Was the eldest of the four sons of Bhai Buta Singh and Mai Bhagan, farmers of modest means living in village Taunganvali in Gujranwala district (now in Pakistan). Under the influence of Bhai Varyam Singh; Hira Singh turned an Akali and was drawn into the movement for the reform of Gurdwara management. He went through the rites of Khalsa initiation and attended the Akali conference at Dharovali on 1-3 October 1920.

He participated in the campaign for the liberation of Gurdwara Khara Sauda on 30 December 1920, and joined Bhai Lachhman Singh's jatha for the liberation of Gurdwara Janam Asthan, Nankana Sahib, where he along with others was mowed down on 20 February 1921 by the hired assassins of Mahant Narain Das, the custodian of the Nankana Sahib shrine.

Since he had not married, his martyrs' pension of Rs 15 per month, granted by the Shiomani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, was received by his mother.

Source: Encyclopaedia of Sikhism, Harbans Singh