Raakhi was more than a tax. It was the financial backbone of early Khalsa sovereignty in eighteenth-century Punjab. This episode explores how Nawab Kapur Singh and the Khalsa transformed protection payments into a structured system of governance, laying the foundations of Sikh political authority. We break down how Raakhi worked, why local communities accepted it, and how it challenged Mughal control in practice. This is the story of how the Khalsa did not just fight for power but built systems that sustained it.