Baba Sawan Singh was born into a Grewal Sikh family on 27 July 1858 in village Jatala, District Ludhiana. His father was Subedar Major Kabul Singh and his mother was Mata Jiwani. He was married to Mata Kishan Kaur and together they had three children. He passed Engineering from Thomson College, Roorkee and joined the Military Engineering Service. His bearing was majestic and attractive. He studied scriptures of various religions but retained a strong connection with the Gurbani of the Sikh religion.He had contact with a mystic of Peshawar named Baba Kahan who he hoped to get initiation from but was refused: “I associated with him for several months and during that time he showed supernatural powers on several occasions. When I asked him if he would shower grace upon me by initiating me, he answered: ‘No, he is somebody else; I do not have your share.’ I then asked him to tell me who that person was so that I could contact him. He replied: ‘When the time comes, he will himself find you.
Later when Sawan Singh was stationed at Murree, he met Sant Jaimal Singh, who said to his companion that he had come to initiate Sawan. After much arguing and discussion and several conferences with Jaimal Singh, Sawan became thoroughly convinced and received Initiation from Jaimal Singh on the 15th day of October, 1894. Sawan was very devoted to his master Jaimal Singh. Sawan Singh retired in 1911 and developed Dera Baba Jaimal Singh (Beas) the “camp of Baba Jaimal Singh” where Baba Jaimal had settled in 1891– and built houses, bungalows and a Satsang Hall. Sawan sheltered victims of the communal holocaust of the Partition of India. His following included Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, and for the first time, thousands from abroad, the US, UK, Switzerland, Germany, including Dr. Julian Johnson and Dr. Pierre Schmidt. True to his name Sawan, the Season of Rain, he showered his Master’s wealth freely.