Lehal Library

128 The Agrarian Uprising 8. Dallewalia, under Gulab Singh of the village Dallewal. 9. Shaheed, under Deep Singh. The name iahid (martyr) was taken after the death of the leader. 10. Karora Singhia, under Karora Singh of the village Paijgarh. 1 l. Ramgarhia under Nand Singh. Phoolkia, under Ala Singh of Patiala, was the twelfth misl, but it was not a part of the Dal Khalsa, and sometimes acted against the interests of the community. Every Sikh was free to join any misl he chose, and every misl was free to act in any way it wished in the area under its control. Only in matters affecting the community as a whole were they to take orders from the Supremo, Jassa Singh Ahluwalia. The strength of the mists varied from time to time. It is estimated that the total force which the Dal Khalsa could put in the field at one time was about seventy thottsand horse and fooL The 111.isl.di.iri system was ideally suited to the conditions of the time and worked well under leaders like Kapur Singh and Jassa Singh Ahluwalia. It combined freedom of action with I.he discipline of a unified command; it channelled the energies of the fiercely independent Khalsa soldier in the service of a cause whid1 he held dear-the expulsion offoreigners from the Punjab and the fulfilment of the prophecy of Guru Gobind of the establishment of a Sikh state. By the time the last of Abdali·s men had been cleared from the Punjab, the misls had spread out into the three doabs: between the Chenab and the Ravi, between the Ravi and the Beas, and l,etween the Beas and the Sutlej. They were firmly entrenched in Am1;tsar with the mud fortress of Ram Rauni guarding the city. Mir Mannu was confirmed as governor of the Punjab in April 1748. But he was far from being in effective control of the province. The Afghans still held Multan; the Sikhs the three doabs; the Raja of Jammu had cast off the Mughal yoke and declared an independent Dogra state. Mannu was not strong enough to fight all three at once. His biggest handicap was lack