tribal confederation · South Asia

Sikh Misls

1748 CE – 1799 CE (approx.) · capital Amritsar

A confederacy of Sikh warrior bands that took control of the Punjab from the Mughals and Afghans in the 18th century.

Origins

After the execution of Banda Singh Bahadur in 1716, Sikh fighters organised in bands during decades of persecution by Mughal governors and invasions by Ahmad Shah Durrani. In 1748, at Amritsar, they combined into the Dal Khalsa under Jassa Singh Ahluwalia, grouped into eleven or twelve misls, each led by a sardar.

Rule and society

The misls were largely autonomous units that shared conquered land and met at the Sarbat Khalsa assemblies at Amritsar, where collective decisions, gurmatta, were taken. They collected rakhi, a protection levy, from villages. Despite the Durrani massacre of 1762, they took Lahore in 1765 and rebuilt the Harmandir Sahib. Leading misls included the Bhangi, Ahluwalia, Ramgarhia and Sukerchakia.

Decline and legacy

Rivalries among the misls grew after the Durrani threat faded. Ranjit Singh, head of the Sukerchakia misl, captured Lahore in 1799 and absorbed the other misls into the Sikh Empire, of which he was proclaimed maharaja in 1801.

Lineage

Mughal Empire 1526 CE – 1857 CEDurrani Empire 1747 CE – 1823 CESikh MislsSikh Empire 1799 CE – 1849 CE

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Sikh Misls. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/sikh-misls
MLA
“Sikh Misls.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/sikh-misls. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Sikh Misls.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/sikh-misls.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Sikh Misls’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/sikh-misls (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻