Ahluwalia (also transliterated as Ahluvalia) was a
misl, that is, a sovereign state in the
Sikh Confederacy of
Punjab region in present-day India and Pakistan. The misl's name is derived from Ahlu, the ancestral village of the misl leaders. The Ahluwalia misl was one of the 12 major Sikh misls, and held land to the north of
Sutlej river.[1]
Different scholars variously name the misl's founder as Sadho Singh,[2][3] his descendant Bagh Singh,[4][5] or Bagh Singh's nephew
Jassa Singh Ahluwalia.[6][7]
The misl rose to prominence under Jassa Singh,[1][8] who was the first person to use the name "Ahluwalia". Originally known as Jassa Singh
Kalal, he styled himself as Ahluwalia after his ancestral village of Ahlu.[9]
Even after other misls lost their territories to
Ranjit Singh's
Sikh Empire, the emperor permitted the descendants of Jassa Singh to retain their estates. After the
British took over the Sikh territories in 1846, Jassa Singh's descendants became the ruling family of the
Kapurthala State.[10]
^Khazan Singh (1970).
History of the Sikh religion. Department of Languages, Punjab. p. 289. The real founder of the misl was Sardar Bagh Singh, Kalal, of Hallo-Sadho. He was initiated with pahaul by Bhai Mani Singh in Sambat in 1771 (1714 A D ) and soon after that became leader of a considerable body of troops.
^Harish Jain (2003).
The Making of Punjab. Unistar. p. 201. Ahluwalia Misl - This was founded by Jassa Singh Ahluwalia and was named after his village Ahlu.