vaheguru ji ka khalsa vaheguru ji ki fateh



SINGHS WAIT FOR THE IMPERIAL ARMY

They solidified the bunga and constructed defenses around the bunga. After getting all set, they just sat there together and did massive paath and bhagtee. They used to do paath all day long and since they knew that their time was near, they had no other thoughts coming to them. All they cared about was paath, paath and more paath. One or two singhs out of them did up the langar work and the rest just stayed immersed in paath.

They had already chalked out the strategies to combat the Turks and they had assembled any weapons they could find. Many days passed before the army moved in and all that time singhs accumulated massive Naam and Gurbani treasure for themselves.

SITUATION AT LAHORE DARBAR

The Patti army went straight to Lahore and narrated to the Nawab all that had occurred with them. They told the Lahore ruler how Hakim Khan�s nephew got killed by Baghel Singh and how others got injured and killed.

Hearing this the ruler of Lahore got furious. He said that he had thought that he had got all rebelling singhs killed, then where did this (Bhai) Tara Singh come from. He said that he had got tired of killing the singhs who just would not finish. More he killed them, more strong they were getting.

According to Panth Parkash, the Kaazi replied by saying that with every drop of blood that falls on the ground, one singh was born as a result of it. He said that it would be best to kill them in some other way. He said that it would be best to capture them alive and imprison them instead of killing them.

Hearing this remark from the Kaazi, one of the soldiers who knew how hard it was to capture singhs alive, said that it would be most suitable if the Kaazi himself took the lead and captured some singhs. He said that this Kaazi had no idea what kind of fighters the singhs were. If he had any idea, he would not have talked about capturing them alive.

Hearing this from the soldier, the Kaazi (Islamic law-maker), got very embarrassed and totally got quiet. He knew that he could not face any singh in the battlefield. His head went downwards in shame.

After this the Nawab of Lahore, challenged all to volunteer to capture Bhai Tara Singh jee Vaan. He challenged asking them if there was any warrior who would be willing to capture or kill Bhai Tara Singh jee Vaan. When no one volunteered to come forward, the Nawab chose Moman Khan to take lead and capture or kill Bhai Tara Singh jee Vaan.

MOMAN KHAN MARCHES TOWARDS SINGH JEE

Moman Khan had the best of the Lahori soldiers � 2200 in total, all cavalry. He himself was seated on an elephant. He moved out of Lahore and camped just outside Lahore to chalk out strategy to fight Bhai Tara Singh jee Vaan.

Some residents of Lahore who sympathized with the Singhs heard that Moman Khan was about to leave Lahore to capture Singh jee. They decided to send a messenger to Singh jee to evacuate the Bunga and come back later, once the things cooled down. These messengers reached the Singh jee and pleaded with him to evacuate his bunga and leave.

When Singh jee heard this, his face became red with Bir Rass. He said that he could not wait to combat the Turks. He said that he was having hard time waiting for the Turks to arrive. He said that he was not going anywhere and would attain shaheedi right at his bunga. He declared that Satguru jee had shown him clearly that his time to attain shaheedi had come.

Hearing such fearless response from Singh jee, the messengers came back little depressed thinking about the shaheedi of their beloved singh � Bhai Tara Singh jee Vaan. The singhs with Singh jee got in even more chardi kala when they heard Bhai Tara Singh jee in such high spirits.

MOMAN KHAN REACHES SINGH JEE�S BUNGA

Moman Khan decided to attack the singhs at midnight, hoping to catch them while sleeping. As the army reached the outskirts of Pind Vaan, they met a Jatt of Uppal caste, who was a big enemy of the singhs. He assured the imperial army of leading them to Singh jee.

Moman Khan was leading the army but he did not want to fight the Singhs. He called two of his confidants and asked them to go and tell Singh jee that it would be best if they avoided any clash and that the imperial army would return back, if they did not find him there. The two confidants arrived at the Bunga and pleaded with Singh jee to leave the Bunga and that the army would return back immediately. They asked him why he wanted to lose his life for nothing.

Singh jee whose face was shining because of his massive bhagtee, responded to them by saying that maybe what they were saying was right but that he had made up his mind for shaheedi and that he was not willing to leave his bunga out of fear of anyone. He said that now the eyes of whole panth were on him and that if he backed off, he would not be able to show his face to the singhs again. Saying this he sent them back with full respect.

HUMAN BODY GETS PURIFIED WITH WOUNDS FROM WEAPONS

A Singh too reached Bhai Tara Singh jee and pleaded with him to leave. He said that he was only concerned about one thing. He said that he did not care dying or living but he had one wish in his mind. He said that Bhai Tara Singh jee had done too much sewa of Singhs living with him and that it was now singhs� turn to do sewa of Bhai Tara Singh jee. He said that many singhs wanted to do sewa of Bhai Tara Singh jee and this way get their body purified.

Singh jee whose face was so bright that day that it was hard to even look at it, did a very precious bachan (saying). He declared that the bodies of Singhs and warriors get pure and sacred when they are cut by the weapons in the battlefield. In Panth Parkash, it is quoted as follows:

TAU SINGH JEE, UNN KAHEE SUNAAYE||
DEH PAVITTER HOYE, SHASTER LAGAAYE||

He further said that when the weapons cut the body of a singh in the battlefield, the sins of the singhs are washed away as a result of this.

SINGHS BEAT THE NAGAARA TO DECLARE WAR

After hearing Bhai Tara Singh jee, all singhs said a huge jaikaara and beat Nagaara along with that. Their jaikaara was so loud that it reached the Turks who were quite away from there. Many of the Turks felt their senses failing them after hearing the jaikaara of the singhs. Many wanted to leave as they did not want to lose their lives fighting off the Singhs. Conscience of many soldiers was pricking them for killing innocent Singhs for no reason.

On the othe side, Singh jee ordered the Singhs to leave the bunga and stand in the battlefield, ready to face the Turks. From both sides the warriors got ready to fight to death.

HAND TO HAND COMBAT BEGINS

First of all, Bhai Bulaaka Singh moved forward to stop the advancing army. He fought very valiantly and killed many. Finally he was killed by a arrow that hit his chest.

The singhs now stood behind their first defense line and as the Turks moved forward, the Singhs pushed them back. It was still midnight and it was hard to see clearly and this went in the favour of the singhs. Then the Turks decided to move forward using their cavalry. They moved forward with full force and destroyed the first defense of the singhs but the singhs still fought them back and came to the second defense. Many Turks died in this first attack. All singhs except for Bulaaka Singh were still alive.

The imperial army was extremely hesitant to move forward and do hand to hand combat. They started shooting from far and some singhs got shaheed this way.

A WARRIOR CHALLENGES SINGH JEE

Moman Khan was getting increasingly impatient at the foot-dragging of his army. A very brave officer under Moman Khan sensed Moman Khan�s impatience and moved his horse forward. He loudly challenged Singh jee to come out and fight him alone. He moved his horse forward fearlessly. Singh jee asked his singhs not to attack him and loudly asked him to come forward and that he would meet him soon.

As he was moving forward, he saw Singh jee. He took out his bow and shot an arrow aiming Singh jee�s Dumaala. Singh jee was too fast for the warrior. He came forward like a lightening and caught hold of the horse�s reins. He noticed that the officers� body could not be seen as it was covered with armour all over. The only thing that was without cover was the small part of his face. Singh jee hit his mouth area with his sword and managed to give it a deep cut there. The officer fled back.

�TARA SINGH IS GIVING OUT FREE PAANS�

When Moman Khan saw his officer�s mouth red with blood, he jokingly said, �Are you eating paan.�. Paan is a leaf that non-Sikhs eat. It makes one�s mouth red and one spits out the red residue of Paan. It is a very popular candy for non-Sikhs. When others heard this remark they all started laughing.

The officer felt insulted and shot back at Moman Khan saying, �yes I am eating Paan. Tara Singh is giving out free paans and if you want one, you too should move forward to get it. Why are you talking standing so far from the battlefield?� He said it in such a hilarious way that the whole imperial army started laughing. This dialogue became so famous in Punjab that to date it is remembered by all Punjabis, particularly the people of Majha zone (around Amritsar, Lahore).

SINGHS BATTLE THE TURK ON ELEPHANT

Another one of the officers who too had an elephant, thought of moving forward and killing the Singhs by crushing them under the elephant. He and another warrior got on the elephant and moved the elephant forward very fast.

When the singhs saw the elephant coming towards them, they got excited over getting an opportunity to fight off an elephant. The Turks on the elephant were shooting arrows at the Singhs. Bhima Singh moved forward like a lion moving to hunt. Bhima Singh was so strong that he caught hold of the elephant by his ear and made him sit right there. Then with his sword he killed the driver (mahaavat) of the elephant. The driver too hit back Bhima Singh before dying and Bhima Singh got unconscious with the blow. The Singhs pulled him back to the Bunga.

The elephant got up again and moved towards the Singhs. Now Singh jee said to Bhai Lakhmir Singh, �Do you not remember those days when we both used to herd cows and buffalo�s together? You used to jump across lining up two buffalo�s. How big is this elephant anyways? Why don�t you jump up on the elephant and kill the Turks sitting on it�.

Bhai Lakhmir Singh responded, �This exactly what I was thinking Singh jee. If you look at me with an eye of grace, I will do just what you have said�.

Saying this Bhai Lakhmir Singh jee jumped on the elephant and killed the two turks sitting on it. The elephant got scared and ran back towards to imperial army. When Moman Khand saw the elephant without the turks, he knew what had happened.

MOMAN KHAN CALLS IN POORBIYE (RESIDENTS OF BIHAR, UP)

Moman Khan decided to test his Poorbiye soldiers who were known for their valour. Their name were Mansha Ram and Daiya Ram and their titles were �ikk Hazaari� (officer to whom one thousand soldiers report). They both moved forward along with a group of selected soldiers to fight off the Singhs. Three Singhs came out to combat them. These three singhs killed both Mansha Ram and Daiya Ram and the army that came with them fled after that.

SHAHEEDI OF BHAI TARA SINGH JEE AND OTHER SINGHS

After the fall of Mansha Ram and Daiya Ram, the soldiers of the imperial army got depressed and did not want to fight. Moman Khan could not have gone back empty handed. By now, sun had risen and there was more light now.

The Turks now could see the singhs more clearly and they decided not to move forward but shoot the singhs from far. Most of the 22 singhs by now had gone shaheed. The remaining Singhs decided to attack the imperial army voluntarily.

When Bhai Tara Singh jee entered the imperial army, there was a storm in there. He killed countless before he was shot from far. He still would not fall and kept fighting and slicing the soldiers. It was felt as if he was accompanied by thousands of more hands. He sent several to Dharam Rai and finally attained shaheedi there.

THE AFTERMATH

The shaheedi of Bhai Tara Singh jee rejuvenated the dejected Sikhs after the shaheedi of Baba Banda Singh jee and many came into the fold of Khalsa and regrouped again to fight off the foreign rule in Punjab. Bhai Tara Singh jee will always be remembered by Khalsa and a memorial in village Vaan has been errected in his sweet memory.

END OF SAAKHI

The story of Bhai Tara Singh jee Vaan is most inspiring to the Sikhs. Bhai Sahib was greatest of all and I don�t have the capability to describe even the dust of his feet. What can I write about him? I know that I have not been able to do justice to his story, but I have tried nevertheless. Sangat Baksh lave.

Daas,
Kulbir Singh

vaheguru ji ka khalsa vaheguru ji ki fateh