MISLS, Misl is a term which originated in the eighteenth-century history of the Sikhs to describe a unit or brigade of Sikh warriors and the territory acquired by it in the course of its campaign of conquest following the weakening of the Mughal authority in the country. Scholars trying to trace the etymology of the term have usually based their interpretation on the Arabic/Persian word misl. According to Steingass, Persian-English Dictionary, the word means "similitude, alike or equal", and "a file" or collection of papers bearing on a particular topic. David Ochterlony defined misl as "a tribe or race;" Wilson as "a voluntary association of the Sikhs;" Būṭe Shāh as "territory conquered by a brave Sardār with the help of his comrades," Sayyid Imām ud-Din Husainī as a "ḍerah or encampment." Ratan Siṅgh Bhaṅgū uses the term at several places in the sense of a thānā or military/police post; M'Gregor uses it in the sense of "a friendly nation;" Lawrence in that of "a brotherhood;" Syad Muhammad Latīf in that of "a confederacy of clans under their respective chiefs leagued together;" and so on.

         The term misl was first used by Saināpati, a Punjabi poet contemporary with Gurū Gobind Siṅgh. In his Srī Guru Sobha, Saināpati uses the word misl primarily in the sense of a group or troop or sub-unit of armed warriors or soldiers. The use of the term misl occurs in the account of the battle of Bhaṅgāṇī between Gurū Gobind Siṅgh and the hill rājās in AD 1688. Saināpati writes that the horsemen of Gurū Gobind Siṅgh assembled under their banners at the beat of war-drum. In the battlefield morchās were set up at various places which were allotted to misls (groups). Saināpati again uses the word misl in reference to the last days of Gurū Gobind Siṅgh at Nāndeḍ. He says that the people came there in misls (groups).

         In consideration of administrative convenience, Nawāb Kapūr Siṅgh divided the entire body of troops into two camps, called Buḍḍhā Dal (the elder group) and Taruṇā Dal ( the younger group), respectively. Taruṇā Dal was further divided into five jathās, each with its own flag and drum. The compact with the government ended in 1735 and, under pressure of renewed persecution, the Khālsā was again forced to split into smaller groups. Almost every village in the Mājhā or midlands embracing the districts of Lahore and Amritsar produced a sardār who attracted soldiers to join him and form a ḍerah or jathā or misl of his own.

         On the day of Baisākhī, 29 March 1748, the Sikhs gathered at Amritsar to celebrate the festival. A Sarbatt Khālsā (a general assembly of the Sikhs) was convened which decided to offer organized resistance to Mughal oppression, and the entire fighting force of the Khālsā was unified into a single body called the Dal Khālsā, under the supreme command of Sardār Jassā Siṅgh Āhlūvālīā. The 65 bands were grouped into 11 misls or divisions each under its own sardār or chief having a separate name and banner as follows : (1) Āhlūvālīā misl under Jassā Siṅgh Āhlūvālīā, (2) Siṅghpuriā (also called Faizulāpurīā) misl under Nawāb Kapūr Siṅgh, (3) Karoṛsiṅghīā misl under Karoṛā Siṅgh, (4) Nishānāṅvālī misl under Dasauṅdhā Siṅgh, (5) Shahīd misl under Dīp Siṅgh, (6) ḍallevālīā misl under Gulāb Siṅgh, (7) Sukkarchakkīā misl under Chaṛhat Siṅgh, (8) Bhaṅgī misl under Harī Siṅgh, (9) Kanhaiyā misl under Jai Siṅgh, (10) Nakaī misl under Hīrā Siṅgh, and (11) Rāmgaṛhīā misl under Jassā Siṅgh Rāmgaṛhīā. The first six misls were under Buḍḍhā Dal and the latter five under Taruṇā Dal. Jassā Siṅgh Āhlūvālīā was chosen to be in joint command of the entire Dal Khālsā, while Nawāb Kapūr Siṅgh continued to be acknowledged as the supreme commander. Phūlkīāṅ under Bābā Ālā Siṅgh of Paṭiālā was the twelfth misl, but it was not part of the Dal Khālsā command.

         The Dal Khālsā established its authority over most of the Punjab region in a short time. As early as 1749, the Mughal governor of the Punjab solicited its help in the suppression of a rebellion in Multān. In early 1758, the Dal Khālsā, in collaboration with the Marāṭhās, occupied Sirhind and Lahore. Within three months of the Vaḍḍā Ghallūghārā, the Great Massacre of 5 February 1762, the Dal Khālsā rose to defeat Ahmad Shāh's governor at Sirhind in April-May 1762 and the Shāh himself at Amritsar in October the same year. Sirhind and its adjoining territories were occupied permanently in January 1764. The Khālsā thenceforward not only had the Punjab in their possession, but also carried their victories right up to Delhi and beyond the Yamunā into the heart of the Gangetic plain.

         From among the Taruṇā Dal misls only one sardār of the Bhaṅgī family, Rāi Siṅgh, had participated in the partition of Sirhind territory. He occupied 204 villages around Būṛīā and Jagādharī. The remaining sardārs of the Taruṇā Dal had their eyes fixed on the northern Doābs of the Punjab. The Bhaṅgīs controlled a major part of the city of Lahore and extended their hegemony over Multān and subsequently occupied Jhaṅg, Khushāb and Chinioṭ in the west and Siālkoṭ and Gujrāt in the east. Kanhaiyā misl ruled over the area comprising a major part of the present Gurdāspur district and Mukerīāṅ tahsīl of Hoshiārpur district, while the Nakaīs held sway over the country south of Lahore, between the Rāvī and Sutlej. The territory of the Rāmgaṛhīās lay on both sides of the River Beās and included villages around Miānī and Uṛmuṛ Taṇḍā in Jalandhar Doāb. They also held sway over the hill states of Chambā, Nūrpur, Jasvān and Harīpur. In 1776, they were defeated by the combined forces of Kanhaiyās and Rājā Saṅsār Chand Kaṭoch of Kāṅgṛā and their territory annexed by the victors. The Sukkarchakkīās under Chaṛhat Siṅgh established themselves around Gujrāṅwālā which they made their headquarters and extended their territory up to Rohtās beyond the River Jehlum. Chaṛhat Siṅgh's grandson, Mahārājā Raṇjīt Siṅgh, became the ruler of the entire Punjab from the Sutlej to the Khaibar, subduing the intervening misls.

         Cunningham's definition of the misl organization as "a theocratic confederate feudalism" is only partially correct. Devotion to Gurū Gobind Siṅgh's ideals of faith and community was a paramount requirement, but no priestly interference or domination was allowed. Rather, the whole community was itself standing in covenant with God through the Gurūs and the scriptures. The Akālīs were in charge of the Golden Temple at Amritsar, but they did not infringe the sovereignty of the misls. By displaying a rare spirit or magnanimity towards the erstwhile persecutors of their faith, by supporting the cause of the poor, the helpless and the innocent and by preserving social and economic equality in their ranks the Sikh misls made Sikh religion popular with the young and daring men in the villages.

         Above the village's pañchāyat there was the court of the, misl chief. He administered justice according to local customs and traditions derived mainly from the holy scriptures of the Sikhs, Hindus or the Muslims. Evidence, common sense and secret personal investigation in disguise weighed heavily in the investigation of crime. Trackers were freely employed in cases of theft and murder. The army took the main responsibility for checking crime.

         The misl soldier owned his own horse and musket; his loyalty lay with one or the other powerful chief who could lead him to conquest and glory. As a rule, the Sikh soldier was a horseman. He hated to serve as infantryman, and to be away from the field on any excuse. He was equipped with both offensive and defensive weapons; priming horns, ammunition pouches, two blankets, a grain bag and halters. On the march the blankets were put beneath the saddle. Both artillery and infantry were practically unknown to the misls. Their armies were unencumbered by heavy ordnance, and possessed amazing speed and manoeuvrability. With their scanty accoutrement, they could cover from 100 to 200 kilometres daily for days on end and could encamp or decamp in a few minutes. The misl soldier was adept in predatory warfare which could earn him a share in the booty, for he received no salary. As the misls settled down to their permanent possessions, some minor leaders also acquired territory as part of their share of conquests. Holders of such possessions were called misldārs.

         The overall military strength of the Sikh misls is variously estimated. According to one estimate, the Dal Khālsā could muster about 70,000 horse as under : the Bhaṅgīs 10,000 horse, the Āhlūvālīā 3,000, the Rāmgaṛhīās 3,000, the Kanhaiyās 3,000, the ḍallevālīās 7,500, the Nishānāṅvālīās 12,000, the Shahīds 2,000, the Nakaīs 2,000, the Sukkarchakkīās 2,500, the Karoṛsiṅghiā 12000, the Siṅghpurīā 8,000, and the Phūlkīās 5,000. George Forster who visited the Punjab in 1783, reckoned the military strength of the misls at over 2,00,000 horse. James Browne in 1783 estimated the strength of the cis-Sutlej Sikh misls at 18,225 horse and 6,075 foot — total 24,300 and total strength of the Sikh armies at 2,48,000 which estimate may be exaggerated.

         Duties on traders and merchants also brought some revenue. The Sikh chiefs gave full protection to traders passing through their territories. George Forster, who travelled to northern India in 1783, observed that extensive and valuable commerce was maintained in their territories which was extended to distant quarters of India, particularly to the provinces of Bengāl and Bihār, where many Sikh merchants of opulence at that time resided. Exports to the country west of the Attock consisted of sugar, rice, indigo and white cloth, the imports being swords, horses, fruit, lead and spices. Imports from Kashmīr consisted of shawls, saffron and fruit against the export of wheat, rice, salt and spices. With the inhabitants of the hills were exchanged cloth, matchlocks and horses for iron and other commodities. From the Deccan, the principal imports were sulphur, indigo, salt, lead, iron and spices, exports being horses, camels, sugar, rice, white cloth, matchlocks, swords, bows and arrows.

        ĀHLŪVĀLĪĀ MISL, one of the twelve misls or Sikh chiefships which had gained power in the Punjab during the latter half of the eighteenth century, derived its name from the village of Āhlū, in Lahore district, founded by a Kalāl or distiller of wine, named Sadāo. One of his descendants, Badar Siṅgh, married the sister of Bāgh Siṅgh Hallovālīā, who had received the rites of the Khālsā at the hands of Nawāb Kapūr Siṅgh and who had come to acquire considerable means and influence. To Badar Siṅgh was born a son named Jassā Siṅgh, who founded the misl of the Āhlūvālīās, a remnant of which lasted until recent years in the form of the princely state of Kapūrthalā. Jassā Siṅgh who became famous in history as Jassā Siṅgh Āhlūvālīā was a prominent leader of the Sikhs during the eventful years of the eighteenth century. A right-hand man of Nawāb Kapūr Siṅgh, he took a leading part in the Sikh struggle against the Mughal governors of the Punjab, Zakarīyā Khān, Yāhīyā Khān and Mīr Mannū. When on the Baisākhī day of 1748, a general assembly of the Sikhs convened at Amritsar resolved to consolidate the sixty-five roving Sikh jathās, i.e. bands, into one command called Dal Khālsā, Jassā Siṅgh was chosen to take charge of it. Jassā Siṅgh started seizing villages and towns in the Punjab, thrown into confusion with the passing away of Mīr Mannū in November 1753, and established the system of rākhī or protection. The Dal Khālsā under him routed in April 1754 an Afghān force from Lahore which had laid siege to Amritsar. In March 1758, Jassā Siṅgh led Sikhs in their march upon Sirhind and occupied it jointly with the Marāṭhās who were their allies in the campaign. A month later Sikhs under him entered Lahore. Although Ahmad Shāh Durrānī re-established his influence in the winter of 1759, defeated the Marāṭhās at Pānīpat in 1761 and inflicted a severe loss upon the Sikhs in February 1762, Jassā Siṅgh led the Sikhs to conquer Sirhind in 1764. In 1777, he defeated Rāi Ibrāhīm, the Bhaṭṭī chief, and took from him the present town of Kapūrthalā, converting it into the capital of the Āhlūvālīās. As for his possessions, he held Koṭ 'Īsā Khān, Jagrāoṅ, Īsṛū, and Fatehgaṛh, to the south of River Sutlej, and Bhaṛog in Ambālā district; in the Jalandhar Doāb, Kapūrthalā, Sultānpur Lodhī and the surrounding villages. The zamīndārs of Phagwāṛā, Uṛmuṛ Ṭaṇḍā and Yāhiyāpur paid him tribute. In the Bārī Doāb, he had Jaṇḍiālā, Saṭhiālā, Buṇḍālā, Jalālābād, Vairovāl, Sarhālī, Fatehābād, Jalālpur, Goindvāl, Tarn Tāran and Khaḍūr; in the Rachnā Doāb, Zafarvāl.

        BHAṄGĪ MISL, one of the twelve misls or eighteenth-century Sikh principalities acquired its name from the addiction of its members to a drug called bhaṅg or hemp. The founder of the jathā, i.e. band of warriors, that later acquired the dimensions of a misl was Chhajjā Siṅgh of Pañjvaṛ village, near Amritsar who had converted to Sikhism. He was succeeded by Bhūmā Siṅgh, a Ḍhilloṅ Jaṭṭ of the village of Huṅg, near Badhnī in present-day Mogā district, who won a name for himself in skirmishes with Nādir Shāh's troops in 1739. On Bhūmā Siṅgh's death in 1746, his nephew and adopted son, Harī Siṅgh, assumed the leadership of the misl. At the formation of the Dal Khālsā in 1748, Harī Siṅgh was acknowledged head of the Bhaṅgī misl as well as leader of the Taruṇā Dal. He vastly increased the power and influence of the Bhaṅgī misl which began to be ranked as the strongest among its peers. He created an army of 20,000 dashing youths, captured Pañjvaṛ in the Tarn Tāran parganah and established his headquarters first at Sohal and then at Gilvālī, both in Amritsar district. Harī Siṅgh kept up guerrilla warfare against the invading hosts of Ahmad Shāh Durrānī. In 1763, he along with the Kanhaiyās and Rāmgaṛhīās, sacked the Afghān stronghold of Kasūr. In 1764, he ravaged Bahāwalpur and Multān. Crossing the River Indus, he realized tribe from the Balūchī chiefs in the districts of Muzaffargaṛh, ḍerā Ghāzī Khān and ḍerā Ismā'īl Khān. On his way back home, he reduced Jhaṅg, Chinioṭ and Siālkoṭ. Harī Siṅgh died in 1765, fighting against Bābā Ālā Siṅgh of Paṭiālā.

         Reverting to the main branch of the Bhaṅgī misl, Desā Siṅgh, son of Gaṇḍā Siṅgh, was succeeded by his minor son Gulāb Siṅgh, who administered the misl through his cousin Karam Siṅgh. Gulāb Siṅgh enlarged the city of Amritsar where he resided, and, on attaining years of discretion, overran the whole Paṭhān colony of Kasūr, which he subdued, the Paṭhān chiefs of Kasūr, Nizām ud-Din and Qutb ud-Dīn Khān, brothers, entering the service of the conqueror. In 1794, however, the brothers, with the aid of their Afghān countrymen, recovered Kasūr. Gulāb Siṅgh died in 1800 and was succeeded by his son, Gurdit Siṅgh, a 10-year old boy who conducted the affairs of the misl through his mother and guardian, Māī Sukkhāṅ. Mahārājā Raṇjīt Siṅgh who after having taken possession of Lahore in 1799 was launched on a career of rapid conquest had his eyes on Amritsar where Bhaṅgīs still held their sway. On the excuse of taking from them the famous Zamzamā gun, he marched with a strong force in 1802, Gurdit Siṅgh, along with his mother, Māī Sukkhāṅ, fleeing without resistance. The last Bhaṅgī chief to fall was Sāhib Siṅgh of Gujrāt who was dismissed with a grant of a few villages. By 1810 all Bhaṅgī territories — Lahore, Amritsar, Siālkoṭ, Chinioṭ, Jhaṅg, Bherā, Rāwalpiṇḍī, Hasan Abdāl, Gujrāt — had merged with the kingdom of Raṇjīt Siṅgh. The descendants of Bhaṅgī sardārs are today concentrated mainly in the Amritsar district of the Punjab.

         The ḍallevālīā misl under Tārā Siṅgh and his collaterals and associates held a major portion of the upperJalandhar Doāb, and the northern portions of Ambālā and Ludhiāṇā, with some portions of Fīrozpur. Tārā Siṅgh's cousin Dharam Siṅgh captured Lohīāṅ and a cluster of villages in the centre of which he founded the village of Dharamsiṅghvālā where he set up his permanent headquarters. Other members of the misl seized Tihāṛā, on the left bank of the Sutlej. Sauṅdhā Siṅgh from among them captured Khannā in Ludhiāṇā district; Harī Siṅgh took Ropaṛ, Siālbā, Avānkoṭ, Sīsvān and Kurālī. He also occupied the forts of Khizrābād and Nūrpur. Buddh Siṅgh of Gaṛh Shankar captured Takhtgaṛh. Desū Siṅgh of the misl occupied Mustafābād, Arnaulī, Siddhūvāl, Bāngaṛ, Āmlū and Kullar Khaṛīāl. In 1760, he established his headquarters at Kāithal. Dīvān Siṅgh of the same clan captured Sikandrā, Akālgaṛh and Barāṛā. Sāhib Siṅgh and Gurdit Siṅgh, two Sāṅsī brothers, seized Lāḍvā and Indrī. Bhaṅgā Siṅgh became master of Thānesar and Bhāg Siṅgh and Buddh Siṅgh took Pehovā. Tārā Siṅgh Ghaibā however remained the central figure of the misl. He became a close friend and associate of Mahārājā Raṇjīt Siṅgh and took part in his early Mālvā campaigns. After his death in 1807 at the age of 90, ḍallevālīā territories were annexed by Raṇjīt Siṅgh.

         The leader of another section of the Kanhaiyā misl was Haqīqat Siṅgh, son of Baghel Siṅgh, a Siddhū Jaṭṭ, hailing from the village of Julkā, near Kāhnā, the birthplace of Jai Siṅgh. A friend and associate of Jai Siṅgh in many of his campaigns of conquest, Haqiqat Siṅgh was also his rival. Emerging an independent chief, he occupied Kalānaur, as Kāhngaṛh, Adālatgaṛh, Paṭhānkoṭ and several other villages. In 1760, Haqīqat Siṅgh destroyed Chūrīāṅvālā and founded another village instead naming it Saṅgatpurā and constructed a fort at Fatehgaṛh. Haqīqat Siṅgh died in 1782 and his only son Jaimal Siṅgh, then a minor, succeeded to his estates. Haqīqat Siṅgh's granddaughter, Chand Kaur, was married to Prince Khaṛak Siṅgh, eldest son of Mahārājā Raṇjīt Siṅgh. Jaimal Siṅgh died in 1812, leaving no son. Raṇjīt Siṅgh seized his wealth stored up in the fort of Fatehgaṛh, allowing the revenue of the district as subsistence allowance to his widow. All the remaining Kanhaiyā territories were conferred on Prince Khaṛak Siṅgh.

         Another Kāroṛsiṅghīā scion, Rāi Siṅgh, son of Matāb Siṅgh who had killed the notorious Masse Khān Raṅghaṛ, seized a number of villages in Samrālā tahsīl of Ludhiāṇā district after the Sikh conquest of Sirhind in 1764. Gurbakhsh Siṅgh, a Sandhū Jaṭṭ of the village of Kalsīā in Kasūr tahsīl of Lahore district, who was a prominent companion of Baghel Siṅgh, shared the exploits and conquests of the Karoṛsiṅghīā sardār and occupied parganahs of Chhachhraulī, Siālbā, etc. Karam Siṅgh and Diāl Siṅgh, also from Kalsīā, took possession of the Bilāspur parganah, now in Jagādharī. tahsīl of Ambālā district, and the parganah of Dharamkoṭ in Fīrozpur district, respectively. Dulchā Siṅgh, another member of the misl, took possession of Radauṛ and Dāmlā in Karnāl district. In October 1774 "Duljā Siṅgh Bahādur, "along with five other Sikh chiefs, was requested by the Mughal emperor to enter imperial service at the head of 1,000 horse and 500 foot, but he declined the offer.

        NAKAĪ MISL was founded by Hīrā Siṅgh a Sandhū Jaṭṭ of the village of Bahiṛvāl in Chūnīāṅ tahsīl of Lahore district. His village fell in the country called Nakkā which lay southwest of Lahore between the rivers Rāvi and Sutlej. It was through this region that the highway from Lahore to Multān, Balūchistān and Sindh passed imparting to it the name Nakkā (nakkā, in Punjabi, signifying a kind of gateway). Hīrā Siṅgh had taken to arms while still very young. As the Sikhs sacked Kasūr in 1763 and conquered Sirhind in 1764, Hīrā Siṅgh occupied Bahīṛvāl, Chūnīāṅ, Dīpālpur, Jambar, Jeṭhūpur, Kaṅganvāl and Khuḍīāṅ establishing his headquarters at Chūnīāṅ. In 1767, he led out an expedition to Pākpaṭṭan, but was killed in the action that took place. His son Dal Siṅgh being a minor, he was succeeded by his nephew Nāhar Siṅgh who had but a tenure of nine months falling in a battle at Koṭ Kamālīā in 1768. His younger brother Raṇ Siṅgh, who succeeded him, considerably increased the power and influence of the Nakaīs. The territory under his control was worth nine lakhs of rupees per annum and comprised Chūnīāṅ, part of Kasūr, Sharakpur, Gugerā and, at one time, Koṭ Kamālīā. Raṇ Siṅgh had a force of 2,000 horsemen, with camel swivels and a few guns. His headquarters were at Bahiṛvāl in Lahore district. Raṇ Siṅgh died in 1781 and was succeeded by his eldest son Bhagvān Siṅgh, whose sister, Rāj Kaur, was married to Mahārājā Raṇjīt Siṅgh. Bhagvān Siṅgh was succeeded by his younger brother, Giān Siṅgh, who died in 1807 leaving a son, Kāhn Singh. Raṇjīt Siṅgh granted Kāhn Siṅgh a jāgīr of 15,000 rupees per annum and seized all the possessions of the family.

         The military strength of the Nishānāṅvālī misl had risen to 12,000 horse under Saṅgat Siṅgh. Its territories included Ambālā, Shāhābād, Sauṅṭī, Kheṛi, Moriṇḍā, Amloh, Khānnā, Dorāhā, Sāhnevāl, Māchhīvāṛā and Zīrā. Ambālā was last ruled by Dayā Kaur, widow of Gurbakhsh Siṅgh who had died in 1786. Upon Dayā Kaur's death in 1823, her estates and property lapsed to the British government.

         Rājā Sāhib Siṅgh died in 1813. After him Paṭiālā state was ruled successively by Mahārājā Karam Siṅgh (1813-45), Mahārājā Narinder Siṅgh (1845-62), Mahārājā Mohinder Siṅgh (1862-76), Mahārājā Rājinder Siṅgh (1876-1900) and Mahārājā Bhūpinder Siṅgh (1900-38). Mahārājā Sir Yādavinder Siṅgh, the last ruler, signed the instrument of accession to independent India in 1947, and the state was merged into what became Paṭiālā and East Punjab States Union in 1948.

         After the death of Rājā Jasvant Siṅgh in 1840, Nābhā state was successively ruled by Rājā Devinder Siṅgh (1840-46) , Rājā Bharpūr Siṅgh (1847-63), Rājā Bhagvān Siṅgh (1864-71), Mahārājā Hīrā Siṅgh (1871-1911), and Mahārājā Ripudaman Siṅgh (1911-23). Ripudaman Siṅgh who was deposed in 1923 was succeeded by his son Pratāp Siṅgh who after Independence signed the instrument of succession to the Union of India in 1947.

        RĀMGAṚHĪĀ MISL took its name from Rām Rauṇī, an enclosure of unbaked bricks raised in Amritsar during the time of Jassā Siṅgh for the protection of Sikhs in the troubled days of the eighteenth century. The fortress was later reinforced by Sikhs and made into a fort called Rāmgaṛh. Jassā Siṅgh became famous in Sikh history as Jassā Siṅgh Rāmgaṛhīā. He gained reputation as a soldier of daring and skill. He along with his brothers Jai Siṅgh, Khushāl Siṅgh and Mālī Siṅgh took up service under Ādīnā Beg, faujdār of the Jalandhar Doāb, which he quit when the Sikhs taunted him with betrayal of the Panth. To begin with, Jassā Siṅgh joined hands with Jai Siṅgh of the Kanhaiyā misl and within a short time they seized large slices of territory in four out of the five Doābs. Among their acquisitions was the fertile tract called Riāṛkī to the north of Amritsar embracing the district of Gurdāspur. Within a decade Jassā Siṅgh became one of the leading figures of the Dal Khālsā. In 1770, he led plundering expeditions into the hills. The local rājās sought safety in submission and Jassā Siṅgh collected a tribute of 2,00,000 rupees from the Kāṅgṛā hill states. Jassā Siṅgh Rāmgaṛhīā, along with other Sikh sardārs, fought many pitched battles against Ahmad Shāh Durrānī, the Afghān invader. As the Afghān threat receded, Sikh sardārs began fighting among themselves. The Rāmgaṛhīā Kanhaiyā cleavage over their adjoining territories in the district of Gurdāspur and, Hoshiārpur widened. In the battle of Dīnānagar in 1775, Jassā Siṅgh Rāmgaṛhīā joined the Bhāṅgī sardārs against the forces of the Kanhaiyās and the Sukkarchakkīās. Soon a rift appeared between Jassā Siṅgh Rāmgaṛhīā and Jassā Siṅgh Āhlūvālīā as the latter wrested the town of Zahūrā, which fell within Rāmgaṛhīā territory, and conferred it upon Baghel Siṅgh Karoṛsiṅghīā. Jai Siṅgh Kanhaiyā sought the help of Jassā Siṅgh Āhlūvālīā and the Rāmgaṛhīā Sardār had to flee the Punjab.

        At the height of its power, Rāmgaṛhīā misl's territories in the Bārī Doāb included Baṭālā, Kalānaur, Dīnānagar, Srī Hargobindpur, Shāhpur Kaṇḍi, Gurdāspur, Qādīāṅ, Ghumān , Mattevāl, and in the Jalandhar Doāb, Uṛmuṛ Ṭāṇḍā, Sarīh, Miāṇī, Gaṛhdivālā and Zahūrā. In the hills Kāṇgṛā, Nūrpur, Maṇḍī and Chambā paid tribute to Jassā Siṅgh.

        SHAHĪD MISL owed its origin to Bābā Dīp Siṅgh Shahīd (1682-1757) belonging to the village of Pahūviṇḍ in Amritsar district. Dīp Siṅgh had received the vows of the Khālsā at the hands of Gurū Gobind Siṅgh. He rejoined in 1706 Gurū Gobind Siṅgh, then at Talvaṇḍī Sābo, 28 km southeast of Baṭhiṇḍā and, after the latter's departure for the South, stayed on there to look after the sacred shrine, Damdamā Sāhib. He had four copies of the Gurū Granth Sāhib made from the recension prepared earlier by Bhāī Manī Siṅgh under the supervision of Gurū Gobind Siṅgh during their stay at Damdamā Sāhib. In 1733, when the Mughal governor of Lahore made peace with the Sikhs offering them nawābship and a jāgīr, Dīp Siṅgh, now reverently called Bābā, i.e. the elder, joined Nawāb Kapūr Siṅgh, who had been invested with the title of Nawāb, and received command of one of the five jathās that constituted the newly formed Taruṇā Dal. These jathās were redesignated misls in 1748 and the jathā headed by Dīp Siṅgh came to be known as Shahīd misl after he met with the death of a martyr (shāhīd, in Punjabi). The misls, the number increasing to twelve, soon established their hegemony over different regions in the Punjab.

         After Dīp Siṅgh's death, the leadership of the misl passed on to Karam Siṅgh, a Sandhū Jaṭṭ belonging to the village of Marāhkā in Sheikhūpurā district, now in Pakistan. In January 1764, at the conquest of the Sirhind province by the Sikhs, he seized a number of villages in the parganahs of Kesarī and Shāhzādpur in Ambālā district yielding about a lakh of rupees annually. Karam Siṅgh made Shāhzādpur his headquarters though he lived for most of the time at Talvaṇḍī Sābo (Damdamā Sāhib). In 1773, he overran a large tract of land belonging to Zābitā Khān Ruhīlā in the upper Gangetic Doāb. He captured a number of villages in Sahāranpur district. After Karam Siṅgh's death in 1784, his elder son, Gulāb Siṅgh, succeeded to the headship of the misl. On Gulāb Siṅgh's death in 1844, his son Shiv Kirpāl Siṅgh succeeded to the family estate, the misl having become extinct in 1809 after the cis-Sutlej Sikh states had accepted British protection.

         Khushhāl Siṅgh died in 1795 and was succeeded by his son Buddh Siṅgh. But like other sardārs, Buddh Siṅgh also succumbed to the rising power of Raṇjīt Siṅgh who occupied his Bārī Doāb and Jalandhar Doāb territories. He was forced to shift to his estates below the River Sutlej, with Manaulī as his new headquarters. Buddh Siṅgh died in 1816 leaving behind seven sons. The cis-Sutlej remnants of the Siṅghpurīā misl were eventually annexed by the British.

         Chaṛhat Siṅgh's young son, Mahāṅ Siṅgh, inherited his father's spirit and ambition. He married a daughter of Gajpat Siṅgh, the chief of Jīnd, thereby strengthening his own position among the misl sardārs. Within the walled town of Gujrāṅwālā he built a fortress which he named Gaṛhī Mahāṅ Siṅgh. He increased the number of his horsemen to 6,000 and launched upon a career of conquest and expansion of territory. He captured Rasūlnagar from a Muslim tribe, the Chaṭṭhās, and took Piṇḍī Bhaṭṭīān, Sāhīvāl, 'Īsākhel and Jhaṅg. In 1782, he proceeded to Jammū whose Dogrā ruler fled leaving the rich city to the mercy of his men. With the loot of Jammū, Mahāṅ Siṅgh raised the Sukkarchakkīās from a position of comparative obscurity to that of being one of the leaders of the misl order.

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2. Sītal, Sohan Siṅgh, Sikh Mislāṅ . Ludhiana, 1952
   ਍㰀氀椀 挀氀愀猀猀㴀∀䌀㄀∀㸀 䈀爀漀眀渀攀Ⰰ 䨀愀洀攀猀Ⰰ 㰀椀㸀 䠀椀猀琀漀爀礀 漀昀 琀栀攀 伀爀椀最椀渀 愀渀搀 倀爀漀最爀攀猀猀 漀昀 琀栀攀 匀椀挀欀猀 㰀⼀椀㸀⸀ 䰀漀渀搀漀渀Ⰰ ㄀㜀㠀㠀㰀䈀刀㸀ഀഀ
3. Forster, George, A Journey from Bengal to England , 2 vols. London, 1798
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4. Cunningham, Joseph Davey, A History of the Sikhs from the Origin of the Nation to the Battles of the Sutlej . London, 1849
   ਍㰀氀椀 挀氀愀猀猀㴀∀䌀㄀∀㸀 䈀栀愀最愀琀 匀椀渀最栀Ⰰ 㰀椀㸀 匀椀欀栀 倀漀氀椀琀礀 椀渀 琀栀攀 䔀椀最栀琀攀攀渀琀栀 愀渀搀 一椀渀攀琀攀攀渀琀栀 䌀攀渀琀甀爀椀攀猀 㰀⼀椀㸀⸀ 䐀攀氀栀椀Ⰰ ㄀㤀㜀㠀㰀䈀刀㸀ഀഀ
5. Nayyar, Gurbachan Singh, Sikh Polity and Political Institutions . Delhi, 1975
   ਍㰀氀椀 挀氀愀猀猀㴀∀䌀㄀∀㸀 䜀甀瀀琀愀Ⰰ 䠀愀爀椀 刀愀洀Ⰰ 㰀椀㸀 䠀椀猀琀漀爀礀 漀昀 琀栀攀 匀椀欀栀猀 㰀⼀椀㸀Ⰰ 瘀漀氀⸀ 䤀嘀⸀ 䐀攀氀栀椀Ⰰ ㄀㤀㠀㈀㰀䈀刀㸀ഀഀ
6. Sinha, N.K., Rise of the Sikh Power : Calcutta, 1960
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7. Gandhi, Surjit Singh, Struggle of the Sikhs for Sovereignty . Delhi, 1980
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8. Harbans Singh, The Heritage of the Sikhs . Delhi, 1983
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9. and Teja Singh, A Short History of the Sikhs . Bombay, 1950
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Harī Rām Gupta