Sardar Jassa Singh Ahluwalia: Sultan-ul-Qaum, leader of the Dal Khalsa

Sardar Jassa Singh Ahluwalia is remembered twice in the Nanakshahi calendar, at his birth anniversary in spring and on the anniversary of his passing in autumn. He was the foremost leader of the Khalsa in the mid-eighteenth century, honoured by the Sikhs as Sultan-ul-Qaum, king of the nation.

Raised by Mata Sundari Ji

Jassa Singh was born in 1718 at Ahlu, near Lahore, and lost his father when he was four. His mother took him to Delhi, where he spent several years in the household of Mata Sundari Ji, the widow of Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji, learning the bani and the kirtan of the Asa di Vaar. He was then entrusted to Nawab Kapur Singh, who raised him as a warrior and leader.

The Dal Khalsa

In 1748, at Amritsar, the Sarbat Khalsa united the Sikh bands into the Dal Khalsa, the army of the Khalsa, under his command, and he led the Ahluwalia Misl. In 1761 his forces fell on Ahmad Shah Abdali's army as it returned from Panipat and freed more than two thousand captive women, who were returned to their homes. He was wounded many times shielding the caravan at the Wadda Ghallughara of 1762. In 1764, after Abdali had blown up Sri Harmandir Sahib, he laid the foundation of its reconstruction. In 1783 he rode with Sardar Baghel Singh and Sardar Jassa Singh Ramgarhia into Delhi.

His passing

He passed away at Amritsar in 1783, and his samadh stands near Gurdwara Baba Atal Rai. His misl later became the ruling family of Kapurthala.

How he is remembered

Sangats remember him with kirtan and Ardas on both days, and katha recalls a leader who stayed devoted to the bani all his life.