Bhagat Singh was born on 27 September 1907 in the village of Banga in Lyallpur district, Punjab Province, which was then part of British India and is now in Pakistan. He was born into a politically active Sikh family that was steeped in the revolutionary traditions of the time. His father Kishan Singh and uncle Ajit Singh were both involved in the nationalist struggle against British colonial rule. In fact, Ajit Singh was one of the early leaders of the Ghadar Movement and had suffered imprisonment for his anti-British activities.

From an early age, Bhagat Singh was exposed to the ideas of revolution and resistance. He grew up in the politically charged environment of Punjab, especially during the aftermath of the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre of 1919, which had a profound effect on him. Even as a schoolboy, Singh was fascinated by stories of revolutionaries and freedom fighters. He was said to have visited the massacre site at age 12 and brought home blood-soaked soil as a symbol of colonial cruelty.

He attended the Dayanand Anglo-Vedic School in Lahore and later studied at the National College, which had been established by Lala Lajpat Rai as an alternative to British-run institutions. It was there that Bhagat Singh’s political beliefs crystallized. He became fluent in multiple languages and read extensively—Karl Marx, Lenin, Bakunin, and Indian nationalist texts—laying the foundation for his transformation into a Marxist and atheist revolutionary.

In 1926, Bhagat Singh was arrested on suspicion of involvement in a bombing but was released after five weeks. During this time, he was contributing to underground newspapers and pamphlets in Urdu, Punjabi, and Hindi under several pseudonyms. He was also associated with groups such as the Naujawan Bharat Sabha and later became a core member of the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA).

The murder that would bring Bhagat Singh into the crosshairs of the British Empire was not initially intended to target the victim. On 17 December 1928, Singh, along with fellow revolutionaries Rajguru and Chandrashekhar Azad, set out to assassinate James Scott, the British police superintendent they believed responsible for the brutal lathi charge on Lala Lajpat Rai during a peaceful protest against the Simon Commission in Lahore. Rai died from his injuries two weeks later, and Singh vowed to avenge his death.

In a case of mistaken identity, Singh and his associates instead targeted Assistant Superintendent John Saunders, who was only 21 years old and relatively new to the force. As Saunders left the Lahore police station on a motorcycle, he was first shot by Rajguru, a skilled marksman, and then fatally wounded by Singh, who fired several shots at close range. Channan Singh, a pursuing Indian constable, was gunned down by Azad during the trio's escape.

To avoid immediate suspicion, Singh and his team used pseudonyms and printed posters declaring that Saunders was the intended target, not Scott, as an act of revolutionary justice. Singh then went underground, disappearing into the fabric of British India under various aliases. He famously altered his appearance by cutting his hair and shaving his beard to avoid detection, a controversial act given his Sikh background.

In a dramatic twist in April 1929, Singh resurfaced in Delhi where he and Batukeshwar Dutt carried out a symbolic bombing of the Central Legislative Assembly. They threw two low-intensity bombs from the visitors' gallery onto empty seats, followed by a shower of leaflets and shouts of “Inquilab Zindabad!” They made no attempt to escape, allowing themselves to be arrested in order to use the courtroom as a stage to amplify their ideology.

The trial for the Assembly bombing resulted in a life sentence. However, subsequent investigation revealed Singh’s connection to the Saunders killing. In the high-profile Lahore Conspiracy Case, he and 27 other revolutionaries were tried. Key witnesses from within the HSRA turned approvers. Despite this, Singh used the trial as a platform to champion the rights of political prisoners and publicize the revolution’s goals.

While in jail, Bhagat Singh led a 116-day hunger strike protesting discriminatory treatment of Indian political prisoners compared to British inmates. His determination earned him admiration across India, even from political opponents. Jatindra Nath Das, who also participated in the strike, died after 63 days. Singh ended his own strike only after pleas from his father and nationalist leaders.

On 7 October 1930, Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, and Sukhdev were sentenced to death by a special tribunal under a controversial ordinance. Appeals were made to the Privy Council and petitions for mercy were filed, including from Congress leader Madan Mohan Malaviya and Gandhi himself, but all were denied. The execution was quietly advanced to 23 March 1931, one day earlier than publicly announced.

That night at 7:30 PM, the three men were hanged in Lahore Central Jail. According to reports, their bodies were secretly removed, mutilated, and cremated without public ceremony.