The Sikh Dal Khalsa formed as a confederation in 1748.
The Dal Khalsa was organized at Amritsar under the leadership of Nawab Kapur Singh and Jassa Singh Ahluwalia. It brought together the Sikh misls, or military-political confederacies, into a broader coordinated organization. The development strengthened Sikh resistance and collective decision-making in eighteenth-century Punjab.
The term dal means army, while Khalsa refers to the community dedicated to the authority of the Sikh Gurus. The Dal Khalsa met at important assemblies called Sarbat Khalsa, where major political and military matters could be discussed.
It was not the same institution as the Khalsa created by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699. The 1699 initiation established the Khalsa religious community; the Dal Khalsa was a later military and political confederation that operated amid conflict with Afghan and Mughal forces.