[1][2] He hailed from a farmer family and never went to school[4] but learned Punjabi (Gurmukhi) from the other educated persons.
[4] He was very much interested in folk music from his childhood and learned it from Sant Baba Maan Singh of Sialkot.
The main themes of his songs were the evergreen folk stories of Punjab like Heer Ranjha, Mirza Sahiban, Sassui Punnhun, Rani Sundran and Pooran Bhagat, heroes of Sikh history likes Hari Singh Nalwa, the Sikh masters and other freedom fighters.
Many Punjabi singers today, including Manmohan Waris and Kamal Heer sings songs written by him.
[4] People of his village Bhajjlan organized a fair, Dhadi Amar Singh Shaunki Sabhyacharak Mela, every year in his memory.