Baba Gurbakhsh Singh
Led thirty Sikhs out of the Akal Takht to face Ahmad Shah Abdali's army in December 1764 rather than leave the Harmandir Sahib undefended.
Gurbakhsh Singh was born in 1688 at Leel near Amritsar and took amrit from Bhai Mani Singh. He became a member of the Shaheedan misl and a devoted servant of the Harmandir Sahib.
In December 1764 Ahmad Shah Abdali invaded the Punjab for the seventh time and marched on Amritsar. The Sikh armies had withdrawn to fight elsewhere. Gurbakhsh Singh, then about seventy-six, refused to leave the Harmandir Sahib undefended and stayed with thirty Sikhs at the Akal Takht.
When the Afghan army arrived on 1 December, the thirty went out to meet it and fought until every one was killed. The Persian chronicler Qazi Nur Muhammad, who was with the Afghan army and hated the Sikhs, recorded their bravery in amazement. A memorial, Shaheed Ganj Baba Gurbakhsh Singh, stands behind the Akal Takht.
