BHAG SINGH, also referred to in government records as Baj Singh, was an associate of Bhai Maharaj Singh, leader of the anti British revolt in the Punjab in 1848-49. Originally a disciple of Bhai Bir Singh of Naurangabad, he survived the attack on his dera on 7 May 1844 and went on a pilgrimage to Nanded. On his return to the Punjab, he joined Bhai Maharaj Singh at Amritsar shortly before the latter went underground in June 1847 to escape arrest by the British in connection with the Prema conspiracy case. Bhag Singh escaped towards Kangra and rejoined Bhai Maharaj Singh before the beginning of the second AngloSikh war in 1848. After the battle of Chelianvala he made a trip to Peshawar, rejoining his leader at Dev Batala, in the Jammu area.
DAL KHALSA is the term used to describe the militia which came into being during the turbulent period of the second half of the eighteenth century and which became a formidable fighting force of the Sikhs in the northwestern part of India. The first Khalsa army formed and led by the creator of the Khalsa, Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708), had broken up at the time of the evacuation of Anandpur in December 1705. Another force, at one time 40,000 strong, raised by Banda Singh Bahadur (1670-1716) was scattered after the caputre and execution of its leader.
DASAUNDHA SINGH (d. 1767), founder of the Nishanavali misl, was the son of Chaudhari Sahib Rai belonging to the village of Mansur, in Firozpur district of the Punjab. He received pahul, the Khalsa initiatory rites at the hands of Diwan Darbara Singh, a prominent Sikh leader of the post Banda Singh period. By 1734, Dasaundha Singh was a leading figure in the Taruna Dal. At the time of the formation of the Dal Khalsa in 1748, he was proclaimed the leader of the Nishanavali misl.
