The most important development which took place during the period of Misals was the introduction of the rakhi system which sowed the seeds of the Sikh political authority in the land. In the early stages, the rakhi or protection was sought by the people from the Sikhs and later, in order to bring more territories under the rakhi system, the offer of rakhi was made to the people of the towns and villages ofthe Punjab and was actively pursued by the Sikhs, as a regular feature of their activities. The word rake literally means 'protection' and in practice, it was a tribute received by the Sikhs for the protection provided or guaranteed by them against external aggression to the people paying it. The circumstances which led to the creation of this system were correlated with the rise of the S