ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>MISLD&#256R&#298 </TITLE> <style type="text/css"> .BODY { background-color: #EAF1F7; background-image: url('images/gtbh.jpg'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed; background-position: center; color: #0066CC;} .C1{text-align: justify;color: #0066CC;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .BIB{text-align: center;color: #000099;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .CONT{text-align: right;color: #FF0000;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} </style><META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="MISLDR*"> <META http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></HEAD> <BODY class="BODY" oncontextmenu="return false" ondragstart="return false" onselectstart="return false"> <FONT ALIGN="JUSTIFY" FACE="Tahoma"> <p class="C1">&#65279MISLD&#256R&#298 or MISALD&#256R&#298, a system of political relationship as well as of land tenure which came into being with the rise of Sikh power in the eighteenth-century Punjab. The Sikh warriors who, since the execution of Band&#257 Si&#7749gh Bah&#257dur in 1716, had lived precariously as small guerrilla bands, had by the middle of the century grouped themselves into eleven main divisions and started acquiring territory as <i>misls</i>. This was the origin of the Sikh <i>misls</i> which established their sway in the Punjab. Under the <i>misld&#257r&#299</i>- system of land tenure which now prevailed, the chief or <i>sard&#257r</i> of each <i>misl</i> could allot land to a member of his own <i>misl</i>, or even to an outsider, not as a grant or <i>j&#257g&#299r</i>, but as a share of the territory in the conquest of which the latter was an equal partner. Sometimes the subordinate <i>misld&#257rs</i> or commanders occupied territory on their own, but continued to accept the <i>sard&#257r</i> of the <i>misl</i> as their chief. The <i>misld&#257rs</i> were independent in the management of their respective territories. They could alienate it to a member of the parent <i>misl</i>, but not to an outsider. Their relationship with the <i>sard&#257r</i> of the parent <i>misl</i> remained that of subordinates, but only for the purpose of the offence and defence against outsiders. Again, occupation of territory only entitled them to a share in the produce. The <i>misld&#257rs</i>, like the <i>j&#257g&#299rd&#257rs</i>, could not interfere with the traditional proprietary or occupancy rights of the tillers of the land.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <i>Misld&#257r&#299</i> was a transient phenomenon. With the emergence of the Sikh kingdom under Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh in the early decades of the nineteenth century absorbing most of the <i>misls</i>, the system became redundant. Many of the <i>misld&#257rs</i>, however, joined service under, the Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 who allowed them to keep the whole or part of their past holdings as <i>j&#257g&#299rs</i> but not as permanent or independent freeholds.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Bhagat Singh, <i>Sikh Polity in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries</i>. Delhi, 1978<BR> <li class="C1"> Nayyar, Gurbachan Singh, <i>Sikh Polity and Political Institutions</i>. Delhi, 1979<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Har&#299 R&#257m Gupta<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>