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Bhai Dharam Singh was
one of the Panj Piare or the Five Beloved,
the fore runners of Khalsa, came of
farming stock. He was the son of Bhai
Sant Ram and Mai Sabho, of Hastinapur,
an ancient town on the right bank of
the Ganges, 35 km northeast of Meerut
(29 N, 77 - 45'E). Dharam Das, as he
was originally named, was born around
1666. As a young man, he fell into the
company of a Sikh who introduced him
to the teachings of the Gurus. He left
home at the age of thirty in quest of
further instruction. At the Sikh shrine
of Nanak Piau (insert picture of gurdwara
nanak piao), dedicated to Guru Nanak,
he was advised to go to Guru Gobind
Singh at Anandpur, where he arrived
in 1698. A few months later came the
historic Baisakhi congregation at which
five Sikhs responding to five succes
sive calls of Guru Gobind Singh offered
one after the other to lay down their
heads Dharam Das was one of those five.
The Guru blessed them and called them
Panj Piare, the five beloved of him.
They were anointed as the first five
members of the brotherhood of the Khalsa
inaugurated on that day. Guru Gobind
Singh then begged them to administer
to him the vows of initiation. Dharam
Das, who, after initiation, became Dharam
Singh, took part in the battles of Anandpur.
He was in Guru Gobind Singh's train
when Anandpur and thereafter Chamkaur
were evacuated. He accompanied Bhai
Daya Singh to the South to deliver Guru
Gobind Singh's letter, the Zafarnamah,
to Emperor Aurangzab.
During the war of succession following
the death of Aurangzab on 20 February
1707, Guru Gobind Singh took the part
of the rightful claimant to the imperial
throne, Prince Muazzam and sent for
his help Bhai Dharam Singh who with
his small band of Sikhs fought in the
battle of jajau (8 june 1707). He accompanied
Guru Gobind Singh to Nanded and was
with him at the time of his heavenly
abode on 7 October 1708. A Gurdwara
there preserves the memory of Jointly
Bhai Dharam Singh and Bhai Daya Singh.
Copyright © Harbans Singh "The
encyclopedia of Sikhism. "
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