Question

do you think merchants and bankers today have the same kind of influence they had in 18 century

Answer 1

The Sikhs organized themselves into a number of group called jathas,and later on misls under a number of able leaders .
The combined forces of sikhs known as the grand army used to meet at Amritsar at the time of baisakthi and Diwali to take collective decisions.
They offered protection to the cultivators on the payment of tax 20 % of a produced called rakhi.
Gurugobind Singh has inspired the khalsa with the belief that their density was to rule .