Adina Beg Khan (Punjabi: [ədinaː beːɡ xãː]; c. 1710 – 15 September 1758) was a Punjabi general, statesman, and warlord who served as the Nawab of Punjab from April 1758 until his death in September of the same year. He began his career as a patwari (accountant) and later as a sepoy after joining the Mughal army, eventually drawing the attention of the Mughal nobles. After serving through various posts, he was appointed as the Subahdar of the entirety of Punjab by Raghunath Rao on behalf of Rajaram II in 1758 and had earlier been recognised as the Nawab by Emperor Alamgir II during the power vacuum.

Though illiterate, Adina Beg served as the Shiqdar of Sultanpur Pargana, Faujdar of Sirhind Sarkar, Naib Nazim and then Nazim of Bist Doab Sarkar and, later, the Subahdar of the Subahs of Lahore and Multan, though his claim in Multan was disputed. He joined hands with the Sikh leader Jassa Singh Ahluwalia and the Marathas in defeating the Afghans. Despite being short, Adina Beg's reign has often been compared with that of his ideological aftercomer Ranjit Singh by modern historians.

Named Dina at birth, Adina was born into a Punjabi Muslim family of the Arain tribe, in the village of Sharaqpur (now in the Sheikhupura district of Punjab, Pakistan), twenty miles (32 km) from Lahore. His father, Channu Arain was professionally a farmer. He was brought up as a soldier in a Mughal family, later becoming collector of revenue.

Beg began his career as a domestic servant in the homes of Mughal officials. Proximity to Mughal officers inspired him to join as a soldier in the Mughal army. As a soldier, he was sent to various cities including Illahabad, Kanhapur and Bajwara, however becoming disillusioned with his poor prospects he took up the more lucrative position of patwari in the village of Kang near Sultanpur. He soon came under the patronage of Lala Sri Nivas Dhir, a wealthy Hindu merchant from Sultanpur, and obtained the revenue contracts for all the villages in the territory of Kang. In 1739, aiming to replace the newly deceased district officer of Sultanpur, Adina travelled to Lahore and secured an interview with the Viceroy of the Punjab, Zakariya Khan Bahadur. Impressing in his interview, the viceroy demanded security for his good behaviour, and on being guaranteed by Lala Sri Nivas, Adina was appointed faujdar of Sultanpur. On his appointment he returned the favour by making his patron his assistant, and his patron's brother Bhwani Das, who knew Persian, his superintendent.

That same year, Nader Shah invaded the Mughal Empire. Sultanpur, located on the road from Lahore to Delhi was ravaged by Persian troops. Adina Beg's success in restoring order, providing relief and securing the release of prisoners enhanced his reputation. Zakariya Khan, learning of his performance, appointed him Subahdar of the Doaba with instructions to restrain the lawlessness and halt the rising threat of the Sikh Misls. Soon after his appointment Adina Beg dispatched troops against the Sikhs and carried out a massive slaughter against them. Notably after restoring peace and order in the area, he ignored orders to take decisive steps to crush the Sikhs and instead pursued means of making peace with them.^{[page needed]} Recognising the decline of his Mughal employers he sought to make alliances with local groups, and granted jagirs to a number of Sikhs whilst also employing many in his armed forces, notably Jassa Singh Ramgarhia.

Nader Shah's invasion resulted in widespread looting, and led to Zakariya Khan being unable to pay his soldiers. After widespread protests by the soldiers, Zakariya Khan ordered his Diwan Lakhpat Rai to make the payments. The Diwan was imprisoned when he refused to do so and his brother Jaspat Rai was then ordered to demand arrears from all the nazims and faujdars in order to raise money. Adina Beg subsequently found himself imprisoned for being in arrears and was stripped of his position as governor of the Doaba.

After a year, Bhwani Das was released on the security of his brother Sri Navas and Adina escaped and fled to the hills. Bhwani Das was then re-arrested and ordered to disclose the accounts of Adina which he refused to do so. He was then placed in a large pot and half boiled. The now released Diwan, Lakhpat Rai, was so impressed by his loyalty that he halted the punishment and granted him one request. The latter demanded the reinstatement of Adina. Moved by the display of devotion, Zakariya awarded a robe of honour to Adina and made him Deputy Governor of the Doaba under his son Shahnawaz.

The death of Zakariya Khan on 1 July 1745 created a power struggle to succeed him as viceroy and six months later his son Yahiya Khan was named as his successor. Recognising the hostility between Yahiya Khan and his younger brother Shahnawaz, Adina sought to develop relations with Yahiya whilst also maintaining the trust of Shahnawaz. To support the Yahiya government in Lahore he assisted in Lakhpat Rai's campaign against the Sikhs between April and June 1746. In November 1746, Shahnawaz began an insurrection and forcibly occupied Lahore demanding a complete division of his father's property. This time Adina placed himself in the camp of Shahnawaz and the following March, on hearing news that Yahiya was seeking to launch an attack against Shahnawaz, Adina led an attack near the tomb of Hazrat Ishan. Shahnawaz was victorious and marched into Lahore unopposed on 21 March 1747 to usurp the Punjab government. He subsequently appointed Adina in charge of civil and military affairs for the Doaba. Shahnawaz now lobbied the Delhi government to become subahdar of Lahore in return for the release of Yahiya. However, on Yahiya's escape from captivity in July, Shahnawaz lost his bargaining power and on the advice of Adina he invited Ahmad Shah Durrani to invade the Mughal Empire.