Rakhi system

[9] Due to the invasions of Ahmad Shah Abdali, administration in the Punjab had broken down considerably and many bandits, "brigands", and "highwaymen" ran amok terrorizing and stealing from the local population.

[8] Furthermore, the local economy was in tatters, revenue collection by officials had ceased to function, and powerful feudal lords, named zamindars, were exploiting the peasantry.

This system appears to have acted as a catalyst for the Sikhs to rise to position themselves in Punjab from being small-time chiefs to administrators and landlords, and finally to becoming rulers.

[8] Those expelled often consisted of the people who had occupied the dwellings and properties of past Sikhs, who had fled in years prior in the face of oppression by the Mughal and Afghan empires.

[8] Adina Beg, the last Mughal governor of the Punjab, had paid the Rakhi tax, in an amount of 1.25 lakh (125,000) rupees for the Jalandhar Doab, as a reward to the Sikhs for helping him earlier.