'Pakistan's Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB) has closed Gurdwara Shaheed Bhai Taru Singh, located in Lahore, for worship, claiming that it is a mosque,' according to recent news reports.

Bhai Taru Singh Shaheed Gurdwara

As you can expect, I was fascinated. Where did this assertion come from? Were these claims supported by evidence? As you might expect, I couldn’t resist going down the rabbit hole and sharing what I discovered.

History of the Mosque

The current Bhai Taru Singh Gurdwara is said to have been built on the site of the former Abdullah Khan Mosque. The Mosque is said to have been erected by Abdullah Khan during the reign of Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah in 1722. The Mosque is said to have been finally built in 1753, near to Pir Shah Kaku's shrine.[1]

However, Dr. Ganda Singh refuses to accept the building in question was the Abdullah Khan mosque at all, and proposes six different possibilities all derived from various primary sources.

1. From the petition by Nur Ahmad in 1858, he states that, ‘Mirza Qurban Beg made a gift of the side mosque to my ancestors. The Akalis made the said mosque desolate after dispossessing my father.’
2. From Sayed Alam Shah, Extra Assistant Commissioner, Lahore, July 11, 1883, states in his report that, ‘the mosque, the hamam, the baghicha etc., were built by Mir Manu Khan Subedhar of Lahore. He issued an order that any Sikh who was found should be beheaded, and his head kept near the said mosque, and that when heads were collected, he used to get them buried.’
3. From Nur Ahmad Chishti in his book, the Tahqiqat-i-Chisti, states that, ‘both of these mosques were built during the reign of Aurganzeb.’
4. Again, from Nur Ahmad Chisthi’s Tahqiqat-i-Chisti, states that, ‘he [Abdullah Khan] laid the foundation of this mosque in 1653 AD, because, being appointed the Kotwal of Lahore, for some time, he used to hold his Court in the Nakhas, or marketplace.’ However, 1653 corresponds to the reign of Shah Jahan and not Dara Shikoh.
5. From Sayed Habib in the Siyasat, Lahore, July 3, 1935 states that that, ‘mosque in question is a monument of the Mughal days, Its foundation was laid by Hazrat Mian Mir.’
6. From Sayed Mohsin Shah, Advocate High Court, in his statement before the Gurdwara Tribunal on August 19, 1929, stated that, ‘I cannot say when this mosque was founded but it appears to be a hundred years old. I do not know who was the original founder of the mosque, nor do I know who was its last mutwali.’

In fact, Dr. Ganda Singh’s conclusion makes more sense than anything else put forward to date. The only use that the building could have had was that of a court or a place of execution. With Abdullah Khan having become Kotwal of Lahore and having held his court in the adjacent square, it would make sense the purpose built building was to house his court?

Bhai Taru Singh Ji

Bhai Taru Singh was born in Amritsar around 1720 and nurtured by his widowed mother alongside his sister Tar Kaur. Bhai Taru Singh worked in Poolha, Kasur, Lahore district, where he took care of a small farm.

During the 1740s, there was a scheme among the Sikhs to topple Zakaria Khan, the oppressive Mughal governor of Punjab. Sikh fighters were fed and housed by Bhai Taru Singh and his sister.

There are two competing tales of who alerted Mughal officials. According to one story, it was a spy for Zakaria Khan, while another claims it was a local, Mahanat Harbhagat Naranjania, who became aware and filed a complaint that Bhai Taru Singh was distributing rations to thieves and thugs, resulting in Bhai Taru Singh and Tar Kaur's imprisonment.

It should be noted that Ganda Singh describes this period as a time where, ‘moveable military detachments of Zakriya Khan scoured the land in search and pursuit of the Sikhs who were hunted down like wild beasts.’

The locals offered bribes to officials in exchange for Tar Kaur's release, but Bhai Taru Singh refused such a pardon. When questioned by authorities, Bhai Taru Singh confirmed the facts.

Bhai Taru Singh Ji’s Shaheedi

Incomplete 19th century drawing depicting the martyrdom of Taru Singh.

After being imprisoned and tortured, Bhai Taru Singh was taken before the Khan in the square adjacent to the, under-construction, Abdullah Khan Mosque.

Zakarian Khan asked where he had the strength to endure all of this misery and pain. Bhai Taru Singh said that his power stemmed from his kes (unshorn hair) that Guru Gobind Singh blessed.

As a result, Nawab Zakaria Khan directed the barber to cut Bhai Taru Singh's hair, which had grown as strong as iron. The Nawab was enraged by this and ordered Bhai Taru Singh's scalp to be removed.

Bhai Taru Singh said that the Governor would meet an even worse fate, and that he would accompany Zakaria Khan to the other world.

It is debatable when the Nawab's commands were carried out. According to Kahn Singh Nabha, the orders were carried out on June 27th, 1745. The historically recognised date of Bhai Taru Singh Ji's death is July 1, 1745, which is reported to be 22 days after Bhai Taru Singh Ji's scalp was taken, putting us between June 9th and 11th.

Rattan Singh Bhangu claims that the day Zakaria Khan's demand was followed, his urinary system stopped working, causing him severe suffering.

The Qazi addressed Bhai Taru Singh Oh Kafir, what have you done? The Nawab can’t urinate. He is in great pain. Bhai Taru Singh told him to take his shoe and beat it on Zakaria’s head to make him urinate. On the fifth day of shoe beating, Zakaria Khan died on July 1, 1745. On hearing of that the same day Bhai Taru Singh left his mortal remains.

Bhai Taru Singh Ji did not breathe his last until July 1, 1745, which means that the Mosque would take another 8 years to be completed.

Mir Mannus Reign

It was during the reign of Mir Mannu that Sikh women and children were thrown into the underground dungeons in the compound of the ‘mosque’. Estimates put the number of tortured and murdered Sikh men, women and children in this square between 100,00 and 250,000.

Today a memorial in the form of Gur­d­wara Shahid Ganj Singh Singhn­ian sits opposite the Bhai Taru Singh Shaheed Gurdwara.

History of the Gurdwara

In 1762, the Bhangi Misl seized Lahore, and the Abdullah Khan Mosque, adjacent to the plaza where Bhai Taru Singh was scalped, was occupied and converted into a Gurdwara (Grudwara Shaheedganj); the shrine next door to Pir Shah Kaku was also occupied and used by the Sikhs.

The ‘mosque’ was split into three portions. The central chamber was used as a Gurdwara proper, where Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji was installed and recited. The southern portion was set apart for Guru Ka Langar, and the northern portion served as storehouse. A portion of the site was used as a Sukhe-di-Dheg and Sabeel, from where bhang and water were freely distributed to all visitors and travelers.

It is the pyramids of the heads of executed Sikhs that the Khalsa called ‘shahidganj’, meaning a heap or storehouse of martyrs. Later, the word came to be used for any memorial raised in memory of the martyred, upon the site of their martyrdom.

The square in which Bhai Taru Singh was scalped, the present Landa Bazar, is also the same site that Bhai Mani Singh was cut piece-by-piece in 1734 and where hundreds, if not thousands, of others were put to death.

The Dispute

The conflict dates back to just after the conquest of Punjab. In 1850, a year after the British occupied Punjab, a Lahori man called Nur Ahmad filed a criminal case against the Shaheedganj Gurdwara's owners, Bhai Jiwan Singh and Ganda Singh. The action was dismissed because Ahmad did not own the structure.

A civil dispute was brought by Ahmad, and dismissed, in 1853. On June 25, 1855, yet another suit by Nur Ahmad was brought in the Court of the Deputy Commissioner, Lahore, against the Sikhs in possession of the property: it was dismissed by that officer on November 14, 1855, by the Commissioner on April 9, 1856, and on further appeal by the Judicial Commissioner on June 17, 1856.

All of Nur Ahmad’s attempts failed.

With Ahmad's death, the controversy appeared to have died away, and the Sikh Gurdwara Act (Punjab Act VIII of 1925) was passed in 1925. The Government issued a Notification under this Act on December 22, 1927, declaring the old mosque building and land adjacent thereto was included as belonging to the Sikh gurdwara "Shahid Ganj Bhai Taru Singh."

Rather than being the end of the story. Objections arose from a number of people.

One, dated March 8, 1928, was signed by Mahant Hamam Singh and others and said that the property belonged to them individually, not to the institution over which they presided.

Another letter, dated March 16, 1928, was written by the Anjuman Islamia of the Punjab "on behalf of the Mohammedans," arguing that the land and property had been designated for a mosque and did not belong to the gurdwara.

Both sets of claimants were unsuccessful before the Sikh Gurdwaras Tribunal, which ruled on January 20, 1930, that the mahants' possession had been held for the sake of the gurdwara and that the Anjuman's appeal had failed due to adverse possession and earlier judgements.

Simply put, the mosque had long since ceased to be utilised for Muslim worship and had passed into Sikh hands since at least 1862.

Soon after winning the case, the SGPC resolved to remove all "un-Sikh like deviations and non-Sikh usages" from the compound.

On June 28, 1935, a large crowd of local Muslims armed with sticks and hatchets appeared near Shahid Ganj to protest against the Sikh plans. The Deputy Commissioner and the city magistrate managed to persuade the crowd to disperse and posted police around the compound.

On July 6, 1935, a Muslim delegation met Herbet Emerson, then Governor of Punjab, and suggested that the government should take over the compound in the public interest, pay compensation to the Sikhs and hand it over to the archaeological department.

On the night of July 7, 1935, the Sikhs who controlled the enclosure razed the mosque, putting Lahore on edge.

The Punjab government held the view that “it was not possible to prevent the Sikhs from exercising their legal right and that bloodshed should be avoided by preventing Muslims from approaching the scene of demolition”.

To prevent demonstrations in the vicinity of the gurdwara, the area was cordoned by troops and police. Later, curfew was imposed in that area. The Deputy Commissioner warned “against any attempt to instigate the Muslims against the Sikhs”.

On July 12, 1935, a meeting was held after Juma prayers in the Badshahi mosque, attended by 15,000 muslims. Prominent leaders declared a separate organization, the Anjuman-i-Tahaffuz-i-Masjid, had been formed a few days earlier to try to find a legal means for the protection of the mosque and a peace settlement for the issue.

In order to pacify the Muslims, the Punjab government, on July 14, 1935, announced in a press communiqué that it would hand over the Shah Chiragh mosque to the AHI. The same night, the government arrested four radical leaders, Maulana Zafar Ali, Syed Habib, Feroz-ud-Din Ahamd and Malik Lal Khan.

Five days later, trouble broke out again in Lahore. After Juma prayers at Badshahi mosque, fiery speeches encouraged the Muslims to walk towards Shaheedganj. The government imposed curfew over the city but Muslim demonstrations continued till July 21, 1935. On July 23, the Muslims held a meeting at Wazir Khan’s mosque and decided to start a disobedience movement.

Accordingly on September 20, 1935, the Muslims observed the Shaheedganj Day and tension prevailed, everywhere in the Punjab. At that critical juncture, Maulana Shaukat Ali (1873 - 1938) invited Master Tara Singh to negotiate on the Shaheedganj question.

The leaders of the two communities met at Amritsar on October 3, 1935, but the joint venture failed to create a peaceful atmosphere. On October 23, 1935 Lahore saw Sikh-Muslim clashes over the matter.

In response to the situation, Pir Jamaat Ali Shah convened a joint conference of muslim leaders and ulama at Barkat Ali Muhammadan Hall, Lahore, on November 9, 1935. The conference agreed to enlist 100,000 volunteers and to raise a fund to support the movement to reclaim Shahidganj.

Pir Jamaat Ali Shah toured Punjab to try to raise funds and his volunteer force of 100,000 but it fell flat and little was done to organize the agitation in any meaningful way. By the end of 1935, the movement for the Shaheedganj Mosque imploded due to a lack of political oxygen and any meaningful substance.

There was an attempt, in January 1936, by a volunteer, Maula Baksh, to restart the movement but on February 3, 1936, police entered the Badshahi mosque and arrested Maula Baksh. In his place, another volunteer, Yasub-ul-Hasan took his place. However, both men were arrested by police who entered the Badshahi mosque on February 11, 1936.

The SGPC soon built a gurdwara on the site of the now-demolished Mosque. The legal aspect of the case lingered on until 1940, when it was examined in the Privy Council, British India's highest court of appeal. The court saw the case as a routine property dispute and dismissed the Muslim side's claim citing the statute of limitations, noting that the property, although originally established as a Mosque, had been under Sikh control for a sufficient period of time.

“Part of the building was used for the worship of the Granth Sahib or holy book of the Sikhs. Other parts have been used for secular purposes being let out to tenants, or used for storing chaff (bhusa) or holding rubbish. By a tradition which cannot be ignored (though their Lordships are thankful to be free; of any duty to investigate its truth) the land adjacent to the building was regarded by the Sikhs as a place of martyrs (shahid ganj), it being commonly held among them that Bhai Taru Singh had on this spot suffered for his religion at the hands of Muslim rulers and that many others including women and children had been executed here.”

Since the 1940s?

*This is a section I'm still working on*

Conclusion

In the literal sense of the word, this small plot of land is a shaheed ganj, a store house of martyrs.

The purpose of the building may have initially been to serve as a mosque but even that is unconfirmed. More importantly, its purpose quickly became integral in the martyrdoms of Bhai Mani Singh (1737) and Bhai Taru Singh (1745), and in the whole scale massacre, torture and genocide of Sikh women and children during the time of Mir Mannu (1748-1753).

In addition, legally from 1850 up to 1940, the matter has continuously been decided in the courts in favour of the Sikhs continued use of the compound as a Gurdwara. Even cases brought by individual Sikh claimants trying to lay claim to the land were rejected in favour of the buildings purpose as a Gurdwara.

Any recent attempts to re-ignite the issue purposefully ignore the debatable origins of the ‘mosque’, disregard the reverence and history connected to the store house of the martyrs and are ignorant of the legal findings to date.


References

[1] G. Rankin. Masjid Shahid Ganj Mosque vs Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak, on 2 May, 1940. This is seemingly taken from a mis-reading of Nur Ahmad Chisthi’s Tahqiqat-i-Chisti
[2] Dr. Ganda Singh. History of the Gurdwara Shahidganj, Lahore. From its Origin to November 1935. Compiled from original sources, judicial records and contemporary records.
[3] ibid., page 4
[4] Gurdwara Sri Shaheed Ganj Singh Singhnian, http://www.discoversikhism.com/sikh_gurdwaras/gurdwara_sri_shaheed_ganj_singh_singhnian.html
[5] G. Rankin. Masjid Shahid Ganj Mosque vs Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak, on 2 May, 1940
[6] Dr. Ganda Singh. History of the Gurdwara Shahidganj, Lahore. From its Origin to November 1935. Compiled from original sources, judicial records and contemporary records. Page 39
[7] ibid.,
[8] Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha, Mahan Kosh, Page 348.
[9] ibid.,
[10] Craig Baxter, ed., Martial Law to Martial Law: Politics in Punjab, 1919-1958, Lahore, 1985, p. 131
[11] Civil and Military Gazette, Lahore, July 9, 1935
[12] ibid.,
[13] Muhammad Hurshid, Muhammad Akbar Malik. Shahidganj Mosque Issue and the Muslims Response: 1935-1936