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MAHTAB SINGH MIRAN KOT


Bhai Mahtab Singh (? -1745) was a resident of village Mirankot, Amritsar. In 1740, Zakaria Khan, the Governor of the Lahore, occupied Darbar Sahib, Amritsar and granted its control to a debauched Massa Ranghar of village Mandhiala (Massa Ranghar was the same person who had led campaign to demolish Lohgarh Fort from 1716 to 1739). Massa began using Darbar Sahib for immoral activities. The Sarbat Khalsa gathering at Bikaner, in August 1740, sent Mahtab Singh of Miran Kot and Sukkha Singh of Mari Kambo, to punish Massa Ranghar. Both of them disguised themselves as Muslim officials and reached Darbar Sahib. They chopped off the head of Massa Ranghar, on August 11, 1740 and presented it before the Sikhs, at Bikaner. Later, in 1745, Mahtab Singh was arrested when he went to see Bhai Taru Singh who was in custody of the Lahore Governor. Mahtab Singh was killed at wheels at Lahore. (Bhai Sukkha Singh died in a battle, in 1753). Ratan Singh Bhangu (son of Bhai Rai Singh), the writer of Prachin Panth Parkash was Mehtab Singh’s grandson.

(Dr Harjinder Singh Dilgeer)