Sharni was going as a newly-wed bride to her husband’s home when she was kidnapped by dacoits. Her husband, Bhimsen, fled in terror and went to Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s general, Hari Singh Nalwa, for help. Sharni was saved but she did not want to return to her life in the village. Instead, she asked to join Nalwa’s Sikh company. She was induced as Sharan Kaur. Sharan Kaur impressed Hari Singh with her intelligence and courage and he trained her as a spy. The story of Sharan Kaur is taken from Bhai Vir Singh’s novel about a woman spy in eighteenth-century Punjab.