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One of the Panj Piare or the Five Beloved, celebrated in Sikh history,
was born in 1661 at Jagannath in a low-caste family of watersuppliers.
He came to Anandpur at the young age of 17, and attached himself
to the service of Guru Gobind Singh. Bhai Himmat, as he was called
before his initiation, was one of the five Sikhs who one by one
offered to lay down their heads in response to the Guru's successive
calls made at an assembly of the Sikhs especially summoned on the
occasion of Baisakhi of 1756 Bk corresponding to 30 March 1699.
He along with the other four received the vows of the Khalsa at
Guru Gobind Singh's hands and was renamed Himmat Singh. Himmat Singh
proved a brave warrior and while at Anandpur, he took part in battles
with the surrounding hill chiefs and imperial commanders. He died
in the battle of Chamkaur on 7 December 1705.
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