The five
Tradition names them as Daya Ram of Lahore, Dharam Das of Delhi, Himmat Rai of Jagannath Puri, Mohkam Chand of Dwarka and Sahib Chand of Bidar — a khatri, a jat, and three from castes conventionally ranked low, drawn from widely separated regions of the subcontinent.
The composition is not incidental. That the first five initiates crossed caste and region, took amrit from a common bowl, and were given a single surname was the point being made.
The reversal
Having initiated the five, the Guru knelt and asked them to initiate him. The tradition treats this as the constitutional moment of the Khalsa: the Guru placed himself under the authority of the body he had created, and from it derives the doctrine that the assembled Khalsa, and specifically five initiated Sikhs acting together, carry authority.
Continuing role
Five initiated Sikhs standing for the Panj Pyare conduct the amrit ceremony to this day, and lead processions before the Guru Granth Sahib. Five may also be convened to hear a matter of discipline or to pronounce on conduct, and the jathedars of the five takhts function in an analogous collective role. The institution is the mechanism by which Sikh authority remained collective after the line of human Gurus ended.
Further reading
- Fenech, Louis E. The Sikh Zafar-namah of Guru Gobind Singh. Oxford University Press, 2013
- Grewal, J. S. The Sikhs of the Punjab. Cambridge University Press, 1998
- Grewal, J. S. Guru Nanak in History. Panjab University, 1969
- McLeod, W. H. Guru Nanak and the Sikh Religion. Oxford University Press, 1968
- Singh, Khushwant. A History of the Sikhs. Oxford University Press, 2004
See also
This entry was last revised on 1 August 2026.