Misl

Misl generally refers to the sovereign states of the Sikh Confederacy,[1][2] that rose during the 18th century in the Punjab region in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent and is cited as one of the causes of the weakening of the Mughal Empire prior to Nader Shah's invasion of India .[3]

Sikh Misl
1716–1799
Flag
Anthem: Deg Tegh Fateh
Capital	Amritsar
Common languages	Punjabi
Religion	Sikhism
Government	Confederation
Jathedar
• 1716–1733	Baba Darbara Singh
• 1733–1748	Nawab Kapur Singh
• 1748–1783	Sultan-ul-Quam Baba Jassa Singh Ahluwalia
Legislature	Sarbat Khalsa
History
• Death of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur	1716
• Maharaja Ranjit Singh unites the misls into the Sikh Empire	1799
Area
491,464 km^2 (189,755 sq mi)
Currency	Nanakshahi
Preceded by Succeeded by Durrani Empire Mughal Empire Maratha Empire Sikh Empire
Today part of	India Pakistan

The misls formed a commonwealth that was described by Antoine Polier as a natural "aristocratic republic".[4] Although the misls were unequal in strength, and each misl attempted to expand its territory and access to resources at the expense of others, they acted in unison in relation to other states.[3] The misls held biannual meetings of their legislature, the Sarbat Khalsa in Amritsar.[3]

History

In order to withstand the persecution of Shah Jahan and other Mughal rulers, several of the later Sikh Gurus established military forces and fought the Mughal Empire and Hindu hill chiefs[5] in the early and middle Mughal-Sikh Wars. Banda Singh Bahadur continued Sikh resistance to the Mughal Empire until his defeat at the Battle of Gurdas Nangal.

For several years Sikhs found refuge in the jungles and the Himalayan foothills until they organized themselves into military bands known as jathas.

List of Misls

List of Misls

SN	Name	Founding Clan	Capital	Key Leaders	Strength in Regular Horseman (1780)[6][7]	Misl Period Territory by 1759[8]	Corresponding Current Area
1.	Phulkian Misl	Sidhu Jat	Patiala Nabha Jind	Phul Singh Sidhu, Ala Singh and Amar Singhu	5,000	Barnala, Bathinda, Sangrur	Patiala, Nabha, Jind, Kaithal, Barnala, Bathinda, Sangrur
2.	Ahluwalia Misl	Kalal/Wine Distiller[9]	Kapurthala	Jassa Singh Ahluwalia	10,000	Nurmahal, Talwandi, Phagwara, Kana Dhillon.	Jalandhar district, Kapurthala district
3.	Bhangi Misl	Dhillon Jat[10]	Amritsar	Bhuma Singh Dhillon, Hari Singh Dhillon, Mai Bhago	10,000	Tarn Taran, Lahore	Tarn Taran district, Lahore
4.	Kanheya Misl	Sandhu Jat[11]	Sohian	Jai Singh Sandhu	8,000	Ajnala, Gurdaspur, Dera Baba Nanak, Kalanaur, Pathankot, Sujanpur, Hansi, Hisar	Gurdaspur district, Pathankot district, Hisar district
5.	Ramgarhia Misl	Tarkhan	Sri Hargobindpur	Maharaja Jassa Singh Ramgarhia, Jodh Singh Ramgarhia, Tara Singh Ramgarhia and Mangal Singh Ramgarhia	5,000	Batala, Mukerian, Ghoman	Hoshiarpur district, Gurdaspur district, Jalandhar district, North of Amritsar, etc.
6.	Singhpuria Misl	Virk Jat[12]	Jalandhar	Nawab Kapur Singh	5,000	Singhpura, Amritsar, Sheikhupura etc.	Amritsar district, Sheikhupura District, Pakistan
7.	Panjgarhia Misl (Karor Singhia Misl) [note 1]	Virk Jat[14]	Shamchaurasi, Hariana, etc.	Sham Singh Sandhu and Karam Singh Sandhu	10,000	Gurdaspur district, Hoshiarpur, Hariana	Gurdaspur district, Hoshiarpur district
8.	Nishanvali Misl	Shergill Jat and later led by Hayer Jat	Ambala, Shahbad Markanda	Dasaundha Singh	2,000	Shahbad Markanda, Ambala, Ropar and Sri Anandpur Sahib	Ambala district, Ropar district, Present Chandigarh Area, Yamuna Nagar district, Shahbad Markanda and Ismailabad(in current Kurukshetra district)
9.	Sukerchakia Misl	Sansi[15][16][17]	Gujranwala	Maharaja Ranjit Singh and Duleep Singh	5,000	Qila Didar Singh, Qila Mihan Singh, Ladhe Wala Waraich, Ferozewala, Butala Sham Singh, Marali Wala, Eminabad, Kalaske, Mughal Chak.	Ranjit Singh's Sikh Empire at its peak
10.	Dallewalia Misl	Rathore Rajput[18]	Rahon	Gulab Singh Rathore and Tara Singh Ghaiba	5,000	Nakodar, Talwan, Badala, Rahon, Phillaur, Ludhiana etc.	Ludhiana district, Jalandhar district
11.	Nakai Misl	Sandhu Jat[19]	Chunian	Hira Singh Sandhu and Nar Singh Sandhu	7,000	Baherwal, Khem Karan, Khudian, Gogera, Depalpur, Okara, Pakistan etc.	Okara district, Pakistan
12.	Shaheedan Misl	Sandhu Jat/ Benipal Jat[20]	Shahzadpur	Baba Deep Singh	5,000	Talwandi Sabo, Northern Ambala.	Bathinda district, Panchkula district

Military

Sikh Confederacy (1707–1799)

Phulkian Misl · Ahluwalia Misl · Bhangi Misl · Kanheya Misl · Ramgarhia Misl  · Singhpuria Misl · Panjgarhia Misl · Nishanwalia Misl · Sukerchakia Misl · Dallewalia Misl · Nakai Misl · Shaheedan Misl

Each Misl was made up of members of soldiers, whose loyalty was given to the Misl's leader. A Misl could be composed of a few hundred to tens of thousands soldiers. Any soldier was free to join whichever Misl he wished, and was free to cancel his membership of the Misl to whom he belonged. He could, if he wanted, cancel his membership of his old Misl and join another. The Barons would allow their armies to combine or coordinate their defences together against a hostile force if ordered by the Misldar Supreme Commander. These orders were only issued in military matters affecting the whole Sikh community. These orders would normally be related to defense against external threats, such as Afghan military attacks. The profits of a fighting action were divided by the misls to individuals based on the service rendered after the conflict using the sardari system.

The Sikh Confederacy is a description of the political structure, of how all the Barons' Kingdoms interacted with each other politically together in Punjab. Although misls varied in strength, the use of primarily light cavalry with a smaller amount heavy cavalry was uniform throughout all of the Sikh misls. Cavalrymen in a misl were required to supply their own horses and equipment.[21] A standard cavalryman was armed with a spear, matchlock, and scimitar.[22] How the armies of the Sikh misls received payment varied with the leadership of each misl. The most prevalent system of payment was the 'Fasalandari' system; soldiers would receive payment every six months at the end of a harvest.[23]

Cavalry tactics

The Misls primarily employed cavalry in warfare.

Fauja Singh considers the Sikh misls to be guerrilla armies, although he notes that the Sikh misls generally had greater numbers and a larger number of artillery pieces than a guerrilla army would.[21] The misls were primarily cavalry based armies and employed less artillery than Mughal or Maratha armies. The misls adapted their tactics to their strength in cavalry and weakness in artillery and avoided pitched battles. Misls organized their armies around bodies of horsemen and their units fought battles in a series of skirmishes, a tactic which gave them an advantage over fighting pitched battles. Bodies of cavalry would attack a position, retreat, reload their muskets, and return to attack it again. The tactics used by misl field armies include flanking an enemy, obstructing river passages, cutting off a unit from its supplies, intercepting messengers, attacking isolated units like foraging parties, employing hit-and-run tactics, overrunning camps, and attacking baggage trains. To fight large armies the misl would completely evacuate the areas in front of the enemy's marching route but follow in the rear of the opposition and reconquer areas the enemy had just captured, threaten agents of the enemy with retribution, and sweep over the countryside in the wake of the enemy's withdrawal.

The Running Skirmish was a tactic unique to the Sikh cavalrymen which was notable for its effectiveness and the high degree of skill required to execute it. George Thomas and George Forster, contemporary writers who witnessed it described its use separately in their accounts of the military of the Sikhs. George Forster noted:

"A party from forty to fifty, advance in a quick pace to a distance of carbine shot from the enemy and then, that the fire may be given with the greatest certainty, the horses are drawn up and their pieces discharged, when speedily, retiring about a 100 paces, they load and repeat the same mode of annoying the enemy. Their horses have been so expertly trained to a performance of this operation that on receiving a stroke of hand, they stop from a full canter."

Administration

The remainder was separated into Puttees or parcels for each Surkunda, and these were again subdivided and parcelled out to inferior leaders, according to the number of horse they brought into the field. Each took his portion as a co-sharer, and held it in absolute independence.

— Origin of the Sikh power in the Punjab (1834) p. 33 – Henry Thoby Prinsep

The Sikh Misls had four different classes of administrative divisions. The patadari, misaldari, tabadari, and jagirdari were the different systems of land tenure used by the misls, and land granted by the misl left the responsibility of establishing law and order to the owner of the land. The land under the direct administration of the chief of the misl was known as the sardari and the tabadari and jagirdari systems used land directly given by the chief from the sardari. The patadari and misaldari systems formed the basis of a misl, while tabadari and jagirdari lands would only be created after large acquisitions of land. The type of system that was used in an area depended on the importance of the chief sardar of the area to the rest of the misl.

The Patadari system affected newly annexed territories and was the original method used by the misls in administrating land.[24] The patadari system relied on the cooperation of surkundas, the rank of a leader of a small party of cavalrymen. The chief of the misl would take his/her portion and divide the other parcels among his Sardars proportional to the number of cavalrymen they had contributed to the misl.[25] The Sardars would then divide their parcels among their Surkundas, and then the Surkundas subdivided the land they received among their individual cavalrymen. The Surkundas receiving parcels of land with settlements were required to fortify them[note 2] and establish fines and laws for their zamindars and ryots.[26] Parcels of land in the patadari system could not be sold, but could be given to relatives in an inheritance.[27] The soldiers who received parcels from the Patadari system held their land in complete freedom.[3]

The Misaldari system applied to sardars with a small number of cavalrymen as well as independent bodies of cavalrymen who voluntarily attached themselves to a misl.[27] They kept the lands they held before joining the misl as an allotment for their cooperation with the misl. The leaders of these groups, called misaldars, could transfer their allegiance and land to another misl without punishment.[27]

The Tabadari system referred to land under the control of a misl's tabadars. Tabadars served a similar function to retainers in Europe. They were required to serve as cavalrymen to the misl and were subservient to the misl's leader. Although tabadars received their land as a reward, their ownership was subject entirely on the misl's leader.[28] The tabadari grants were only hereditary on the choice of the chief of the misl.

The Jagirdari system used the grant of jagirs by the chief of the misl. Jagirs were given by the chief of the misl to relations, dependents, and people who "deserved well".[28] The owners of jagirs were subservient to the chief of the misl as their ownership was subject to his/her needs. Like the Tabadars, jagirdars were subject to personal service when the chief of the misl requested.[28] However, because jagirs entailed more land and profit, they were required to use the money generated by their jagirs to equip and mount a quota of cavalrymen depending on the size of their jagir.[28] Jagirdari grants were hereditary in practice but a misl's chief could revoke the rights of the heir. Upon the death of the owner of a tabadari or jagadari grant, the land would revert to direct control of the chief (sardari).

Territory

A map of the Punjab region showing the different doabs

The two main divisions in territory between the misls were between those who were in the Malwa region and those who were in the Majha region. While eleven of the misls were north of the Sutlej river, one, the Phulkian Misl was south of the Sutlej.[29] The Sikhs north of the Sutlej river were known as the Majha Sikhs while the Sikhs that lived south of the Sutlej river were known as the Malwa Sikhs.[13] In the smaller territories were the Dhanigeb Singhs in the Sind Sagar Doab, the Gujrat Singhs in the Jech Doab, the Dharpi Singhs in the Rechna Doab, and the Doaba Singhs in the Jalandhar Doab.[13]

Sikh women in state affairs

• Mai Fateh Kaur (d.1773) of Patiala Sikh dynasty
• Mai Desan Kaur (d.1778) of Sukerchakia Sikh Misl
• Bibi Rajinder Kaur (1739–1791) of Patiala Sikh dynasty
• Mai Sukkhan Kaur (r.1802) of Bhangi Sikh Misl
• Mai Lachhmi Kaur of Bhangi Sikh Misl
• Rani Sada Kaur (1762–1832) of Kanhaiya Sikh Misl
• Bibi Rattan Kaur of Dallewalia Sikh Misl
• Bibi Sahib Kaur (1771–1801) of Patiala Sikh dynasty
• Maharani Datar Kaur Sikh Empire (maiden name Raj Kaur of Nakai Misl) (d.1838)
• Rani Aus Kaur (1772–1821) of Patiala Sikh dynasty
• Maharani Jind Kaur (1817–1863) of Sikh Empire
• Bibi Daya Kaur (d.1823) of Nishanwalia Sikh Misl
• Rani Desa Kaur Nabha of Nabha Sikh dynasty
• Bibi Khem Kaur of Sikh Empire
• Maharani Chand Kaur (1802–1842) of Sikh Empire

Battles fought by Sikhs

1. Battle of Rohilla
2. Battle of Kartarpur
3. Battle of Amritsar (1634)
4. Battle of Lahira
5. Battle of Bhangani
6. Battle of Nadaun
7. Battle of Basoli
8. First Battle of Anandpur
9. Battle of Nirmohgarh (1702)
10. Second Battle of Anandpur
11. Second Battle of Chamkaur (1704)
12. Battle of Muktsar
13. Battle of Sonepat
14. Battle of Ambala
15. Battle of Samana
16. Battle of Chappar Chiri
17. Battle of Sadhaura
18. Battle of Rahon (1710)
19. Battle of Lohgarh
20. Battle of Jammu
21. Kapuri expedition
22. Battle of Jalalabad (1710)
23. Siege of Gurdaspur or Battle of Gurdas Nangal
24. Siege of Ram Rauni
25. Skirmish of Gohalwar
26. Battle of Lahore (1759)
27. Battle of Sialkot (1761)
28. Battle of Gujranwala (1761)
29. Sikh Occupation of Lahore[30]
30. Sikh holocaust of 1762 or Battle of Kup
31. Battle of Harnaulgarh
32. Skirmish of Amritsar (1762)
33. Battle of Sialkot (1763)
34. Battle of Sirhind (1764)
35. Rescue of Hindu Girls (1769)
36. Sikh Occupation of Delhi (1783)
37. Battle of Amritsar(1797)
38. Gurkha-Sikh War
39. Battle of Attock
40. Battle of Multan
41. Battle of Shopian
42. Battle of Peshawar (1834)
43. Battle of Jamrud
44. Sino-Sikh War
45. Battle of Mudki
46. Battle of Ferozeshah
47. Battle of Baddowal
48. Battle of Aliwal
49. Battle of Sobraon
50. Battle of Chillianwala
51. Battle of Ramnagar
52. Siege of Multan
53. Battle of Gujrat

See also

• History of Punjab
• Jat Mahasabha
• Jat states in Rajasthan
• Khap
• Maharaja Ranjit Singh
• Sikh Empire

Bibliography

• Nalwa, Vanit (2009), Hari Singh Nalwa – Champion of the Khalsaji, New Delhi: Manohar, ISBN 81-7304-785-5
• Narang, K. S.; Gupta, H. R. (1969). History of Punjab: 1500 - 1558. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
• M'Gregor, William Lewis (1846). The history of the Sikhs: containing the lives of the Gooroos; the history of the independent Sirdars, or Missuls, and the life of the great founder of the Sikh monarchy, Maharajah Runjeet Singh. J. Madden. p. 216. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
• Singh, Fauja (1964). Military system of the Sikhs: during the period 1799–1849. Motilal Banarsidass. Retrieved 1 July 2010.
• Prinsep, Henry Thoby (1834). Origin of the Sikh power in the Punjab, and political life of Muha-Raja Runjeet Singh: with an account of the present condition, religion, laws and customs of the Sikhs. G.H. Huttmann. Retrieved 8 June 2010.
• Cave-Browne, John (1861). The Punjab and Delhi in 1857: being a narrative of the measures by which the Punjab was saved and Delhi recovered during the Indian Mutiny. William Blackwood and Sons. Retrieved 10 June 2010.
• Brief History of the Sikh Misls. Jalandhar: Sikh Missionary College.
• Suri, Sohan Lal (1961). Umdat-ut-Tawarikh, DAFTAR III, PARTS (I—V) 1831–1839 A.D. Delhi: S. Chand & Co.
• Kakshi, S.R.; Pathak, Rashmi; Bakshi, S.R.; Pathak, R. (2007). Punjab Through the Ages. Sarup and Son. ISBN 978-81-7625-738-1.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Oberoi, Harjot (1994). The Construction of religious boundaries: culture, identity, and diversity in the Sikh tradition. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-61593-6. Retrieved 14 June 2010.
• Ahmad Shah Batalia, Appendix to Sohan Lal Suri's Umdat-ut-Tawarikh. Daftar I, Lahore, 1X85, p. 15; Bute Shahs Tawarikh-i-Punjab, Daftar IV, (1848), (MS., Ganda Singh's personal collection. Patiala), p. 6; Kanaihya Lal, Tarikh-i-Punjab, Lahore, 1877, p. 88; Ali-ud-Din Mufti, Ibratnama, Vol. I, (1854), Lahore, 1961, p. 244. Muhammad Latif, History of the Punjab (1891), Delhi, 1964, p. 296.
• Ian Heath, The Sikh Army, 1799–1849 (Men-at-arms), Osprey (2005) ISBN 1-84176-777-8
• Harbans Singh, The Heritage of the Sikhs, second rev. ed., Manohar (1994) ISBN 81-7304-064-8
• Hari Ram Gupta, History of the Sikhs: Sikh Domination of the Mughal Empire, 1764–1803, second ed., Munshiram Manoharlal (2000) ISBN 81-215-0213-6
• Hari Ram Gupta, History of the Sikhs: The Sikh Commonwealth or Rise and Fall of the Misls, rev. ed., Munshiram Manoharlal (2001) ISBN 81-215-0165-2
• Gian Singh, Tawarikh Guru Khalsa, (ed. 1970), p. 261.

Notes

1. The Panjgarhia misl was further divided into the Sham Singhan and Kalsias. The Kalsias were subdivided into the Landpindian and Barapindian[13]
2. The owners of larger villages were required to erect stockades and ditches while the owners of towns erected either keeps or forts[25]

References

1. Heath, Ian (1 January 2005). "The Sikh Army". Osprey. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
2. "The Khalsa Era". Nishan Sahib. 2011. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
3. Kakshi et al. 2007, p. 73
4. Singh, Khushwant (11 October 2004). A History of the Sikhs: 1469–1838 (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 165. ISBN 978-0-19-567308-1. Retrieved 1 April 2011.
5. Gandhi, Surjit Singh (1 February 2008). "13 Khalsa Battles Against Islamic Imperialism and Hindu Conservatism". History of Sikh Gurus Retold: 1606–1708 C.E. Atlantic Publishing. p. 814. ISBN 81-269-0858-0. Retrieved 26 January 2010.
6. Griffin, Lepel Henry (1893). Ranjít Singh. Clarendon Press. p. 78.
7. Bajwa, Sandeep Singh. "Sikh Misals (equal bands)". Archived from the original on 10 September 2018. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
8. Kakshi 2007, p. 163–164 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFKakshi2007 (help)
9. Bajwa, Sandeep Singh. "Misal Ahluwalia". Archived from the original on 29 September 2018. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
10. Bajwa, Sandeep Singh. "Bhangi Misl". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
11. Bajwa, Sandeep Singh. "Misal Kanhaiya". Archived from the original on 15 August 2018. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
12. "The Sodhis of Anandpur Sahib". Archived from the original on 11 July 2016. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
13. Kakshi 2007, p. 164 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFKakshi2007 (help)
14. Bajwa, Sandeep Singh. "Misal Karorasinghia". Archived from the original on 15 August 2018. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
15. Lafont, Jean-Marie (2002) Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Lord of the Five Rivers. Oxford: Oxford University Press
16. See:
    • "Two, Ranjit Singh who seemingly got "total ascendancy" in Punjab was not a Jat but a Sansi...", Sangat Singh, McLeod and Fenech as Scholars on Sikhism and Martyrdom; presented in International Sikh conferences 2000, www.globalsikhstudies.net
    • Singh, Sher (1965) The Sansis of Punjab: a Gypsy and denotified tribe of Rajput origin; Maharaja Ranjit Singh: the most glorious Sansi, p. 13. Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal
    • Singh, Sangat (1995) The Sikhs in History; 2nd ed. New York: S. Singh ISBN 0-9647555-0-5; p. 92
    • Singh, Fauja (1981) Some Aspects of State and Society Under Ranjit Singh. New Delhi: Master Publishers; p. 5
    • Sandhawalia, Preminder Singh (1999) Noblemen and Kinsmen: history of a Sikh family. New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal ISBN 81-215-0914-9
17. This claim arose when "a Sansi Jat t clan was also recorded in early imperial censuses, which were rather crude and inaccurate. But the numbers of this "Jatt" clan were extremely small , indicating it, at best, as a very recent accretion into... a functional category , composed of diverse farming identities". See "Family Tree of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the Great Sansi". www.sikhcastes.com. 11 August 2012. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
18. Bajwa, Sandeep Singh. "Misl Dallewalia".
19. Bajwa, Sandeep Singh. "Misal Nakai". Archived from the original on 15 August 2018. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
20. Bhagata, Siṅgha (1993). A History of the Sikh Misals. Publication Bureau, Punjabi University. p. 241. Deep Singh Shahid, a mazhabi sikh and resident of the village of Pohuwind of the pargana of Amritsar...
21. Singh 1963, p. 23 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFSingh1963 (help)
22. Francklin, William (1805). Military memoirs of Mr. George Thomas; who, by extraordinary talents and enterprise, rose from an obscure situation to the rank of a general, in the service of the native powers in the North-West of India. Reprinted for John Stockdale. p. 107. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
23. Singh, Fauja (1964). Military system of the Sikhs: during the period 1799–1849. Motilal Banarsidass. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
24. Prinsep 1834, p. 33
25. Prinsep 1834, p. 34
26. Prinsep 1834, p. 34–35
27. Prinsep 1834, p. 35
28. Prinsep 1834, p. 36
29. Oberoi 1994, p. 73
30. Mehta, J. L. (2005). Advanced study in the history of modern India 1707–1813. Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd. p. 303. ISBN 978-1-932705-54-6. Retrieved 23 September 2010.