One of the duties of a Khalsa was to practice arms. This was deemed necessary due to the rising religious persecution from
the Mughal rulers. Prior to joining the Khalsa, most soldiers were mere banditry.
After the death of Guru Gobind Singh, his disciple Banda Singh Bahadur led the Khalsa warriors in an uprising against the Mughals. Banda Singh Bahadur first established a Sikh kingdom when he defeated the Mughals at Sirhind. He and his comrades were eventually defeated and executed, but he became an icon among the Khalsa Sikhs. By the late 1730s, the Khalsa regrouped as a military force under Nawab Kapur Singh, who gathered local chieftains and created Dal Khalsa, a coalition army. The Dal Khalsa fought with the Mughals and the Afghans, eventually resulting in the establishment of a Sikh kingdom in the Punjab region. |
