BUḌḌHĀ SIṄGH (d. 1718), great great-grandfather of Mahārājā Raṇjīt Siṅgh, was the founder of the Sukkarchakkīā family. One of his ancestors, Bhārā Mall, who lived in the village of Sukkarchakk, in Gujrāṅwālā district, now in Pakistan, had been initiated into the Sikh faith by the Seventh Gurū, Gurū Har Rai. Buḍḍhā Siṅgh received the rites of amrit at the hands of Gurū Gobind Siṅgh himself and fought in battles under him and under Bandā Siṅgh Bahādur. He constructed a big house at Sukkarchakk and acquired considerable influence in those turbulent times. He was elected the village chaudharī or chief. He was a daring horseman, and there were many legends current about his adventures on his favourite piebald mare called Desī. It is said that on the back of Desī, he swam across the Rāvī, Chenāb and Jehlum rivers as many as fifty times. The dauntless warrior had on his body scars of scores of wounds by sword, spear and gun. He died in 1718.