Ans. Baba Bota Singh and Bhai Garja Singh were passing through a village when they heard the conversation between two Muslims.
One of them pointed his finger towards them and said to the other, “You were saying that the Sikhs have been completely exterminated, but look at those two Sikhs, they are still alive”. The second person replied, “I do not believe they are Sikhs. They must be fakirs, because the Sikhs court martyrdom by facing the enemy. They do not evade confrontation like these two”.
Baba Bota Singh could not tolerate such insulting words. There and then they posted themselves at a bridge (close to saraae of Noor Deen) and started collecting tax from passersby. He then wrote a letter to Zakaria Khan, the governor of Lahore, in which he described what they were doing, so that he may come to know of their presence (that the Sikhs are still alive and have not been completely annihilated). The words of this letter were as follows:
Bota Singh is writing this letter
He is standing on a thoroughfare, with a staff in his hand
He is collecting tax at the rate of one anna for a bullock cart, and one pice for a donkey Tell my sister-in-law, Khano, (the wife of Zakaria Khan) That Bota Singh has written this.
The way these two brave Singhs courted martyrdom is also worth mentioning.
On learning about this insulting letter, the commander of the Mughal forces in the Taran Taaran area came charging where the two brave Sikhs were posted.
Baba Bota Singh and Bhai Garja Singh, on seeing the soldiers, stood with their backs to each other, ready to fight. Bota Singh had only a large staff and Garja Singh had a spear.
The Mughal commander said aloud, “Why do you want to get killed for nothing”? The two replied, “We are not here to save our lives; we are here to die a brave man’s death”. The soldiers had bows and arrows and muskets, but the two brave Sikhs, in spite of great handicap, gave a good fight. Both were wounded in their legs and could not stand, they beat the horses of the soldiers with their staff and spear and kept on fighting even while standing on their knees till the last moment.
- Some people think that Zakariya Khan’s wife belonged to the same village as did Baba Bota Singh. Others think that it was a deliberate taunt to challenge Zakaria Khan.