Sardar Ran Singh Nakai (1750- 1784) was the third chief of the Nakai Misl. He was born to the aristocratic Sandhu family of Jat Sikhs. He distinguished himself at an early age in campaigns with his father, Natha Singh Sandhu and uncle, the legendary Heera Singh Sandhu who was the founder of the Misl. Ran Singh was a fierce warrior and a powerful misldar under his leadership the misl was at its highest. He was the father of Maharani Datar Kaur and the father-in-law of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the founder of the Sikh Empire. He was the grandfather of Maharaja Kharak Singh, the second king of the Sikh Empire and Sardar Kahan Singh Nakai, the last chief of the Nakai Misl.
Family history
Ran Singh Sandhu was born into the family of the ruling Nakai Sardars. His father was Natha Singh Sandhu (d. 1768), nephew of the legendary Heera Singh Sandhu (1706-1767), founder of the principality of Nakai Misl in 1748. He had an older brother, Nahar Singh who briefly became the ruler of the Nakai Misl and a younger brother named Gurbaksh Singh.
According to a legend in 1595, Guru Arjan Dev (1563–1606), the Fifth Sikh Guru, with some of his followers visited the village of Baherwal. However, the Guru was not received with hospitality and he passed on to the neighbouring village of Jambar where he lay down on a charpai (cot) under a shady tree. When Chaudhary Hemraj, Sandhu Jat, who was absent when the Guru passed through his village, heard of what had happened rushed to Jambar and brought the Guru to his town and apologized for the inhospitality. The Guru blessed him and prophesied that one day his kin would rule. In 1733, Heera Singh became the first in his family to take Amrit Sanskar. In 1748, Heera Singh took possession of the lands surrounding his native village, Baherwal and countryside of Kasur which was located in the Nakka country South of Majha Region and his misl took the name of that area. Nakka in Punjabi means border or some sort of a gateway and the Nakka country was located between the Ravi and Sutlej south of Lahore. In the following years he conquered Chunian from the Afghans but died near Pakpattan in a battle against Sujan Chisti- a devotee of the Shrine of Baba Farid. The Nakais played an effective role in the battle-field, with a sizable army equipped with the adequate arms and were known for their strength and bravery and they excelled in fighting with the Afghans.
Succession
Ran Singh's elder brother Nahar Singh succeeded their uncle, Heera Singh as the second ruler of the Nakai Misl as Heera Singh's son Dal was still a suckling infant. Nahar Singh's reign didn't last very long, he died just nine months after his succession, in a fight at Kot Kamalia in 1768. After his death Ran Singh, became the next Sardar of the Misl.