The Dal Khalsa's 1783 raids during the Chalisa famine remain controversial, but were they justified by 18th-century Gurmat? This episode argues that the Dal Khalsa understood Sikh principles like Miri-Piri and Raj Karega Khalsa as mandates for state-building and territorial expansion—not the sanitized interpretations popular today. We explore how their actions during the famine aligned with a militant vision of Khalsa sovereignty rooted in Guru Nanak's teachings, challenging modern apologetic narratives about Sikh military history.