Jassa Singh Ahluwalia was born at Ahlu near Lahore in 1718 and brought up in the household of Nawab Kapur Singh Ji after his father died. He was given command of the Dal Khalsa in 1748.
He led the retaking of Amritsar, was present at every major action of the misl period, and is recorded as having been wounded more than twenty times. He was at the Vadda Ghallughara in 1762 and got out of it.
In 1761 he freed a large number of women taken as captives by Abdali's returning army and had them escorted home, an action recorded in the Sikh sources as the origin of the title Bandi Chhor given to him by the Khalsa.
In 1765 the Dal Khalsa took Lahore and struck coin. The legend named the Gurus, not him.
He died in 1783 at Amritsar and is buried near the Baba Atal tower. The state that carried his misl's name, Kapurthala, was founded by his successors.
He was called Sultan ul Qaum and he led the Dal Khalsa at the taking of Lahore in 1765, when the coin was struck in the name of the Gurus.
He was at the Vadda Ghallughara and was wounded there. The accounts describe him fighting in the screen around the families.
The Ahluwalia misl became Kapurthala state. He came from Ahlu near Lahore and the community he came from took its name from that village.