NAKAI MISL was founded by Hira Singh, a Sandhu Jatt of the village of Bahirval in Chunlan tahsi1 of Lahore district. His village fell in the country called Nakka which lay southwest of Lahore between the rivers Rivi and Sutlej. It was through this region that the highway from Lahore to Multan, Baluchistan and Sindh passed imparting to it the name Nakka (nakka, in Punjabi, signifying a kind of gateway). Hira Singh had taken to arms while still very young. As the Sikhs sacked Kasur in 1763 and conquered Sirhind in 1764, Hlra Singh occupied Bahirval, Chunlan, Dlpalpur, Jambar, Jethupur, Kanganval and Khudian establishing his headquarters at Chunian. In 1767, he led out an expedition to Pakpattan, but was killed in the action that took place.
His son Dal Singh being a minor, he was succeeded by his nephew Nahar Singh who had but a tenure of nine months falling in a battle at Kot Kamalia in 1768. His younger brother Ran Singh, who succeeded him, considerably increased the power and influence of the Nakals.
The territory under his control was worth nine lakhs of rupees per annum and comprised Chunlan, part of Kasur, Sharakpur, Cugera and, at one time, Kot Kamalia. Ran Singh had a force of 2,000 horsemen, with camel swivels and a few guns. His headquarters were at Bahirval in Lahore district. Ran Singh died in 1781 and was succeeded by his eldest son Bhagvan Singh, whose sister, Raj Kaur, was married to Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Bhagvan Singh was succeeded by his younger brother, Gian Singh, who died in 1807 leaving a son, Kahn Singh. Ranjit Singh granted Kahn Singh a jagir of 15,000 rupees per annum and seized all the possessions of the family. Nakai became a prominent last name among several families. Many Nakai Sardars were converted to Islam lured by the women, power and money. A former Chief minister of Pakistan, Arif Nakai’s grandfather was born as a sikh but got converted to Islam. A Shame indeed.