User:Profitoftruth85/misl



Misl refers to a confederacy of clans. The period from 1716 to 1799 in Punjab was a highly turbulent time politically and militarily due to the decline of the Mughal Empire. The Misls were the result of Guru Gobind Singh creating the Khalsa. The power vacuum left by the Mughal Empire and repeated attacks from Afghan Rulers led to clans uniting together under the Misl system. There were twelve Misls, and in general, they took their name from their Misldar. Before being consolidated into the Sikh Empire by Ranjit Singh of Sukerchakia Misl, the misls unified during invasions by Afghan Rulers

Origins
jathas came to file military records called misls, people would get recognized by their misl http://www.apnaorg.com/books/sikh-misls/book-1.php?fldr=book

General Military Structure
Each Misl was made up of members of soldiers, whose loyalty was given to the Misl's leader (Misldar). A Misl could be composed of a few hundred to tens of thousands soldiers. Every soldier was free to join any Misl he chose and free to cancel his membership of the Misl to whom he belonged. He could, if he wanted, cancel his membership of his old Misl and join another. The Barons would allow their armies to combine or coordinate their defences together against a hostile force if ordered by the Misldar Supreme Commander. These orders were only issued in military matters affecting the whole Sikh community. These orders would normally be related to defense against external threats, such as Afghan military attacks.

Previous Supreme Commanders include Nawab Kapur Singh and Sultan Ul Quam Baba Jassa Singh Ahluwalia.

The Sikh Confederacy is a description of the political structure, of how all the Barons' Kingdoms interacted with each other, (politically), together in Punjab.

Members
The Sikh Misls in order of importance in 1780