The Sikh Misls

Misl is a Persian word which means ‘Equal’. When Guru Gobind Singh created the Khalsa brotherhood in 1699, his objective was to eradicate the inequalities prevalent amongst his fellow human beings, which had been enforced due to uncompromising implementation and enforcement of the caste system in the Indian sub-continent over the centuries. According to him, everyone belongs to the same human race and everyone is born equal and there must be no distinction amongst the people based on their religion, color, creed, caste and region. Everyone must have same the rights, regardless of one’s profession, occupation or their financial situation. By establishing the Khalsa brotherhood, the Guru had created a society based on Equality, Liberty and Fraternity. Guru Gobind Singh instilled these democratic principles into his followers and allowed them to make decisions based on collective agreements. This concept was envisioned by our Sikh Guru long before the French revolution and before any other democratic institutions came into existence.

Guru Gobind Singh introduced the Misl system before going into the battle of Bhangani, which was fought against the combined forces of the Hindu hill rajas. This battle took place in the year 1688 when the hill Rajas united their forces to curtail the rising influence of Guru Gobind Singh in their region. In order to face the joint forces of the mighty hill rajas, the Guru organized his followers into Misls, or Equals and each leader was given a command of fighting men. The poet Sainapat, has provided a brief description of the Misls:

“Guru Gobind Singh himself went riding to the place of the battle.

As soon as the war-drum was beaten war banners came to the front.

Reaching the battlefield and examining the positions, he entrusted different fronts to the Misls.

Different types of musical instruments produced war music which filled the warriors with enthusiasm.”

At the Battle of Bhangini, Guru Gobind Singh formed eleven Misls. He was the head of one of them and placed himself in the center of his army, facing the enemy. It consisted of young, potent warriors who were eager to engage the invading forces. There were five Misl leaders along with their men on the right side of the Guru, whose supreme leader was Sango Shah. The other Misl leaders with Shah were: Jitmal, Sangat Rae, Hari Chand and Gulab Rae. These warriors were related to the Guru and were with him during his future campaigns. The five Misls on his left were under the leadership of Pir Budhu Shah of Sadhaura and he had 500 Muslim soldiers under his command. The combined army faced a numerically superior force commanded by the Hill Rajas and even though Guru Gobind’s Pathan retainers deserted him during the battle, he was victorious against his adversaries. Following Guru Gobind Singh’s example and implementing his battle strategies and organization maneuvers, Banda Singh Bahadur also organized his army into the Misl system.

Banda Singh Bahadur was selected by Guru Gobind Singh to return back to Punjab and seek justice against the tyrannous rulers of the province. He organized his army into eleven Misls and like Guru Gobind Singh’s victories, was able to defeat the powerful Mughal governor of Sarhind and capture most of Punjab. Banda Singh in a short span from the year 1711, till 1715 was able to bring about land reform in Punjab, abolished the zamindari system and allowed the peasants to become land owners. He improved the lives of common folks and instilled self-respect, courage and indomitable spirit into the minds of the inhabitants of Punjab. During the battles against the Mughals, Banda Singh was at the center and as the head of his Misl, faced the enemy along with his warriors next to him. On his right side, he had five Misl leaders, each had their combatants under their command. They were: Baj Singh, Ram Singh, Fatah Singh, Ali Singh and Mali Singh. His left wing was commanded by the following Misl leaders: Binod Singh, Kahan Singh, Miri Singh, Bijai Singh and Gulab Singh. If it was not for the schism between him and the Tat Khalsa, Banda Singh may have been victorious against his adversaries during the siege of Gurdas Nangal and may have defeated the Mughal general Abdus Samad Khan in 1715. Unfortunately most of his able and trusted generals deserted him at a crucial time and ultimately Banda Singh was captured and killed at Delhi in 1716.

The third Misl period started at 1734, when Nawab Kapur Singh organized various disparate Sikh bands into organized groups: The Budha Dal (Army of veterans) and Taruna Dal (Army of Youth). Nawab Kapur Singh was the overall commander of both these armies. He further sub-divided these two Dals into five Misls, each, under the command of a competent leader. The leaders of the Budha Dal were: Bhag Singh, Gurbaksh Singh, Gurdial Singh, Karora Singh and Sham Singh. The leaders of the Taruna Dal were: Bir Singh, Dasaunda Singh, Dharam Singh, Dip Singh and Jiwan Singh. These intrepid warriors faced the oppression of the Mughals, during the dark period of Sikh history, when they were hunted down by the authorities and were on the verge of extension. This Misl period lasted till the year 1748 and subsequently they were re-organized by Nawab Kapur Singh again into a new formation to face new challenges.

During the year 1748, India had witnessed the invasion of Afghan King Ahmed Shah Abdali. He invaded and plundered the wealth of India nine times and was resisted on each of his expedition by the Sikhs. The governorship of Punjab had passed on to the hands of Mir Mannu in 1747, he tried to be an able administrator who wanted to revive the aligning economy of Punjab, open up trade routes and revive the declining revenue of the province, which had witnessed recession over the years due to external invasions, mismanagement by the previous government official and internal disturbances caused by the inhabitants of Punjab.

Seeing a threat to the Sikh community, the Sikh leader Nawab Kapur Singh re-organized the loosely coupled Sikh groups, whose number had swelled up to 65 into 11 coherent, tight-knit and efficient units of commonwealth. These new Misls were Ahluwalia Misl, Dallewalia Misl, Faizullahpuria Misl, Karorasinghia Misl, Nishanwala Misl, Bhangi Misl, Kanhiya Misl, Nakai Misl, Ramgarhia Misl, and Sukarchakia Misl. There was also a 12th Misl called the Phulkian Misl; however, this group was never truly part of the Dal Khalsa or the 11 combined Misls and its leaders aligned themselves with whomever they saw the most benefit from. These eleven Misls lasted for the next fifty years, until they were overthrown and the territories were merged within the powerful Sikh Empire. The Misls provided protection to the inhabitants of Punjab in the form of ‘Rakhi’ and ‘Kambli’ system, up till the Gangetic plains and the populace did find some relief while under the security of the Sikh leaders; however, since there was a lack of central administration and undefined policies, this system did not last for long. It offered security to the people for a short period and was eventually replaced by a stable government from 1799 onwards.

The Misls were effective in fighting against a common enemy and whenever there was a threat to the community or the Sikh religion, the Misl leaders used to unite together, muster their resources and fight against the common enemy or external threat till it was removed. They were effective in plundering the retreating Persian invader Nadir Shah in 1739. The Misls were extremely effective in resisting the Afghan King Ahmed Shah Abdali and with their Guerilla warfare, were able to inflict serious damages to his army and divested him of his looted wealth and freed up captured men, women and children who would have ended up in the Afghan markets as slaves. Abdali tried extremely hard to eradicate the Sikhs and during his campaigns demolished the Harminder Sahib at Amritsar three times to bring down their spirits. He massacred 30,000 Sikhs in 1762 and that event is called the Great Holocaust; however, he was unable to defeat the Sikhs or repress their indomitable courage. After every chastisement, regardless of their suffering, the Sikhs were united against their common enemy and finally Abdali, had to leave Punjab as a disheartened man.

Once the common enemy or threat to their religion passed away, the leaders of various Misls started to get engaged in internecine battles and fought against each other over trivial issue. There were countless instances when leaders from Misls faced each other on opposite sides and in the battles, many capable warriors perished due to mutual jealousies and issues that could have been resolved amicably. K.S. Narang in his book History of Punjab wrote the following about the breakup of Misls, “When the link of a common enemy and common danger was removed, and the chiefs were converted from needy adventurers to lords of domains, discords and mutual plundering commenced, as temper, ambition, or avarice, excited to contention.”

The Misl system was an efficient and effective organization and was a commonwealth of various disconnected groups, with an equal standing. They successfully liberated Punjab from foreign rule and were able to protect the inhabitants from external threat and tyranny of the Mughal authorities. However, like all good things, their effectiveness ceased to exist once a common threat was removed and the all-powerful Sikh leaders started fighting amongst themselves. George Frorester had predicted the following on Sikhs in 1783, “In the defense and recovery of their country, the Sicques displayed a courage of the most obstinate kind and manifested a perseverance, under the pressure of calamities, when the common danger roused them to action, and gave but one impulse to their spirit. Should any future cause call forth the combined efforts of the Sicques to maintain the existence of empire and religion, we may see some ambitions chief led on by his genius and success, and, absorbing the power of his associates, display, from the ruins of their commonwealth, the standard of monarchy.” This prophecy was however fulfilled when Maharaja Ranjit Singh defeated the warring Misls and brought them under his powerful Sikh Empire.

References:

History of Sikhs vol. 4 by H. R. Gupta

A History of the Sikhs vol. By Khushwant Singh

A History of the Sikhs by J D Cunningham

History of the Punjab by K. S. Narang

Images: From Google Images

Written By:

Gurmeet Singh Sandhu from Ottawa, Canada. He is an Information Technology professional with the Canadian Public Sector, an avid reader and writes short articles on Sikh History