Kahan Singh was born to Sardar Gyan Singh Nakai, the ruling chief of the Nakai Misl. His grandfather, Ran Singh Nakai was the most powerful ruler of the
Nakai Misl, a fierce warrior and under his leadership the misl was at its highest. He was an ambitious man and had exceeded his rule to the taluqas of Bucheke,
Changa Manga, 69 km from
Lahore, Chhichha, Devsal, Fatahpur,
Jethpur,
Kasur, Kharral fort of
Kot kamalia,
Sharakpur, Gugera pargana, 5 km to the west of the Ravi, and Shergarh. He had fought repeatedly against Kamar Singh, the ruler of
Syedwala. Sometime before his death, he defeated him and captured Syedwala. In 1785,
Sardar Maha Singh of
Sukerchakia Misl was facing attacks from Sardar
Jai Singh Kanhaiya of the
Kanhaiya Misl and called on Bhagwan Singh and Wazir Singh to aid him. Bhagwan Singh who had previous faced attacks from Jai Singh willingly aided Maha Singh. Despite Maha Singh trying to reconcile the differences between Wazir Singh and Bhagwan Singh, but in vain and in 1789 the latter was slain. Bhagwan Singh was succeeded by his brother, Gyan Singh who had a relatively peaceful reign. With his father as the chief, Kahan Singh became the
heir apparent of the Nakai Misldar. He had an older sister, Bibi Rattan Kaur who was married to Sardar Ram Singh Taragarhia and younger sister, Bibi Daya Kaur who married Sardar Amar Singh Veglia. In 1797, Nakais assisted the then Sardar Ranjit Singh of the Sukerchakia Misl who had been betrothed to his aunt, Bibi Raj Kaur by Bhagwan and Singh in the mid 1780s Next year his aunt, Raj Kaur was married to Ranjit Singh who then renamed her 'Datar Kaur' as many ladies in the Sukerchakia Misl bore the name "Raj Kaur", like Ranjit Singh mother and his aunt (daughter of
Sardar Charat Singh). Later that same year when Shah Zaman invaded Punjab again, the sardars united under Ranjit Singh and let his army enter
Lahore only blocked off all food and supplies which lead to his army retreating. While they were busy fighting in Lahore, Muzaffar Khan, Shah's relative and governor of
Multan province, took advantage of the situation and took
Syedwala. In 1799, his father sent him along with his uncle, Khazan Singh to aid Ranjit Singh liberate Lahore from the
Bhangi Sardars. In 1801 after Datar Kaur gave birth to Ranjit Singh's first son and heir apparent, Kharak Singh, he proclaimed himself the "Maharaja of Punjab". Kahan Singh would often aid his cousin, Kharak Singh in campaigns. == Chief of the Nakai Misl ==