HUKMĀ SIṄGH CHIMNĪ, commander-cum-civil administrator under Mahārājā Raṇjīt Siṅgh. He was son of Rām Siṅgh, of Bherā, who was the first one in the family to take the vows of Gurū Gobind Siṅgh's amrita, and who entered the service of the Sukkarchakkīā misl under Chaṛhat Siṅgh as a trooper. After the death of his father, Hukmā Siṅgh was admitted into Raṇjīt Siṅgh's army and took part in the Kasūr expedition of 1807. He soon won the favour of the Mahārājā by his valour particularly in the reduction of the Kanhaiyā citadel of Pathānkoṭ in 1808, and in the seizure of Siālkoṭ the same year from Sardār Jīvan Siṅgh. The energy and alacrity of Hukmā Siṅgh won from the Mahārājā the affectionate epithet of Chimnī. "Chimnā" in Punjabi signifies both a man of small stature and a little bird, swift and strong of wing. The nickname fitted Hukmā Siṅgh, who was short of stature, but very virile and active. Hukmā Siṅgh was created a sardār and was made the governor of Rāmnagar on a salary of Rs 2,000 per month. He also became the controller of customs and salt mine duties. He was assigned a jāgīr worth 60,000 rupees annually.

         Hukmā Siṅgh took part in the battle of Haidrū, 8 km from the Fort of Attock, in 1813, under Dīwān Mohkam Chand, when the Sikhs defeated the Kābul Wazīr, Fateh Khān. As Yār Muhammad Khān, the Afghān governor of Peshāwar, made an attempt to reoccupy Attock, Hukmā Siṅgh drove the Afghān army from the fortress and plundered the retreating host.

         In 1818, Mahārājā Raṇjīt Siṅgh appointed Hukmā Siṅgh as the governor of Aṭṭock and Hazārā. Hukmā Siṅgh was primarily a soldier, and there were few of the Mahārājā's campaigns in which he did not participate. He was well rewarded for his skill and bravery and, at one time, held jāgīrs amounting to upwards of three lakhs of rupees.