala Sahib commemorated the Eighth Guru, Guru Harkrishan Sahib.Other Gurdwaras built were at Majnu Ka Tilla, Moti Bagh and Teliwada The two other prominent Sikhs who became martyrs in the last decade of the 18 Century were Baba Deep Singh and S. Gurbakhsh Singh. Baba Deep Singh, a great scholar who had made four copies of Sri Guru Granth Sahib in his own hand, had to move to Amritsar for protection of the shrines when desecration of Harmandir Sahib and the sarovar took place at the hands of the Mughal troops under Jahan Khan. Baba Deep Singh was stopped by Jahan Khan’s forces eight kilometers ahead of Sri Harmandir Sahib and there was a tough battle in which Baba Deep Singh suffered head injury, but despite that he moved forward. A legend grew that it was Baba Deep Singh’s headless body holding his severed head on his left hand and wielding his Khanda, double-edged sword, with his right hand that had fought on until he had redeemed his pledge to liberate the holy shrine. Two shrines now commemorate the martyr, one on the circumambulatory terrace of the sarovar surrounding the Golden Temple where he finally fell and the other Shaheedganj Baba Deep Singh Shaheed, near Gurdwara Ramsar, where his body was cremated. (Encyclopaedia of Sikhism Vol. I, p. 588). In 1764, When theAfghans under Ahmedshah Durani attacked Sri Harmandir Sahib, Bhai Gurbakhsh Singh along with 29 others present in the Gurdwara at that time fought vigorously and sacrificed their lives on 1st December 1764. Now there stands a Gurdwara in the memory of these martyrs just behind Sri Akal Takht sahib
