Misls of the Sikh Confederacy
A 1780 map of the Punjab Region shows the relative positions of the Sikh Misls and other states.
A 1780 map of the Punjab Region shows the relative positions of the Sikh Misls and other states.

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

Shaheedan Misl

The Shaheedan Misl[1] was one of twelve Sikh Misls that later became the Sikh Empire. It held a small amount of territory in the Malwa (Punjab) area around the Damdama Sahib[2] before being incorporated into the Sikh Empire of the Sukerchakia Misl by Ranjit Singh.

Deep Singh (later Baba Deep Singh), son of Bhagta, of village Pahuwind (now district Amritsar) was the founder of this Misl. Earlier this Misl was known as Deep Singh’s Misl but after the martyrdom of Deep Singh in 1757 and another Sikh general Gurbakhsh Singh (of Leel village) in 1764, this Misl came to be known as Misl Shaheedan.

Origins and History

In 1748, Baba Deep Singh was appointed the leader of the Shaheedan Misl and the Mahant of the Takht Sri Damdama Sahib. In 1757, Ahmad Shah Abdali invaded India[citation needed] and sent an army to the Harmindar Sahib to block Sikhs from entering the Gurdwara. Baba Deep Singh and a company of men who rode with him to free the gurdwara were killed in the Battle of Amritsar (1757)[3] against the Durrani Army. His successor, Suddha Singh, later led the misl into a skirmish against the Afghan government of Jalandhar City. The first two leaders of the misl were considered Shaheeds, or martyrs, by their contemporaries so the misl became known as, Shaheedan Misl, or the followers of the martyrs. The misl was annexed by the Sikh Empire at some point in the early 19th century and became a part of the Sikh Empire. The Nihang order of Sikhs maintains the traditions of this misl.[2]

References

  1. ^ Bhagata, Siṅgha (1993). A History of the Sikh Misals. Publication Bureau, Punjabi University. p. 241. Deep Singh Shahid, a Sandhu Jat and resident of the village of Pohuwind of the pargana of Amritsar, was the founder of this Misal.
  2. ^ a b McLeod, W.H. (2005). Historical dictionary of Sikhism. The Scarecrow Press. p. 186. ISBN 978-0-8108-5088-0.
  3. ^ Jacques, Tony (2006). Dictionary of Battles and Sieges. Greenwood Press. p. 400. ISBN 978-0-313-33536-5. Archived from the original on 26 June 2015.
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