Therefore, in 1805, he started recruiting regular forces and employing East India Company deserters as officers or soldiers.

This impressed Ranjit Singh and left a deep impact on him, as the Nihangs had quickly adopted the line formations of Metcalfe's escorts and then shot off their volleys.

It was the Maharaja Ranjit Singh who started to hire European officers to train and command parts of his army.

The Fauj-i-Khas had its own Flag, with the Punjabi inscription of the motto of the Sikh Khalsa Army:"Deg Tegh Fateh.It had also many banners,all of them blue in colour with circles,horses,flowers and corn plants The Fauj-i-Khas had 4 battalions of infantry, 2 regiments of cavalry and a troop of artillery.

This alarmed the British, who had come to see the emerging military power of Punjab as a threat, to such a degree that they in 1837 issued orders to be vigilant and try to arrest any French officer travelling in disguise to join Ranjit Singh’s army.

One of the most unique regiments of the Sikh Khalsa Army was the Shutersvaar or the cannon mounted war camel used by Hari Singh Nalwa in his conquest of Peshawar.