07/09/2025
Shaheed Bhai Bota Singh & Bhai Garja Singh (d. 1739)
Bhai Bota Singh was an 18th-century Sikh martyr from the village of Bharana in Amritsar district. During the dark days of Mughal persecution, Sikhs were forced to live in jungles and wastelands for survival. By night, Bota Singh would venture out in search of food, sometimes reaching Amritsar secretly to bathe in the holy sarovar, spending his days in hiding near Tarn Taran.
One day, some villagers noticed him and began doubting his Sikh identity. They mocked him, saying that if he were truly a Sikh, he would not remain in hiding. The taunt struck deeply. Refusing to let the Khalsa’s spirit of sovereignty be questioned, Bota Singh, along with his companion Bhai Garja Singh (a Rangreta Sikh), decided to openly challenge Mughal authority.
Armed with nothing but a bamboo staff (sota), the two took position on the Grand Trunk Road near Sarai Nur ud-Din, close to Tarn Taran. They began collecting tolls from travelers — one anna from a cart, and one pice from a donkey — as a symbolic act of Khalsa rule.
To ensure their defiance reached the highest authority, Bhai Bota Singh wrote a letter directly to Zakariya Khan, the Mughal Governor of Lahore. The letter, preserved in Punjabi folklore, read:
“With a big club in hand,
On the road do I stand.
I levy an anna on a cart,
And a pice on a donkey.
Tell your sister Khano,
This is the word of Bota Singh.”
In this fearless satire, Bota Singh mockingly referred to the governor’s wife as his “bhabi” (sister-in-law), a bold and provocative expression of Sikh defiance.
Enraged, Zakariya Khan dispatched 100 horsemen under Jalal Din to capture the two Sikhs alive. When offered pardon in exchange for surrender, Bhai Bota Singh and Bhai Garja Singh refused. Choosing martyrdom over submission, the two fought bravely against overwhelming odds until they were killed in battle in 1739.
Their sacrifice became a shining symbol of Sikh courage, sovereignty, and unyielding spirit in the face of oppression.
