Was the son of Subeg Singh, the kotwal of Lahore under the Mughal governor, Zakariya Khan. He went to a Muhammadan school to read Persian and Arabic. He made good progress in his studies and caught the notice of the maulawi for his highly intelligent manner.

The latter wished to bring him into the fold of Islam, and began to offer him all kinds of allurements. But young Shahbaz Singh firmly resisted all his efforts to convert him. The mulla and the gadi of Lahore also tried but failed to persuade him to give up the faith of his forefathers. Finally, both Shahbaz Singh and his father, Subeg Singh, were arrested under the orders of the governor of Lahore. They were invited to accept conversion to save their lives which they refused. Shahbaz Singh suffered torture with his father and was like him broken on the wheel. This happened in 1745.