From the Archives

Real Photographs

Historians caution that most popular images of Bhagat Singh are later paintings. Only a handful of authentic photographs exist — as a child, as a student in a white turban, in police custody, and in the famous hat portrait. Here are the verified originals, all in the public domain via Wikimedia Commons and Indian archives.

The iconic 1929 photograph of Bhagat Singh in a hat — The Iconic Portrait
April 1929, Delhi. Taken by Ramnath Photographers shortly before the Assembly bombing — the most famous image of Bhagat Singh, with his trademark hat.

A 1929 photograph of Bhagat Singh restored from the Delhi Archives — Restored from the Delhi Archives
A second photograph from the same 1929 sitting, recovered and restored from the Delhi Archives.

Bhagat Singh in police custody, sitting on a cot with open hair — In Police Custody, Lahore
1927–1929. Bhagat Singh sits on a cot in custody in Lahore — one of the rare images of him in captivity, hair uncut at the time.

Group photograph of Bhagat Singh in jail, 1927 — Jail Photograph, 1927
From the Punjab State Archives. A rare institutional record photograph from his first imprisonment in 1927.

Front page of The Tribune, Lahore, 25 March 1931, announcing the executions — The Tribune, 25 March 1931
The front page that announced to the nation: 'BHAGAT SINGH, RAJGURU AND SUKHDEV EXECUTED.' The dead bodies were secretly disposed of.

All images are public domain. Sources: Wikimedia Commons, Delhi Archives, Punjab State Archives, The Tribune (Lahore, 1931).