&quotIndia – Punjab Sikh painting of Baba Deep Singh c1880.&nbspA rare&nbsppainting of Baba Deep Singh fighting Afghan forces.&nbspBaba Deep Singh the central figure holding his head whilst fighting the retreating Afghan enemy. He&nbspwields his Khanda sword slaying the enemy. Baba Deep Singh is revered among Sikhs as one of the most hallowed martyrs in Sikhism and as a highly religious person. He is remembered for his sacrifice and devotion to the teachings of the Sikh Gurus. He was the first jathedar (Head) of Damdami Taksal a 300 years old religious school of the Sikhs which was allegedly founded by last Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh. In April 1757, Ahmad Shah Durrani raided Northern India for the fourth time. On his arrival in Lahore, Durrani, embittered by his loss, ordered the demolition of the Harimandir Sahib. The shrine was blown up and the sacred pool filled with the entrails of slaughtered cows. Durrani assigned the Punjab region to his son, Prince Timur Shah, and left him a force of ten thousand men under General Jahan Khan. Baba Deep Singh, aged 75-years old, felt that it was up to him to atone for the sin of having let the Afghans desecrate the shrine. He emerged from scholastic retirement (he had been making copies of the Guru Granth Sahib), and declared to a congregation at Damdama Sahib that he intended to rebuild the temple. Five hundred men came forward to go with him. Deep Singh offered prayers before starting for Amritsar: &quot&quotMay my head fall at the Darbar Sahib.&quot&quot According to the Sikh legend, Baba Deep Singh had vowed to avenge the desecration of the Golden Temple by the Afghan army. In 1757, he led an army to defend the Golden Temple. The Sikhs and the Afghans clashed, in the battle of Amritsar, at the village of Gohalwar on November 11, 1757 and in the ensuing conflict Baba Deep Singh was decapitated. Baba Deep Singh continued to fight after having been decapitated, slaying his enemies with his head in one hand and his sword in the other.&nbsp Measures Approx&nbsp20cm by 17 cm. Provenance came from album of watercolours and ephemera&nbspbelonging to&nbspGeneral Roberts who served in India in 1880s – he had many Sikh soldiers serving under him. This has to be one of the earliest paintings of painting of Baba Deep Singh. Paintings&nbspof Guru Nanak Ji and Guru Gobind Singh Ji from the same school can be seen in the Victoria and Albert Museum.&quot