Lehal Library

* 10. Rise of the Sukerchakia Misl Ranjit Singh• s Ancestors he man who liquidated the warring misls, nunured the consciousness of regional nationalism to forge a unified kingdom, and harnessed the restless energy of the Punjabis to conquer neighbouring countries was Ranjit Singh Sukerchakia. He was born on 13 November 1780. The foundation of the Sukerchakia fortunes was laid by one Budh Singh, who is said to have received baptism from the hands of Guru Gobind. Budh Singh died in 1718, leaving his sons a few villages of their own and many others in the neighbourhood which paid them a fixed sum as protection tax. Naudh Singh fortified his village, Sukerchak (hence Sukerchakias), joined forces with Nawab Kapur Singh and fought several engagements with Abdali. As the Afghans retreated, the Singhpurias and the Sukerchakias occupied the lands between the Ravi and the Jhelum. Naudh Singh was killed in a skirmish in 1752. Charhat Singh, the eldest of Naudh Singh's four sons, shifted his headquarters to Gujranwala, which be fortified and successfully defended against the Afghan governor of Lahore. Abdali razed the fortifications to the ground, but, on the Afghan's retreat, the Sukerchakias rebuilt their fortresses and recaptured their earlier possessions. Charhat Singh's last foray was into the territory of the Raja of Jammu, where he was mortally wounded by the bursting of his matchlock in his hands. T