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Bhai
Dharam Singh
Ji
ਧਰਮ ਸਿੰਘ
Dharam Singh, one of the inaugural/original Panj Pyare, depicted in an old Sikh fresco from inside an abandoned Sikh samadhi located in Kot Fateh Khan, Attock, Punjab, Pakistan
Panj Pyare
In office
1699–1708
Personal
Born
Dharam Das

1666
Near Ganges River, Hastinapur (present-day Uttar Pradesh, India)
Died1708 (aged 42)
Nanded, India
Cause of deathMartyrdom
ReligionSikhism
Parents
  • Sant Ram (father)
  • Mai Sabho (mother)
Known forMember of the original, inaugural Panj Pyare; was the fourth or second to answer the call by the Guru for a head
OccupationAgriculturalist
InstituteKhalsa
Panj Pyare

Dharam Singh (Punjabi: ਧਰਮ ਸਿੰਘ (Gurmukhi); 1666–1708), born as Dharam Das, was one of the original Panj Pyare or the Five Beloved, the forerunners of the Khalsa.

Biography

He was the son of Chaudhary Sant Ram and Mai Sabho of the village Hastinapur (modern-day Meerut District, Uttar Pradesh, India). He was born into the Jat caste. Originally said to be fourth position of the inaugural group of Panj Pyare according to older historical sources, he was upgraded to second in-position by later sources.[1]

Dharam Singh reunited with and accompanied the Guru in the Malwa region in the aftermath of the Second Battle of Chamkaur.[2] He, alongside Bhai Daya Singh, were the two Sikhs entrusted with delivering the Guru's Zafarnama letter to Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.[3][4] They were dispatched from either Kangar village, Bathinda or Dina village, Moga, for this purpose.[3][4]

He was seen as the reincarnation of Bhagat Dhanna.[5]

References

  1. ^ Fenech, Louis E. (2021). The Cherished Five in Sikh History. Oxford University Press. p. 45. ISBN 978-0-19-753284-3.
  2. ^ Singh, Patwant (2007). The Sikhs. Crown Publishing Group. ISBN 9780307429339. Both Ajit Singh and Jujhar Singh, along with Mohkam Singh and Himmat Singh, two of the original five panjpiyare, were killed in hand-to-hand combat. The Sikhs, by then reduced to the Guru and three others, Daya Singh, Dharam Singh and Man Singh, managed to evade the enemy and head for territory favourable to the regrouping of a resurgent Khalsa.
    But this tragic phase was still to reach its nadir. With the break of dawn-after leaving Chamkaur at the dead of night-the Guru found himself separated from his companions and alone in the heart of the Machhiwara forest. He was without food, shelter or his trusted mount, his mind filled with thoughts of Mughal betrayal and the loss of his men and sons; only his iron will sustained him in that bleak hour. As luck would have it his three companions, following the route they had agreed upon, were eventually reunited with him. The four, with the help of loyal Sikhs and at least three friendly Muslims, made their way through the enemy patrols who were searching for them.
    They finally reached the village of Jatpura where the Guru was warmly received by the Muslim chief of the area, Rai Kalha.
  3. ^ a b Singh, Harbans. The Encyclopedia of Sikhism. Vol. I: A-D. Punjabi University, Patiala. pp. 484–485.
  4. ^ a b Fenech, Louis E. (2013). The Sikh Zafar-namah of Guru Gobind Singh: A Discursive Blade in the Heart of the Mughal Empire. Oxford University Press. pp. 24–25. ISBN 9780199931439.
  5. ^ McLeod, W. H.; Fenech, Louis E. (2014). Historical Dictionary of Sikhism (3rd ed.). Rowman & Littlefield. p. 99. ISBN 978-1-4422-3600-4. DHARAM SINGH (1666–1708). One of the Panj Piare. A Jat Sikh who, based on 18th-century Sikh manuscripts, was at least at this time considered to be an avatar of the Jat Bhagat Dhanna.
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