Sikh Martyrs

Sikh history is threaded with deliberate martyrdom, understood as willing sacrifice rather than misfortune. Bhai Taru Singh of Tarn Taran was sawn alive on the orders of the Mughal authorities in 1717, aged thirteen. All four of Guru Gobind Singh's sons were executed, and the execution of Bhai Mati Das, Bhai Sahiba and Bhai Dayala on a single day in 1739 is remembered at every Gurpurab. The literature of the martyrs is a major part of Punjabi writing.