page_title: Gurdwara Shaheed Bhai Taru Singh
section_title: Significance
hierarchical_section_title: Gurdwara Shaheed Bhai Taru Singh / Significance
caption_attribution_description: This image was shot by me in a Sikh History museum.
context_page_description: Gurdwara Shaheed Bhai Taru Singh or Gurdwara Shahidi Asthan Bhai Taru Singh ji is a Sikh Gurdwara at Naulakha Bazaar in Lahore, Pakistan, which commemorates the spot where Bhai Taru Singh was martyred. The shrine was built on the grounds of the Shaheed Ganj Mosque, leading to a legal dispute over ownership that began in 1850. British, and later Pakistani, courts upheld the right of Sikhs to maintain a place of worship at the site. While a settlement was being negotiated by British authorities, a group of Sikhs demolished the mosque on 7–8 July 1935, triggering communal riots.
context_section_description: The shrine ("shaheedi asthan") is believed to be situated at the place where Bhai Taru Singh was executred in 1745 by Zakariya Khan when he had his head scalped rather than cutting his hair or converting to Islam. According to Sikh sources, after cutting Bhai Taru Singh's scalp Zakaria Khan was stricken with unbearable pain and the inability to urinate. As a last resort, Khan sent an apology to the Khalsa Panth for his persecution of Sikhs and begged for forgiveness. It was suggested that if Khan hit himself with Bhai Taru Singh's shoes his condition might be lifted. Although hitting himself with Bhai Taru Singh's shoe did cure the Khan's condition, he died 22 days later from having hit himself with the shoes, which is what Bhai Taru Singh had predicted. Upon hearing the death of Khan and that he had outlived the Khan, Taru Singh also died on 1 July 1745.
caption: A diorama of Bhai Taru Singh being executed at the site
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