1 62 A Short History of the Sikhs.
2 The Ahluwalias occupied the district between the
3 Sutlej and the Beas, including the state of Kapur-
4 thala. They were led by a powerful and capable
5 chief named Jassa Singh, a distiller by caste, who
6 did much to consolidate the power of the Sikhs.
7 The Sukarchakias, ruled by Ranjit Singh, and the
8 Nakkais were the least important of the Manjha
9 Sikhs. The former were located to the west and
10 the latter to the south of Amritsar.
11 Of the Malwa clans, the Phulkian was by far the
12 most powerful. It rose to prominence under Raja Ala
13 Singh of Patiala, and is represented at the present
14 time by a large number of states, of which Jind,
15 Nabbha, Rampur, and Dialpiir are the most important.
16 The Singhpurias ranked second, their territory in-
17 cluding portions of the Ludhiana, Jalandhar, and
18 Ambala districts. The remaining four were of minor
19 significance ; and on the rise to power of Ranjit
20 Singh, they, together with the Phulkian and Singh-
21 puria mists, placed themselves under the protection
22 of the British Government.
23 But one other association, that of the Akalis,
24 remains to be mentioned. This was not a mist, but
25 a band of religious devotees, who were looked upon
26 as the guardians of the shrine at Amritsar, and the
27 directors of religious ceremonial. The Akalis, alone
28 among the Sikhs, continued to wear the blue
29 chequered robes and steel bracelets ordained by Guru
30 Govind Singh, by whom their order was founded.
31 They were turbulent and fanatical, and a constant
32 source of terror to the more peaceable classes of the
33 community. In war they fought on foot, and were