The Golden Temple Part II

After the martyrdom of Bhai Mani Singh ji in 1737, Massa Ranghar, the Kotwal of Amritsar took charge of Sri Harmandir Sahib in 1740 and converted it into a civil court. He further desecrated the shrine by holding notch parties. This act created great resentment among the Sikhs. Two warriors, Sukha Singh and Mahtab Singh avenged the insult by a dare devil act. They entered the temple complex in guise of peasants, severed the head of Massa Ranghar with a single blow of kirpan and fled away with decapitated head on their spears. After this incident, the security around Sri Harmandir Sahib was further tightened and the temple was locked. In 1746, a Hindu Divan of Lahore Darbar named lakhpat Rai vowed to finish the Sikh race in order to avenge the death of his brother Jaspat Rai. He befouled the Sarovar and desecrated Sri Harmandir Sahib. He even banned the name 'Guru'. The Mughol forces marched against the Sikhs under the command of Divan Lakhpat Rai and Yahiya Khan. A fierce battle was fought (the first Ghalughara in June 1746) in which nearly seven thousand Sikhs were martyred. Three thousand of them were put to death publicly at Lahore, (the site is now called Shaheedganj).

In 1757, Ahmad Shah Abdali invaded India for the second time and attacked Amritsar. He demolished Sri Harmandir Sahib and filled the Sarovar (tank) wit garbage. On hearing of the desecration, Baba deep Singh ji Saheed, the head of 'Misl Shaheedan', started at once to avenge the insult. A bloody encounter took place at the village Gohalwar near Amritsar. Baba Deep Singh was mortally wounded. He gripped and supported his almost severed head with his left hand and with the right, he went on mowing down the enemies. Thus fighting, this unique warrior reached the holy precincts and laid down his life for the cause of maintaining sanctity of Sri Harmandir Sahib. On 10th April, 1762, Ahmed Shah Abdali again invaded Amritsar and Sri Harmandir Sahib, after the horrible carnage of the Sikhs at Kup Harira. On this occasion, thousands of armed and unarmed Sikhs had gathered at the temple for a holy bath. Countless Sikhs laid down their lives in defence of their beloved shrine. Sri Harmandir Sahib was again blown up with gunpowder and the holy tank was also desecrated. It is said that while the building of the shrine was being blown up, a flying brickbat struck the Shah on the nose. This wound proved fatal for him. In December, 1764, Sri Harmandir Sahib was again attacked by Ahmed Shah Abdali with the sole object of destroying the entire Sikh Nation. But before his arrival the Sikhs abandoned the city and to his surprise he found only thirty Sikhs in the vicinity of Sri Harmandir Sahib, who under the command of Baba Gurbax Singh ji gave him stiff resistance and all were martyred. Abdali, again pulled down the newly constructed structure of the Shrine and levelled the holy tank. Before the final departure from India in 1767, Ahmed Shah Abdali again attacked Amritsar but he dared not enter Sri Harmandir Sahib, and it remained under the control of the Sikhs ever afterwards. (In June, 1984 it was attacked by the Indian Army, under operation Blue Star in which several hundred innocent Sikh pilgrims were killed).

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