Shabeg Singh - Early Days

Early Days

General Shabeg Singh belonged to Khiala village (earlier known as Khiala Nand Singhwala) of the Bhangus, about nine miles (14 km) from Amritsar-Chogawan Road. He was the eldest son of Sardar Bhagwan Singh and Pritam Kaur, and had three brothers and a sister. He traced his lineage to great Sikh warrior, Bhai Mehtab Singh Bhangu who along with Bhai Sukha Singh slew the notorious Massa Rangar in 1740 and thus avenged the desecration of the Golden Temple. The family was well-to-do and prosperous and had sizeable land holding of over 100 acres (0.40 km2). Sardar Bhagwan Singh was the village Lambardar. Nand Singh was the great-grandfather of Shabeg Singh.

From his early childhood Shabeg Singh displayed leadership qualities and above-average intelligence. He would often spontaneously compose extemporaneous verses to caricature interesting village personalities. He displayed a keen interest in history and literature and his village teachers were impressed with his intellectual ability. They advised Sardar Bhagwan Singh and Pritam Kaur to send him to a school. He was sent to the Khalsa College in Amritsar for secondary education, and later to the Government College in Lahore for higher education.

Shabeg Singh was an outstanding football and hockey player, and excelled in athletics. At the age of 18 years he had equaled the India records in 100 meters sprint and was the District Broad jump champion. However, even though he had a natural ability for sports he did not wish to pursue that as a career, his mind was on the army, which was considered a noble profession. He excelled in studies and generally topped his class.