Darbarah Singh

Baba Darbara Singh (1644 – July 1734 ), also known as Diwan Darbara Singh , was second Jathedar of Budha Dal and third leader of the Akal Takht. He should not be confused with other Darbara Singh of Sirhind who fought in the Battle of Anandpur.

Birth and family background Darbara Singh was born in the village of Dal to a Khatri family as the son of Bhai Nanu Rai from Dilwali of Delhi and had a younger brother name Gharbara Singh, they belonged to the family of Guru Hargobind. He was born into a mercantile family of Sirhind. His grandfather, Baba Kalyana, had served in the forces of the Akal Sena during the guruship period of Guru Hargobind. When Guru Gobind Singh was born on 18 December 1666 in Patna, Guru Tegh Bahadur instructed Darbara to travel to Patna and from there make his way to Punjab, passing on the auspicious news to the Sikh congregations along the way. Each had been assigned different roles and responsibilities, he was responsible for managing the finances of the Sikh nation. However, another sources states Kapur Singh joined Darbara Singh's jatha in June 1726.

After the last-stand and martyrdom of Tara Singh Wan in 1726, many Sikhs, motivated by feelings of revenge, decided to join the jatha of Darbara Singh to fight the Mughals.

Under the leadership of Darbara Singh, the Sikhs managed to reorganize and reconvene themselves after being in disarray since the death of Banda Singh Bahadur. He did so by arranging a Sarbat Khalsa in 1726 in Amritsar. After a Gurmatta passed under his watch, the Mughal imperial treasury was targeted for looting by the Sikhs.

In 1733, Zakariya Khan, the governor of Lahore province, attempted to make peace with the Sikhs and sent an envoy named Subeg Singh to meet with them. However, the Sikh congregation overruled Darbara Singh's protest and decided to confer the title upon Kapur Singh instead, whom was also a highly-respected Sikh at the time. His year of date is recorded as either being 1734 or 1735 and a discrepancy exists within sources regarding his exact date of death.