Ramgarhia Misl

In 1716 Ahmed Shah Durrane left Lahore, Adina Beg the Afghan Governor of Punjab was hunting for the heads of the sikhs, they dispersed and scattered in all directions. Jassa Singh and others in the band took refuge in the mud fort of Ram Rauni near Amritsar where they were surrounded and attacked during the ensuing period. In 1758 Adina Beg died and there was a power vacuum in Punjab and those who escaped from fort of Ram Rauni assumed the name of Ramgarhias and Jassa Singh became its head.[1][2]The Misal ( Confederacy)was called Ramgarhia .

The main concentration of the Misl was in and around the Riarki area of Amritsar, Gurdaspur and Batala (in Majha). Ramgarhia constructed and fortified the mud fortress of Ram Rauni just outside Amritsar. It was named in honour of the founder of the city, the fourth Sikh Guru, Guru Ram Das. His Misl contained more than 10000 cavalry who were always on the move, helping the Dal Khalsa whenever the Mughals or Afghans attacked. Whilst the Mughal administration controlled the cities, it were the Sikhs who were in control of the villages. Twenty years earlier, Banda Bahadur had wreaked havoc on the Mughal administration by abolishing all taxes and the Zamindari system. Now only a "dasvand" (10% of income)was levied on the Sikhs - as protection tax to pay for the armies. Latif [7] wrote, "The founder of the Misal was Khoshal Singh, a Jat of Mouza Guga near Amritsar, Punjab. After his death he was succeeded by Nodh Singh of Sahangi also near Amritsar. Three most daring brothers named Jassa Singh, Mali Singh, and Tara Singh of Tarkhan (carpenter) background and belonging to Mouza Sarsang in the Lahore district (now in Pakistan) became devout followers of Nodh Singh. After the death of Nodh Singh, Jassa Singh became the chief of the Misal. The Misal seized the fort of Ram Raouni (Fortalice of God) and then renamed it as Ramgarh (Fort of the Lord [17])". Later on the Misal was popularly known as the Ramgarhia Misal.

This Sikhi-related article is a stub. You can help SikhiWiki by expanding it.