Phulkian Misl

Phulkian Misl was a Sikh Misl founded by Choudhary Phul Singh and named after him. A descendant of the Bhati Rajputs, Singh was a direct descendant of Rawal Jaisal Singh, the founder and first ruler of the Kingdom of Jaisalmer. Singh's descendants became the royal families of the Phulkian dynasty states, which included the states of Patiala, Nabha, and Jind. Historians have disputed whether the Phulkian Misl was ever a true Sikh Misl, as its practices and policies were more centralized and akin to a petty kingdom than those of a true Sikh Misl.

Misl status dispute
Some historians, such as Kirpal Singh, claim the Phulkians were never truly a "Misl" at all. Historian Surjit Singh Gandhi also claimed that the Phulkian Misl was never a true Misl because they shared almost no common practices with the other Sikh Misls, and the administrative nature of the Phulkian Misl's political state varied considerably from that of the other Misls.

Gandhi based his arguments on various facts and events. When the Sikh Misls divided themselves into the Buddha Dal and Taruna Dal of the Dal Khalsa in 1734, no Phulkian leader was represented, and there was no Phulkian presence in the Dal Khalsa in 1748. Phulkian leaders did not attend Sarbat Khalsa meetings or distribute loot and territory among their followers, instead adopting Mughal practices of appropriating resources for themselves and rewarding their men with payments and Jagirs. While other Misls fought relentlessly against the Mughal Empire and the Durrani Empire, the Phulkian chiefs maintained good relations with these imperial powers, obtained titles from them. Unlike other Misls, they did not inscribe the names of the Sikh gurus on their coins but instead issued coins in the names of rulers of the Mughal Empire and Durrani Empire. In the entire 18th century, none of the Phulkian leaders visited Sikhism's holy cities of Anandpur and Amritsar, but they frequently visited and were visited by the Mughal and Durrani rulers.