Misl: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|Term for states of the 1716–1799 Sikh Confederacy}}

{{About|the military force|the indoor soccer league|MISL (disambiguation)}}

{{Coord missing|India|Pakistan}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}

| flag_s1 = Sikh Empire flag.svg

| border_s1 = no

| image_flag = Kattar Dhal Talwar.jpg

| flag = Nishan Sahib

}}

The misls formed a commonwealth that was described by Swiss adventurer [[Antoine Polier]] as a natural "aristocratic republic".<ref name="Singh2004">{{cite book|last=Singh|first=Khushwant|title=A History of the Sikhs: 1469–1838|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MD9uAAAAMAAJ|access-date=1 April 2011|edition=2nd|date=11 October 2004|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-567308-1|page=165}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Kakshi 2007 page=73">{{harvnb|Kakshi|Pathak|Bakshi|Pathak|2007|page=73}}</ref> The misls held [[wikt:biannual|biannual]] meetings of their legislature, the [[Sarbat Khalsa]] in [[Amritsar]].<ref name="Kakshi 2007 page=73"/>

|+List of Misls

|-

! Name

! Strength in Regular Horseman (1780)<ref>{{cite book |title=Ranjít Singh |last=Griffin |first=Lepel Henry |year=1893 |publisher=Clarendon Press |page=78 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rNxGAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA237}}</ref><ref name=SH0>{{cite web|url=http://www.sikh-history.com/sikhhist/events/misls.html|title=Sikh Misals (equal bands)|first=Sandeep Singh|last=Bajwa|access-date=24 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180910232917/http://sikh-history.com/sikhhist/events/misls.html|archive-date=10 September 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref>

! Misl Period Territory by 1759<ref>{{Cite book|last=GUPTA|first=HARI RAM|title=TRANS-SATLUJ SIKH|publisher=THE MINEVERA BOOK SHOP|year=1944|location=LAHORE|pages=3}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Kakshi|2007|page=163–164}}</ref>

! Corresponding Current Area

|-

| [[Patiala]]<br>[[Nabha]]<br>[[Jind]]<br>[[Faridkot, Punjab|Faridkot]]

| [[Patiala]], [[Nabha]], [[Jind]], [[Kaithal]], [[Barnala]], [[Bathinda]], [[Sangrur]]

|-

| [[Kapurthala]]

| 10,000

| [[Jalandhar district]], [[Kapurthala district]], [[Kana Dhillon]], [[Nurmahal]], [[Talwandi]], [[Phagwara]].

|

| [[Amritsar]]

| 30,000

| [[Tarn Taran Sahib|Tarn Taran]], [[Lahore]]

| [[Tarn Taran district]], [[Lahore]]

|

| [[Sohian]]

| 8,000

| [[Ajnala, India|Ajnala]], [[Gurdaspur]], [[Dera Baba Nanak]],<br>[[Kalanaur, Punjab|Kalanaur]], [[Pathankot]], [[Sujanpur]], [[Mukerian]],<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gupta|first=HARI RAM|title=TRANS SATLUJ SIKHS|publisher=THE MINEVERA BOOK SHOP|year=1944|location=Lahore|pages=3}}</ref>

| [[Gurdaspur district]], [[Pathankot district]], [[Hoshiarpur district]]

|-

| [[Sri Hargobindpur]]

| 5,000

| [[Batala]], [[Urmar Tanda]], [[Dasuya]], [[Ghuman (Gurdaspur)|Ghoman]]<ref>{{Cite book|last=GUPTA|first=HARI RAM|title=TRANS SATLUJ SIKHS|publisher=THE MINEVERA BOOK SHOP|year=1944|location=LAHORE|pages=3}}</ref>

| [[Hoshiarpur district]], [[Gurdaspur district]], [[Jalandhar district]], north of [[Amritsar]]

|-

| [[Jalandhar]]

| 5,000

| [[Amritsar district]], [[Sheikhupura District|Sheikhupura District, Pakistan]]

|

| 10,000

| [[Yamunanagar district]], [[Hoshiarpur district]]

|-

| 2,000

| [[Shahabad Markanda|Shahbad Markanda]], [[Ambala]], [[Ropar]], [[Anandpur Sahib|Sri Anandpur Sahib]]

| [[Ambala district]], [[Ropar district]], [[Chandigarh|Present Chandigarh Area]], [[Yamuna Nagar district]], [[Shahabad Markanda|Shahbad Markanda]] and [[Kurukshetra district|Kurukshetra]]

|-

| [[Gujranwala]]

| 75,000

| [[Mananwala|Mughal Chak]], [[Qila Didar Singh]], [[Qila Mihan Singh]], [[Ladhe Wala Waraich]], [[Ferozewala]], [[Butala Sham Singh]], [[Marali Wala]], [[Eminabad railway station|Eminabad]], [[Kalaske Cheema|Kalaske]].

|  

|-

| [[Rahon]]

| 5,000

| [[Ludhiana district]], [[Jalandhar district]]

|

| [[Chunian]]

| 7,000

| [[Baherwal Kalan|Baherwal]], [[Khem Karan]], [[Khudian]], [[Gogera]], [[Dipalpur|Depalpur]], [[Okara, Pakistan]] etc.

| [[Okara District|Okara district, Pakistan]]

|-

| [[Shahzadpur, Haryana|Shahzadpur]]

| 5,000

| [[Talwandi Sabo]], [[Shahzadpur, Haryana|Shahzadpur]].

| [[Bathinda district]], [[Panchkula district]]

|-

|}

"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 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.

==Territory==

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.<ref>{{harvnb|Oberoi|1994|page=73}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Kakshi 2007 page=164"/> 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]].<ref name="Kakshi 2007 page=164"/>

# [[Battle of Lohgarh]]

# [[Battle of Jammu]]

# [[Battle of Jalalabad (1710)]]

# [[Siege of Gurdaspur]] or [[Battle of Gurdas Nangal]]

# [[Battle of Manupur (1748)]]

# [[Battle of Amritsar (1757)]]

# [[Battle of Sialkot (1763)]]

# [[Battle of Sirhind (1764)]]

# [[Battle of Delhi (1783)]]

# [[Battle of Amritsar(1797)]]

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* {{citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ULhgNexD92QC |title=Hari Singh Nalwa – Champion of the Khalsaji |last=Nalwa |first=Vanit |year=2009 |publisher=Manohar |location=New Delhi |isbn=978-81-7304-785-5}}

* {{cite book|last=M'Gregor|first=William Lewis|title=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|url=https://archive.org/details/historysikhscon01gregoog|page=[https://archive.org/details/historysikhscon01gregoog/page/n554 216]|access-date=2 July 2010|year=1846|publisher=J. Madden}}

* {{cite book|last=Singh|first=Fauja|title=Military system of the Sikhs: during the period 1799–1849|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iLk9AAAAIAAJ|access-date=1 July 2010|year=1964|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass}}