Son of Bhai Ghanaiya Singh Dhillon and Mai Har Kaur of the village of Dingarian in Jalandhar district, was born at his mother's house in Hazara village in the same district and spent his early childhood there under the care of his maternal grandfather, Sham Singh, an educated and dedicated, Sikh. But Hukam Singh himself remained illiterate. By the time he reached his paternal home he had grown up into a strong and lusty youth. He was married at the age of 14.

After the opening of the Lower Chenab Canal Colony, the family got land and settled permanently in Chakk No. 91 Dhannuana in Lyallpur district. Early during the 20th century Hukam Singh, during one of his biennial pilgrimage visits to Anandpur Sahib, received the rites of Khalsa pahul. Every year he visited the holy Nankana. As time went by, he grew increasingly conscious of the maladministration of the shrines and of the depravity of the mahants who controlled them.

Most notorious among them was Mahant Narain Das, custodian of the holy Nankana. As the call for the liberation of the Nankana rang out, Hukam Singh forthwith joined the jatha of Bhai Lachhman Singh Dharovali, and attained martyrdom on 20 February 1921.

Hiis widow declined with humility a family pension offered by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee.

Source: Encyclopaedia of Sikhism, Harbans Singh