English: A 1698 hukamnama (historically refers to issued edicts, injunctions, or orders by the Sikh gurus and their officiated followers and associates) of Guru Gobind Singh with signature. The scribe is Bhai Saihna Singh. Hukamnama (1698), Private Collection, U.S.A.

It orders all Sikh Sangats of the four corners of the world to take Khande Ki Pahul (Sikh baptism initiation ceremony) and become Khalsa for Mukti (spiritual liberation); avoid Minas (heretic Sikh sect) and recognize the Khalsa as the Guru's Saroop (form).

This hukamnama alludes to the idea of the Khande Ki Pahul ceremony and Khalsa order predating its formalization as part of Sikh orthodoxy and orthopraxy in Anandpur in 1699

It dates the Khalsa to 1698.

According to G.S. Mann in 'Sources for the Study of Guru Gobind Singh's Life and Times' (pages 236–8):

I am gratified to bring two new hukamname to the notice of scholars in the field. The first is dated 1698 (Samat 1755) and its contents are extremely important. It begins with an invocation, states that the Guru's congregations are presently spread in all four corners of the earth, asks the listeners to give their offerings (kar bheta) to the bearer of the letter, who is a special assistant of the Guru (hazuri taihilia), or bring them along when they come to Anandpur. It further says that the Khalsa Panth constitutes the Guru's own form (rup), and that it is created to protect the dharma. An audience with the Guru (darshan) and taking of the pahul ("nectar") will ensure liberation (Jo amrit chhakega so amar hovega). While the Sikhs are asked to develop close relations among themselves, they are not to have any interaction with the "five groups." Other sources explain these five to include the followers of Pirthi Chand, Dhirmal, Ramrai, the erstwhile masands (all of the foregoing represented divisions within the seventeenth-century Sikh community), and the kurhimars, those who "killed their daughters," a term that referred to the Rajputs in the Punjab hills." It concludes with the information that the Guru had communicated this message to Sainha Singh, who duly recorded it in sixteen lines, and that it is being sent under the signature of the Guru." ... "Both these letters evoke language and issues that appear in writings of the period, but the first of the two has some unique features. First, this is one of the most elaborately illuminated hukamnama that I have come across in my fieldwork. Secondly, it is not addressed to any specific congregation but broadly refers to the presence of Sikhs in "all four corners of the world." Thirdly, it includes the name of its scribe, Sainha Singh, as well as that of its bearer, Partap Singh. The effort put in its preparation, the nature of its details, and the absence of any particular address may imply that Partap Singh was supposed to travel with it to more than one place, announce its contents to different congregations, and answer any questions that they may have had. Finally, this letter refers to the availability of the pahul, links the ceremony with the attainment of liberation, and echoes the Guru's expectation that the Sikhs will undergo the ceremony. These details confirm the existence of the ceremony of pahul in 1698, which points to the need to reexamine the tradition that associates the introduction of the pahul ceremony and the declaration of the Khalsa Panth with the Visakhi celebration of 1699."