Martyrdom of Baba Deep Singh
When the Afghan general Jahan Khan razed Ram Rauni and filled in the sacred pool at Amritsar, Baba Deep Singh marched from Talwandi Sabo to restore it. He was gravely wounded near Ramsar and attained martyrdom close to the Harmandir Sahib.
Ahmad Shah Durrani annexed the Punjab in the winter of 1756-57 and left his son Taimur at Lahore with Jahan Khan as deputy. In May 1757 Jahan Khan besieged Amritsar, levelled the fort of Ram Rauni and filled in the pool.
Baba Deep Singh, then at Damdama Sahib, set out in response. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism says men joined him until he had 5,000 at Tarn Taran. Hari Ram Gupta counts about 1,000 raised at the start and says the aim was to hold Diwali at Amritsar. Jahan Khan's troops met them near Gohalwar, and the Encyclopaedia dates his fall to 11 November 1757.
The contemporary chronicler Miskin, who fought on the Afghan side, describes a hard battle in which his own men broke and ran before reinforcements turned it. Sikh tradition remembers the day differently. A legend, which the Encyclopaedia records as legend, says Baba Deep Singh fought on holding his sacred head in his left hand and his sword in his right until he reached the holy precincts.
Two gurdwaras mark the event, one on the walkway around the pool and one, Shahid Ganj Baba Deep Singh, near Gurdwara Ramsar, where he was cremated.[EoS][Gupta]